We just wrapped up our 2022-2023 homeschool year. In today’s post, I’m sharing our homeschool year recap with all the juicy details on what worked, what didn’t and what we plan to do differently next year.
**UPDATE** Sharayah Maurice is no longer actively sharing her homeschool journey online. While she is still homeschooling her three children, she has decided to focus on her book publishing in her free time instead. Any homeschool-related posts on her website will remain in a closed system (meaning you won’t be able to find other homeschool-related posts on her site unless you have a specific web address for that post–most commonly found on her YouTube channel.) The videos on her YouTube channel will also be left up to continue to help and encourage other homeschooling families but bear in mind there will be no future updates and comments will not be returned.
Okay, just to give you an idea of where we started: at the beginning of our homeschool year, we had just moved to a new house, in a new town and spoiler alert: things didn’t go as planned. At all.
Not to mention I had a two year old who turned three halfway through the year. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found there’s no such thing as terrible twos. It’s turdy threes and it begins six months before they turn three and ends never. I mean I’m still dealing with it now sooo…
Anyway, needless to say, my youngest threw a wrench in my plans, and it was literally just enough to get to our basics everyday and keep my sanity. So here’s what I did: the basics.
We didn’t do morning basket.
We didn’t do circle time.
I didn’t do consistent preschool with my four year old.
It was just Bible time, reading, writing and math. For my oldest. Everyday. And that’s it.
And you know what? I’m okay with that.
So we ‘got behind’ in our Ambleside Online readings. We didn’t finish Little Pilgrim’s Progress. I’m totally behind ‘schedule’ for our history readings. We didn’t do nature study. We didn’t do poetry tea time. Artist and composer study? That didn’t happen either. Heck, we didn’t even do Folksongs and Hymns!
None of the bells and whistles. Just the basics. We finished when I decided we would finish even though we didn’t ‘technically’ finish. But that’s what’s so great about homeschooling, right? I’m on no one’s schedule or plan but my own and guess what, plans can change! So if this post is anything to you, let it be a reminder that you are the master and commander of your homeschool and you can be flexible. You’re not going to ruin your child’s education because you had ‘a bad year.’
Sometimes you just have to lean into your situation and ride it out. Whatever that may be. Don’t get down on yourself for not finishing that math book, or reading aloud every night, or not doing a single fun activity because you just didn’t want to deal with the toddler’s mess. It is what it is, just accept it and move on. You’ll have better days, better years, and your kid won’t suffer for it. I promise.
Homeschool Year Recap:
So when I look back on the school year, the main reason things didn’t go according to plan was first: my toddler. She just proved to be very distracting while we did our family subjects. Now my oldest daughter, when she was three, she was great! She’d sit quietly and play with her little activities while I read or did lessons with my son. It was wonderful!
My second daughter though…not so much. She lasted maybe five minutes with her morning time box. She was constantly getting herself into trouble, and just making a terrible mess. When I sent her to play with a sibling while I tried to do individual lessons, she always got into it with that sibling and I’d be interrupted to break up a fight. It was awful.
The other reason for why things didn’t go according to plan was that I didn’t expect to be hit with the inspiration to write a book. Honestly, I spent a lot of time writing. Did I let the kids watch TV while I wrote? Yes. Did I put off poetry tea time so that I could finish writing a chapter or two? Yes.
Again, just leaning into my situation. There was a season where the writing groove slowed and I focused more on homeschool things. I figure it all evens out. Plus, this doesn’t even include all the learning that happened just in life. I don’t know how many times we went on a morning walk, and I taught them so much just through casual conversation with my kids.
Yeah, it all evens out.
Conclusion
So, all that to say, the 2022-2023 homeschool year didn’t go at all according to plan and I’m okay with that. In a new home, with a turdy three year old and an exciting new project that consumed a lot of time, our homeschool year didn’t go how I thought it would. Regardless, I’m calling it a success. How about you? How did your homeschool year go? I’d love to hear all about your homeschool year recap in the comments!
Leave a Reply