It’s that back-to-school season, as you are all surely aware. If you’re a homeschooler you might be wondering how to handle it with your kids! Here’s what I’m doing to get my kids back in the school routine – how do you handle it?
1. Let them Personalize Their School Supplies
I don’t want my kids to feel left out of the back-to-school fun even if they are homeschooling so I do a lot of things to help them stay excited about their school adventure. We personalize back-to-school supplies and let each child create a homeschool box (or in our case, school supply box) to house their school supplies.
2. Create a Bedtime Routine
Bed times change during school – even for homeschoolers. I think it’s important to try to create a bedtime routine for your kids leading up to back-to-school. Even if you homeschool or your kids don’t have to get up early to meet a bus, kids still do best emotionally and academically with a full night’s sleep. And kids sleep better when they can settle into bed with a regular routine. We’ve started reading new books lately, a favorite being the interactive storybook Christopher Can’t Sleep.
3. Be Upfront With Your Kids About School Options
My kids aren’t stupid. They see their friends leaving in school buses and people in the grocery store ask them what grade they are in. So if they ask about why we are choosing to homeschool instead of sending them to public school we are really open with our kids about the reasons.
4. Ramping Things Up After a Break
In our case, the break came after my hospitalization and finishing the book. So we’ve actually been working through much of the summer break. We had lots of extra-curriculars but we also doubled up on reading lessons and penmanship through the summer to catch up from where we were behind. The best thing I found to help with this was to be honest with them about trying to catch up. We also timed the work sessions to they were during nap time, and after dinner while the little guys were getting ready for bed.
That way they were “staying up late” compared to their siblings AND they actually got into the fun of the work. We made catching up a contest that they embraced. How are you making back-to-school FUN for your kids?
5. Leave Time for Friends
All kids need a little bit of friends time. Whether it’s letting them ride bikes with a pack of kids from the neighborhood, or attending park days with a co-op group, it’s important to have those times for your kids. I know some homeschoolers who get so settled into the home thing that they rarely leave. Read that as in once a month or less. We choose to very intentionally create opportunities for our kids to connect with others in mostly-very-supervised situations. Soccer, gymnastics, co-op, and more. 
School years are magical years. Making them memorable and special for your kids is so important, I think. No matter what your school looks like.
How do you get your kids ready for school? Do you make it fun? Create routines? Get their input on extra-curriculars?
I’m blessed to be sponsored by Hallmark and this post is a compensated part of the Campaign. All photos, words, and opinions are original and mine.
This is my first year homeschooling. Although we are using an online school, I need a lot of advice. As a matter of fact, my daughter is starting right now!
I take my daughter out for breakfast on our first day of school – it reminds her that homeschooling, while different, is a wonderful privilege to be celebrated!
While the bedtime routine is the same year-round, bedtime is earlier during the school year. The week before school starts, we move bedtime incrementally, so that it’s not a sudden change, but a “let’s get used to this because it’s important” deal. We do that as we are gathering the new school supplies and looking over the new materials, so it is all part of the excitement.
Belonging to a homeschool group and being involved regularly in the gym classes and park days, learning fairs and other opportunities brings incentives to staying on top of the scheduled work. The neighbor kids tend to ring the doorbell as soon as they get home from school, so that is reason enough for her to keep up with the daily work – she can only go out to play if her assignments for the day are done. You’d better believe she wants to get out there! When the weather is bad, they all come in to do crafts at the kitchen table. Discussing the differences in lives helps them to see it is normal to have many, many differences – it’s good for all.
What great feedback, Sharon! I love that your home is the place the friends gather! 🙂
Luckily, my kids all love school (so far), so it’s not too hard to get them excited for it – but I do still focus on routine and readjusting after the relaxed routine we have during summer. I don’t think we will be doing any sports this year – so that will take some adjusting for them:)