CHM 151: Reflecting on the Homeschool Year 2023

Hi everyone, and welcome to episode one fifty one of the Christian Homeschool Moms podcast. I'm Demitria, your host, and my goal on this show is to encourage homeschool moms of faith to continue homeschooling with joy during this very limited season of your life as a homeschool mom. I hope to help you to stay encouraged and hopeful on your homeschool journey. This podcast is sponsored by Faith Media and Impact podcast Coach, which is a service that supports women podcasters to boldly share their voices and their powerful messages through the medium of podcasting. So you can find out more about that at Impactpodcastcoach dot com and to find out more about what we do at Christian Homeschool Moms, you may visit my website at christianhomeschool Moms dot com. So I hope you enjoyed my last couple of episodes. On the last show, I had an interview with Megan DeVito and we talked about boundaries and self care for homeschool moms, and that's just been a really big topic on my heart this year, so I wanted to share that with you on this last episode of the year of twenty twenty three. Before we get into our new topics for twenty twenty four, I just wanted to do sort of a recap on some things that can help us to look at this past year and see how things have been going and really consider how we want to change things for next year in our homeschools. And as many of you know, I've homeschooled both of my girls since kindergarten and graduated one into college, and currently have my high school daughter, which I've been homeschooling, and this year she decided to attend private school, so we are seeing how that goes. There are a lot of really cool things about our school that I like, and I will share that very soon. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes to see how our journey is going. But for the last seventeen eighteen years years or so, I have been homeschooling my kids, and so with that experience, I feel like I have so much that I can share to encourage moms of faith to continue homeschooling. And even if you're not a mom of faith, but you just need some support with homeschooling and being encouraged. That's what I'm here for. That's what this podcast is here for so at the moment of my recording this, this is the week of Christmas and the holiday season is upon us, and I am excited to spend this time at home with my family and with my church family as well, and just really enjoy this time off. And it's just a blessing to be with my family and to rest and relax. And every year I always go right back to the drawing board and think about what have we done this year that we are happy about, What have we done that we would like to change, and what, if anything, should we look forward to doing differently in the upcoming year. So I'm going to have you sort of walk with me on this journey as well, and then we'll kind of it together and talk about the things that we can do in our upcoming school year. So, even though my daughter is in a Christian private school this year, we've felt a way to kind of make it a hybrid situation and so she is taking some classes at home still, so officially we are kind of still homeschooling, to be honest. So it just kind of worked out that way. So with her being gone every day at school and then having some classes at home, we've still had to figure out how to make things work. So I'd like to set some goals for the upcoming year as well, and I thought that this would be a great opportunity during this podcast to think about those things. So I'd love for you to grab a cup of your favorite war and beverage and find a cozy spot, and we are going to dive right into some thoughts about gratitude, some lessons we've learned over this past year, celebrating any milestones that we have accomplished this year, and then we're going to also go over some tips for getting ready for a brand new year of homeschooling. So as we approach the end of the year of twenty twenty three, it's really perfect time to pause and reflect on all the joys and the challenges and the growth that we've experienced as homeschooling moms. So I hope you have a notebook, pen or pencil and just start to think about some of the things that you have experienced this year in homeschooling your kids. What are the things that made you happy with home educating and what are some of the challenges you've had. So those are kind of two opposing thoughts, so to speak, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to considering what we feel. You could feel elated about something or you can feel really about something. So your situation can range from awesome to horrible. And so it just depends on what you've gone through this year. But you want to look at your joys, the things that have made you happy, but you also want to look at your really tough times and your challenges in homeschooling. And then I also want you to think about the things that have helped you to grow in your homeschooling experience. And that could be the fact that the mere fact that your kids are growing up right before your eyes, and they are getting older and wiser and more complicated, right so they should be becoming more complex creatures as God has created us to grow and mature, and it just means that we have to figure out who they are from year to year as they mature, and they have growth spurts both physically and mentally, and so that can pose challenges of its own. And so I would love for us to really think about what growth spurts our kids have had and what growth spurts we have had as moms and how we've been able to reconcile that in our homeschooling, and if we haven't write it down, think about what has been a challenge and whether or not it's been resolved, if we're still working through those challenges, and just in general the things that we've experienced as homeschool moms this year. I know, for me it was finding a school for my daughter because she really wanted to try private school this year, and coming out of an online school program and previously I'm going to a hybrid twice a week program, and now from that to online school to a full time school, but then finding out that we also had the option to go hybrid with our full time school has been quite a series of transitions for us. And watching my daughter grow, watching her really come to herself and get to know herself better and request the things that she wants. Now that she's ready to start learning how to drive, and now that she's ready for getting a job and making her own money, and she's asking for these things. These growth spurts that she's had recently has pushed me into a new place in my life as a mom of a teen again for the second time. Around, and it just really makes me come to terms with where I am in my own place of motherhood right now, and knowing that I don't have any other kids to raise, any other younger children, and so this is kind of the finish line for me when it comes to graduating my kids through high school. And I've got one down, one to go, and we're almost there, and so two more years to go. And when I think about where I am in my journey, I realize that the stretches that I've had to go through this year have really mainly been me acknowledging that I am where I am in my life right now, and to accept that this is where I am, and that it is a little bit difficult to say goodbye to those happier moments and those times when I really enjoyed being with my kids when they were younger, and I loved the throes of homeschooling when they were in their younger years pre k through fifth grade. That was super fun for me in those younger years, and as they got older, it got a little bit more complicated, it got more challenging, and I realized that I am not in those same years anymore. I'm not in that space that I was in before, and it's okay to mourn that and move on past that and really learn to tap into today to enjoy raising my one teenager and appreciating the young adult that my oldest daughter has become. And so I'm just encouraging you that as you think on your joys, your challenges, and your growth, that you take into consideration all the things that you've gone through this past year and to be okay with where you are, to embrace where you are today, that it's okay even if you are sad, and even if everything is not perfect, because I'm sure it's not, just know that God is with you and you can do all things through Christ. He will help you through every season of your life, no matter what it looks like. So we're also going to express gratitude for all of those beautiful moments that made this homeschooling year special. So if you still have your notebook and your pencil or pen ready to write, I would love for you to take time to do that. I have been journaling a lot lately. It's something that helps me to process all of my thoughts. I'm an introvert by nature, and it's i guess ambivert but mostly introvert, And I realize that a lot of the way I'm able to survive basically is through journaling and getting my thoughts out into some type of a form that's a brain dump for me, but an organized brain dump. So for me, that's journaling. And when I've been journaling lately, I've been looking at all of the things that made this school year special. It has been a very challenging year over the past three months. As I mentioned in my last episode that I have been teaching at our school, so that made things a lot more layered and complicated when it comes to finding those quiet moments with God and finding peace. Really was a very challenging period of time this past semester for me. But from here on out, I do believe things are going to get better and be a lot more peaceful in the upcoming year of twenty twenty four. So I've rearranged my life in a way where I can now really just focus on healing and getting better and feeling good and having the moments that I need to be the person God has called me to be. And so sometimes that means you have to pull away from something that wasn't the right thing for you right, or that wasn't the right time, the right place, or or the right thing, or just taking care of ourselves in general, getting our doctor appointments, doing the things that we need to do to make sure that we're staying healthy. As women, we do oftentimes put ourselves in the back burner, and I am guilty of having done that one time too many in my life. So as I reach getting closer to my fifties pretty soon, I got a couple of years ago, but I do tend to look forward rather than backwards so that I can embrace where I am today. And so as I'm looking forward to that season of my life, I want to make sure that I'm doing all the things that I need to be doing and that I love my life and whatever I choose to do is making me happy and my family as well. So I'm grateful. So as I write through my journal, I'm writing about my moments of gratitude and discovering where I am, discovering where I want to go, and discovering what my daughter now wants to do with her life as she's figuring out things for herself. Also. So we've had some breakthroughs in really getting to know each other better over the past couple of years, as I've really learned about her world and the things that she enjoys doing, and I've kind of just jumped into her world and just really take time for her, watch the things she likes to watch, listen to the music she likes to listen to, and get to know her friends right and just really stay involved in her life. And she's enjoyed being part of her choir, and just like all of the extracurriculars that she's been doing with school and with dance, and I just really love being a mom right now. So I am super grateful. So I'm having my gratitude moments as i think back on this past year and all the really cool stuff we've been able to do, and watching her dance at her recital and watching her sing at her choir performances, and I'm just really pleased and honored to be her mama. And then my oldest daughter. I'm so happy to have her home for the holidays from college, and she's been really enjoying her life on campus, but is super glad to be home for the holidays because life and college life is stressful, and so she's happy to be back, and she has one more semester. I cannot believe it, but she will be out of school shortly and she may decide to get her masters. So we'll see what happens with my eldest and what her decisions are. But she is doing really well with her music program and we're really proud of her. So again, moments of gratitude, take time to think about what you're grateful for. And then the third thing you want to do is just think about the lessons you've learned this year. So that's kind of going back to our first topic when we sort of opened our discussion with talking about reflecting on our joys, our challenges, and our growth. And so when you think about your growth, you want to think about the lessons that you've learned. What have you learned this year in your homeschooling, in your family life, in your parenting that has helped you to grow. And that's what I'm thinking about as well, what are some valuable lessons that you've learned throughout the year. And maybe it has to do with maybe adapting your teaching style. Maybe you have several kids that you have to teach in different ways to your different kids, or maybe it's finding the right resources for your kids, and that is a challenge in and of itself, right, there's so many options out there, and how do you choose the right curricula, how do you figure out how to teach to each of your child's learning styles, and how do you figure out your own teaching style? And then how do you embrace flexibility in your homeschool routine. I want to take a few minutes to shamelessly plug the homeschool bos Mama Goal Planner. This is my e course that I talk about every so often once in a while, but I should share it often more often. And this course has been on sale for a while, so I'm going to hike the price back up really soon. But right now it's only ten dollars, and I'm going to tell you for nine ninety nine you are going to receive an audio course. It's about an hour long, so you don't need to be glued to your computer or anything. You don't have to look at videos. It's an audio course. But you're also going to receive a workbook that helps you to plan your goals. And this twenty seven page workbook, I really get into the family mission statement and then creating those academic goals for each child. We talk about managing your time around your homeschool philosophy and how to determine a schedule that works best for your family lifestyle. These are the things that we were just talking about, and I wanted to plug this course because I think it will help you to do just that. Right, we're talking about choosing curriculum according to your child's learning style and your teaching style, and so will help you figure out what your teaching style is and your child's learning style. So as you listen to this audio course, it's going to help you with figuring out all of these things and give you time to reflect on all of it. So there are nine modules and at the very end of the course there's a prayer for homeschool Moms and I pray over you, and that is it, and it is nine to ninety nine for now over the holidays, and I want you to have it. So I'm going to leave a link in the show notes, but if you want to just hop on over, it is Christian homeschool Moms dot teachable dot com and there is a link for you to enroll in the homeschool course from there. So it's at Christian homeschool Moms dot teachable dot com. You'll see the Homeschool Boss Mama goal planner already for you, and I hope that it serves you well and that you're able to enroll and tell me how it works for you and if it's been helpful for you. So, moving on to our fourth tip, I want you to be sure that you're celebrating yourself in every single milestone that you achieve. It's so easy as moms and as women to typically put ourselves on the shelf. Again, we accomplish so much, but we oftentimes don't take credit for what we've accomplished, and so celebrating milestones making an effort to do so is important just for our own validity that we know we are moving in the right direction with our kids, that we're doing what we need to. So I think that homeschooling is a journey of continuous learning and growth. So you want to celebrate the milestones both big and small, that you and your children have achieved. From the first math problem that your child solved to maybe completing a really challenging unit in history or language arts. Every single step is worth celebrating, so just make sure that you are adding in time to celebrate your achievements as a family, as a teacher, and with your kids. So let's move on to our fifth tip, which is basically tips for getting ready for a new year. How do we get ready for twenty twenty four? Homeschool moms? How do we get ready for this next year? So you're in the middle, possibly in the middle of a school year, maybe entering your second semester. If you're on a traditional semester type basis, some of you homeschool year round, so doesn't really make a big dent in how you look at at your homeschooling lifestyle. Maybe it's a little bit different for you, but for some people it is a semester or quarterly basis. So depending on how you look at your schedule and your school life, your homeschooling routines. Let's think about how we can set new goals for twenty twenty four. If we're just going to look at the whole year, let's start for twenty twenty four and let's number one, set realistic goals. Okay, that's the first tip I have for you. Making sure that you are not setting yourself up for disappointment, because when you set realistic goals, you're going to reflect on what worked well this year and what could possibly work well again for the next year. And I know that what I'm doing right now with my youngest daughter is working well for us. For now, she is doing her private school. She's in school full time, but she is also experiencing a bit of the hybrid situation as well because we have her doing a couple of her classes at home. So that's really cool that we're able to figure out how to make that work. So some of our goals will be for her to make sure she stays on top of all of her classes, especially the ones that she's not doing at her school. For example, she's doing some electives at home, like French and so I really have to keep on top of that. And she's also taking Bible at home and a few other things, so making sure I'm on top of her academics is important. So that's one of my realistic goals for this year. Also, helping her to get started with her driver's education is important to me, so that's another realistic goal, and those are personal and academic development goals that I have for her, and then think about what you want for your own kids and set some realistic goals for that for this year. Number two, you might want to refresh your curriculum. If you are choosing all your curriculum for your students, then you may want to consider any adjustments or new materials that might enhance your homeschooling experience for this upcoming year. So there are lots of curriculum out there, and again it's all about figuring out what works for your family, whether it's a new science experiment kit, something really fun and cool, or a captivating history book. I love history books, especially the ones that give us the proper perspective on history. I'm always looking for realistic history books, and that's another topic for another day, but I'm looking for things that help my child to see herself in history in a positive light. And also I'm always looking for things that I think would spark interest, so anything stem related, just things that I know she would love to really dig into. So a fresh perspective on your homeschooling and looking at what your kid's interests are and finding things perhaps at Barnes and Noble or a local bookstore, even on Amazon. Having an Amazon wish list and purchasing things off the Amazon wish list it can give you some fresh perspective and bring some excitement to your lesson. So you may want to refresh your curriculum for the upcoming year. Number three, you might want to create a flexible schedule if you can. I know, for our family, our schedule is going to look just about the same as it looked last semester, just because she will be going to school every day and coming home the same time every day, So that's not going to look different for us. But if you have that option to recreate your schedule, if you need to or make any adjustments to that, this is a great time to think about how you want twenty twenty four to look. So for the upcoming year, you know, even though structure is important, flexibility is key, So just be open to adjusting your schedule based on your family's needs and your family's interests. I love love flexibility. It's one I think. I think it's one of the things that makes me feel secure is knowing that in life I can have that flexibility, which is why it's really really hard for me to stay boxed into an institutionalized setting, it's just really really hard for me. So I love having a lifestyle that allows for creativity and flexibility. And it's what I've been doing for two decades. So it's just convenient and it's it is. It's what I've been used to, right, So if I can keep things that way for our family for as long as I can, I would love to always keep that flexibility there. It allows for spontaneity and creativity in our homeschool journey as well as our life journey in general. So think about how you want your schedule to look. And then number four, build that support network if at all possible, try to do that locally. Connect with other moms of faith or just other homeschool moms in general for that support and encouragement. Share those experiences with each other, exchange ideas, and build that community that uplifts each other in the joys and challenges of homeschooling. If you can't find a local group, I always say that something is better than nothing, So a virtual homeschool group can be just as invigorating and encouraging to you. So if you find a group online that you want to join, even if you can't get to a local meetup, just joining that group for that experience, being with other homeschool moms and dads right is important. So join what you can that's going to help keep you encouraged. Or if you have a couple of special friends that also homeschool, maybe get together on occasion from time to time and share your experiences with each other so that you can pray for one another. So my closing thoughts for you, my dear homeschool moms, as we wrap up this reflective episode, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you this year. Thank you so much for being faithful to listening to this podcast. I've loved being a part of your journey this year. Some of you have had a chance to speak with a good bit over the summer, especially when I had a little bit more time on my hands to talk with a lot of you, And I really am so happy that I've had this time with you guys, and so I'm grateful. And when I look back on our episodes this year, I see that we've had quite a few interviews. We've had Christy Thomas with us raising our kids with deep faith roots. Episode one forty eight, so thank you Christy for being on the show. Just recently we had Megan Davido and we talked about breaking free from hustle culture and self care for homeschool moms. Back on episode one forty six, we talked about spending time with God through journaling with Beverly Schweigert. So again we were talking about self care and journaling. We talked about playful parenting tips with parenting coach Joy Wendling, and then Heather Creek Moore back on episode one forty four, talked with us about how body image affects Christian women. I gave my homeschool mompreneur story about how I became a momrepreneur or an entrepreneur over the years, and that was on episode one forty three. We talked with Lynn Plater about meaning confidence in teaching children the Bible and Lenda is an author of a children's curriculum. That was episode one forty two. We talked about raising entrepreneurial kids with Tamara Zantel of raising a MOGULLLC that was super fun. We just have had an awesome, awesome time. And again Anita Croker with the Homeschool with Heart online summit talk to us about a child's heart versus a child's behavior. So all of this was in twenty twenty three. All of these conversations about homeschooling with Moms of Faith and you guys have been such a blessing to me. So I'm really really grateful for each and everyone that's contributed to this podcast and all of you who are listening. So remember that your dedication, your love and faith make a profound impact on your children's lives. Please remember that as you go from day to day and the grind of homeschooling and the unthanked days when no one is saying thank you and no one is giving you any accolades and you just are working hard at home. I just want to let you know that you are seen, and you are heard, and you are loved, and I just want to thank you for what you're doing for your kids as we as a community of homeschoolers are doing this together, so you're not alone on this journey. Thank you for joining me today on the Christian Homeschool Moms podcast. And if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe to us in Apple podcasts and iTunes and leave a review for me, Share it with fellow homeschooling moms too. I'd love for you to spread the word about this podcast, and I just want to wish you a joyous holiday season and a wonderful start to the new homeschooling year. Happy Homeschooling