The gift of the home:

For most, the central blessings of schooling at home are the normalcy of the home environment, the self-direction and individual attention this allows, and the chance to be central parts of one another’s lives. It is important to adapt any and all aspects of the homeschool curriculum to best preserve these blessings.

Three aspects of the Enki Homeschooling curriculum are vital to meeting these goals:

1. supportive rhythms;
2. clear content goals; and,
3. conserving precious resources.

Rhythms: Establishing healthy and nourishing rhythms for family life is the foundation for any successful homeschool program. For some reason, many people have come to hear the word “rhythm” as synonymous with imprisonment in empty routine and ritual, fixed and lifeless schedules... death. Working with living rhythms, the opposite is true. In times past, a natural connection to and partnership with rhythm was a given; it was a source of stability and flexibility, and not of rigidity. Farmers were up with the sun. The rhythmic digestive needs of their animals structured the flow of the days. The seasonal changes determined the kinds of work to be done. The setting of the sun determined sleep patterns.

Rhythm is not an overlay on life; rhythm is the pulse of life and it is not possible to be connected to the pulse of life within or around us unless we are connected to natural rhythms. Healthy rhythms do not imprison, but rather free us. Therefore, the foundation of our homeschooling curriculum is the rhythm of our days.

In the Enki approach, perceiving and aligning ourselves with the natural rhythms is the all important foundation of all living and learning. Once the big picture is clear and we have clarified what it is that makes a healthy and supportive rhythm, we can look at the content of our homeschool curriculum and how to include any material in a rhythmic and natural manner.

Content Goals: The second way we can support both the normalcy of the home and the family connections is by keeping our focus on the goal of each content area, and not getting distracted or overwhelmed by trying to “do it all.” It is important to realize that homeschooling resource materials are like the paints a painter sets out on her palette. The goal is not to use them all – if you do you will very quickly make mud! Rather, the painter needs a clear idea of what he wants to paint and then lays out enough different paints to work towards this vision. So the first step is to clarify what the child would benefit from in each subject area so that you can remain flexible as to how that happens.

This will also help each person look at her own environment to see where the goals might be met in the course of normal life. For example, for those living on a farm, much of the sensory integration work is a natural part of farm chores. Running a family store, much of the math will be happening. Living among musicians, much of the musical curriculum is covered. And so on.

To help parents uncover both the underlying reason for each study and the ways this learning may already be happening in the home, our Homeschool Teaching Guides describe each academic and artistic subject area of the homeschooling curriculum, exploring the core reasons for working with this content and offering suggestions for ways this might happen normally in the home environment.

Precious Resources: The third aspect, without which the first two are not possible, is treasuring our natural resources - in this case, the parent. It is important that the parent not put undue time and energy into planning the homeschooling curriculum and gathering materials. This is a purely practical matter and, as such, is a key place where we can really join the educational vision with the practicalities of our lives, so that we can reach our ideal of having a healthy and nourishing family life.

If we return to the image of the painter, it is easy to see that she needs access to many paints in subtly different hues of the same basic color. And she needs to have the freedom to mix them and use them as she sees fit in her, ever unfolding, painting. But the last thing she needs to do is to turn the earth, grow the plants, and make each paint. And she certainly does not need and will not benefit from using all the paints.

Protecting our natural resources (parents) is the main reason that the Enki Resource Libraries exist. These large collections of developmentally appropriate material are the paints from which each parent can pick and choose to paint the homeschooling curriculum that will serve her family.

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