The key to success for just about anything is being consistent. Doing what it takes day after day is climbing intimidating mountains step by step. What does that look like for the homeschool journey?
Make a Game Plan
You need to make a plan in order to know where you are heading and how you hope to get there. Pick times to start your homeschool day, eat meals, play outside, end the school day, and whatever is important for each day. Make your plan around those top priorities.
Know Yourself and Your Kids Better
Take a close look at what is falling apart during the day. Is it difficult to get any schoolwork done at all? Maybe you are running too many errands. Is lunch dragging out for over an hour? Could you fix a simple lunch instead? Do you need fresh air throughout your day? When you take a break, head outside. Exercise, a shower, and coffee are important to me so I do those three things first each day. What is important to you and your kids? Make those things a focus for your consistent game plan.
Rewards
As an adult, sometimes I wish I had more rewards for the things I do consistently. If your kids are lacking motivation to stay consistent in their schooling, maybe a few rewards would come in handy. Pick one thing you want your child to be more consistent at and offer a reward as you see improvement. Eventually, a reward won’t be necessary.
Accountability
Part of knowing yourself better is determining if you need more accountability to succeed at being more consistent. Does your child need more accountability too? Joining a homeschool co-op or program is a great way to build in some outer accountability with homework due each week. Meeting up with other homeschool parents can build motivation for you to stick to your homeschool goals as you see others working toward similar goals.
Celebrate Success
Once you see improvement, don’t forget to celebrate success. Take a day off, go out to dinner, schedule a play date, or have a pajama day. Remember that you need to celebrate your own success along the way too. You don’t achieve consistency in one day; it’s the process of each day trying to accomplish what needs to be done. Over time you will see how far you’ve come. You can do it! Tackle one day at a time.
Sarah Brutovski is a homeschool mom of three children. She grew up just down the street from where she and her husband are raising their family now in rural Upstate New York. When she is not teaching her kids, grocery shopping, or drinking coffee you might find her training for a half marathon, escaping for a morning at the beach, or chatting on the phone with one of her four siblings. Sarah loves writing on her blog sarahswritingcafe.blogspot.com and currently teaches creative writing at her kids’ weekly co-op.
