10 Ways I Make Back-to-Homeschool Less Chaotic
The beginning of a new homeschool year feels full of possibility.
It also feels full of forms, calendars, supply lists, appointments, curriculum decisions, extracurricular schedules, and the realization that dinner isn’t a one-and-done event.
None of these ideas will transform your homeschool.
Or guarantee a perfectly smooth start to your school year.
But they might make the first few weeks of the year a little bit smoother.
And, sometimes, that’s exactly what we need.
Use what’ll help you, ditch the rest.
Best of luck with your new school year.
Create a practical morning routine you can (mostly) stick with.
The beginning of a new school year seems like a great time to start a new morning routine.
It is not!
If you need to refresh your current routine, start it before the year begins or give the year a few weeks to settle down.
What are those items that, if you skip them, cause the day to go sideways?
New routines take time. Aim for consistency, not perfection.
“Your morning routine needs to be effective, not drawn out.“
Block it off.
Scroll back on my Google calendar for the last 15(ish) years & you’ll see ‘Homeschool the Kiddos’ blocked off every day of our school year. You’ll find lessons, appointments, and outings there, too. But that visual block of time? It’s my reminder to prioritize learning.
That visual reminder helps me prioritize learning when I’m scheduling appointments, errands, and activities.
Field trips, park days, long trips to the library are fine. And can be educational. But when your days fill up with “just one more thing,” the 3Rs get pushed aside.
Sometimes the optometry appointment really is the priority. Sometimes the math lesson needs to come first.
Plan a field trip. Or two.
I’m terrible at planning & executing field trips. Somehow, it’s a homeschool skill I never quite mastered.
The one thing that helps? Putting a few on the calendar before the year even begins.
The details may change, but making plans now will keep it on your mind.
Explore! A Year of Field Trip Ideas
Get it all calendared.
While we’re on the topic of calendars…
Make sure everything gets on your calendar before the year begins. In the midst of a busy season, things get missed. Take the time now to put sports schedules, music lessons, co-op times, etc., on your calendar.
Here’s a tip, if you don’t object to using AI. If you use a digital calendar, AI can create an .ics file from a schedule you paste into chat (text or an image). Upload it to your calendar and save yourself a lot of manual data entry. If you want different .ics files for various schedules, do each one in its own chat, so nothing gets mixed up.
Gather your teacher’s guides in one place.
Finding & flipping through multiple guides & books in order to grade history or plan next month’s assignments is one of the most frustrating experiences for me. So, I don’t do that anymore.
All of our pacing guides & answer keys (when possible) get hole punched & placed into my homeschool planner. Even if that means making an extra photocopy or pulling pages out.
“I love that we have the flexibility to adapt our homeschool days when the inevitable happens. I don’t have to worry about obtaining a sick note from the doctor, how many days they’ve already missed, etc.“
Fill up your watchlist.
Some of my favorite homeschool memories were made on the couch. Exploring Europe’s sites & history with Rick Steves. Learning food culture from one of the many cooking shows. Getting a recap of <insert niche science topic!> from my science-loving teens.
Educational shows aren’t just for your regular studies. They can be useful when everyone is feeling burnt out, the dishwasher breaks & you need to keep the kids occupied while you deal with it, or even when sickness invades your home.
Add shows to your watchlists now, so they’re ready when you need them.
Decide what “good” looks like for Week 1–2.
Some years, the back-to-homeschool season will go along swimmingly. Some years, you may be ready to put yourself into a timeout on day 2.
Before the year starts, make a list of what it would take for you to call it a good day. When my kids were young, it was simply enough for me that we started by 9:00, everyone completed their math, we laughed & we sat down together at lunch.
Pick a few goals for those early weeks and build your days around them. Everything else is the icing on the cake.
Keep dinners simple.
I keep dinners simple during the first few weeks of a new year. And I plan takeout, something we don’t do very often. But we’re all tired & likely to resort to grabbing a pizza anyway. So why not just plan for that?
- The first or second Friday of our new year is always pizza night. And we usually do takeout a couple of weeks after that, too.
- Some years, Every Plate ends up on our doorstep every few weeks.
- Starting mid-July, I keep an eye out for ready-to-heat grocery store meals that I can stash in the freezer.
I love to cook, but I also love my sanity. For our home, simpler dinners sprinkled liberally with convenience are worth it each back-to-homeschool season.
“Back-to-homeschool season is a time when the reality of homeschool life might make it hard to get dinner on the table.”
Define your why. And write it down.
This one doesn’t feel very practical. But it is. When days are hard, a reminder of why you are doing all of this can be just the pep talk you need.
If your why includes getting outside, read it & then go. If your why includes family bonds, read it & then gather the kids for a game. If your why includes flexibility, read it & then let everyone go play for the rest of the day.
Decide what looks good enough for the rest of the year.
Earlier, we talked about what a successful Week 1 might look like. Now think about the rest of the year.
When your homeschool day goes sideways, what would it look like for you to still call it a decent-enough day?
About 10 years ago, I created a Daily Five. If we did nothing else that day, I could fall into bed knowing it was a good enough day.
Reading & math were on the list, of course. But so was spending time outside. And the other two? Well, check out the video below. (Hover over the timeline to skip ahead. #3 is a major part of my homeschool philosophy!)
tl;dr
- Plan for the hard homeschool days, not the ideal ones.
- Getting your calendar in order now will pay off later.
- Stock up on conveniences. Easy meals, a watchlist that’s already full, field trips already on the calendar.
About Tricia
Tricia is a 40-something mom to three. She loves Netflix, people, and laughter. And she firmly believes that homeschooling should include all three.
After years of ‘doing life’ — homeschooling, military life, homemaking — like others, she’s charting her own way… and loving it!
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