Episode 97

This is Episode #97 here on the podcast, all about the beauty of homeschooling rituals.

In this episode, I’m sharing my observations of why rituals can really help make homeschooling special. And then I have some ideas and rituals to share that you might choose to try with your family!

Here in the show notes, you’ll find all the verses and poems mentioned in the episode, as well as a few helpful links for you to explore and bookmark. So let’s jump in!

Rhythm + Rituals

Rhythm is an easily recognized, regular pattern. As homeschoolers, we get to design the rhythm of our lessons, days, weeks, and seasons so that one activity flows smoothly into the next each day, through the year.

Our family rhythms allow us to get in sync with one another and they also take some of the guesswork and decision fatigue out of how our days flow.

When we add rituals to these daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms, we add a layer of depth and intention to our lives, along with a sense of reverence for the tasks and activities we do together with our children.

A ritual might incorporate gestures, words, actions, even objects, with activities intentionally planned in a certain sequence.

Rituals can deepen the rhythms we create and help us build traditions for our family because they’re repeated from day to day, and even from year to year as our children grow up, and beyond.

Homeschooling and family rhythms plus rituals ground us in the present moment, simultaneously bringing security, ease, and connection to our children. And this can be a beautiful thing throughout your homeschooling journey!

The Beauty of Homeschooling Rituals

So poetry, verses, songs, and simple actions or gestures help us marry rhythm and ritual in this really powerful way.

If you’re seeking to establish this in your homeschooling, think about where you’d like to create space or a pause in your day. Or where you’d like to bring more calm and connection. How do your transitions feel? And how can you bring more peace and ease into your days?

These homeschooling rituals are beautiful because, through them, we can reduce our words and instructions, and there’s less cajoling and reminding, too. Rituals establish predictable anchor points throughout our days. So that we can all relax into the activites and the learning!

Here are a few ideas of places to bring the beauty of homeschooling rituals into your day:

Begin and end circle time, morning gathering, or story time
Begin and end lesson time
Set intentions for main lesson or table work
Recognize the seasons
Mealtimes
Bathtime
Bedtime
Clean up time
Daily chore time

Add in simple actions such as playing a tune on a recorder, lighting a candle, or marching, and your rituals will invite everyone to say “Yes” without you having to use any words at all!

And now, here are a few rituals, poems, and verses you might like to use!

Rituals, Poems, & Verses

An Opening Verse
O golden sun, so great and bright,
Warms the world with all its might.
It makes the dark earth green and fair
Attends each thing with ceaseless care.
It shines on blossom, stone and tree
On bird and beast, on you and me.
Oh may each deed throughout the day,
May everything we do and say
Be bright and strong and true,
O golden sun like you.

To begin main lesson work or table work
May our hands work with care
May our hearts work with love
May our minds work with attention

To end the lessons
Now that all my work has ended
What I’ve learned, I’ll put to rest.
Always knowing, always seeing
That I have done my very best.
Wisdom and power and love will grow
And I will bless all people I know.

To light a candle
Here is a spark of Father Sun’s light
To shine in our hearts so warm and bright.

To blow out the candle
Here is a spark of Father Sun’s light
To keep in our hearts so warm and bright.

Clean Up Song with “Dusty Gnome”
Our gnome has come to see
How tidy we can be
We put our things away
So we can [blank] today

Bath Time or Bedtime (going up the stairs)
Climbing up the mountain, climbing so high;
Climbing up the mountain, to the sky;
One step, two steps, three steps, four,
Five steps, six steps, then we climb some more.

A Bedtime Verse
The angels watch over my sleeping and waking;
They guard me by night and guard me by day.
So to all of earth’s creatures, my warmth I’ll be taking,
In each deed I do and each word I say.

There you have it! So many beautiful ideas to experience the power of rhythm plus rituals in your homeschool!

More Resources to Explore & Bookmark

Does the idea of rhythm + rituals resonate with you? Are you searching for more guidance, encouragement, and instruction as a homeschooling parent? Join me and a wonderful group of homeschoolers from all over the world inside the Inspired at Home membership community where we have monthly Verses & Songs guides and a special guide of Verses & Songs for Every Day and Special Days. The membership also offers you training and group coaching, so check it out!

Another resource worth exploring is Episode #64 from my podcast archives, all about establishing meal time rhythms and rituals, Mealtime Blessings for Families. Here you’ll find two beautiful mealtime blessings, a song recording to learn, and an activity to each night at the dinner table with your family.

There are so many resources and ideas here at the Art of Homeschooling to support you and your family! Thanks for being a part of it by reading, listening, and following along with me.💜

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