Are You Beginning Your New Homeschooling Year?

I’ve always thought of our homeschooling year as Labor Day to Memorial Day. For over twenty years, that’s been our main rhythm. As my children have become teens, we’ve often had wrapping up to do into June, but I honestly love the rhythm of homeschooling between these two holidays.

Here in northeastern Ohio, homeschooling activities and classes tend to layer in slowly in the fall, which is fine by me! This year, with my youngest a junior in high school, we are once again experiencing dual credit (a student takes college classes that count for both high school and college credit).

Lots of transitions and firsts this year: a college class, learning to drive, taking an online course, studying music theory with me, her Mom!

Wherever you are in your homeschooling journey, I wanted to put together a round-up post here to highlight some resources that you may not be aware of. So, here you go!

Let’s start with rhythm. To me, the simplest way to create rhythm is by planning meals. Family dinners are a great time to reconnect, and having a plan ensures that it happens and helps me to be more relaxed.

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Even though I’m homeschooling just one child these days, I still like to spend some time Labor Day weekend thinking through our daily rhythm and ways to make that go more smoothly.

So yesterday, I got together with a friend to do some baking in order help our days start off more smoothly with breakfast bars and muffins in the freezer! Teens often only leave time for a “grab and go” breakfast, and I prefer to make that healthy by making these homemade.

I absolutely love my Plan to Eat program for making menu plans for dinner as well, for storing my recipes, and for creating a grocery list. You can check out how I use Plan to Eat in this post and read here about Family Dinners. And here for Super Simple Menu Planning.

Here are a variety of other resources that might help you as you begin a new year of homeschooling.

If you are new to Waldorf, I suggest you read these articles as a starting point:

• Resources for Waldorf-Inspired Homeschooling
• The Seven Lively Arts
• Waldorf Block Rotation for Grades 1-8

If you are still not sure how to move forward with planning main lesson blocks, check out this series of blog posts on the 6 Steps to Planning an Awesome Year.

Curious to learn more about the Waldorf curriculum? Here are two resources I recommend:

• Ages & Stages Guide (it’s FREE!)
• The Three Stages of the Waldorf Curriculum

If you want to read more reflections on Steiner’s lectures to the very first Waldorf teachers, check out the Steiner Cafe.

All the best to you and your family as you embark on your new year!