You may have heard that it is important to start with vision when it comes to homeschool planning. While I agree with this wholeheartedly, I often find that starting with vision feels vague and difficult to land practically. What does that mean?

I heard a talk years ago that I have found myself coming back to often. It was done by Sarah Mackenzie in her Read Aloud Revival membership (which I highly recommend by the way). It is called The Rule of 6. She learned it from someone else and passed it on to her community and now I am passing it on to you.

The basic premise is that you find 6 things that no matter what happens you will prioritize in your homeschool. To find these things she had us ask ourselves these questions:
Picture your child twenty years from now sitting around a table with friends and they ask her, “You were homeschooled right, what was that like for you?”

How would you want them to answer?

Then she had us picture our child a year from now and someone asks them, “What was your favorite part of your homeschool year?”

How would you want them to answer?

I love visualizing these scenarios and asking myself these questions because many wonderful things come to mind. Very few of them actually include the actual academic book work. Many of us chose homeschooling because we know that a true education goes so much deeper than knowing information. We want our children to possess an education that is wrapped in wisdom, understanding, perspective, relationships, connection to God and family, etc. Getting clear about what matters to us…our values, helps us know what we need to make time for.

Once you have done that exercise you are now ready to craft your rule of 6 by filling in this statement:
“As much as I am able, I will make sure my kids have time to…”

1. Prioritize Connection- to God, family members, and a life giving community
2. Enjoy Time in Nature- to observe, explore, and find rest in God’s creation.
3. Learn & Grow – academically, emotionally, physically & spiritually
4. Have Experiences and Adventures – that bring joy and offer perspective
5. Read Great Books and discuss them
6. Be Creative – do art, problem solve, make things
7. Play – unplanned time to explore, discover, imagine, and pursue interests

Here is my list… as you can see, I could not stick to just 6. Yours will probably be different than mine because you have a different family, with different children, and a unique calling. I hope that by me sharing mine, it inspires some ideas for you as well. Some others might be: learning an instrument, learning a language, playing a sport, traveling, reading the Bible, learning a new skill, gardening etc.

Now that I have my list, then I can confidently build a schedule that reflects what we value and will build towards the vision that I hold dear. When I picture my children talking about their home life as adults, it brings tears to my eyes, because I hope they are flooded with memories of togetherness, joy, and lots of love.

Here are some of the ways I am bringing in each of these elements to our weekly/monthly schedule.

1. Prioritize Connection- morning family devotions & prayer, scheduled one on one time w/ each child, family meetings, church, nature group, The Orchard.
2. Enjoy Time in Nature- daily time outside, nature group, nature study.
3. Learn & Grow – work on academic subjects 3-4 times a week, church, family devotions, prayer, and conversation, weekly family meetings to discuss conflicts and problem solve together.
4. Have Experiences and Adventures – nature group, monthly field trips, family outings on the weekend, weekend trips or a yearly vacation.
5. Read Great Books and discuss them – read aloud during family learning time, read aloud at bedtime.
6. Be Creative – create an environment in the home with art supplies always available, allow time for tinkering and making.
7. Play – scheduled open space in our days for play, and whenever possible do not interrupt them when they are locked in playing together.

It may be no coincidence that The Orchard’s values are very similar to my own personal ones. You can read The Orchard’s values here. In fact each of my own personal Rules of 7 will be reflected in some way at a day at The Orchard.

Once, I have my list down, I like to write it down in a visible place. I have used a notecard pinned up on a bulletin board or written them down on a vision board.

Pick a place that you will see it continually so that you can make decisions in the moment that align with the kind of long term homeschool culture you want to build. For example, maybe you planned to stay home and catch up on schoolwork but a friend invites you to go to the pumpkin patch instead. You may opt to ditch the lessons and go for it because one of your main values is adventure and experiences.

Use this list as a compass to guide you to the life you really want to live with your kids with no regrets about what you wish you would have made more time for. Let it shape your family culture, dictate your schedule, and help you say “yes” or “no” to all the choices we have before us.

I would love to hear your Rule of 6… or 7 :). Please comment below with what you come up with for you family!