The keys to a prospering homeschool journey is fun and flexibility. At times these will be difficult based on a difficult subject, a bad attitude, lack of sleep, etc. It is in these moments that we must learn to be flexible. If you’re tired because the baby was up all night, ensure you take a nap or rest while they do. If a child is having a bad attitude, take a break from school for the day, they will unlikely really learn anything with a bad attitude. If you’re faced with a difficult subject, then ensure you choose a time when you can devote 100% of your attention to your child while tackling that subject.

Having a well balanced school year schedule is important. A typical public school schedule may or may not work for you. Take time to look into your state’s homeschooling laws. Most require 180 days of school in a year, when you look at the year as being 365 days, you may find that you want to design your own homeschool schedule. This is another added benefit to homeschooling – scheduling flexibility!

Don’t forget that field trips not only are fun, but they count as school! Look at what you’re studying over the next month and find at least one field trip that you can go on to enhance and add fun to your child’s learning experience!

Don’t be afraid to “toss” a curriculum, sometimes no matter how well we research and plan, we just don’t like (or our kids don’t like) a certain curriculum or homeschooling method. If you find yourself in this situation, just let it go and move onto another curriculum or focus on what you have left for subjects this year and find a new one next year.

Taking a day off every once in a while is good for you and your children. Learn to recognize the signs that show that either you or your kids need a day off. Some signs may be; easily irritated, crying at the drop of a hat, extreme lack of focus, etc. This is often the hardest part of flexibility because we think, “We should be doing school, it’s a school day”. Yet, it is better to take one day (or at time a week) off, than to get frustrated or angry trying to teach during difficult or emotional times.

Each family’s homeschool journey will look different, so the fun and flexibility your family needs and desires will be different from another. Don’t try to base your homeschool on someone else’s. Your family is unique and requires things that theirs does not. Embrace your family’s unique qualities and design your homeschool schedule and learning around them! Do this and you’ll see that your homeschool journey is prospering!