A Day in the Life of Delight-Directed Homeschooling
I often hear the question: What does delight-directed homeschooling actually look like day to day?
I think one of the key words in our homeschool is flexibility. We are ready to explore interests — even if it takes us “off plan” for the day or longer. I encourage my daughters to ask questions and think critically. This in turn makes them feel comfortable expressing their opinions about what they would like to learn. Personally, I think that’s a good thing! Children who take active ownership of their education become lifelong learners.
The other key word and staple in our days is books. Not a day goes by that we aren’t enjoying books together. Reading them, talking about them, making lists of what we want to read next. On the Kindle or real books. Really great living books are at the center of our learning.
Our days might not all look identical, but they do usually begin the same way — with our morning basket.
A Day in the Life of Delight-Directed Homeschooling
Getting down to brass tacks, our days start with our morning basket. I wrote about how we use it and what’s included in this post: How and Why to Use a Morning Basket to Simplify Your Homeschool.
After starting our days together, we can then branch out into individual study time. Someone usually feels like doing a creative project, while another might prefer to do some online learning such as Reading Eggs.
We also love nature studies, which is something we can all do together usually. Afternoons are another good time for hands-on science experiments.
We try to use subscription boxes to spark interests as well. My girls have done some coding and STEM activities that they might not have done otherwise. My oldest daughter discovered a real interest in coding and game design this way.
Read more:
Our Favorite Hands-On Homeschooling Projects
Hands-On STEM Learning with Creation Crate
Lapbooking is another fun activity that happens on a regular basis in our homeschool. Creativity + interest-led = great way to learn!
If you haven’t tried lapbooking in your homeschool, you need to. They can be as elaborate or simple as you want, so don’t be intimidated if you don’t feel like you’re a “crafty” mom.
I wrote a guest post on Joy in the Journey about delight-directed homeschooling and more about our homeschool days. Here is an excerpt:
Delight-directed homeschooling is allowing a child’s natural bent to inform your educational decisions. It means following, in a purposeful way, the gifts and interests that God has placed in your children. It is homeschooling by individual design. It is a lifestyle of learning that encourages exploration, creativity, and a love for gaining wisdom and knowledge as gifts from God.
This is a basic overview of what our delight-directed homeschool looks like. Our days have a lot of variety, but we follow a basic rhythm of daily reading and creative activities to encourage a love of learning and pursuit of purposeful living.
You can see that delight directed learning allows for creativity, curiosity, character, and connection in our homeschool. These 4 C’s are always at the heart of everything we do!
You can follow along with the Delight Directed Learning series right here:
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IT sounds wonderful. I wish two of my boys were more willing to read books more often. It would make teaching them so much easier.
What lovely days. The creation crates look great. I need to look into to them.
Blessings, Dawn
Ok that this
My first comment had a mind of its own and posted by itself. Take two. I love this approach to homeschool. I currently homeschool my 2 little ones. Both are preschool age. This method sounds like it constantly encourages personal growth and curiosity.
Yes, that’s what I love about it, too! That’s great that you’re homeschooling and just starting out with this mindset. Sometimes it takes years to realize that it’s okay to step away from set curriculum and let kids just enjoy learning. Sounds like you’re off to a great start!
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!