Dear Homeschool mama, have you done enough this homeschool year? It’s time for some end of the year homeschool self-reflection time.
I know how it goes.
Typically around April and May we start to worry and fret.
As concerned homeschool moms, we begin to think things like:
Have I taught my children enough to pass them onto the next grade level?
Did we cover enough in history?
Did we “school” enough hours?
My child still struggles with X, am I failing at teaching them?
Did I do a good job?
And so on and such like.
Truthfully, these feelings and thoughts are healthy and normal. It’s questions like these that we should always self-reflect on and ask ourselves and we should never just fly through the school year without a care in the world and without some sort of reverence in the education we are giving our children.
HOWEVER, (and that’s a BIG however, pun totally intended), I don’t want you beating yourself up over these thoughts either.
In fact, I want you to gain some confidence today.
So let me tell ya a personal story….
It was only a few short years ago when I decided to do away with the curriculums I was using and started doing my own eclectic thing in our homeschool. We swapped out a lot of the curriculum for things such as deep dives into topics of interest, rabbit trails in certain subjects and just plain ol’ random learning about this and that.
We did occupational studies, notebooking, visited the library almost weekly and read a ton of books. We were totally flying by the seat of our pants in our homeschool.
Then the came the real test.
It was time to have my kids do their yearly state required testing. Ooof! ????♀️
Now, I’d be lying if I told you that I was super confident in what we had learned over the year and that I just knew my kids would pass with flying colors on their state testing.
But nope, I was slightly freaking out and was super nervous.
I had thoughts like:
Did I ruin my kids?
Will they have learned enough to score well on the test?
Did we even do “enough”?!?! Whatever “enough” even is!
Can you relate so far?
So anyway, long story short…. We completed the tests, sent them in for grading and then I ever so patiently waited for their test results to come in the mail.
Then the day came.
Test results were in the mailbox.
Then they were in the kitchen.
Then they were sitting in my hands waiting to be opened.
I remember having that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach.
These test results were going to prove whether or not I did my job as homeschool mom “right”.
It was going to prove whether “just winging it for the year” did us any good or not.
And so, did it? Well, here’s a pic of some of their results!
My children all scored either average or above average in almost every subject (besides the ones I was already aware that they struggled in, which didn’t bother me at all).
*Insert happy dance as carefully as possible as to not throw out my back*
But everything else?!
They did so great!! I mean, look at their Grade Equivalent averages!
That was so encouraging I tell ya!
So what does this mean for and your end of the homeschool year self-reflection today?
1. Regardless of what you’ve accomplished or didn’t accomplish this year in your homeschool— feel encouraged knowing that you did enough.
2. If you didn’t finish the curriculum this year— feel encouraged knowing that you did enough.
3. If your kiddos still have struggles at the end of the school year, welcome to real life; we all have struggles— feel encouraged knowing that you did enough.
And assuming that you’re passionate about providing a great education for your children, I have confidence in knowing that you did an amazing job this past school year.
And hey, if you would love to continue on with homeschooling year round and have your kids do some gentle learning throughout the summer, then go for it!
Alright, now for some personal self-reflection, shall we?
If you’d like to do some self-reflection over this past school year, I created a nifty little workbook for you to use.
I hope this workbook blesses you and helps you get the worries out of your mind and on to paper so that you can have a clearer mind to keep trekking on.
There’s also a sheet for your kids to write down their thoughts too, which is OH SO beneficial for us homeschool mamas to hear their feedback on how the school year went.
So, how about it?
Download the Free End of the Homeschool Year Self-Reflection Workbook Below:
Remember, mama, you’re doing a great job at homeschooling your kiddos. Keep up the good work!
