How Do You Prepare for the New School Year?
Preparing for a new year with loads of curriculum being delivered to the door!
Right now many homeschool families are prepping their way into a new year. Some families may not have stopped schooling all summer and others may have taken a nice, long break and are anxious to fall back into rhythm here.
This is our second year heading into homeschooling and I’m excited and a bit nervous. I’m a tad nervous because I know that our routine may be a bit different this year with a very destructive and loud toddler. We may have to reserve the bulk of our lessons for the baby’s nap time after lunch or just ease into our days until we feel some steady ground. I truly enjoy getting the bulk of our work done before lunch so that the rest of our day is focused on playing outside, reading and having restful time together.
So as we get ready for this next season, I have begun all the prep work. That has included all of the organization, shopping and trying to plan a new rhythm for us.
So how are some of the ways that we prepare for a new school year?
Supply shop:
Last year each of my kids had a color box with their art items and it served us well. While we also have shared colors and markers in jars, they also like to have their own things that only they can destroy and use up. It helps stop the small spats with supplies in our home.
For the kids:
New color box
Markers, Crayons, Pencil Colors, glue sticks
For us all:
Restock on chalk
Dry erase markers
construction paper
extra notebooks/journals
Glue and random art supplies (paper plates, popsicle sticks, etc…)
For mom:
A new planner (I love the Well Planned Gal planner and recommend it. Use code SASHA15 for 15% off) and a good devotional/bible read to start your day off!
Organize:
Reevaluate the system you had last year and make sure it still feels like the right one for you. Our home library grew quite a bit and that resulted in some shuffling around of things. We also have a destructive toddler now and having a cabinet that he’s unable to open and destroy, has been a great success for us. I like to make sure that each child has a basket with their notebooks, textbooks and color box. I also have a basket for myself, my teacher guides and my planner. Each box is labeled with the child’s name so they can easily go to their basket and grab what they need.
This year we also shuffled some things around and created a half nursery/half reading space where we can gather to read aloud and do some things. There’s small toys on hand for the younger ones to play with while we read and there’s space for everyone to gather and get cozy. I've learned with homeschooling that your home may not always look standard because you’re also educating in it! Sometimes creating little nooks to gather and read can be a fun way to make the home feel school ready! A school room is not necessary, but sometimes families thrive better with one and enjoy the process of creating a little classroom for their kids.
Curriculum Shop:
This is easy for us since our homeschool academy picks our classical curriculum for us, so there’s not much “shopping around” for us. But I do enjoy adding in extra units and nature studies, religious studies and more. I will often sit down with my planner and list out different units we can do seasonally that correlate with seasonal holidays and such. There are many curriculum choices out there and in the past when I had to choose our curriculum, I found the most helpful way was to read blog posts and watch You Tube reviews from other homeschool mamas just like me! Seeing inside of a text book can be such a great help!
It is wise to curriculum shop ahead of time so you’re not rushing to get things at the last minute and lately with the influx of homeschoolers across the country, you want to make sure your items are in stock. If you are just starting out with homeschooling, I recommend reading this post too!
Plan your extra curricular (if any):
I like to go into the year knowing what our evenings or days will look like. For us this means soccer and dancing right now. If you plan to enroll your child in a skill or sport, make sure to stay on top of deadlines and enrollments so you can have a mental idea what your weeks will look like; which days you need to use the crock pot; which days you can cook a big meal; when you can run errands and so on.
Thinking and planning ahead makes any surprises minimal and leaves your routine without any major train wrecks. To be honest, my husband and I were both very active children and teenagers (especially him - he did ALL the sports) but there’s moments where we really just enjoy sitting back in the evenings as a family together. I encourage you to consider your schedule and make sure that it suits your family without feeling like it is too much.
Are you doing a co-op?
There are likely so many different co op and homeschool organizations in your area, many that you may not even know about. Try joining local Facebook groups in your area to find out which co-ops you have or to just find regular park dates and field trips. Co-ops are NOT necessary, but if you feel like your children will thrive in a setting with homeschool peers, then search one out. You may have to drive a few miles out once per week or so, but often times homeschool families enjoy the perks of planned outings/group lessons.
Establish Goals:
What’s your goals for your children this year? Maybe you have a list of state standards or typical standards for their grade and age that you want to teach and attain. Or perhaps you just have simple goals for your six year old to start reading level 2 books and for your third grader to memorize her multiplication facts, learn about the solar system and so on. There’s so many ways you can run with this, but think about what you really want.
It’s also okay to say that you just have a goal of completing the curriculum, having a peaceful year and doing a lot of reading. Your goal can be however specific you want it to be!
Deep Clean:
I have recently been going through the kids’ rooms and purging toys, cleaning out old clothes and shoes and reorganizing. This makes me feel better to head into a new year with less stuff and more organization. Use the few weeks leading up to school to deep clean your home so you’re not worried about these big tasks during the school season. For me that meant pressure washing the house, cleaning up the outside, repainting some things, purging toys and getting rid of clutter. I still have a few things on my list left to do! Going into such a busy season of school and sports (and soon holidays), we hope that a more organized home will make a happier home! But if we’re being honest here, those sort of lists are always growing and evolving.
Think About Food:
I am the worst at meal planning because I don’t often sit and plan until I am ordering groceries online and at that point, I don’t have my recipe books nearby. So the results are often the same ole’ meals that we usually eat.
As we head into a new year, my plan is to sit down and make a list of our usual dinners and then pull out my favorite cookbooks and try some adding some new things to the list. We also get into a big lunch rut here because it’s a lot of sandwiches around here - so I plan to broaden things a bit for us and may even create a weekly lunch calendar to make things easy for us. I also want to learn more ways to use my crock pot because having that going is the best thing during the day!
If you’re a meal planner, I suggest planning out your first month of meals as you head into your new year of homeschooling. Think about how often you’ll have snacks and what your lunches may look like too!
Think About Your Rhythm/Routine:
As I mentioned above, I am currently brainstorming how our year will look because of our toddler. While I want to follow our same rhythm as last year, I know that it may be a bit harder this year. With that said, I think it is a good thing to sit and work on your rhythm for the year, but to also ease into finding what works naturally. You may develop a “schedule” for the family during the day, only to find out that the schedule just doesn’t work that well. Be open to changing your mindset and be open to easing into the year to find your own natural routine. This tip can be applied to also bringing in a new baby, life changes, new sleep schedules and so on.
And please remember that your homeschool day really shouldn’t look anything like a public school day or last the full 8 hours. Don’t put pressure on yourself to recreate an environment that is just not really necessary.
Get a library card!
The final tip for you to prepare is to make sure that you have current library cards and a library schedule to see all of the great activities and readings they are doing each month. If you’re wanting to build your own home library, hit up places like Goodwill, Garage Sales, Ollie’s Bargain Shops or ask a local Usborne consultant to host a party for you! Don’t feel the pressure to add a million books to your home, but if you want to, thrifting is the way to go!
I hope you find these tips to get prepped and ready for a new year helpful! Even if you accomplish very little of this list, just go into your year with a full heart and lots of grace! You’ll do just fine!
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