Apologies to readers that my column didn’t appear last Friday. I wasn’t being very organized! (Our theme last week.) My dad had an unexpected hospital stay (just overnight) the week before and a stress test last week. Everything came out fine and instead of a heart issue, we believe it was actually a broken recliner that gave him shoulder pain that mimicked heart issues. I felt that I might “drop” a ball I was juggling and I sure did!

This week in Texas we were pleased to have a high in the mid-80s and even if it was on the last day of August, it was a very happy surprise. Government schools have been in session for over a week now and at least we have a hint of Fall temperatures for which to look forward. (The end of the week has gone back into the 90s—no surprise for Texas.)

Getting all your ducks in order for a new school year isn’t too hard. Hopefully, you’ve been looking over catalogs for the past several months and have already made orders for materials you feel your children will need this year. Even more hopefully, you’ve received your orders! (Of course those that go year-round, are unschoolers, or start their school year during nontraditional times march to a different drummer and will organize their school year in a different manner.)

For the first half of our school years, I would write down at the end of the day what we covered. I never wrote lesson plans...well, OK, I did at the beginning and then learned that my eraser and I were getting too well acquainted! I knew where to start each day by where we had finished the day before. When my son got older (around 12 years old), he wanted to get more independent, starting his day before I was up, so I had to figure out what was an appropriate amount of work for each day.

When getting back into the swing of things after a break, you can hit a few snags. First day of school (or at the very least, the first day for the public school in your area) should be a day to rejoice and celebrate the freedom to homeschool. If you can make it a field trip day or just a plain "holiday," that’s so fun for the child. They need to see that homeschooling has some benefits to them (and to you) over having to get up when it’s still dark, eat breakfast, pack a lunch, and walk or ride to school. It’s even better if you can make your way to pass in front of the school and point our that there really is a freedom in homeschooling and not being tied to a desk. Your first week or two don’t even have to cover every single subject. Ease your way back into a schedule or routine with a few classes, adding another in each week until you are covering all the subjects. Be sure to intersperse sitting/desk type classes with ones where the child can move. As they get older, allow them to choose which order their classes should be. (If you feel they’ll never get to a particular subject, you can make an exception when one or two particular classes need to fall in the day, as I did with math for my son.)

Having a place to keep your materials and having the child return those materials to that same place at the end of your day can help you stay organized. We kept ours in a plastic milk crate. When getting back to school, don’t forget to schedule in the house chores and outside errands. Including the child in such things helps them to be a part of the family dynamics and also is laying a good foundation for them in life skills.

I hope your school years have (or will) start smoothly and you have a great new year!

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