planning vs. not planning

Planning is one of those things that some folk do and some don't.

For example, I have just finished our meal plans for the next month. I started doing this when we were drowning in a sea of debt, and haven't really been able to break the habit. By planning I can be sure that I'll be making best use of foods that I buy, can buy in bulk, batch cook and freeze, plus Little Clanger particularly likes knowing in advance what we are having for dinner each night. I can also swap meals around if I've had a dur moment and forgotten to take something out of the freezer, or we suddenly have unexpected guests. I don't particularly like sitting down and thinking up 30+ meals at once, but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages for us.

I also find that having a vague plan or routine for household things helps to make sure they actually get done. There's nothing worse than thinking "I need to tidy X" or "I need to clean Y" and putting it off because you can't face it or don't know where to start. I love procrastinating. The procrastination fairy is a permanent resident in our house. She has her own seat in the living room, her own chair at the table. But having a plan for when things get done helps to keep her from smothering me. So, bedding gets washed on Fridays, the bathroom gets cleaned on Wednesdays, the stairs get hoovered on Saturday mornings. (Just to point out, I'm not saying "I" because it's only me who does housework, but because I'm not particularly good at it. We share the housework, but I'm a bit shoddy at actually doing my bits. Hence the "I" rather than "we".) Again, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

When it comes to home ed, there's folk on both sides of the table. Some like to plan things in advance. Some don't. Indeed, it even says in the Elective Home Education Guidelines (downloadable here) that home educators are not required to make detailed plans in advance. Let's face it, there is not the same need to plan things down to the minutest detail when you are not having to teach a prescribed amount of stuff in a limited amount of time.

So, do we plan? Or do we not plan? I guess it depends what "planning" means. I'm fairly sure we'll have a routine. Some days will be the days that X or Y happens. So yes, we will "plan" to go to those weekly or monthly HE groups that take our fancy. And we will probably "plan" to visit various places like castles, parks, museums, art galleries, markets and shows.

But will we plan to learn about mini beasts in January, or the Great Wall of China in March, or that by June Little Clanger will have learned long devision and Small Clanger will be able to read The Three Little Pigs all by himself? Um... no I don't think so.

Frankly, at the moment, I just can't see how that would benefit us. I'm sure some home edders do plan things in advance. I'm sure some children thrive on knowing what their focus will be before they do it. And that's great. Good for them for going with what is the best path for them. That is the joy of home edding - everyone can freely follow whichever path suits them best.

For us though, right now, we are taking things slowly. We will see what takes the sprogits fancy, and run with it, for as long as they want. If they spend a week, or five weeks, on a particular topic, then great. That's fine by me. If they decide they want to plan what they learn, then that's fine by me too. And if they then take that plan and throw it out the window, guess what? I'm still fine with it.

Don't get me wrong. I have no doubt there will be bumps! There are always bumps. There will be days when I ring other local home edders and say "what the hell are we doing?!" and they will reassure me, just as I will reassure them when they ring me with the same question. But for the moment we are plan free. And I am content with that.