There was a lot that I didn't cover in the video and much that I would like to clarify. Let's start with the basics of Schedule, Routine and Rhythm with the caveat that I don't think one way is better than another and in fact, I feel they can all work together at times.

What's a schedule? For me, a schedule is something you do associated with a specific time of day. When I think of schedules, I school schedules or work schedules come to mind because they are dependent on the clock. This is necessary in life and if you have to stick to a schedule, it's all the more reason to tap into your natural rhythm to counter the effects of the schedule if it's something that doesn't suit you.

What's routine? Routine are the things you do regularly. Like shop on Sunday, bake on Monday, launder on Tuesday, etc. These are things you do regularly, but they are not associated with a specific time, rather they are associated with days or even weeks or seasons if you pull back far enough. We all have routine: get up, shower, brush teeth, have breakfast, we don't usually schedule when we're going to brush our teeth, it's just routine, it's just a habit.

In a Waldorf kindergarten you'll see routine in the form of when the children play versus the rhythm is how they will play in the sense that there will be an inward time for play and an outward time for play and each will follow the other so there is balance and harmony. With routine, you'll see that each day of the week is devoted to a color and a grain. This is something the children and look forward to with anticipation. This routine is set by the day or season, not by the time of day as a schedule.

Where does rhythm come in? Rhythm, from a Waldorf perspective, has to types of things you're doing throughout the day. There is a natural rhythm for the 'in-breath' and the 'out-breath'. In essence, a time for headwork or concentrated work on a task with a purpose, followed by an 'out-breath', a time for unstructured activities.

When children are young, head work time will be short compared to unstructured play time. So the 'inhale' time will be short compared to the 'exhale' time. As children grow older, their inhale time will get longer. This balance between inhale and exhale is at the heart of Waldorf rhythm.

How does this look in our home?

I can't say it looks any one way all the time, but there are some distinct rhythms of the day, week and year that have emerged over time and with some intentional reflection.

What I've found is that we start our school day, week and year with more structure than we end our school day, week and year. In the fall, we tend to focus on headwork main lesson blocks such as math and grammar and occasionally science. In the winter, we do our history main lessons in a time of inwardness. It's a time of reflection for me and a time when the kids want to cozy up and read books. Come spring time, the children are ready to stretch their limbs and get outside. It's a time for science and handwork and friends and being outside. Our days reflect the same rhythm: We start structured with our in breath and end with flexibility with our out breath.

It's not to say we don't go outdoors in the winter and never do a math worksheet in the spring, but there are definite focuses throughout the year and that's what they look like.

How did we achieve this? I wasn't conscience of any rhythm for many years. Then I started to pay attention to how I was feeling and what sort of activities worked well with my children and me. In part I had to tune in and in part I had to purge so I could pay attention and focus on what our natural rhythms were. It's been a journey I know I'm not done with, but it's helped me be authentic, be at peace with what I need, and work with my natural rhythm than against it.

Please share you thoughts on this topic in the comment section below. The first video in this series is linked here.