Half way through this year we started calling our independent, discipline studies Daily Diligences. This emphasised two aspects – One, it happened daily, and two, it required diligence. This has turned out to be a good vocab choice as our younger two, Nomi 12 and Daniel 10 learn to work independently on these few subjects.

Many years ago I started calling these subjects Discipline* Subjects because these subjects needed daily practice. (*I think this word came from Sally Clarkson’s Educating the Whole Hearted Child). These subjects vary from student to student and from year to year depending on what is important. Math, Reading, Writing, Typing, Foreign Language, Music have been our mainstay choices.

There are a few benefits of having this habit established

1. They can work independently on something beneficial when you have to work with another child, or answer the phone, or leave the room.
2. They can work on these subjects on days that you feel totally distracted by life and you know they are still doing important stuff.
3. You can use these subjects during busy seasons to maintain order and focus in your day – one hour of focus time each day brings surprising calm and order to an otherwise busy, hectic season.

Next year I intend to use this independent, discipline (daily diligence) time spot to have one on one conference with the other children. In one hour I maybe able to talk to all children, or I may only get to speak with one – but it will be a daily time where I can catch up and talk to the kids about their work, their goals and whatever else pops up.