9 Ways to Ensure a Smooth Start to the Homeschool Year

​


As a homeschool mom, your life is busy. And as fall approaches, your life is about to get much busier. But now—while the tomatoes are ripe, the kids are at swimming lessons, and you’re making preserves from the summer berry harvest (or not)—is the time to think about how you can ease into the new school year. 

We’ve created a simple and practical list to help ensure you have a smooth start to the school year. If just one of these tips helps you even a little, we’ve done our job of making your homeschool journey easier and more enjoyable. 

1 Make Self-Care a Priority

When school starts, you’ll be taking responsibility for your children’s education. What a blessing! And what a huge responsibility! For moms, physical and mental preparedness is a must. In order to take care of others, you must take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions:

• Carve out time for a hobby, such as knitting, pottery, or photography
• Take a class through your parks and recreation department or community center
• Invite friends over for coffee or grab a latte at a local coffee shop
• Carve out regular time for painting, writing, journaling—whatever is your creative outlet
• Go to the farmers’ market or thrift store shopping with a friend
• Read a book you’ve been wanting to read
• Plan a day out on your own, and do whatever you want! 

2 Get Sunshine and Outdoor Time

Fresh air and sunshine can do wonders for your state of mind. Now is the time to soak in that vitamin D before the cooler temperatures set in.

• Plan a family camping trip
• Enjoy walks through the forest or your local nature preserve
• Go fruit picking while things are in season
• Take long weekend hikes or bike rides
• Read outside on your patio or deck

3 Get Healthy

Did you make any health and fitness goals at the beginning of the year? Health and wellness go right along with self-care and outdoor time. Summer is a great time to begin healthy new habits. So, when things get busy during the school year, these habits will already be set in place.

• Try a new class at the gym
• Set an early alarm and take a walk in the fresh morning air before your family awakes
• Look up new, quick, and healthy recipes and put them in the meal rotation 

4 Declutter

Now is a great time to get your house in shape for the new school year. If your house is uncluttered, your mind will be as well. 

• Pack away your old curriculum in labeled boxes for when you’ll need it again
• Go through your entire house and collect everything you don’t want or need
• Take those items to the dump, thrift store, or consignment shop
• Begin to transition kids’ closets to fall

5 Work on Home Improvement Projects

Do any areas of your home need attention? Summer is a great time to work on making your house a home and to play catch-up on what you’ve been putting off all academic year.

• Plant shrubs and flowers
• Get your garden ready for fall
• Re-paint a room
• Install shelves and hang artwork

6 Reflect

Summer is a great time to reflect on what you need to do differently next year. It is also a great time to consider tweaks in your homeschool schedule and household routine. Brainstorm. Write down your thoughts. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Are there any difficult chores that you could tackle differently?
• Are there any tasks you can delegate to your kids?
• What are your overarching goals for your kids and your homeschool?
• Is your homeschool (curriculum, schedule, etc.) working to meet those goals?
• How can you rearrange your school day schedule?
• What can you take off your plate?
• How can you create more margin in your life?

7 Order Curriculum

You’ve been spending the last several months going to conventions, researching online, talking to friends, and mulling over curriculum choices. Now is the time to order. Don’t wait until the week before your homeschool start date. Shipping can take a little while, and you’ll want to have some time to wrap your head around new materials and instructor guides. 

8 Work Ahead a Little

Is there anything you can take care of now to get something off your plate for fall? If you have a few free moments, maybe you can take care of some big tasks that would otherwise be overwhelming in the midst of homeschooling.

• Buy new kids’ clothes and shoes, if needed
• Buy back-to-school supplies
• Organize homeschool curriculum and your school space
• Order and address Christmas cards (ok, maybe it’s too soon for that)

9 Plan Ahead a Little

August is a great month to spend some quality time with your fall calendar. This will ease your mind and ensure that you do all the things you want to do. 

• Make doctor and dentist appointments 
• Plan field trips
• Schedule play dates
• Plan breaks from your regular curriculum 
• Schedule unit studies around the holidays
• Enroll your kids in extracurricular activities
• Look at the calendars for places your frequent (library, community center, arboretum, etc.) and pencil in special programs and events you’d like to attend
• Write out your first week’s homeschool schedule for each child
• Sit down with your spouse and make sure your fall calendars in in sync

Homeschooling isn’t easy, but it is good. We here at Silverdale Press are here to make your lives easier during the busy months ahead!