This is a great time to think about how to ease back into life after the holidays! Here in the Northern Hemisphere many have taken the week off between Christmas and New Year’s, and some children are going back to school the day after New Year’s and some are starting on January 8th. Parents everywhere are wondering how to get back into the groove of things, and homeschooling parents especially (you mean we can’t just end school here?)
Some of the things I love to do to help get back into things:
Review where we were in the fall semester and where we need to go in the spring semester. Some Waldorf homeschooling families write progress reports at this time. I only write one at the end of the school year, but I think each family is different.
Get some inspiration from favorite Pinterest boards and You Tube Channels
Get the house under control! Need help with rhythms and routines for house cleaning? Try this back post from 2009 called Housecleaning and Homeschooling
Breakfast plans. It is hard to get the day going if we are caught up in making breakfast and then distraction sets in and everything starts really late. If you are home all day with younger children, this may not matter, but older teenagers often have places to be in the afternoon, and we need to get going in the morning. I find a warming breakfast often helps.
Planning rhythm around your rest and your own physical and emotional needs. This can be hard for some of us to do whether e we often put everyone else’s needs before us or we feel as if the education of every child in the house is relying on us. For a refresher, try this back post on Building Your Homeschooling Around Rest
Ease into the rest of the school year by having a nature week, a handwork week, a week focused on one great book (“The Living Language Book” by Christopherus has suggestions for this sort of unit), plan extra time for crafting or playing wonderful board games (post to come on our favorites) or being outside… in other words, take half days to just be together with structure before you start trying to throw a full schedule onto everyone!
If you must tackle a full schedule due to time constraints, then plan to start on a Wednesday or Thursday so you have a few days to be “on” and another mini-break. 🙂
Just a few ideas! Tell me your favorite way to ease back into school!
Blessings,
Carrie
The Parenting Passageway 
I really surprised myself with how anxious I was to get back to homeschooling! After a month of extra running to prep for holidays, and special family events, I think starting back was my attempt to grasp for rhythm and normal again in my home. It worked! Crankiness is disappearing in everyone, the house is shaping up, and life seems doable again! On my list to figure out before the next school break, we need more rhythm that is not disturbed by holidays,vacation, and no school. 🙂
Meli,
Me too to everything you said! And yes, we need desperately to not have anymore sickness or surgeries in animals or people so we can focus this spring semester and get everything done! Blessings,
Carrie