School has officially begun! Lord willing, you've found the start of this year to be refreshing and exciting. Each September offers us a chance to start fresh, with no mistakes yet. We have clean binders, notebooks, fresh pencils, and a clean grid. If you have a large family with multiple ages, you may find yourself juggling not just school subjects, but work schedules, dual enrollment programs, sports, and co-ops. How do you keep it all straight while also maintaining the clear boundaries and security that are children need to thrive?
Start each day strong. Start each day together. Start each day with symposium.
My family starts the day with what we call symposium. Symposium starts sometime between 7 and 7:15 and everyone is expected to be in the living room at that time. Truth be told, I sometimes need to wake a child.
During symposium, we read scripture, pray, and check in with each other. Here are some things that come up regularly during our morning meetings:
- Schedule - a person's work shift, piano lesson, or online math class...
- Expectations - chores for the day - usually assigned to specific people at this time, or specific things that I want to see in their school for the day.
- Requests - A common question from me to my guys is: "Do you need me to look at anything or help you with anything specific today?"
- Food - dinner menu and who's on dinner duty (this is assigned on a rotating basis. They all know what nights they do dinner etc, so this is a reminder)
- Misc - anything else that we want to make sure everyone's on the same page about. The weekend expectations for example.
People ask me what the one thing in my homeschool is that I could not do without. It's symposium. During this time, we study the word together, build our family relationships, and learn how to live life in community. It may only be for an hour each day, but it's the best hour.