One of the numerous benefits of homeschooling is the ability to educate and learn in a way that works best for your family and situation. We have always done a combo of Charlotte Mason and classical education, a blend that compliments our learners and the goals I have for their education. I’m really happy with our curriculum and methods, but the past few years have been rough due to scheduling. Between navigating a new baby with two kids who still needed a lot of one on one help with school, and then all the covid mess, 2019 and 2020 were difficult on the school front. There was burn out. I hadn’t yet felt that in homeschooling and man, was it discouraging! One of my main goals for homeschooling is to have learning be enjoyable and that goal was not met. We did survive but that’s not enough for me. I want to thrive! Or why am I even doing this, right? Anyways. Our extra long summer break has been restorative, but also detrimental. I can feel the lack of schedule and structure starting to wear on us, so while planning for the next school year I decided to try a few changes.
First, we are going to school year round! It’s not as insane as it sounds, and actually not too far off what I usually end up doing, but I’ve scheduled everything in a calendar an effort to be more intentional in my breaks. The way I have it planned out is that we will not school for more than six weeks at a time. Some “year rounders” do a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule but I decided I wanted to have a longer stretches in order to get into a rhythm, something I don’t think I could accomplish in two weeks. Let’s be honest, we don’t really hit a stride till week two.
I am really looking forward to this new schedule. I have high hopes that it will make this coming school year the best one yet. I’ll keep ya posted on how it goes!
The second change I have already implemented is firmly scheduling our field trips ahead of time. There is nothing like taking advantage of homeschooling by enjoying a long weekend off in the middle of the year in order to go hiking around to see some lava tubes. While I am usually very good about doing fun field trips to complement our learning, I usually play it by ear as far as when exactly we do them, (thinking that it was ideal and more fun to be flexible) and as a consequence, I would miss some opportunities. Well, I decided I could be flexible but also give ourselves firm windows of time in which certain field trips have to be done. For example, we are for sure going to the Monet exhibit while it is in town, so I know I HAVE to get there in September or we will miss it. And I have to make sure we have a ideal weather for our geology excursion out of town so picking a reliable month for good weather was important; October seemed a good option. You get the idea. By doing more research ahead of time for our big field trips- special exhibits, excursions out of town, etc., I’ve been able to plan at least one big adventure a month. This plan gives me so much to look forward to while supplementing our homeschool curriculum and also taking advantage of living in such a diverse state! Now, the flexible part is that while some field trips have certain weekends I’ve marked off, they could easily be moved around that month in order to accommodate our schedule without missing out, win-win! I’m so glad to have something special for the kids and I to look forward to each month.
The third change I made was booking all the extra curricular activities way ahead of time, gauging how much work and strain these will put on the family, and how best to manage that. It’s not an easy choice as I’d like the kids to Do All The Things for sake of experience and fun but it’s just not possible. For example, Azelie will be busy this year with faith formation classes. Reconciliation prep class, piano, 4H, soccer (fall), and ballet. Whew! Doing ballet and soccer in person would just be too much time commitment for us. Soccer is local and affordable, so that will be in person. A is very interested in ballet, and I wish I could find better options for her in our area, but for now ballet will be online.
Caidoc will also be in soccer in the fall, and flag football in the winter. His year round activities are 4H, faith formation class, a writing class, and piano. Our goal (pun intended, haha) is to stack their soccer practices back to back, in order to make the schedule more manageable this fall. How? Chris is volunteering to coach both teams. Haha! The parks and rec department of our city is very happy to have volunteers and makes an effort to cater to their schedules. Here’s to hoping that all the sportsing and classes are enriching for C and A, I’ve done my best to stack the deck in our favor. Wish us luck, friends.
I was burnt out at the end of this past school year, let me tell ya. I thought I wasn’t going to get my mojo back which made me even more dejected. I was dreading needing to plan for the 2021-2022 year and while we did two summer sessions (in order to prevent the “summer slide”), I didn’t really feel the thrill I usually have for homeschooling. Turns out, the best way for me to get enthused about homeschooling again was to just jump in head first and get the planning DONE. I am so excited to start school up again full throttle with the kids. The countdown is on!! While putting our kids in school has never been something I’ve considered, even in my toughest times, I am grateful all over again for the homeschooling route we chosen-it is so forgiving and fulfilling.
So friends, if you’re in a slump, I recommend ripping the bandaid off. You can do this! A trip to the dollar store for snazzy school supplies doesn’t hurt either😉.