Homeschooler New Year’s Resolutions

Dec 12, 2022 | Homeschool Support, How to Start Homeschooling

The turning of the year is a time when we reflect on our lives and make resolutions about positive changes we’d like to make in the coming year. For homeschoolers, self-reflection on our homeschooling is an integral part of home education. When I was going to college for my education degree, the old veteran educators had a saying, “Don’t laminate your lesson plans.” This means don’t get so attached to your way of doing things that you close yourself off from self-improvement—don’t treat your way of doing things as if it’s carved in stone and can’t be improved. Even if you’re firmly settled in your routine, you should be aware of ways you could improve.

Only you know what areas of your homeschool need work. However, in this post I’d like to give you several prompts for reflection. Approach these prompts as a sort of Examination of Conscience for your homeschool going in to the New Year. Read these questions and reflect upon them. Better yet, take notes and get your thoughts on paper.

Planning and Organization

• • How do I feel about my homeschool planning and organization for the year?
  • Did I find myself scrambling because of too little planning, or perhaps spent too much energy on elaborate plans that never materialized?
  • Do I need to adjust my level of organization going forward?
  • If so, what would help me be better organized? Is it time-management? Curriculum planning? Meal planning?
  • If I am hyper-organized, what practical steps can I do to step back and loosen the reins a bit?

Use of Resources

• • Did I have access to the resources I need to meet my homeschooling goals?
  • Did I buy more books and materials than I ended up needing?
  • Are there more resources I could use that would make things easier? If so, what are they?
  • Did my children seem sufficiently engaged with the materials used, or were they bored with them?
  • If I used a co-op or online curriculum provider, what was my children’s experience with the students and instructors? Was it positive or negative? Why?

Academics

• • Am I satisfied with how my children are doing academically?
  • If not, what is off? Too easy or too challenging? Too simple or too complex?
  • Does my child need any outside help in any subjects, like a tutor?
  • Do I feel content with my ability to help my child navigate his or her academics? If not, what can I do to get the support I need?
  • If my state has standards my children need to meet, have we stayed on track with meeting them?
  • How am I doing keeping the necessary records of my children’s academics?

Role of the Spouse

• • Is my spouse sufficiently engaged in our homeschooling endeavors, to the degree possible given the division of labor and work schedule within the home?
  • If not, what are some ways my spouse can be more involved?
  • Have we had discussions about the subject?
  • If I am the primary educator, do we have a backup plan for my spouse to share some of the load on days I am sick or just feel burned out?
  • Am I happy with the ways we support each other relating to homeschooling?

Socializing

• • Does the schedule we keep allow my children to have sufficient time socializing with their peers?
  • How do I feel about amount of screen time my child has versus personal interaction with others?
  • Do I feel overextended with social commitments? If so, what can be cut back?
  • Am I happy with my child’s social skills relative to his or her age?
  • Do I feel like I am getting enough opportunities to socialize with other adults?

Support

• • Do I feel isolated as part of a homeschooling family in the area where I live?
  • Am I engaged with a community of other homeschoolers, either in real life or online?
  • Do I have someone to go to when I have questions or need to vent?
  • If I am an older, veteran homeschooler, have I considered serving as a mentor to a younger homeschool family?
  • If there is no homeschool group existing locally, is it feasible to start one?

Devotion

• • How well is our Catholic faith integrated into our homeschooling routine?
  • Do we make time for devotional activities, like an occasional weekday Mass, dropping in at church for Holy Adoration, or praying the Angelus?
  • If we don’t do any devotions, what sorts of ways can we find expression of our Faith within our homeschooling schedule?

Rest and Recuperation

• • Do I feel stressed and overwhelmed with the obligations of homeschooling?
  • Are my homeschooling duties and my other domestic duties well integrated, or do I feel like I am torn between them?
  • Have I found myself being short tempered, snarky, or impatient with my children during the day?
  • Am I getting sufficient opportunities for physical, mental, and spiritual rest and recuperation?
  • If I am not, how can I make more space for myself to get the relaxation I need?
  • Are my children getting sufficient time for recreation, or do they seem overworked?

These prompts are just to get you started; you could probably think up more based on your own routine and experiences. Hopefully just by reading this you’ve already made some resolutions of things to do differently in the coming year!

Remember, this list is to help you reflect on your year in order to help you identify areas for improvement. Just like an Examination of Conscience is not meant to make you feel awful about yourself but rather aid you in improving your moral life, so this reflection is meant to help see where you can make resolutions to better your homeschool experience for yourself and your family.

Good luck in the New Year, everybody! We are praying for you here at Homeschool Connections. Please pray for us too.