Term one is officially done and I wanted to take a minute to reflect and share a little update with you. Being year round homeschoolers, our school year started in July, a week after moving into our new house. It was quite overwhelming, especially trying to keep up with academics in the middle of boxes everywhere. But we did it! This term was definitely a reminder that homeschool doesn’t need to look perfect, it just needs to be consistent. In today’s post, I’m going to be sharing what has been working, what hasn’t, and what we’re taking into 2026 with us.
Homeschooling by 9am
For the majority of our homeschool journey, I’ve always tried to have everyone at the table and ready for school by 9am. For the most part this has worked. But in my current season of life, having a one year old in tow, makes it almost impossible to start at 9am. Trying to get everyone settle by 9am has left me overwhelmed, frustrated and unmotivated by the time we finally get started.
Instead, what I’ve leaned into is to just start whenever we start. Our mornings are different everyday. Some days, if my one year old lets me sleep, I’m up by 6am. Other days, it’s 9am and the kids are up before me. So rushing every morning to get everyone fed and settled by a certain time isn’t ideal. There are some days we start school early pretty early. Other days, we don’t touch a pencil until 11am. But I’m learning that what ever time we start, it’s important for me to be centered. I cannot start school feeling frustrated because it just won’t work out.
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Loop Schedule
We started off the school year with an elaborate schedule of what days we would work on core curriculum and what days we looped in history, geography, science, and Bible. I’m here to tell you, that has been what some would call an epic fail.
Instead of having a strict loop schedule, we’ve been fitting in any extra curricula when the days are calmer. The reality is that with a growing toddler, our homeschool days are lot more chaotic than most families. If I turn my back for one minute, my toddler has accomplished climbing up the island stools, to then proceed on climbing the island and knocking everything off the countertops. And if he doesn’t do that, then he’s accomplished climbing the stair gate and is halfway up the steps by that time one of us realizes and sprints to save him. I find that focusing on core curriculum and looping in one extra curriculum at a time when the moment is right works best for us. Do I want to go another year with the same curricula? Not really, but these last two years have brought on a lot of change for our family and with it, a slower pace of homeschool. Which means, we still have plenty of material left before we go investing on new stuff.
Read Alouds
If I remember correctly, we had a list of about 5 or 6 books we wanted to read this school year. Personally, I would love to be further down our list but we’re not and that’s okay. Partly because some of our read alouds this year have consisted of picture books instead of chapters books. We’re still slowly working through this list, but now that the holidays have passed, we more than likely will not be getting to those holidays books that I really want to read.
But we’ve figured out a new rhythm to help us move along, and help me not have to do the reading all of the time. As an avid reader myself, I lean heavily on audiobooks since I don’t always have the time to sit and read. So I’m implementing that into our homeschool. Whenever I need to get something done, the kids are doing a quiet activity while Alexa reads our book. I do my part right before bedtime, as we all cozy up on the couch to wind down.
Extras in our Homeschool
As far as any extra things in our homeschool, I think we’re doing a great job. On a weekly basis we’re still doing creative writing, art hub for kids, Spanish, sometimes ASL and most recently we’ve added music to the mix. But just as with our loop curricula, there’s no set schedule as of now. We’re just fitting things in when the chaos seems to die down a little bit.
Final Thoughts
As we close out our first term, I’m choosing to embrace and appreciate the progress we’ve made with gratitude, rather than sulk in the guilt of what we haven’t done. As I mentioned before, this season is a reminder that homeschool isn’t and doesn’t need to be perfect to produce growth in my children. We just have to show up, do what we can and enjoy the freedom we have in home education.
Moving into the next term, my hope is to carry what served my family and release what didn’t all while trusting God to guide our everyday lives. I hope this update encourages you to take a minute to reflect and give yourself grace as you keep showing up for the work you’re doing at home. Until next time 💛
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