Does your homeschool seem…ordinary? No tricks, nothing special, just you and the kids making a little more progress every day. Should you be doing more? Is this simple day-to-day enough? There’s always the dazzle of uncharted horizons… the latest curriculum fad, more field trips, classes your kids would like to take. While there’s no harm in adding a little pizzaz to your days, I would like to encourage you that you can have a simple homeschool and it can be very good. Let me share 5 reasons why your homeschool can be simple.

Video: 5 Reasons Why Your Homeschool Can Be Simple

What Is a Simple Homeschool?

Because we have a large family with a wide age range (10 kids, ages 18 to 5 months) our homeschool has been very basic from time to time. Meeting the needs of each individual child sometimes means we have to lighten the load on our calendar!

For us, simple homeschooling has looked like this. Staying home more often, being involved in fewer extracurricular activities, doing less in general. Simple homeschool often means saying no to some things so you can say yes to the more important matters. It can mean not being up on the latest trends in curriculum and instead using basic materials like library books, a globe, an abacus, flashcards, counting tiles, common kitchen items, etc.

Simple homeschooling does NOT mean that we aren’t challenging our kids. As homeschool moms, we know when our kids aren’t giving it their best shot and this kind of attitude is not ok! We want them to always try their very best and to see all of life as learning.

Certain seasons or financial circumstances might make it necessary to keep school very minimal. If this is you, don’t compare yourself to what others are doing or doubt your effectiveness as a homeschool mom. I want to encourage you that your homeschool can be quite simple and yet very good.

Disclaimer

Before I tell you all the reasons why your homeschool can be simple, I know some people thrive on creative endeavors and spontaneous excursions. Staying busy and trying new things keeps some people going! I am not trying to discourage that kind of inspiration. In fact, because I am not generally creative by nature, I surround myself with friends who inspire me with their creative juices so that I can glean from them what ideas might work for us. I like to add zing from time to time. Variety is the spice of life!

Sometimes, however, we can have so much on our plate that a simple homeschool is just the ticket to a peaceful home. If you have a new baby or have recently moved, these might be reasons you long for a simple homeschool. If like us, you have a large family, you may need to keep your homeschool simple in certain times of life to be able to function.

#1 Advantage of Simple Curriculum

I know all that new curriculum you saw the the recent convention looks sooo tempting, but you don’t have to have the best curriculum for your child to succeed! In fact, you can stick with the same curriculum all the way through if you want, no matter how many latest models you see along the way.

We have done this (for the most part) in our homeschool and it has resulted in what I call the “trickle down” effect. I have seen how much the younger children pick up from watching their older siblings do school work. When they are finally old enough to start, they are familiar with the layout and the content, expectations, and teaching style. SO MANY times I have started to teach my budding school age child a new concept only to see that they already know it. They have heard all the history songs from 5 different time periods because they have been sitting beside an older sibling listening to them for several years before starting school themselves.

Additionally, after I teach the curriculum to the oldest child, I get better and better with the next child. Every time a mom switches curriculum, it takes a period of time to learn the new layout. Admittedly, from time to time, I have been tempted to try the newest fads, but as you can see, staying with the same curriculum, though it may seem ordinary, has its advantages as well.

#2 Free Time Breeds Curiosity

Nothing will stifle a child’s imagination more than running around from activity to activity. Kids need free time. Time to be bored. When children have space in their day, they begin to wonder and ask questions. With free time, kids can pursue their interests and hone their skills. This is when some of the best learning happens! If your kids raise kids who love to learn, you have equipped them in the best way possible.

Think about it. What kinds of things do you remember most? You remember the things you were interested in and took time to search and learn on your own. So it’s ok if your homeschool is simple. All that free time is serving you well.

Examples

Here are two examples of people with very primitive learning environments who taught themselves and grew up to make important contributions to the people of their time period.

Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up in wilderness areas, living sometimes on the prairie or in a dugout. Consequently, she lived each day working without modern tools, churning butter, hand-washing clothes, making her own candles. She had access to few books, yet she grew to be an excellent writer. Laura has a way of expressing thoughts and processes in a way that is easy to understand.

Frederick Douglas, who was born in slavery, grew up in a supremely dismal literate environment, yet when he escaped slavery as a free man, he became one of the greatest orators our country has ever known. Where did he get this training in public speaking? As a young slave, he taught himself over the years how to read. When he gained his freedom, one of the first books he ever owned was a book of famous speeches. He memorized them.

So you see, it doesn’t take the best tools or plans to help kids learn, it takes desire. Thankfully, this curious nature is innate in all children!

#3 YouTube and the Magical Library Card

The beauty of the information age is that we have access to infinite amounts of information just at our fingertips. While it may be fun to sign up for various classes, it’s not necessary when you can learn how to do anything on YouTube. If your kids want to build a treehouse, YouTube it! If kids want ideas for how to start their own business, they can learn the skills needed from watching videos of others working a trade. When an appliance breaks in your home, you no longer have to call the repairman, turn it into a physics and machinery lesson!

With your library card, you can read just about any book… for free! You don’t need to fill your time with unnecessary plans when you can learn the same thing in the comfort of your home.

#4 A Peaceful Mom

No matter how many fun activities and learning experiences you have planned for your kids, if you as a mom are frazzled and overwhelmed, these exciting plans may have the opposite outcome. Kids learn best when they live in a secure, loving environment with parents who are fully engaged.

Think about the atmospheres that prevent kids from learning well:

• Broken relationships/fighting
• Not feeling secure at home
• Basic needs not met: food, shelter, rest, clothing
• No order or structure to family life

When you think about the atmospheres that inhibit learning, I hope you can see how a peaceful mom is a very important ingredient for a healthy homeschool. Think about how the basic act of staying home often with regular routines and loving parents who provide plenty of free time for play and work can equip your child with the best environment to grow and thrive.

#5 There’s No Place Like Home

While it may seem at times that everything exciting is “out there”, think of all the opportunities available to you in your home. Home is the place where you can be the most creative. A home is filled with raw materials: wood, fabric, water, stone, metals, ceramic, modeling dough or clay, simple machines. Your whole kitchen can become a chemistry lab as you experiment with actions and reactions. A walk outside opens up a world of living plants, animals, birds, and insects. A flower, herb, or vegetable garden will bring even more variety to your home for your children to discover. Consider the difference between the accoutrements in a brick and mortar school building and the exhaustive resources available in the comfort of your own home. There’s no comparison! Humble though it may be, truly, there is no place like home!

More Posts About Simple Homeschooling

Keeping it Simple Homeschooling: Interview With Lisa

Simple Guide to Planning A New Homeschool Year

How to Simplify Your Homeschool with Morning Time

Start Your Homeschool Year Simply

How to Make a Simple Homeschool Portfolio

Pin It! 5 Reasons Why Your Homeschool Can Be Simple

Nature journaling is a wonderful habit for children to learn. Drawing and recording the changes in the trees, wildflowers, birds, and mammals in the great outdoors will help kids become observant and give them a love of nature that will hopefully be lifelong. If you want kids to be successful at keeping a nature notebook, I suggest you make it very simple. It’s better to have consistent entries , even if they are rather plain, than to have only a handful of pages of exquisite work. Below I will share how to keep a simple homeschool nature study notebook.

Video: How to Keep a Simple Nature Notebook

What I love about Nature Study

One of the aspects I love most about Nature Study is that it engages all five senses. We can listen to a chickadee singing or a squirrel scolding. The brilliant colors of wildflowers against the azure sky dazzle our eyes. The lilacs, roses, and honeysuckle change the aroma in the air as they each come into full bloom at their appointed times. We can sample a taste of some wild berries or herbs or wildflowers. I get excited along with the kids when they find a four-leaf clover or rare caterpillar. At every turn, there are so many new creatures or plants or different things to observe. Everything outside is alive and it is very exciting for children and adults alike.

Key Focus: SIMPLE

The goal of our nature notebook comes down to one word: SIMPLE. In our large family of twelve with seven kids who are school age, nature notebooks have to be kept very basic or they won’t get done at all. As much as I love Nature Study, I am not able to spend as much time focusing on it as I would like at this current stage in our homeschool. I would rather the kids at least consistently keep a simple notebook rather than miss out on it altogether.

Tools

Having a few tools handy will help keep the inspiration strong. Well-sharpened pencils, fresh watercolors and brushes, thicker paper, and field guides will attract a child’s interest, especially younger children. Who wants to sketch with broken and worn down crayons? Investing in some quality mediums is a great way to incline them to be creative with their nature journal pages.

Sketch book

Colored pencils

Watercolor paints

Field guides, nature books, and science books. We like the National Audubon Society Field Guides and the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.

Nature Notebooking In Our Home

It can be hard to fit nature studies in with all the other content that we have to cover in our homeschool from day to day. In our home, I assign nature study notebooks one day a week in. place of daily copywork. I put it on their homeschool checklists as a visual reminder to them. This relieves us from adding another subject by replacing it with a subject we are already doing. Additionally, kids look forward to the nature notebooking day when they can get a day off from copywork.

Some people have kids fill in the blank pages of nature notebooks when they are out on a nature walk. I think this takes away the simple pleasure of being out in God’s creation. I would rather they bring their nature finds home, add them to their collection, and save them for journal entries later.

I think it is a good idea to let high school students choose whether or not they want to keep a student notebook. The most important thing is for them to enjoy Nature Study and that happens best with older kids when it is their choice.

A Simple Format for a Nature Notebook

A few years ago, a friend introduced me to the book The Country Diary of and Edwardian Lady. This book inspired me from the start and we started formatting our nature notebooks after the style used in it. The illustrations and text in Ms. Holden’s book are lovely and the content is fodder for imagination. It has given us a simple structure to follow.

I want to show you the basic pattern that we have taken from this book because it has revolutionized our approach to nature notebooking! I want our kids to see their notebooks as a keepsake, a product consistently in the making, so it helps to have a model to follow. This book does just that.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for how we organize our notebooking journal.

1. Page 1 (left side)- First thing, in bold or block letters, write the month at the top of the page. Using inspiration from sights in the backyard or in the woods, draw the plants, animals, trees, scenes as they are in this month. I encourage the kids to do good quality work with colorful illustrations. They can color with pencils or watercolor painting.
2. Page 2 (right side and following pages, if needed) Write the short form of the date and a journal entry describing what is happening in the natural world around them at this time. The entry should be short, a few sentences, so as not to discourage the child. Since we do nature notebook once a week, they usually have 4 or 5 entries. This helps them to see the slow changes in the seasons.
3. *Optional* Pages 3 & 4- For kids who can’t fit it all in the first two pages, they can continue their journal entries on page 3 or draw more sketches on page 4. However, we do like to keep each month in the same open notebook pages so that you can see it all with the spiral open flat.

I let my kids use the book for inspiration and creative ideas. Also, they can write little mottos poems in the margins as Edith Holden does in the book if they like to do that.

Guidelines for Keeping It Simple

The grand goal is for them to love nature. Because of that, I think it is very important how we approach a nature notebook. Here are a few guidelines.

• Don’t set the bar so high. Encourage them to do their best, but let go of all the instagram-worthy ideas you find on pinterest. When a child is capturing nature from his or her perspective, he is learning. Do you want their student notebook to look a certain way or do you want them to learn and to love nature? Challenge them to do their best work, but don’t steal the joy by having your expectations too high.
• You don’t have to prioritize nature study year round. It’s ok to focus on it more for certain periods of time and then let it slip to the background for a bit.

Simple Nature Notebook Ideas

• In the back of the notebook, keeping bulleted lists of birds, trees, and flowers as they learn to identify them is a great idea as well.
• Kids can Modge Podge, tape, or press flowers and leaves into the notebooking pages.
• For young children, moms can write their observations in the notebook for them. (They can do their own illustrations.)

Do you have a nature journal idea to help kids consistently keep a simple nature notebook? Leave a comment below with your suggestions!

Pin it for Later! How to Keep a Simple Nature Notebook

Have you hit a slump in your homeschool? What do you do when you lack the motivation to follow through with your daily routine?

This usually happens to me half way through the year, when winter is not quite over and spring has not yet arrived. At this point in our homeschool year, we have been homeschooling straight through without stopping since Christmas break. The end is in sight, but we still have a way to go.

The good news is that you can avoid homeschool burnout! In my homeschooling journey over the past 14 years, I have learned a few strategies that have helped me stay the course and beat the homeschool mom blues.

Video: 10 Simple Ideas to Help You Avoid Homeschool Burnout

#1 Be Creative

Explore nontypical ways to learn through art, music, nature, movement, etc. Do something fun.

Occasionally, we get out paints and brushes and imitate the pieces from our picture study. Dance to music with your preschoolers. Play card or strategy board games with your older kids. Work out to your favorite exercise routine together. Try playing music during your school day.

*This post may contain affiliate links which means I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

#2 Switch It Up

Do you get into a rut of doing school a certain way this time of year? Do you spend most of your homeschool day at home doing bookwork? Try switching it up!

Go out more often to discover the local attractions and fun things to do in your area.

The opposite also applies. If you are out a lot, maybe you would enjoy staying home more and doing quiet work or being creative or productive.

Although there is no perfect curriculum, sometimes it can be a good thing to branch out and try something new. By nature, I am not a unit studies person. It’s too much work for my practical personality. But now and then when things tend to get monotonous, I have tried a unit study to bring a little flare and excitement to our day.

#3 Connect With Other Homeschoolers

Sometimes what we need more than anything else is simply encouragement. Spending time with other homeschoolers can help you avoid the trap of isolation.

Invest in the kind of relationships that make you walk away revitalized in your calling, not discouraged.

Are you involved in local homeschool groups? Have play dates with friends from your co-op. Meet up at a nearby cafe or your local library. Take advantage of the freedom you have to go out with other friends during the school day.

#4 Follow Seasoned Homeschoolers

Listen to other homeschoolers with years of experience. This will help you avoid doing things the hard way.

Feed your mind by reading homeschool books. When you get some free time, don’t waste it on social media. Instead, peruse your favorite blogs or listen to podcasts on homeschooling. Here are some of my favorites.

Podcasts:

5 Homeschool Podcasts You Need to Download

Websites:

Read Aloud Revival

Generation Cedar

The Unlikely Homeschool

Good Book Recommendations:

Sale

Homeschool Bravely: How to Squash Doubt, Trust God, and Teach Your Child with Confidence

• Erickson, Jamie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 208 Pages – 04/02/2019 (Publication Date) – Moody Publishers (Publisher)

$10.86

Buy on Amazon

Sale

For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School

• Macaulay, Susan Schaeffer (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 208 Pages – 06/28/2022 (Publication Date) – Crossway (Publisher)

$10.28

Buy on Amazon

#5 Serving

Serving others is a great way to add variety to your homeschool while also teaching compassion for others. Finding time to invest in the care of other people gets us out of our own little world. When kids meet the needs of others, it can give them a fresh perspective on life, reminding them to be thankful.

What volunteer work is available in your area? Think of ways that you can serve your family members, church, neighbors, and community.

Start conversations with the elderly neighbors around you. Find out if they need help with house or lawn work. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.

#6 Try Some Life Skills Learning

Put the books aside. Be a more flexible homeschool mom and think outside the box. Life skills are important learning lessons too!

Think about what kinds of skills you want your kids to be competent at before they leave the house. Try some new recipes in the kitchen. Get out real money and play store, practicing giving change. Begin plans for your summer garden.

Behind in housework? Have a life skills day by organizing closets, washing and mending clothes, and deep cleaning.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Winter

Useful Life Skills Suitable to Teach in Spring

#7 Field Trips

Do more field trips, especially with friends! Field trips teach kids through experiential learning. This is great especially if you have a kid who is a hands-on learner.

On field trips, kids can explore real places, rather than only reading about them in books. They can use their five senses to observe everything around them. It’s fun to watch how products are made or how a business is run.

Visit local science and art museums, historical sites, the state capitol, theatrical performances, and community events. Get ideas by asking your homeschool friends about some of the favorite field trips they have enjoyed.

#8 Do Less

Take a good look at your schedule. Are you doing too much? Sometimes the real cause of homeschool mom burnout is physical exhaustion. Because we are constantly running, we can lose inspiration for doing the things we love.

Maybe this is a good time for you to pause and limit your activity. Allow space in your day for empty moments. The more free time I have without any pressure or obligations, the more energized I become.

Or maybe you need to take a complete break from your school work. Taking a homeschool break for an extended period of time may bring life back to your whole family and help you to make it over the long haul.

Don’t be afraid to do less. Having more margin in your day is a great thing. It will make you a much better mom.

#9 Try Interest-led Learning

If your homeschool curriculum has lost its pizzazz, try following your child’s interest. Ask them what they want to learn. What are your kids’ favorite subjects? What is something they are curious about? Listen to them. What are they asking or talking about most?

Think about it. When do you learn the most? When you have something on your mind that you are curious to know or master and you start searching for more information on that subject, THAT is a moment when you are learning the most.

#10 Remember why you started homeschooling in the first place.

I think its a good idea to remember why you started homeschooling in the first place.

Here’s a practice I do every now and then when I get weary of our homeschool routine. I mentally review the reasons that we chose to homeschool. Relationships. Discipleship. More free time. Then I imagine losing those freedoms.

Some homeschool days are pretty rough, but I can’t imagine NOT having the wonderful lifestyle that homeschooling has afforded us. Doing this gives me fresh perspective.

Being a homeschooling mom is not easy, but remembering why you chose to homeschool in the first place might energize you. It will remind you that it is WORTH it!

Share your Ideas for Helping Homeschool Burnout

I hope these simple Ideas have infused new life into your homeschool! Whether you are a seasoned mom or new homeschooler, what changes have you made in your family to reverse homeschool mom burnout? Share with others by commenting below!

Pin it! 10 Simple Ideas to Help You Avoid Homeschool Burnout

As you begin to think ahead to a new school year, don’t get bogged down by all the things that you think you need to have planned. Relax, start slowly, and follow this Simple Guide to Planning a New Homeschool Year.

Video: Simple Guide to Planning a New Homeschool Year + Sneak Peek into Our Homeschool Space

#1 Pray

Before you get all caught up in planning your year and stressing over curriculum and costs, stop and pray. Commit your year to the Lord and ask for His wisdom and direction.

When I began homeschooling several years ago, I didn’t know many other homeschool moms. There weren’t many (or any) homeschool graduates that I could look at to see how things turned out for them or to realize that colleges were recruiting them.

Though my husband and I both felt that this was the direction the Lord was leading us, the whole endeavor seemed a bit risky. Because it was out of my comfort zone, I approached our first year with a sense of dependency on the Lord. I asked Him for help with EVERYTHING…how to schedule our day, how to teach multiple ages, to provide friends for our kids.

When I step back now, after 12 years of homeschooling, to see how rich this lifestyle has been for our family and how God has blessed it, I never want to lose that sense of dependency on the Lord.

Homeschooling is a big task. Don’t try to do this in your own strength. Commit your year to the Lord. Ask for His help and then watch and see what He does.

#2 Have appropriate expectations for yourself.

Don’t plan to have everything figured out for your whole year by the first day. When we are on summer break, we fully live in that season. When we start school, we dive into that season. Planning for a new year doesn’t have to be this big intimidating thing that you have made it in your head! Remember, homeschooling is simply learning together. It can be as basic as opening the books again on that first day and starting from there.

In my early years of homeschooling, I would unnecessarily stress every August when it was time to start a new year. I always felt that I should have been more prepared than I was. I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, I realized that I was making it more complicated than it needed to be. I learned that it is ok to simply open the books where we left off the last year and just start. As soon as we start, I get back in my homeschool groove. The inspiration starts flowing. I start jotting down ideas, things I want to try, things I want to buy.

#3 Purchase the curriculum you need for the first two weeks.

You do not need to have every book, unit study, tool, science experiment, or item on your list for the first day. You just need the basics to begin. Have what you need to get started. This means I make sure that we have what we need for Morning Time, Reading, Writing, and Math for the first few weeks. Science and History are variables depending on when/how often we plan to study those. All the extras like Art, Music Study, Geography, etc. don’t have to be completely planned and purchased before the first day of school.

Since we usually pick up where we left off last year, often the kids will already have some of their books (ie. Math workbooks). We don’t make a habit of “finishing 3rd grade math” and doing nothing the rest of the year. When we finish one level, we continue with the next. This way our kids are continually making progress and can learn at their own pace.

Other than buying basic necessary supplies, often I wait until we have started our first day to begin to make a list of things I want to purchase. As long as we have what we need for the first week or so, we can begin. Here are two reasons why I recommend this.

1. It’s only after you get into your subjects and daily routines that you can feel out what you really need and what is actually going to work for your kids.
2. Slowly starting your school year will help you and the kids enjoy it which will encourage you both to keep going and avoid burnout.

#4 Write Out a Simple Routine or Checklist.

Make a bare bones routine or checklist. I really hesitate to use the word “schedule” since this implies time limits which can feel restrictive. Try a routine or checklist. This will give you some direction to start out with. Start your school year simply! Ease into it. The first week is for getting back into your rhythm, NOT for completing every subject in a school day. Include the most important things: reading, writing, and math. Anything else is extra.

After your year starts, you will change your schedule or checklist. I guarantee it. Once you see how things play out, you will find that you want to arrange things differently. Math doesn’t work well in the afternoon because your son loses focus that late in the day. Piano lessons need to be finished before lunch because the baby is napping. There are innumerable tweaks you will likely need to change, but you won’t know this until you are in your rhythm.

Writing out a routine or checklist will look different based on your kids ages. Older kids do more independent work, so a checklist might be more appropriate for them. You will be guiding your youngest children through their day so, for them, a routine might be more appropriate.

Make sure to leave space in your day for the things that need to happen in a home… laundry, meals, chores, etc.

#5 Organize/Create a Space.

Have you seen those amazing Pinterest homeschool room ideas? If so, then you know the pressure you can feel to create this perfect homeschool area! Here’s a tip for somebody who needs to hear it…you don’t have to have a homeschool room! Nope, you don’t! Your home can look like a home and still be a wonderful place to learn. Work to make your home a beautiful, warm place with interesting things to capture your child’s curiosity. Music, flowers, art, books, and living things. Make a space for them to keep their pencils, books, and supplies, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in a specific room or a certain way. You can homeschool successfully without a homeschool room!

We have never had a separate homeschool room. It is just not something that has worked for our family. Home meshes so much with with school and school meshes so much with life. It’s hard to separate the two! We have certain wardrobes and dressers for supplies. Also, my husband made some workboxes which I have labeled for the kids to keep their personal supplies. We have multiple bookshelves throughout our house, including one in each child’s bedroom. We have several seating areas, 2 tables, and one roll top desk. This gives the kids the option to curl up on the sofa to read or to spread their work out on a flat surface.

*This post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

#6 Buy a few Basic supplies.

Do not feel the pressure to go out and buy a ton of school supplies. I find that I think of more things to purchase after we get started on our school year. Buy the basics that you will need to get started. Here is what we have on our list.

• Pencils
• Pencil Sharpener
• Kid Scissors
• Wide-ruled Notebooks
• Glue or glue sticks
• Pocket Folders, as needed
• 1/2 Inch Binder, one for each child (I like to have these at the beginning of the year so we can start inserting samples or creating the cover for our homeschool portfolio whenever we are ready.)

Also nice to have, but not necessary…

• New Crayons
• New Colored Pencils
• Eraser tops
• Post it Notes
• New Paint brushes
• Finger Paint (for the littles)
• Watercolor sets

#7 Plan a Simple Way to Celebrate the first day.

Plan to do something special to commemorate the start of a new school year. It doesn’t have to be fancy or include a ton of preparation. It only needs to be something that sets the day apart as special. Celebrating the new year will give you a sense of confidence that you started out well. Also, it will get them excited about beginning a new school year.

One of the things we like to do on the first day is to take individual and group pictures of the kids. Also a fun thing I like to do which requires a little preparation is to give them each a new book. Sometimes it is a brand new book that I know they will love. Other times, it might be something I picked up at a thrift store. Some years I have worked to make decorations and special wrapping paper for their books. Other years, I wrapped the books in newspaper and let it go at that. The kids loved it both ways. They don’t care if it’s fancy or simple. They just love opening something new and knowing that mom worked to make something extra special for them. Another way to celebrate that first day is to make a special breakfast.

#8 Don’t Stress!

Remember that the heart of homeschooling is discipleship and learning together. Plan to begin your year by opening the books and making a little progress each day. Don’t let the pressure of a new homeschool year weigh you down! Follow this simple guide to planning a new homeschool year and enjoy this time with your kids!

Pin It! Simple Guide to Planning a New Homeschool Year

Are you intimidated by poetry? Enjoying poetry is a learned skill and it may not be a difficult as you think! Poetry is worth studying in your homeschool because it challenges your child to think on a higher level. We like to learn poetry all together during our Morning Time. Here are some simple ideas for poetry in Morning Time.

Video: Simple Ideas for Poetry In Morning Time

Poetry in Morning Time

Morning Time has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool. Morning Time is the time that we all gather to cover the subjects that we highly value, but that often get lost in the shuffle of the more formal subjects. I have written several posts about how we do Morning Time in our homeschool.

HOW TO SIMPLIFY YOUR HOMESCHOOL WITH MORNING TIME

TEACHING BIBLE IN MORNING TIME

SIMPLE IDEAS FOR MEMORY WORK IN MORNING TIME

3 CHRISTIAN RESOURCES FOR CURRENT EVENTS IN MORNING TIME

SIMPLE MORNING TIME NOTEBOOK

7 TIPS TO A PEACEFUL HOMESCHOOL MORNING TIME

Poetry is a subject that everyone can enjoy together, no matter what their age, so it fits nicely into Morning Time. We don’t do poetry daily, instead we loop it into our schedule.

Reasons Why You Should Read Poetry With Your Kids

1. Poetry improves vocabulary. Almost every time we read a new poem, we learn a new word.
2. The descriptive, metaphoric language helps them grasp the concept of a difficult passage in ways that book reading cannot.
3. It inspires them to feel and act a certain way.
4. Poems introduce them to beauty in the written and spoken word.

Simple Ideas for Poetry

When you read a poem one time, you may just slightly understand the gist. Or you may catch snippets here and there, but have no idea what it is about at all! Poems are best understood after they are read over and over again. Often it is the 5th, 6th or more time that you have read a poem before you truly grasp the meaning or the author’s intent.

This is true for kids as well. I encourage my kids when we read a new poem that they should not get frustrated if they don’t understand it right away. I remind them that they will understand a little more each time we read it.

Memorize Poetry

One of the most obvious practices for poetry is to memorize it. Pull it out every morning for a few weeks and simply read it one time together. If the kids are up for it, you can choose a volunteer to read it a second time while the rest of the family listens. If there are unfamiliar words or phrases in the poem, you might stop to ask and try to understand them. This helps build their vocabulary and understanding of poetic form. Work on the same poem for a few weeks until one day you ask everyone to try reciting it without the passage in front of them.

We like to memorize poetry by poet. I love Christina Rosetti and Robert Louis Stevenson for young children because their poems are often titled with concrete topics that are familiar to children. Here is a list of some of the favorite poems we have memorized over the years.

Younger children

• “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson
• “Daffadowndilly” by Christina Rosetti (This one great for spring when the daffodils come up!)
• “The Tyger” William Blake
• “Wynken Blynken and Nod” by Eugene Field
• “My Shadow” Robert Louis Stevenson
• “Months” by Christina Rosetti

Older kids

• “The Children’s Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• “The Sluggard” by Isaac Watts
• “I Can” by Edgar A Guest

Girls

• “The Window” by Walter de la Mare
• “Crossing the Bar” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
• “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Boys

• “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
• “Opportunity” by Edward Rowland Sill
• “Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Read It

Another way to enjoy poetry is to read a few different poems a day. We have a few collections of poems that I have read through. You can start at the beginning and read 2-3 a day, making your way through. Or you can peruse through and read just the ones you like. This is usually what I do.

Here are some poetry collections we have enjoyed through the years.

Ambleside Online’s list of poetry

Oxford book of Children’s Verse

A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

When We Were Very Young and Now We are Six by A.A. Milne

Read by Favorite Poet

We have a couple of favorite poets that we read over and over. Sometimes you get familiar with a person’s style and you want to hear more of their work because you understand it or relate to it in some way.

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Listen to Poetry

Sometimes the kids get tired of hearing my voice all the time. Additionally, they can become familiar with my personality and style and it no longer inspires them. Hearing someone else read a poem and talk about it can be just the ticket to seeing it in a new way. From time to time, our kids have enjoyed listening to the Daily Poem podcast. These are short podcasts, 5-10 minutes each. The host reads a poem at the beginning of the podcasts. Next, he gives a little history or background. He might mention a few notable parts or give further meaning to details. Finally, he finishes by reading the poem a second time.

I would say these are geared a little more for middle and high school, but even my elementary aged kids have enjoyed them.

Write Poetry

Often when we are memorizing a poem, we mix it up by writing a short section every day. Our kids like to use colored pencils or gel pens to do this. It usually takes us 5 or 6 mornings until we have written the whole poem, depending on how long it is. We only write a little bit every day. After they have finished writing the poem, I encourage them to draw illustrations in the margins and we put it into their portfolios.

Poetry for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

Don’t forget to include nursery rhymes in Morning Time for your youngest children. Nursery rhymes are poems for little children. They introduce them to new words, rhythms, rhyming sounds, and so much more. When you sing and repeat nursery rhymes to little ones, you will hear them repeating them throughout the day in their play.

Poetry as Art

Kids can really appreciate poems when they become a work of art. Let them write out their favorite poem. Then give them time to illustrate it. Mount the poem and place it in prominent places around your home as part of the decor. They will take pride in their work and truly “see” the beauty in poetic verse.

Short Lessons

Don’t forget the importance of short lessons. When it comes to poetic language, brevity is key! Give them just enough to whet their appetite so that they look forward to it the next time you do it. Anywhere from 5-15 minutes is plenty of time!

Pin it for Later! Simple Ideas for Poetry in Morning Time

If your state requires you to create a student portfolio to assess your child’s work, here are some ideas for how to make a simple homeschool portfolio.

We all love looking back at old pictures. Kids especially love looking back at the places they have been and what they were doing at a certain age.

When I pulled out some portfolios from previous years for pictures for this post, it didn’t take long for my kids to find them and start looking through them. They were completely absorbed! It was fun for them to remember and see what they had learned in previous years. They are PROUD of their portfolios.

Some states require parents to show a child’s homeschool portfolio. Ours, in fact, is one of them. While it’s important to find out the homeschool laws in your state, I don’t keep a portfolio of records merely because of the requirement. I keep it because my kids like it so much. Here are my tips for how to make a simple homeschool portfolio.

Video: How to Make a Simple Homeschool Portfolio

A homeschool portfolio can be put together at any time. You don’t have to start it at the beginning of the school year, but some years I have done that. You can wait until the very end and put it together in a day and it can be just as good. So, just know that a portfolio is something you can start at any time of the year and it doesn’t need to take a lot of time.

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I really think the first step for organizing a homeschool portfolio consistently from year to year is to keep it very basic. Homeschooling is tough. Some years, I don’t feel like doing ANYTHING extra. If putting together a portfolio is going to feel like a major project, I’m OUT!

If you like adding pictures and Cricut designs, by all means, indulge yourself! But be aware that you may come to a year where all that just feels like too much. Your child’s portfolio can be unadorned and still be special to them and you.

Our Homeschool Portfolios

Notebook Cover

I choose 1/2 inch binders with the slipcover in the front. I ask our kids to design their own covers. Some of them choose to draw their own and others have designed them on the computer. I encourage them to take their time, use color, and make it beautiful. Sometimes, especially for younger children, I will print in large letters the child’s name and grade level on a blank sheet and have them design around it.

Older kids may want to write their own name and grade level in large, colorful letters.

Cover Page

This is the first page you see when you open the notebook. It is a one-page, typed summary of their school work for the year. This is the only page of the book that actually requires work on my part.

I do my best to keep it only one page so it doesn’t seem like too demanding of a task from year to year. (The rest of the portfolio is as easy as punching papers with a three whole punch and putting them in the notebook.) Using slipcovers is a nice touch to help the final product look clean and durable.

Here are some examples of what I might put on the cover page.

-Begin with a short paragraph about your child summarizing their accomplishments and interests for the school year. I like to put specific things that they were interested in for that year. Maybe they learned to crochet or caught their first fish. What is their favorite book at this age? What do they want to be when they grow up?

-Briefly summarize what they learned in the main subjects.

-Field trips. Keep a list of all the places you have visited throughout the year- either with co-ops or on your own. I include state parks and educational places we have stopped at on family vacations.

-Any music lessons, art lessons, clubs, sports they were involved in.

Book List.

The second page of our portfolio notebook is their book list. I give a clipboard to each of our kids with an empty booklist template for them to complete throughout the year. It has a section for books they read and a section for books read aloud to them either by myself or audiobooks.

Often, when I look at the kids’ portfolios at the end of the year and pull out the booklist, I am pleasantly reminded of books we read at the beginning of the year that I had completely forgotten about.

Quality Samples of Work from Major Subject Areas

I usually pick samples of student work from the beginning and end (2 samples) of the school year. It’s a good idea to do this for major subjects like math, English (including samples of any writings), history, and science. Labeling them by tabs is a nice touch, but not necessary.

You can slowly collect things throughout the year and stick them in your notebook OR you can gather them in one day at the end of the year. I have done both.

For other subjects, I only include subjects in which that child has especially shown interest. This may be art projects, foreign language, pictures of projects or extracurricular activities, test scores, science experiments, etc. Make sure to include any test results your child might have according to your state’s requirements.

It’s also nice to include one or two special writing assignments like a research paper or book report or other writing assignments. The pockets of the 3-ring binder are a good place to keep these. I might stick bulletins from performances or orchestras they attended, certificates from camps or other events in which they participated.

And that’s it! It’s not that hard to make a simple homeschool portfolio.

Other than the kids designing the cover of their notebooks, I have only three sections in our portfolios. They are a cover page, a book log (including a list of curriculum), and a collection of samples of each subject according to your state requirements.

Again, I really believe that keeping it simple is the most important thing to be able to consistently keep a portfolio from year to year.

This is something you can put together on the last week of school as part of their school work. It can be easily done in a day. It’s a nice way to wrap up the year. It helps them remember all that they have done and gives them pride in their accomplishments.

For even more information, HSLDA also has some tips for creating a homeschool portfolio.

Benefits of Making a Homeschool Portfolio

A portfolio is also a great way to show grandparents what the kids are learning while they are at home. Do you have family members who question whether or not your child is receiving a quality education? Share their end of the homeschool year portfolios!

The kids will proudly stand beside and tell about all the things in their book. It could help a family member see your homeschool effort in a completely different light.

If you have not before, I encourage you to try keeping a portfolio this year. It is a project your kids will take pride in!

And you might find that keeping a portfolio is a huge confidence booster for you as well! When you start doubting yourself and how much you are accomplishing this year, look through last year’s portfolio. When you see all you completed in one year, I think you will surprise yourself with how good it makes you feel.

If you have been keeping a homeschool portfolio, I’d love to see pictures and hear how you put yours together!

Looking for more?

Find inspiration for your homeschool by checking out my gallery of MOM INTERVIEWS!

Simple Morning Time Notebook

Our Large Family Homeschool Curriculum

50 Life Skills That Should Be Taught At Home

Ambleside Online Homeschool Curriculum For a Large Family