Welcome to the new year! Do you have any resolutions for the new year?
We all know how popular it is to resolve to eat healthier and/or exercise regularly. But today, I’d like to talk about a different kind of New Year’s practice: making a mid-year homeschooling adjustments.
I Have the Freedom to Customize My Child’s Education
There are many things I absolutely love about homeschooling. One of these is that the homeschooling educational model is almost infinitely customizable. As a homeschooling mom, I can do whatever i deem necessary to adjust our learning model to meet the needs of my children (of course, within reason and within the constrains of our state homeschooling laws).
One way I use this freedom is by not limiting myself to doing the same thing ALL YEAR LONG. Do you know that lovely fresh feeling that comes with opening a brand-new calendar? It can be a great catalyst for some evaluation and potentially, some mid-year homeschooling adjustments.
Just Not “Feeling It”
Since my children are still on the younger side of things, the majority of our literature intake happens in the form of read-alouds. Right before Christmas break, we finished The Year of Miss Agnes. Since my kids just love their read-aloud time, we tried starting the next book on our list even though we only had a few days of school left before the holiday. Our list (we are using an older version of Sonlight B for literature this year) called for Understood Betsy next.
Understood Betsy is one of my favorite books. I read it aloud to my girls at bedtime a couple of years ago, and we all greatly enjoyed following Betsy on her journey of finding her confidence, overcoming fears and learning how to learn after years of being practically smothered.
This time, however, my girls just weren’t feeling it. I suspect a lot of it was the knowledge that we’d read it before, even though it was long enough ago that I doubt they remember every detail.
Making the Call
We made it through the first three chapters before Christmas, then took a break. After thinking on it over break, I decided to just let Understood Betsy go.
In this case, we already read the book previously, we will likely come back and read it again in the future, and we have plenty of other titles on our list for this year. As such, I didn’t see it being worthwhile to slog through an entire book while struggling to keep my kids’ attention. I’d much rather skip ahead and start our new year with something fresh that will be more engaging. As much as possible, I want to keep our reading times fun.
Making Mid-Year Homeschooling Adjustments
The example I just shared is a smaller one. But the overarching concept can apply to most of our homeschooling, big or small decisions alike.
The thing I remind myself is this: I don’t have to keep doing things the same way ALL YEAR. I have the freedom to make mid-year homeschooling adjustments. In fact, i can make adjustments at pretty much any time of year that it seems to be needed.
Obviously, if the circumstances were different from the example I shared, I would evaluate and act differently. Some things can’t simply be skipped! However, I do have the freedom and flexibility to approach various learning humps and roadblocks creatively.
Some problems might warrant taking a break and coming back later. Other challenges might mean considering a switch to a curriculum style that is more in tune with my child’s learning personality. At times, skipping material in a textbook that seems redundant in general, or in relation to a particular child’s abilities is completely fair!
The details of each particular situation will be different, but the theme is the same. Sometimes, a little change and a fresh way of going about things is just what our homeschool needs.
