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Getting ready for back to homeschool can be really exciting, but it can also fill some moms with a sense of dread. Homeschooling can be really exhausting, and the start of a new year is almost like going back to your full-time job after a too-short vacation.

Luckily, with these few steps, you can mentally prepare yourself to go back to homeschool, which will make the start of the year much better for you and your kids!

4 Super Simple Tips to Prepare Mentally for Back to Homeschool

Take a Real Break Before Going Back to Homeschool

I know how hard this can be with kids and life in general, but it’s really important for you to take a break before going back to homeschool.

This doesn’t have to mean you can’t school year round. Even a weekend can potentially count as a break.

Here are your real mom-break rules:

• No homeschool-related activity (even planning!)
• You must smile (real smiles!)
• Your favorite drink should be involved, whether that’s coffee, tea, or a margarita (no judgment here!)
• Ideally, at least a part of your break is kid-free (we see them all the time, sometimes we need a minute!)

Now, that might seem like a tall order, but I’m not suggesting you go out on a solo-weekend trip, though I do know some very lucky ladies who do that.

This could be as simple as taking a trip to the Starbucks without your homeschool planner and just people watching.

Maybe it’s reading a real novel with some tea after all of the kids are in bed.

Whatever refreshes and recharges you is fair game. But you really need to take a total break (however short) to relax and refresh before starting back to homeschool.

Take Time to Really Plan Your Homeschool

If you get to the first day back to homeschool with no game plan, you’ll be overwhelmed quick. Make sure that you’ve really taken the time to plan for your homeschool.

Make sure you have all of the curriculum you need, you have an outline of your homeschool year, you’ve built a weekly homeschool routine, and a daily homeschool routine.

You should also take time to get your homeschool curriculum completely ready to go. For example, we recently got All About Reading to try with A-Man, and you have to break up cards for each lesson. I have all of that done ahead of time, so it’s ready for day one!

Plan a Really Fun First Day Back to Homeschool

When we know that things are going to be fun, it’s easier to mentally prepare , or them. Obviously people are much more “mentally prepared” to take a vacation than they are to go to jury duty. That’s just science!

So while we can’t make every homeschool day a crazy fun adventure, we can certainly plan a really fun first day back to homeschool! You can build some really fun back to homeschool traditions for your family and get everyone excited for that first day.

Don’t worry if you’re low on ideas. Have I mentioned I’m not a Pinterest mom before? I’ll have another post in our back to homeschool prep series all about fun first day of homeschool traditions!

Remember Why You Homeschool

Mama, there will be tough days in your homeschool. Of course, towards the Spring you’ll face homeschool burn out, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about the days when the baby is teething and you can’t put her down for a single lesson. Or the days when you plan a really fun science project and everything goes wrong. Or the days where you’re really focused on teaching kid 1 a math lesson, and kid 2 decides to paint you a pretty picture on the wall.

While I would love to tell you those days won’t start until Spring, they can happen at any time. This is why it’s so important to start your new homeschool year remembering why you chose to homeschool.

Maybe it is to incorporate faith into your kids’ schooling. Maybe it’s so your kids can grow up together instead of only spending time together on nights and weekends. Maybe it’s so you can travel whenever is convenient for you. Maybe it’s so that visitation and co-parenting can run smoother.

Whatever your reason for homeschooling, remember it often. Say it to yourself when homeschooling gets hard. Tell your husband to remind you when he gets home from work and can tell that you’re stressed.

About Kaylene

Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so “weird” to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.