As freeform homeschoolers, we are always walking the line between freedom and structure. We believe that all children benefit from freedom in their education, but that some structure can help guide a child and keep them centered. Since Z is 7, we've also been working a lot with calendars, clocks, and the idea of routines.

After some ups and downs struggling with getting Z to engage in "activities" (our code word for schooling), I happened on a solution that has worked better than I could ever have imagined: A daily calendar describing events of the day, including appointments that are outside of Z's control (my own appointments or commitments as well as her routine commitments to classes she has chosen, like ballet and gymnastics) and some portion of learning activities that she has pre-chosen in a weekly meeting as her goals and intentions for the week. I set up the schedule in the evening, filling in clock faces to show her what times events are scheduled to begin and end (she's learning to tell time) and writing descriptions of what we'll do, including morning routine reminders that help me get her ready to start the day by a set time, and take care of things we need to do around the house (pick up, feed the chickens, put away the dishes) and all the fun stuff we plan to do throughout the day. The schedule almost always includes free play periods where nothing is scheduled at all -- often an hour or two in the afternoons, as we do our best schooling in the morning.

The thing about the schedule is, while I write up this daily schedule (using activities she has outlined for the week), she is the one who holds me to it. It's only now that we have a schedule that I realize just how often, and how persistently, she was asking what was coming next, trying to fix the order of a day's errands or appointments her mind, and when she would get to do X, on an almost-daily basis -- and how frustrated she would get when an activity was interrupted by something else I had in mind for us to get on to. The schedule has given us both the structure we need, while remaining highly flexible, since its contents are negotiated in advance. Z is now eager to move through the events of each day, and the first thing she does every morning, without fail, is look over the schedule to see what's happening. (The "weather" and "moon phase" blanks at the top of the page are for her to fill in.)

If you'd like a copy of this schedule to use yourself, you can grab a PDF of our Daily Kids' Calendar here.