Ever have dreams and goals and ideas for the life you want but then real life gets in the way and it’s hard to make all the goals happen? No? Is it just me?
This week, I’m reflecting back on September 2023 and the way real life happened as we prepared to start our homeschool year.
The Bad
I had all these ideas about what I wanted our school year to look like – and the routine preceding and following school each day.
Which is of course different from what I want the weekends to look like.
But I have found that inevitably there aren’t enough hours in the day or someone’s attitude ruins the plan or there is an appointment that takes way longer than expected.
There are way too many unpredictable parts of life, and when I planned my block schedule for the 2023-2024 homeschool year, I didn’t account for any of those things.
I try to have a realistic schedule for my time. But I just have really terrible time management. Just ask my husband.
As a perfect example, I ended up ordering our school curriculum way too late and had to wait until over a week into September for everything to arrive.
It was nice, on one hand, because we spent every moment we could outside just soaking up the final days of summer. We borrowed paddleboards and went to the local reservoir to use them. We went to the beach again and had a farewell pool party.
And then, we finally jumped into school.
The Good
I did a few things right in September. I learned last year that the only way I could sit down and teach my littlest two children is to prioritize it for first thing in the morning.
I can’t start anything between breakfast and school with them. Not even a load of laundry.
Because…if you give a mom a basket of laundry, somehow she blinks and it is 5:00 p.m. and dinner isn’t even started yet.
The other thing going right so far is that I’ve planned for 4 lessons per week.
Although this doesn’t always account for all the unexpected in life, it has definitely helped us absorb some of those bad-attitude or six-hour-pediatrician-visit days.
And if we get 5 lessons finished in a week, it’s a bonus!
The Still-to-be-Determined
Lastly, I ordered a Spanish curriculum this year and am hoping at least two of my children will start to learn Spanish. The jury is still out on that one.
We also joined a local homeschool co-op for the first time in a few years, and I am hopeful that the kids will branch out and make new social connections.
It will take up some time and make me more thankful our goal is 4 lessons per week, but it could be especially beneficial for my older children.
So that’s about it. It’s mid-October, and I’d say I’m still living on a prayer this year.