So you find yourself as a Homeschool Mom? :: Tips to Get Ready for Fall

Hey gal!  What with Covid19 and life right now, you might find you are about to be a Homeschool Mom.  Well, I want to start off and say you can do this. All of us are kind of homeschooling moms- you just are a little closer to the real deal with school starting remotely.  Thought this might help you a little as you prepare for the next few weeks. I have listed some tips for full time homeschooling mamas and also some tips for those of you who are thrust into zoom school.  Hope this helps.  I always found that starting some planning in August helped me have a gentle start. Tip 1- invest in a calendar to keep it all straight!When the calendar flipped to August, I started thinking through what I was going to do with my homeschool year starting in September.  First thing I did was buy a teacher's planning calendar like this.I liked it because it had a week at a glance and then a page with the whole month where you could map out a month visually.  Planning calendars are helpful because you can pace yourself and add in field trips or doctor's visits or vacations. They keep all your lesson plans in one place and are a good way to check your progress.Tip #2 Think about your goals and write them down to guide you during these crazy days.I usually wrote out all the goals I had for our homeschool on a large sheet of paper first and then started popping specifics into dates on the planner.  I wrote everything down first.  Broadbrush ideas of what I wanted that year in our school day.  This way I could see if I had bitten off more than I could handle.You can have goals even if your kiddos are going to school virtually.  What do you want your day to look like? Write it down.  What is important to you. Write it down.Next I would start plugging in specifics for each day.  In pencil.  Again I could see visually that first week if I had been overly ambitious.  I had room to write the schedule for each boy and that helped, too.Another thing I did was to schedule days off.  Sometimes I did two weeks on-- one week off.  Sometimes it was every Friday off. Definitely took time off in December. You decide, but you can always change your mind.If your kids are doing online school, schedule the weekends and the breaks out.  It will give you space for your dreams.Tip #3 Ease into your scheduleI also eased into school.   I started with the  Readers, Read Alouds and Math the first week.  The next week I would add in two more things, then more until we had our full schedule.  This worked beautifully for the kids and me!  I wanted to ease into the schedule, too.This approach also helps if you are doing school via ZOOM- ease into the earlier awake times.  Ease into the new times for going back to school schedule now, just take a few steps for it now in August,  and you will be ready come Labor Day.Writing down the big picture and then filling in the details helped me to stay focused and true to what we wanted to accomplish in our school.  A little planning led to a more restful start.  It also helped me to see what I still needed to purchase or find around my house instead of waiting till the night before.  Oh wait, I did a little of that, too.I think writing some thoughts down and planning for you who will be virtually will also help as you tip-toe into the homeschool world.xoxo