Dusting off the Cobwebs

Spring is around the corner and the impulse to dust off and refresh is bubbling over.

When we think of spring cleaning we most often think of our immediate living spaces. Our home and gardens, the sheds and garages. Sorting out, sprucing up and passing along things that no longer serve us. It is so refreshing and freeing to enjoy the sun shining on these renewed spaces.

There is one more, often neglected area, that needs a spring clean.

Our rhythm.

Rhythms change seasonally, and I feel that isn’t discussed enough in homeschooling, and especially Waldorf, circles. Our bodies, when we pay attention, are naturally attuned to the rhythm of the year. As seasons come and go, so too do certain impulses within. If we are to stay true to the rhythm of the seasons to which our bodies are naturally attuned to, then our home rhythms must also change as the seasons turn.

I’ve spent much of this week reviewing our rhythm and preparing for the burst of energy that inevitably happens as winter thaws. Our priorities and interests shift! During the winter we tend to deep dive in to history and pull that thread through all the other subjects, creating a warm and comforting deep dive. Come spring, we are ready for something lighter, shorter and less heady. Yes, I still create a balance between thinking feeling and willing through the winter months, but it is held by the impulse of quiet and pause, peppered with on the couch read alouds, tea and snacks, lessons on beds and candles lit for a cozy mood.

As I look forward, I know my children will be moving lessons outdoors, will need shorter lessons with more time to create projects encompassing all they learned over the winter. Read alouds often switch to biographies, handwork typically gets put to the side for larger projects, sciences blocks appear again and we add in mini bursts of form drawing (for some grounding), artist study and this year we’ll be adding in Where in the World Wednesday. The biggest change is that we tend to return to family style blocks and depart from the separate lessons we did through winter. Our anchors of meal and rest times have been the same for years now and will continue to be the foundation of our rhythm going forward.

With all this in mind, every year a few weeks from the start of a new season I pull out my rhythm planner and work through each page as if it were totally new. We all pick up habits throughout a season and it is good to really look through our days to see what stays and what needs to go, where our priorities shifted and what values fell to the wayside. I created this planner when my son was in grade two and I still use it for every season. It is amazing to take the years of completed planners out and see where we’ve been, remember what worked that I totally forgot about, and see the threads of our family values woven through each and every season.

There is a saying that goes around the homeschool meme track: Classical homeschooling philosophy in the fall, Project Based in the winter, Charlotte Mason in the spring and unschooling by summer. It is all said tongue in cheek, but it alludes to the fact that we change with the seasons and so will our rhythms.

Children are still so closely connected to the rhythms of nature. Adjusting home life to meet those needs makes everything feel more harmonious. Give it a try!

If you’d like to try my Daily Rhythm Planner, click the image below or head to the shop tab.

Warmly
Marina