We’ve all seen those looks: the glazed-over eyes, the dulled expressions, the partly-concealed yawns. Let’s face it, sometimes our children just “check out” during the school day. Are those dull wits an unavoidable part of homeschooling, or is there something we can do in our planning to encourage “fresh wits”? Charlotte Mason had a great suggestion.

Charlotte recommended that we vary the order of subjects throughout the day in order to use different parts of the brain:

“The brain, or some portion of the brain, becomes exhausted when any given function has been exercised too long. The child has been doing sums for some time, and is getting unaccountably stupid: take away his slate and let him read history, and you find his wits fresh again. Imagination, which has had no part in the sums, is called into play by the history lesson, and the child brings a lively unexhausted power to his new work” (Vol. 1, p. 24).

You see, different parts of the brain are used for different school subjects. If, for example, the child does copywork, he is using his reading and fine-motor skills. Next, you might switch to reading aloud a history book, so he can use his listening and imagining parts of the brain. Then, possibly, do a picture study that uses looking and describing. After that, you could do a math lesson that involves analyzing, counting, and reasoning, or go outside and do some physical activities that get the body moving.

Using different parts of the brain helps the children stay focused for each lesson and prevents their getting fatigued. So as you are planning your daily schedules, try to keep in mind Charlotte’s secret to fresh wits: vary the order of subjects during the day to use different parts of the brain.

Those of you with older children, who are doing a lot of their work independently, may want to let them in on this little “secret” and encourage them to organize all their independent work to use different parts of the brain. Or at least tip them off that if they are getting bogged down in one subject, they might be revitalized by switching to another subject that uses a different part of the brain, then returning to the first subject refreshed.

It’s a simple principle that can make a big difference. Just something to keep in mind as you plan.

Have any of you already tried this principle of alternating subjects? Which subjects have you found work well next to others? Leave a comment and let us know.

If you have missed any parts of this planning series, you can read them all on our Inside SCM blog. Just take a look at the series list below.