Whether you are a beginning homeschooler or a seasoned veteran, getting into good habits each school year requires some effort. I’ve been homeschooling for five years now and I still have to get into certain habits each new year. Although we school year round, it’s not a full schedule in the summer. Come fall, we dive head first into a full schedule though.

Developing good habits for the school year just takes a little prep work and planning. I like to be able to know how my week will look ahead of time and leave some room for spontaneity. I know we have to get certain things accomplished but I also want to be able to say yes if a friend calls and wants to come over for a play date.

Here are a few of my tips on how to develop those good habits for the coming year:

  • Plan ahead- take an hour each week and plan for the next week. Look at your calendar and write down any events in your planner. I use the Well Planned Day Planner and there is a section for each student and subject to be filled in weekly. I like to fill in my goals for the week for each child and subject and check off what I actually do get accomplished when we complete the work. This gives me an idea of what we study and how much we achieve.
  • Have a routine- before the school year starts, sit down and think about how you want your day to go. Be realistic. Don’t tell yourself you have to get up at 5am if you have an infant who wakes during the night. My wake up time varies but I like to be up by 7:30am during the week. I also like to have breakfast right away and then do clean up. My boys and I get dressed and brush teeth. After that is morning chore time. We have a goal to begin school work by 9am. Sometimes it is 9:30am. But, we have a routine and it works for us. We do lunch at noon and then have a break. Afternoon quiet time and/or poetry time is around 2pm. Dinner is at 5:30. Then, of course, we have our bedtime routine. Just get in the habit of doing things daily so they come easier.
  • Be the example- this is hard for me because I make a lot of mistakes. But, my kids are always looking to me for guidance. If I want them to be in the habit of something, I must be willing to do it myself. I can’t expect my children to form good habits if I have bad habits or don’t follow my own words to them. If you have a morning chore time like we do, pick a chore for yourself and do yours with them. Once you do it often enough, it will become routine.
  • Don’t make unrealistic goals- like I said above, don’t make yourself crazy over getting up early or doing it all in one day. I live with chronic pain and I just can’t do it all. I set goals and accomplish everything that I can. I give myself grace often and give my kids grace as well. We are human. I always wanted to be that person who got up at 5am and did my Bible study and prayers. But, I don’t sleep most nights very well and 5am is typically when I do sleep. So, I do my Bible study during our afternoon quiet time. If you give yourself unrealistic goals, you will never accomplish them and you will not form good habits. You will always feel behind and rushed and disappointed. God did not make us to feel that way.

We all want to have successful years of homeschooling. Forming good habits is just the beginning. Take these tips and use them to jumpstart your year to be amazing.