January is the perfect time to take inventory of your homeschool year so far. Whether your family is transitioning from public school to homeschooling, or you are simply beginning a new homeschool semester after the holidays, it can be helpful to pause for a moment and consider your goals for the year. For those of you continuing your homeschool journey this semester, it’s a good idea to assess your homeschool. Even if you need to switch up your schedule or books mid-year, it’s perfectly okay, and actually more beneficial than pushing through with something that isn’t working well for your family. That change could even mean using a different curriculum for only one of your children if they have a different learning style. Here are a few ways to take stock of your homeschool progress!
Ways to Assess Your Homeschool
Consider this time of reflection similar to taking inventory of your homeschool year. For most of us, January marks the halfway point in our homeschool semester, which makes it a great opportunity for assessing how our plan and schedule have gone so far. Additionally, taking a moment to stop and assess your homeschool year so far can give your children a chance to express how they feel about it. When your children have the opportunity to discuss how they feel about their own education, it can help them feel more engaged and active in the homeschool journey!
- What does everyone think of the curriculum? Did your children enjoy it or do some things need to change? How do you feel about it? How did it work for your family lifestyle and grading or planning? Was it flexible or structured enough?
- How does your homeschool schedule feel? How well did it work so far? Do you need to rearrange your day or week? Would it help to simplify your schedule? Or, perhaps your schedule began with a simple base and you now feel capable of adding more to the mix.
- How are the electives going? It’s time to take stock of your choice of electives. Are they working out well? Perhaps they aren’t working very well for your children or family. How are they regarding expectations versus reality? On the flip side, would you like to add electives if you haven’t so far?
- How do your children feel about their pace and progress? What would they like to change, within reason? Do they think they are making good progress? This is a great chance to have them begin to self-reflect on their education.
- What goals have you reached? It’s always a good idea to check in with your educational goals. Considering your plan for the homeschool year, how far have you come? It’s okay if you haven’t reached your goals yet, but in the long run, it helps to check-in. This is also a good time to set potential milestones for the rest of the year.
Resources for Refreshing Your Homeschool Mid-Year
Whether you are just beginning your homeschool journey this semester after making a mid-year switch, or you are looking to refresh your homeschool after the holiday break, we have resources and helpful ideas for you. Here are five articles with inspiration for homeschooling parents looking to reset and refresh their family and homeschool journey this season.
Even if everything seemed to go swimmingly with your homeschoolers before the holidays, it honestly can’t hurt to assess their overall opinions, as well as look at progress milestones and goals. On the other hand, if things haven’t been going well, taking a deeper look at how your homeschool is working is important to make sure that you can finish out the year strong. Now is a perfect time to make new goals for the next quarter and perhaps implement fresh inspiration for reaching those goals.
