Happy Back to School OR Surviving the First Few Weeks of Home Education by Becky Boerner

 

Happy Back to School!  (But is it really?) 

The advertisements are showing back to school supplies, everyone is excited about pumpkin lattes and school clothes.  But is everyone truly that excited about the start of school? 

I find the first few weeks of back to school very challenging.  Sometimes it seems like no one remembers their math facts, getting work completed in a timely manner is challenging, and I am pretty sure my students have forgotten many important things from last year.  (Remind me why we are doing this again?)

I wanted to share a  few thoughts from someone starting their 21^st year of home education.  Please know I am preaching to myself.  

•    The first 2-6 weeks can be very challenging.  It seems like your students have forgotten everything from last year, still cannot find their clearly marked supplies, and do not remember  how to be efficient.  Grace.  I would encourage you to work consistently on creating good routines, review the routines, and keep making changes to establish a good routine.  Routines are the key to success. They are worth working on the first few weeks as they will make the rest of your year better. Your future self will thank you!  
•  Don’t be afraid to make some changes to your schedule.  That perfect schedule you made in the summer probably will have a few holes or not be executed quite the way you imagined it to.  Don’t give up!  Get feedback from your students and move forward.  What a great life lesson for our students to watch us demonstrate how adapt and make changes to schedules that are not serving us well.    
• Celebrate the Wins!  Make sure you celebrate completing the first test, finishing work, starting on time, putting supplies away, and simply making it through any day.  Home education is hard work and deserves celebration. 
  
•  Save some work samples.  You will forget all the progress you made at the end of the year if you do not save work to compare.  Start building a portfolio of work samples now. 
• Look for opportunities to smile at your children, laugh with them, and praise them. It is easy to get caught up in all that has to be done. You are also a building lifetime relationships. 

Give yourself plenty of grace, space, and time to work through the first few weeks of home education. It always gets better. 

The work you do in September will benefit you exponentially in the coming month! 

Happy Back to School!  I would love to know your best tips.  

Becky

PS I am always here to help if you need some help working on your schedule, planning for high school, and walking through how to help a challenging student.  See here for my services.  

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