Happy New Year! I hope you and yours had a lovely holiday season full of memories and fun. We had a sweet little holiday ourselves, nice and quiet as we like it, yet even still the holiday chaos found us.

Every year it’s the same thing, and much to be expected with all of the extra treats, visits, and little people out of routine. Not to mention the crazy excitement this time of year brings for little ones.

As our holidays wrap up and we settle into a brand new year, brimming with possibilities and potential, I thought it the perfect time to share with you a blog post about settling into a solid, healthy rhythm for children.

In fact, all this week I am going to be bringing you a brand new blog post all about rhythm, cultivating a peaceful home, and quiet time because ….we have launched … the brand new … 

Quiet Time Club! This club is perfect for helping you and your little ones settle into a blissful rhythm. You receive a daily quiet time activity every day, with no mess and next to no prep. This is The Club dreams are made of! Check it out right here >>> https://www.howweelearn.com/quiettimeclub/

The idea of a healthy rhythm for children is based on this concept of expanding and contracting. This idea alternates between times of busy (expansions) and times of quiet (contractions).

A rhythm is different than a routine because the activities might vary within a day – it is not necessarily we wake up at 7:00 am, we eat breakfast at 8:00 am, and so on. A rhythm is more so how the day flows, and is best thought of as taking place on an elastic band. Let me explain that a bit more.

A rhythm might involve waking up and starting the day with a quiet contraction (this might involve having breakfast, looking at books, quiet play, and so on).

After that initial contraction, the day would progress into an expansion (perhaps this would be a play outside, hide and seek, a trip to the grocery store, or heading to the park with friends).

Next, would be a contraction once more, coming inside and settling with a quieter activity as lunch is prepared, enjoying lunch together, and having an incredibly important daily quiet time.

The day continues to ebb and flow like this, alternating between times of busy and times of quiet. I mentioned previously that it is a great idea to think of this rhythm as being on an elastic. This was an idea that was shared with me by my lovely neighbour and Mother to 5 grown children, Maria. 

I was chatting with Maria outside in my garden one day when I looked at my phone and realized I needed to get us inside to make lunch. She glanced at my children happily engaged and playing in dirt, and then at me, who was clearly enjoying my own time in the garden. She shared with me that her Mother always told her, “Rhythms should be stretched like elastics”. Lunch time should happen after our time outside, yes, but there was no need to run inside only because it was 12:00 on the dot. I could feel confident listening to and trusting my instincts, more than any clock. Perhaps on this day, our outside time would comfortably go until 12:30 and things would shift slightly in our days, and perhaps on another day our outside time would be wrapping up at 11:30 and things would shift for that particular day.

It was a very freeing idea!

I thought I would share with you what our “After the Holidays Rhythm” looks like. Now of course, this will vary day by day and doesn’t take into account our art, music, or nature classes, but will give you an example all the same.

Our After the Holidays Homeschool Rhythm:

{Contraction} Wake up, quiet play, indoor chores, breakfast {approx. 1 hour}

{Expansion} Outdoor chores, short outdoor play {approx. 1 hour}

{Contraction} Core skills, structured activities, child-directed play, lunch, quiet time {approx. 3 hours}

{Expansion} Outings with friends, Nature walks, Outdoor play, Sensory experiences, Art {approx. 2 hours}

{Contraction} Unit study, reading, structured activities {approx. 1 hour}

{Expansion} Child-directed activities indoor or out {approx. 1 hour}

{Contraction} Dinner, night time walk, bath, books, bed

Though as I mentioned, I hesitate to put length of time in there as I do try to keep this rhythm on an elastic. Once we begin listening to our instincts and intuition we begin to feel when a contraction needs to end, or when an expansion is about to get too crazy and we need to draw our little ones in.

As you might know, we are a homeschooling family, so our rhythm tries to honor the needs of all of the little ones in our home, currently aged 3-11 year old. When I only had toddlers and preschoolers home with me, this rhythm alternated more frequently. Having older children, I find we learn best with big blocks of time. 

And there you have it! That is my plan for the rhythm we are settling into this month. How about you? What is your rhythm going to look like this year?

Share with me in the comments and we can embark on this journey together! Step one is to commit.

And, once you are set and ready for that blissful home of your dreams, check out my Quiet Time Club!