Rhythm Over Curriculum: The Key to a Thriving Homeschool

EP240: You might feel like homeschooling would be easier if you could just find the right curriculum. But here's the truth: your homeschool will thrive if you focus on rhythm over curriculum.

It’s not about the curriculum. It’s about the rhythm and bringing more ease and simplicity into your homeschooling days. 

In this episode, you’ll learn about the 2-day lesson rhythm inspired by Waldorf education, why it works with how our brains actually learn, and how rhythm can help you feel more confident, calm, and connected ~ even when life feels full.

Join the Inspired at Home community https://artofhomeschooling.com/inspiredathome 

Find the Show Notes here  https://artofhomeschooling.com/episode240/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Today’s Focus
• 0:41 Curriculum Vs Rhythm Mindset
• 3:07 The Two-Day Lesson Rhythm
• 5:10 Neuroscience Behind Sleep And Memory
• 6:50 Designing Weeks And Blocks With Rhythm
• 9:10 Flexibility Over Perfection
• 11:20 Stories From 25 Years Homeschooling
• 13:55 Simplifying For Busy Seasons
• 15:03 Holiday Sale And Community Invite

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, Jean Miller, and here on this podcast, you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. Hello, my friend. Today we are diving into the rhythm of lessons in our homeschools. Now, in Waldorf Circles, we talk a lot about the daily rhythm of how one activity follows another to create a flow for your day. But I want to go deeper into the lesson rhythm in particular. Specifically, what exactly is the two-day lesson rhythm? Some people think it's a three-day rhythm, but I'm going to talk about why it's a two-day rhythm and why is it so important? And what are the benefits of following a lesson rhythm rather than trying to follow a set curriculum? All really important questions, I think. Let's dive in. And hey, if we haven't met yet, I'm Jean from The Art of Homeschooling, and I am so glad you're here. Recently, I was having a conversation with our rabbi about our congregation's children's education program. We were talking specifically about designing curriculum for the education program. And he mentioned that one of his graduate school professors used to always say curriculum is like radical surgery because it's always too much and we have to decide what not to teach. Whoa. I just love that because honestly, I tell homeschooling families, homeschooling parents all the time if you decide to purchase a curriculum package, your work isn't done once you click the buy button. Oh no, my friend, that's just the beginning. You still have to decide what to use, when to use it, how to use the curriculum, and perhaps most importantly, what to leave out. In homeschooling, the what not to teach is just as vital as the what to teach because we want to focus on connecting with our children. And the entire Waldorf approach is actually founded on the premise of giving children just enough, but not exhausting them. So the approach of just trying to get more and more and more in is not a healthy one. So let's talk about the two-day lesson rhythm and this idea behind it for just a few minutes. So Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Education, talked about the importance of letting children sleep on it. Meaning we introduce something new, a new concept, new material one day, and then we let it rest overnight before returning to it the next day. Here's how I describe it in this two-day rhythm. On day one, introduce new material through story and engaging hands-on, often artistic activities. Then let it rest. On day two, revisit and review. And then you can help your child compose a summary or engage in a project, something that helps them digest what they've learned and really take it in. This approach strengthens both comprehension and retention. And in fact, modern science even backs this up. Psychologists call it memory consolidation. That's the process of transferring new information from short-term memory into long-term storage or long-term memory. And guess what plays a starring role in this process? You got it, sleep. During sleep, the brain moves what we've learned from the hippocampus to the neocortex, where long-term memories live. Studies show that spaced out repetition, learning something, letting it rest, then revisiting it, dramatically improves recall. So when Waldorf homeschoolers or educators talk about, oh, we need to be doing a three-day rhythm, you could if you want to. But the premise behind this is really at least one night of sleep in between introducing new material and coming back and reviewing it. So a two-day rhythm is totally sufficient and something we've always done in our homeschool because it also lends itself really well to a four-day homeschool week in those earlier grades. So Steiner was right. Learning, memory, and sleep are all connected. And that two-day lesson rhythm, it fits right in with what neuroscience confirms today. Rhythm really is the heartbeat of homeschooling lessons. That's why I like to think it's so much simpler, in fact, to start by creating your lesson rhythm before trying to incorporate any curriculum or thinking about curriculum. Start with rhythm rather than curriculum. Here's how you can begin. Ask yourself these questions. How many days each week will you be doing lessons at home? Which days will those be? Ideally, two in a row or just one day in between for that two-day rhythm. What main lesson topic do you want to focus on for the month or about that amount of time? And what resources do you already have, or can you find at your local library to support that topic? These are questions to ask yourself before you even begin to consider if you're going to purchase curriculum or not. So let's start with those questions, even before looking at a packaged curriculum. Because starting here gives you freedom. Rhythm really gives you flexibility because you can always pick up where you left off. If you get two-thirds of the way through a story, then the next day or the next week, you just pick up exactly where you were. This is how rhythm can be very flexible. You can maintain this two-day rhythm as I described it throughout the block, but just keep picking up where you left off so that you don't have to have a really rigid schedule. And the two-day rhythm helps your children truly absorb what they're learning rather than rushing them or focusing on checking off the boxes. Here's a quote from Rudolf Steiner that always baffled me at first, but year after year after year, I really appreciate this quote. And he said this to those very first teachers. The quote is to be like plumbers in the dark. It's my best piece of advice. Start with homeschool rhythm rather than curriculum. This seems to go with the quote so well. Back in 1919, Rudolf Steiner told the very first group of teachers for the first Waldorf School who he was training that they should be, teachers should be like plumbers in the dark, meaning we don't always see exactly how the water or the learning is flowing. We can't see inside our children's brains just like we can't see inside the pipes under our sink. But we keep showing up, trying things and trusting the process, observing our children to see how the learning lands and how it is taken in and how it is retained. So often, as homeschoolers, we think that if we just find the right curriculum or create the perfect daily rhythm, everything will flow beautifully. But life doesn't always follow our plans, does it? When things go sideways, we start feeling like we failed, like something's wrong with us or something's wrong with our children, or both. But here's the truth: we can't do it all every day, and we're not meant to, because children can't take an infinite amount of information in. But we can do a little each day, and that's enough. Actually, that's perfect because over the years, those little pieces add up. When I look back over our family's 25 plus years of homeschooling, my three kiddos are grown now, and I'm a grandmother. I remember feeling exactly like you might be feeling right now. I'd make these lovely plans, and then we wouldn't get to everything I'd envisioned. Or I would have a curriculum I was trying to follow, and by week three, I'd feel completely behind. Some days we didn't even do a main lesson. Some days no songs, no verses, no stories, just a long hike and outdoor play. But when I zoom out and take the long view, I see how much richness and learning truly happened in our home. There was the year we traveled to Jamestown and Williamsburg. Most of our lessons revolved around preparing for that trip. That year was full of hands-on projects, drawing, map making, a lot of map making, painting, and even handwork related to the time period. It was a very memorable year. Or the year my youngest was in kindergarten and her older brothers, around age like they were preteens, they led circle time with songs and verses and movement games, and there was just so much laughter and joy. And then there was our different kinds of main lesson books year, when we branched out from the blank books and made books that looked more like scrapbooks, full of photos and writing, and drawings, and tickets, and all kinds of activities, evidence of the activities that we had done. And it felt really fun and creative. Looking back, I wish I'd known sooner that what we were doing was enough, that the rhythm itself was holding it all together even when I didn't realize it. And as we move into the holiday season, when life can feel extra full and busy, remember that it's okay to simplify even more. You can absolutely scale back to what I describe as the Waldorf kindergarten rhythm, even when your kiddos are in the grades. And that is just one story and some hands-on activities each week. Keep it simple, cozy, and connecting. After all, rhythm isn't about doing more, it's about creating a steady heartbeat in your home, even during busy or stressful seasons. And if you're listening to this episode in real time in mid-November, we've got something special coming up this week, our cozy holiday homeschooling sale. It starts on Wednesday, November 19th, and this is the perfect time to stock up on resources that will help make your homeschool feel warm and joyful through the winter months. More details coming to your inbox soon, so be sure you're subscribed to my mailing list. Plus, inside of our Inspired at Home community, our December focus is always handwork plus stories. It's such a beautiful combination for the holiday season where we combine a children's book and uh some sort of handwork project. Come join us for a month of creativity, community, and a lot of coziness. And you can check out the notes for links to all of these goodies at artofomeschooling.com/slash episode 240. If I could go back and start again, I'd begin with rhythm. I would work to grasp the concept that rhythm is really the foundation of everything, much more than curriculum. A simple, beautiful rhythm for the whole family together, something you can post on the wall, perhaps, and see every day, return to whenever life feels a bit wonky. And just remember that simple two-day lesson rhythm. Because here's the secret: no matter what curriculum you buy, you'll end up creating your own anyway. It's impossible to use someone else's curriculum exactly as written. Every child is different, every family is different. When we craft our own homeschool lesson rhythm, we get to teach each child before us, each of our children. We get to look at them and teach them, bring them what they need. So here's a little recap of the three benefits of starting with rhythm rather than curriculum. The first is rhythm is more flexible. You can always pick up where you left off. And the second, the two-day lesson rhythm is good for learning and memory. By introducing new material one day and coming back to review it the next, you can help your children integrate what they're learning and consolidate memory. And number three, the third benefit is rhythm feels more relaxed than trying to finish everything in a curriculum package or on a checklist. It helps us feel like we're steering the ship, not being dragged along behind it. Once you've built that foundation of rhythm, the curriculum can flow so much more gracefully. So I invite you to show up with courage and let go of the rest, because it really does all start with rhythm. So glad you could join me today, and thank you for all you do to help make the world a better place. I appreciate you. That's all for today, my friend. But here's what I want you to remember. Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast.