Summer Hacks for Homeschoolers
With the summer stretching out in front of you, it can be tempting to pull the lawn chair up closer to the sprinkler and zone out until August. By using your summer break wisely, though, you can make some specific preparations that will bring some of that zen into your whole upcoming homeschool year. Here are three hacks that you should focus on during your break that will make a difference not just this year, but in all future homeschool years.
Hack 1: Create a Homeschool Mission Statement
Whether this is your first year homeschooling, or your twenty-first, you likely still have some reason you’re doing this, right? See if you can pin down that reason into words, which is a great start to a mission statement for the coming year. By reminding yourself of the reason you’re homeschooling, you open up to concrete goals you want to accomplish. Do you want to see your daughter fulfill her dream of becoming an actress? Does your family want to travel more? Do you want to focus on helping your son with dyslexia reach his full potential?
Once your mission statement and goals are laid out, it’s time to start breaking those up into manageable monthly or weekly tasks that are able to be accomplished.
Hack 2: Make Pinterest Work for You
You probably didn’t need an excuse to spend more time on Pinterest, but you’re about to get one. Pinterest can be a homeschooler’s hack of choice when planning for the upcoming school year. There are numerous ways to set up your boards depending on your overall goals (and that mission statement you made). Some helpful ways might be to organize by:
- student (each homeschooler has their own board)
- subject area (boards for math, language arts, science, etc.)
- specific goals (for example, making sure your child can do fractions by the end of the year)
- calendar month ( plan out what you want to accomplish and when)
Hack 3: The Homeschool Command Center
It might be the back of a door, the side of the refrigerator, or a classroom-size bulletin board on the wall. Wherever you have enough space, set up your dedicated “homeschool command center” for the upcoming year. Everyone in your house should know that this is the place to go when they want to know what’s next on the homeschool agenda. The spot could include a giant desk-style calendar highlighting everyone’s activities in their individual color of ink, a chore chart, inspirational quotes, personalized schedules, lesson planning worksheet, or anything else that helps brings order.
Especially if you’ve had a difficult homeschool year, the notion of putting off thinking about the next one is highly enticing. The irony, though, is that a taxing homeschool experience can often be a sign of a missed opportunity. By incorporating these homeschool hacks into your summer plans, you could very possibly sidestep some of that stress in the school year ahead.
