See all of my homeschool highlights for the 2024-2025 school year! 😊
This was our second week of homeschooling for the 2024-2025 school year. Every week, I like to reflect on what’s working well and what could be improved, with the aim of making homeschooling a more delightful and joyful experience for our family.
Shifting Focus: From Rigor to Delight
One of my main goals this year is to shift away from overly rigorous schedules and instead focus on bringing more delight into our learning. I’m striving to create a balance between preparing my kids for the future and ensuring they have an enjoyable childhood. A key way I’m doing this is by incorporating more picture books into our lessons to make learning more engaging and fun.
Using Picture Books & Unit Studies
We are studying ancient times this year using The Mystery of History as our curriculum spine. Picture books have been a fantastic way to introduce different historical topics in a visual and interactive way. I’ve pulled from both ‘The Mystery of History book list and our personal collection of history-focused readers.
These books serve as conversation starters, allowing us to explore different perspectives on historical timelines, and the visual element helps reinforce learning in a memorable way.
Embracing Conversations & Repetition
A surprising benefit of using picture books has been the rich conversations they inspire. However, as a checklist-oriented person, balancing these meaningful discussions with our schedule can be challenging.
I’m working on building more time into our day for these conversations while keeping the flow of learning structured and efficient.
Organizing Group Work for Better Flow
One of the challenges I faced this week was transitioning smoothly between subjects during our group time. Initially, I used individual binders for each child, which took up a lot of space and made transitions cumbersome.
The solution? A shared binder for group materials, which makes it easier to move from one subject to another without extra clutter. This small change has significantly improved the organization and flow of our group work.
Special Projects & Practical Tools
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In addition to our core curriculum, we’re doing some fun hands-on projects. For instance, my oldest is studying chemistry with the Chemistry in the Kitchen curriculum, which has been a hit so far.
I also discovered a new favorite tool—a puzzle board! It’s perfect for family activities like puzzles and board games, and it keeps our puzzle-in-progress safe from pets and everyday life.
Reflecting on Challenges & Improvements
One area we’re working to improve is our time management and morning routines. Getting to bed on time is essential for a smooth start to the day, and we’re focusing on developing habits that set us up for success.
With a better handle on mornings, we hope to make each day of learning joyful and efficient.
As we look forward to Week 3, our goal is to continue finding joy in learning, improving our routines, and making adjustments as needed. I’d love to hear about your homeschooling experiences—what went well for you this week? Let’s share our highlights and encourage one another on this journey.
