The summer is winding down. Public schools are beginning their 2023-2024 school year which means homeschool families can come out of hiding. I'm kidding...sort of. It seems that all of our favorite hang outs and spots are insanely busy during the summer months so we stay home more often than not. I'll blame the heat that we've had this year in South Texas.
We began homeschooling shortly before the pandemic in 2020. This year will be our fourth year and we have loved every minute of it. Currently I am teaching our oldest who will be going into 5th grade. Our youngest is only 1 year old so his learning isn't as structured (no matter how hard big brother tries). Over the last few years we have done homeschooling year round with a longer break during July or August but this year we took off 2 whole months for summer vacation. We are trying to follow a similar schedule to our local school district since some of our dearest friends attend public/private school. It's always a nice treat to spend their breaks with them having fun without having to worry about our own schedule.
A big perk of being a bit more reclusive this summer thanks to the 100+ degree heat index has been the ability to prepare more efficiently for our upcoming homeschool year. We will be kicking off our 2023-2024 year in the next week and I have been spending the past month or so getting things in order. Fail to plan, plan to fail, right?
Many of the ways I have prepared this year are the same ways I have done since we first started. They are tried and true. We have tried countless other ways to prep ahead that didn't benefit our family that we no longer implement and we are trying some new things this year. If you are like me you love reading what other homeschool families are doing. Below you will find the 20 tips or steps that we have taken this year to kick off a new school year on the right foot. I pray this list inspires you and helps you along your own journey preparing for a successful homeschool year.
01. PRAYER
Before anything the best tip I can offer is to pray. Sitting with the Lord and asking what He would like your school year to look like is a wonderful way to keep your heart aligned with His. I need Jesus to go to the grocery store. You best believe I need him to homeschool my children.
02. REMIND YOURSELF WHY YOU HOMESCHOOL
It's easy to forget why we chose to homeschool in the first place, especially in the middle of the year when we are all ready for a break. Make sure to remind yourself why you made this decision in the first place before you begin any preparations. This is a good way to approach the year as it will renew your "why" and keep your mind focused on the heart behind it.
03. ASK YOUR CHILDREN WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT
This is one area that doesn't require much discussion as my oldest is always telling me what he'd like to learn about next. I have found that when I ask my son what he would like to study that learning is fun for him. He enjoys school because he helped to create his own lesson plan in a way. He doesn't have full control but he has a voice and as he continues to get older we want to ensure that his voice is not only heard but honored.
04. DISCUSS LEARNING GOALS AS A FAMILY
This one creates some rich and dynamic conversation, especially when done during a meal. This discussion doesn't have to be heavy but it is a great tool to make sure everyone is on the same page and has a good understanding of what is expected while moving towards a common goal.
05. ORDER YOUR CURRICULUM
Shopping for curriculum is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling. There are countless options to meet individual learning styles and needs. Once we know what our overall homeschool goals are, topics we'd like to learn more about and why we choose homeschooling, then it's time to order/buy our curriculum for the year. I purchase ours pretty early on. For this year, I purchased our curriculum back in early June after we finished our 2022-2023 year in mid-May.
06. PREPARE A CALENDAR
Not everyone does this, however, preparing a "school calendar" with our breaks scheduled in helps us to stay on track. We are a part of a homeschool co-op, my husband is a professional bowler and we take lots of field trips. Knowing when we will be out of town, when we will be at co-op and which holidays we will be observing REQUIRES us to create a calendar that we can stick to but that is also flexible. This will look different for every family. For us it looks like plotting out the year as a whole but not freaking out when things inevitably shift or change. They always do.
07. SCHEDULE COURSE WORK/LESSON PLANS
Call me crazy or OCD but I will write down every subject for every day with the exact page numbers and lessons we will be going over for the ENTIRE year before we even get started. We have done this for the last 3 years and it has been a massive help. I'll purchase a homeschool planner and block out the dates of our breaks, vacations and/or field trips right away. Then from there will select a start date for our school year and go from there. The curriculum that we use has a solid lesson plan included so we don't deviate too much from that. Even with following the pre-done lesson plan and adapting it to our calendar and co-op, we are typically homeschooling 4 days out of the week from August until mid-May. We homeschool Monday thru Thursday and enjoy our co-op on Fridays. I know for sure this isn't something everyone in the homeschool world does but for us it has been the best way to keep us on target all year long.
08. PLAN FUN FIELD TRIP IDEAS
At least once a month we try to take a field trip. It doesn't have to be a big field trip but sometimes it is. We've done something as simple as a research day at the library and we've done something as elaborate as traveling to another city, renting an AirBNB and visiting multiple museums. Don't sleep on CityPass cards. This is a cost effective way to visit more attractions for a fraction of the cost. When we have done overnight field trips this is how we choose to do it. We are blessed to travel like we do thanks to my husband's bowling schedule/tour. When we travel for his tournaments I try to coordinate that with some sort of fun field trip in the area we are traveling. This allows our kids to see places and learn about topics they may not have otherwise had the opportunity to do.
09. PLAN YOUR READING LIST
We may plan out our reading list for the year but we kind of go with the flow in this area. It is helpful to have a "master list" of sorts to refer back to though when we aren't sure what to read next. Thankfully, there are many Christian resources and bloggers who have compiled lists of wholesome and classic literature according to age/grade level. This is how we decide and find so many good books. Our co-op also does a book exchange/free book table and we have found some fun reads that way too!
10. SAVE VIDEO LINKS THAT COORESPOND WITH YOUR CURRICULUM
Repeat after me, DO NOT SLEEP ON YOUTUBE. There are thousands upon thousands of resources, lessons and short stories on YouTube that can enrich your lesson plans. Almost daily we will be watching something on YouTube that supplements/supports our curriculum. There are loads of wholesome content out there. Kingdom First Motherhood has an amazing list of channels you have to check out.
11. REFRESH YOUR SUPPLIES
We are notorious for having 10 broken blue colored pencils, 1 red crayon holding on for dear life, 3 mostly used spiral notebooks, and empty glue sticks in our stash by the end of the year. Before we start a new homeschool year I try to refresh our supplies. I struggle to toss items or donate things because...what if we need the very thing I threw away in 3 months? Can I be frank with you? You won't use those spiral notebooks that are 3/4 full. You won't need that 1 red crayon that can barely be held by even the smallest of hands. Toss it, sis. This is your chance to pick up a fresh set of pencils that still actually have an eraser on them, haha.
On this same note, if there are things in good shape that just don't serve a purpose in your home give them to another family who might use them or donate them. If you haven't used it in over a year, you won't use it moving forward.
12. DECLUTTER/ORGANIZE YOUR HOUSE
If I don't take advantage of deep cleaning portions of my home in need BEFORE we begin homeschooling then it will get ignored and become worse as time goes by. I try to take 1-2 days before we begin to go through trouble spots in our home. This helps keep life organized for us so that I'm not digging through piles of clutter in our closet to find "that one game we played that one time."
13. LOOK AT OUTREACH/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
This is something we do throughout the year but I try to pick some sort of volunteer or outreach we can participate in at least once a quarter. Most of the time these opportunities fall into our laps via social media or our co-op but I try to see if there is a need at some of our favorite non-profits before we begin our new school year as well.
14. UPDATE CHORE CHARTS
New school year, new chores. As our children mature and get older their ability to contribute to the household changes. The beginning of a new homeschool year is a terrific time to re-evaluate what age appropriate chores should be added/changed on your child's chore chart. This one kind of goes into the following tip too.
15. SET "LIFE SKILL" GOALS
Life skills are one of the biggest benefits of homeschool in my opinion. Since our children aren't relegated to a desk, they can learn in a hands-on way that builds life skills that will bless them for years to come. Some life skills that we think are important are the ability to fix/build an item from scratch, how to have meaningful conversations and how to take care of what the Lord has given to us. We try to pick out a few new skills to implement throughout the upcoming year during this time. For us this year looks like more hands-on learning time in the kitchen.
16. START BEDTIME/MORNING ROUTINES
We aren't typically a family that lives by a routine, especially in summertime. We stay up late, sleep in and since the heat has us trapped inside, live in our comfy clothes most of the day. When we are approaching our start date for our new school year we start to slowly roll out a bedtime/morning routine. Note that I said slowly. We aren't strict about this but we do try to establish reasonable bedtime and morning routines that will work best for our family DURING the school year.
17. GET READY FOR CO-OP
I know that not every homeschool family participates in a homeschool co-op. We do and we adore our co-op. We typically start our school year about a month before our co-op starts. This allows us to get into our own routine beforehand. Once I feel like we have things pretty much in order for our own family then I will begin preparations for our homeschool co-op. This entails picking up the necessary supplies and praying for all of the co-op teachers who will be pouring into our children. Thankfully our co-op is AMAZING and usually has the required curriculum announced early in the summertime so that I can order that along with our other curriculum with plenty of time to spare.
18. STOCK UP ON SNACKS
If your children are like mine then you know the importance of snacks. How my child can be starving after eating breakfast just 45 minutes earlier is beyond me. Before you begin your school year make sure to have PLENTY of easy, convenient and healthy snacks in your arsenal. You'll need them. Add them to your grocery order. Add extra. Oh, and don't forget to order plenty of cold brew for you too!
19. SET BOUNDARIES FOR YOURSELF
In addition to homeschooling I work from home. This means I have to balance what I am giving my attention to and when. This also means that I can't agree to meetings/calls during the time we would be doing school. Sometimes work needs require us to pivot but it usually looks like me setting blocks of time throughout my day. Setting boundaries for yourself will help keep your attention where it needs to be. This helps your own heart as well when people text you or try to chat during learning time. I don't feel guilty like I used to knowing that by sending a text saying, "I can't chat right now. We are homeschooling right now but I'll touch base as soon as are done," that I am establishing boundaries to keep my peace and sanity. Do what you have to do to be a peacemaker in your home even if that means saying no to your phone or to-do list for a bit.
20. DON'T COMPARE YOUR HOMESCHOOL TO YOUR FRIENDS OR TO STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET
Allow yourself to glean and be inspired by someone else's homeschool routine or family rhythm but don't compare how yours flows to someone else. No two homeschool families look identical. Some will look similar but never identical. This is because your homeschool routine is unique to your family because no family is like your family. God chose you to be the parent to your kiddos and He did so knowing that you are the best choice for them. Don't let someone else's well established loop schedule, trendy curriculum, or high end homeschool space make you question the beauty of your own.
Well there you have it...
I know that not all of these tips will serve every household but I do pray that they inspire you to find what works best for your own family. Do you have any tips that weren't mentioned here? If so, please let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing what other homeschoolers are doing.
I'll be saying many prayers for a successful and blessed school year for all of us. Godspeed!
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