Remember summertime as a kid? Gosh it was purely magical. The days were wide open and long, and the air and ocean was warm. Kids ran free in the streets until well past dark playing cops and robbers and hot days were filled with lemonade, ice cream trucks, and popsicles.
Then September came. Sleepy mornings were replaced with early alarm clocks. Tank tops were tucked away in favor of shirts with sleeves and backpacks were stuffed with heavy books, gym clothes and squashed lunches. We said goodbye to the magic of summer and replaced it with homework, sports practices, and desks.
Back To Homeschool
As homeschool parents we get the benefit of not having to make our kids suffer through rough back-to-school transitions. We get to savor summer and ease into fall. We get to choose the schedule, the lessons, and the wardrobe. We get to feed our children lunches that haven’t sat in a paper bag for 4 hours, and dive into books that will captivate their minds and capture their hearts.
If you’re not a year-round homeschooler, this transition can still be rough. It can take time to adjust to the new routine. But the good news is that as the parent, YOU get to set the schedule and determine the content. And you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. You can skip lessons in September. You can school only on weekends. You can hold off on math. You can begin with field trips. You can focus only on relationships or habits. Mama… you can do whatever you want to make back to homeschool easier on your family.
Homeschool is not a race. It is not a comparison. It is a journey that is specific to you and your family ONLY. If you’re not all ready to start back up full force just yet, it’s okay to change it up and take it slow. Here are a few tips for getting started again.
Ease the Transition
Everyone loves summer. No one likes when summer is over. If your kids are expecting a big transition from all of the fun activities and long days of summer, to work work work, they probably aren’t going to be too psyched. Ease the transition by keeping some summer activities rolling. If you frequent the beach or a lake during summer months, schedule one day a week to visit this fall. If family bike rides to an ice cream shop are your jam, don’t stop now!
Follow Cues from your kids
If they aren’t ready to take on everything at once, try breaking up the work into smaller sessions and take longer breaks. You can drop an entire day or two from your schedule, or even put some subjects on the back burner for a while. If you have to start one subject at a time and build up over the course of an entire month or more, that’s perfectly fine. The goal isn’t to cram it all in, it’s to love learning and enjoy the journey.
Try Year Round Homeschool
Okay, so this isn’t really helpful for this fall. But have you considered year-round homeschool? Many homeschoolers will slow down or change the workload over the summer, but the education never actually ends. Next summer, try keeping the learning going so your children know that education isn’t a chore, it’s a lifestyle. Transitioning back to homeschool this fall will be a breeze, because it’s a continuation of what your family has been doing all along.
Begin With Joy
What subjects do your children enjoy? What activities do they like? Ask your kiddos what they want to learn about, and start with that. If they like what they’re learning, it won’t be a chore or a burden. Try incorporating trips, adventures, and activities that align with their interests and what they’re learning.
Keep Your Goals in Mind
What goals have you set for your homeschool? We don’t usually set yearly goals, but we do have three long term goals for how we raise and educate our boys. We want them to be good stewards, good communicators, and to know how to learn. Everything we do flows from these three pillars. Use your goals to align what you’re doing with your endgame for your children. You might really want to incorporate a study on birds this year, but your kids roll their eyes when you pull out your beautiful posters and books. (Ask me why I use this example… I may have once been that mom!) If bird study doesn’t interest your children and isn’t going to affect your goals, then perhaps it needs to be shelved for now.
Back to homeschool can be challenging, but it also has the opportunity to be amazing. It can be a time that brings joy, especially when your children have activities they are excited about and look forward to. Pushing the agenda for the sake of checking boxes isn’t going to produce good fruit. It might grow something, but that something might just be sour and bitter. No one likes bitter fruit.
Keep your children’s hearts in mind. Have open and honest conversations. Get them involved in their own education, and plan things you know they’ll love. When learning is fun, it is also a joy. Let’s always let learning be a joy.
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