What are Your Homeschool Year Goals?

The last few years one of the most helpful things BEFORE starting our homeschool year has been to have a written plan for our year. It isn’t anything elaborate, just a few short paragraphs to serve as a visual reminder of the goals for our family during our homeschool time.

Last year I shared a post on Setting Homeschool Goals and Knowing Your Purpose that went into a lot more detail (in case you are interested in reading it – wink).

This week I’ll be praying, planning, and working on our 2014-15 goals and vision and wanted to share a few things that I’ll be considering in the process.

• Why are we homeschooling? (Sometimes you just need to remind yourself of the core reasons you are doing this – because there are TOUGH days that you may want to give up. Ask me how I know.)
• What do we want our children to accomplish? Think of academics, behavior, books to read, etc… Measurable goals are important here (not ones you really can’t determine easily).
• What are my goals as a mom and teacher? Are there any areas to focus on specifically? Patience (cough.cough)?

One of my biggest struggles in general as a mom and as my children’s teacher is patience (it is so easy to get frustrated with the endless repetitive questions and what feels like constant arguing between siblings). There are days that I just want to throw in the proverbial homeschool towel and call it done. Just keeping it honest.

And in today’s age of ‘we must be connected 24/7 to some sort of technical device’, it can be very hard to disconnect and remember to CONNECT in real life. Maybe I get busy taking pictures or get distracted with a phone call. My mom seems to call every single day at the same time – and she knows we are doing school. This year, my phone is going to have a ‘quiet time’ during our school hours. Apps that can be distracting – well, they will take a hiatus from my phone as well.

Another area that I really want to continue in this year are the paperwork and tea times with the girls (hot cocoa for the boys!). Those were such GREAT connection time with the kids last year, and they also allowed us to make sure we were on the same page with assignments. Truthfully, when we were consistent with them, our relationships were so much smoother and frustration levels were way down.

What areas do you struggle? Maybe you would like to be more accountable in: starting school by _____ time or finishing by ______ time. Create a list for yourself too and have a friend or your spouse hold you accountable in those areas.

Evaluate Your Goals and Plans Regularly.

Just remember, there are going to be things that will require tweaking during the year. A good rule of thumb is to sit down every 6 to 8 weeks and review your progress for the year and evaluate how you are doing. Are your kids reaching the goals you set? Are you following along with the goals you set for yourself? .

There will be tough days during your year (ask me how I know). While it may take some time and planning on the front end, having your goals and plans written down ahead of time will only help you and strengthen your resolve on those tough days. Homeschooling is an amazing blessing and responsibility – and you CAN do it! Take some time today to remind yourself why you first started – or why you want to begin!

Before you go, I have a question for you!!

We all have different reasons for homeschooling our children, but what is goal that you want to set for yourself the rest of this school year? What one thing would you like to see your children accomplish? Leave a comment today and chime in {and then let’s encourage each other in those goals}!

This post is a part of the Homeschool Basics series. Be sure to read the other posts if you are just joining in. For the record, I am not an expert. I’m a homeschool mom who is sharing what she’s learned so far along the way with her own family.