Done with lessons by lunch time! Yes! What do you do all afternoon? Here are some ideas
to help.
Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason Podcast. I'm Sonya Shafer.
I love how, with the Charlotte Mason approach, you're done with lessons by lunch time. Younger
students in her schools were done by 11:30, middle students by 12:00, and older students
by 1:00. It's so refreshing to focus head-down for
a few hours and then relax. The variety of subjects covered during those hours helps
the time pass briskly. Effort is required—most definitely—but assignments are not dragged
out. Long hours too often inadvertently instill a habit of dawdling, because the student's
brain is either on overload and fatigued or completely numbed by the tediousness of it
all. Brisk, full attention on a variety of subjects keeps the lessons moving along and
the student's mind engaged. Did I mention I love having lessons done by
lunch? Some people wonder if this approach can possibly
be as effective as all-day lessons. Absolutely, because full attention is required for short
periods of time. You can get a lot done in a short time with full attention.
Most traditional classroom settings require longer time periods for classes because about
half of the time is spent on classroom management: repeating instructions, addressing questions
(sometimes the same ones repeatedly), herding the herd. One-on-one instruction is much more
efficient. You don't have to wait on all the others in the class.
So don't be fooled into thinking that doing a morning of homeschool studies covers only
half as much as a whole day of classroom studies. Such is not the case. If you follow Charlotte's
methods and require full attention, you can accomplish plenty during those morning hours—at
least as much, and possibly more, than a traditional classroom.
So, finishing lessons before lunch is a blessing, on one hand, because it doesn't overtax your
child, it encourages a habit of full attention, and it gives a sense of accomplishment. School
doesn't drag on all.day.long. On the other hand, finishing lessons before
lunch can also be a challenge. What do the kids do all afternoon? Sit on the couch, or
stare at a screen, and eat potato chips? No. While afternoons don't have formal lessons,
they should still contain plenty of opportunity for learning, as well as time for rest and
play. We want to use those afternoon hours to continue
to encourage good habits. And we also should use that time to train our children to be
producers, not just consumers. We want them to learn to take initiative in creating and
learning and exploring wholesome pastimes in their free time, rather than depending
on others, including technology, to merely entertain them.
Some afternoon activities will be parent-directed—for example, supervising chores or arranging for
any organized events or activities—but much of the afternoon activity should be at the
child's initiative. Don't feel pressured to entertain your child.
That's not your job. And Charlotte reminded us that "He who is most played with by his
elders has little power of inventing plays for himself" (School Education, page 37).
Provide plenty of raw materials where the child has access to them, and encourage him
to use them. But don't feel like you have to be the entertainment director all afternoon.
What kinds of things could your children do? I'll give you about 50 ideas here, and at
the end I'll tell you where to find more. It helps me to think of them in categories.
Music Use the afternoons to do music lessons or
to practice for music lessons—whether on an instrument or voice. Your child could also
explore different musical instruments on his own. Or compose her own song and record it.
Music offers many opportunities for personal learning.
Outdoor Life It works great to do your nature study after
the formal lessons are done. That way you can take as much time as you want to outside.
You can also encourage each child to pursue any special interests in nature; for example,
birdwatching or dog training or rock collecting. One child might plant and tend a flower garden;
another might work on outdoor survival skills, such as using a compass, tying knots, and
constructing shelters. Obviously, some of these ideas will resonate with younger children
and some with older children, but plenty of time outdoors is a great goal to have for
productive afternoons.
Sports and Recreation Don't feel like you have to belong to some
organized team sport in order to do sports and recreation in the afternoons. You could,
but you don't have to. In fact, there's a lot to be said for encouraging your child
toward individual sports and recreation activities that can be enjoyed into adult life without
having to depend on others to participate too. For ideas, just remember all the simple
pleasures: flying kites, jumping rope, playing four-square, hiking, sledding in the winter,
walking the dog, fishing. And many of these happen outdoors as well, which is a plus.
Handicraft Projects You will have regular handicraft lessons scheduled
in your school day to introduce the techniques for knitting, crocheting, woodworking, etc.
and get projects started. But afternoons can be used to practice those techniques and work
on finishing the projects or tackling bigger ones. If you team up with a local charity,
you can use afternoons to work on handicraft projects for them. Our family worked with
a local charity that provided handmade baby layettes for hospitals. Once a month we went
to the charity location and picked up the yarn and patterns. Then all month, the children
worked on knitting the baby booties and sweaters and hats in the afternoons. The next month
we would drop off the finished items and pick up more yarn. Teaming up with local charities
is a great way to encourage your children to be producers, not just consumers, and to
use their hands to bless others. Afternoons are a great time to work on those handicrafts.
Art Projects Just like handicrafts, the scheduled lessons
during the school day can introduce certain techniques and give some practice in using
them, but afternoons can be used for further practice and for creating the student's own
projects in painting or sculpting or drawing.
Home Skills Consider using time in the afternoons for
the children to complete chores around the house or to learn new ones. Charlotte's students
had regular work to do in her teacher training center to help keep the facilities clean and
maintained. It's so important that our children learn and practice the skills necessary to
keep a household running smoothly, and it's much less stressful if they can gain those
skills a little at a time while they are still living in our homes. Teaching them and giving
them regular practice in mending, cooking, laundry, baking, car maintenance, landscaping,
or even plumbing or electrical repair (depending on the age of the child) will help them be
equipped to transition to life on their own someday. And afternoons provide the time for
that intentional equipping.
Home Projects You can also use afternoons to work on larger
home projects like cleaning the garage, scrubbing the porch, washing the car or vacuuming the
inside of the car, or painting a room.
Friends and Family Afternoons should also be a time to connect
with others or just enjoy your own family's company. Connecting with other people—of
all ages—is important; and so is being content at home. Use your afternoons to foster both.
You could arrange a park day with friends or stay home and do tea time with poetry.
Older children can read to younger siblings. Or how about this: institute a mandatory rest
time during a portion of your afternoons. You might task one or two of the children
to come up with a centerpiece for the table for supper. They could find nature objects
to use or gather other items to arrange. Afternoons also make a great time to focus on family
traditions. Use the afternoon to plan or decorate or prepare or enjoy a celebration for someone
or something that is important to your family.
Want more? Oh, I've got more!
Hobbies and Personal Interest Children can use afternoons to explore their
personal interests. Those hours are great for leisure reading or writing in a personal
Book of Mottoes, or commonplace book, or even catching up on entries in an individual's
Book of Centuries. Hobbies, like photography, can be pursued. There's also plenty of time
for creative writing. Some children might even like to create and publish a family newspaper,
working on it during some afternoons. They can play board games or invent their own board
game. And don't forget to have some time to practice the foreign language that you are
learning. The children can listen to stories or songs in that language and practice carrying
on conversations during the afternoons.
Volunteer Work and Ministry But not everything should be focused on personal
interests. It is just as important to provide opportunities for service, both to neighbors
and to those in your church family. You might volunteer to work at a local food pantry or
arrange a weekly game date with an elderly neighbor. You might use an afternoon to cook
and deliver a meal to someone with a new baby or go clean their house for them. If you have
first responders in your neighborhood, take an afternoon to bake some treats for them
and deliver it with a note of appreciation and encouragement. Afternoons are a great
time to do yard work for an elderly or sick neighbor. Ministry and service are an important
part of a Charlotte Mason education.
Jobs Some of your older children may be able to
earn money doing part-time jobs in the afternoons. Those could range from occasional baby sitting
to regular lawn mowing to set hours at a local or family business.
Errands and Appointments Of course, you can use afternoons to run errands
or go to doctor appointments. Better to schedule those in the afternoon than to steal the time
from morning lessons. But if you have a choice, try not to schedule those every afternoon.
Now, I realize that some of that decision depends on your family's situation. If you
or your children have medical needs that you have to deal with, of course you will have
more doctor appointments. Do what you need to do. And remember that you can use the time
in the car to listen to music or to sing or listen to a book, either read in person or
on audiobook. And some handicraft projects are very portable too.
Outings Outings are another way to spend the afternoon
profitably. You could go to an art museum, a botanical garden, a Shakespeare play, the
zoo, the library, an aquarium, the ballet. You could pick berries at a nearby pick-your-own
farm. Or visit local businesses that your child might be interested in, for example,
visit a local ice cream factory or a local radio station. If your child is interested
in car maintenance, take an afternoon to visit a car repair shop. You get the idea. And don't
overlook going to a state park or a national park, if you have one nearby. There are so
many possibilities for outings. But remember that afternoons don't have to be full of constant
travel and don't have to be expensive to be productive. In fact, major outings are probably
best as an occasional treat. These are only some ideas for productive afternoons.
Was it 50? I lost count. But don't worry about it. We have put together more than 200 ideas
for productive afternoons. You can download the list free on our website. I'll leave a
link in the notes for you. Also, I'm sure many of you have other ideas.
So I invite you to leave a comment and share one of your family's ideas for afternoon activities.
Here's to many, many productive afternoons in our Charlotte Mason home schools.
If you enjoyed this video, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram,
or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode. You can also subscribe to
the audio version of this podcast or read the blog post on our website at simplycharlottemason.com.
All of those links will be in the notes along with links to resources I mentioned.
Thanks for joining me. See you next time!