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Whether you’re new to homeschooling this school year or a homeschool veteran, burnout is real, and it’s normal to find yourself feeling overwhelmed, scattered, or lost at some point in your homeschool journey. Even if you’re feeling great about where you’re at, it’s good to check in and set goals for the new year. Here are a few tips for making a fresh start in 2022:
1. Revisit Your Organization System
Now is also a great time to check in on your own record-keeping and curriculum organization. Review your state’s homeschool laws, and ensure that you’re meeting all deadlines and requirements for attendance tracking, curriculum, and correspondence. Catch up on anything you need to print and save, and consider the best method for organizing everything. Get your huge stack of paperwork organized into binders or scanned and organized on your computer! Perhaps you have a lot of student work you want to save – consider making a portfolio for each school year with those assignments in it! Tired of printing everything? Our reports can be downloaded and saved to your computer. You can also consider reaching out to members of your homeschooling community for ideas on what works best for them.
2. Refresh Your Workspace(s)
Whether you homeschool on-the-go, or you’re usually working on school at home, it’s good to have a dedicated workspace set up for your child. Encourage note-taking by having pencils, pens, paper, and notebooks available in a designated space close by for your child to grab. If you have the wall space, consider hanging up some of your child’s best work or any notes, anchor charts, or pictures that will reinforce their learning. Consider offering your child the option to customize some of their workspace so that they feel excited to use it each day! If you’re typically homeschooling on the go, consider creating a go-bag or basket with all of the materials your child needs to be set up for success – laptop, charger, headphones, etc. That way, they can grab it and go as you head to the library, a family member’s house, or wherever your travels might take you!
3. Revamp Your Schedule
Our schedules are always changing. What worked for you in September might not work for you in January. Look back over your schedule, and consider the following questions:
- What’s working about this schedule right now?
- When do I notice my child is most attentive or ready to learn?
- When do I notice my child getting restless or frustrated?
- Is my child frequently finishing their work super early? Or are they working longer than anticipated each day?
- Do I need to schedule any additional breaks for this school year?
If your child does better with more structure, consider using a visual calendar to display each day and letting your child help update the calendar so they know what to expect. The beauty of homeschooling is that it’s flexible. If you think it’s better for your child to work shorter days and extend your school year by a month – you can do that! There is no such thing as “normal” when it comes to learning, so find what works for you and your family.
4. Do a Pulse Check With Your Child
Whether your child is 6 or 16, they certainly have valuable input to offer about their experience so far this school year. Have your child do a reflection activity, or have a conversation with them about how their school year is going.
Consider asking the following questions:
- What is your favorite subject or topic you’ve learned about this year? What do you like about it?
- What is something that has been challenging for you this school year? Is there any help you need to overcome this challenge?
- What would you like to do more of during the school day?
- What is something you need to do to improve your learning?
- Is there anything I can do to help you improve your learning?
- Does anything feel too easy or too difficult for you in your current course schedule?
- Are there any topics you’d like to revisit or get a refresher on?
You might even consider beginning each day with a daily check-in on how your student is feeling, their goals for the day, and any challenges they’re facing. Check out these worksheets our content team has created for checking in with your child!
5. Join a Community
Even though you may not be part of a traditional school system, there are over 3 million homeschool families in the U.S.! Consider finding a homeschool pod or group to join – whether online or with others in your local area. Share tips, resources, and best practices, and lean on each other when you encounter difficulties in your homeschooling journey. Check out our Facebook group and Instagram page, where you can connect with other parents who use Miacademy! Of course, homeschool students need socialization too! If you haven’t already, enable the community features on our site to allow students to connect with other homeschoolers, submit writing to the newspaper, and contribute videos to our monthly contests!
The beginning of a new year is a great time to re-evaluate what’s working and what’s not in your homeschooling journey. Try these tips, and let the beginning of the new year be an opportunity for you to reflect, revisit, and refresh your homeschooling routines and procedures!