If you are like most of us you could rattle off the definition of the 3 R’s in seconds. An article I read the other day suggested a different set however:

When planning a lesson, Waldorf education considers means to minimize student stress therefore maximizing the learning opportunity. Toward this end, three tools structure the lesson: rhythm, ritual and repetition. These tools are the three R’s of Waldorf planning.

Rhythm, ritual, and repetition. They are good tools to structure our homeschools as well. I have been thinking about how we incorporate those things and how we can do better this year. Rhythm is a good start. Rhythm is inevitable. It is the tempo of our days, weeks, months. We have all some tempo. The question is whether it is encouraging and soothing like a celtic folk hymn or demanding and exacting as a Sousa march running us through our paces.

My husband is a long distance runner. One of the yardsticks used to determine whether you are training properly is whether you can carry a conversation while you jog. If not you are likely pushing too hard. This is analogous to our rhythm at home. If we are still breathing deeply, if we wake up refreshed and go to sleep satisfied, if we can smile at 5pm as readily as at 9am, then we have a good, sustaining rhythm in place. If instead we find ourselves a bit breathless too often it is time to rethink. An occasional sprint is invigorating. A constant mad dash is debilitating.

Ritual comes easily for Christians. The liturgical year guides many of our families. There is the succession of fasting and feasting that returns like clockwork. For all of us there is the familiar changing of the seasons and national holidays. Ritual means most to children when it is predictable. Choosing a few traditions and maintaining them over time is tremendously reassuring. That can be as simple as saying the same prayers each Thanksgiving, making the same flag cake each summer, visiting the cemetery on Memorial Day or in November or making pancakes every Saturday morning. We tend to overestimate how much is needed to make memories.

Ritual also factors into our weekly and daily routines. Having regular pegs to hang our days upon makes for smooth transitions. In our house that means meals happen at roughly the same times daily. The chores proceed in the same general order daily – bedmaking before breakfast, baths after dinner etc. We have our roles to play during meals – who cooks, what prayers are said, how the table is cleared. We know which days are “town” days and which are home days. We know for certain that mom will be resting directly after lunch.

It is the sameness that is memorable. That is what makes it ritual. It comes to be known to the children as “what our family does”. It is also freeing to moms to know that while the internet and print media provide an endless parade of new ideas, it is the old standbys that are treasured most by our families. Consistency beats out novelty any day.

Repetition is doing those same things over and over until they are solidified in our minds. In a culture that feeds on variety, repetition is rarely considered a positive thing. There is no better servant than habit however. Drill is an incredible tool if used in a cheerful manner. We can chant our math facts together, recite prayers and poems til they are memorized, sing the same songs at chore time.

In our eagerness to keep things new and different there is a tendency to downplay the use of repetition. It can be a valuable aid however. “To know how to do something well is to enjoy it,” says Pearl Buck. We know best that which we practice most often. Little by little one goes far. So don’t be afraid of judicious use of those flash cards and drills. They are mental calisthenics that strengthen little minds. They don’t replace discussion and artistic expression but neither can those things replace regular attention to basic skills. We strive for a healthy balance between the two.

The implied R in all this is regularity, not regimentation. As the seasons come and go, as the sun rises and sets, and as baby’s chest rises and falls with each deep breath, so can our homes, our schedules, and our lessons flow smoothly from one to the other with a bit of forethought.

For some more good tips for getting a big picture of your year see Melisa Nielson’s video on the annual at-a-glance planning calendar. This helps to foresee those things which tend to upset our regular patterns and plan accordingly.