Back to Homeschool 2024

Home and Organization
Written By Cassie Shepherd

Last year I wrote on my Instagram, “Our first day back to homeschool was perfect. Definitely the smoothest it’s ever gone.” This year, I could write, “Our first day back to homeschool was pretty darn rough. Definitely the worst it’s ever gone.” In those two sentences I think I sum up this lifestyle pretty well. There can be such highs and such lows to homeschooling. Over the years I’ve experienced both many many times…and a little bit of everything in between. If you find yourself in a similar situation - I’ve learned our really good days always make up for all the hard ones though.

This year, our third day back happened to be one of those really good days. It was the day we really settled back into routine and were able to feel the Spirit and reach that depth my heart and soul craves when teaching my children. It was that kind of day that reminds me why I am still here and why I am still doing this.

There are many reasons we choose to homeschool, but our top two reasons have always been so that one - the Spirit can dwell in our home and that we can teach in partnership with Him. We want our children to learn to see the world with spiritual eyes. Secondly, simply put, we homeschool so we can have more time together as a family. And, I think those two reasons sum up this lifestyle even better.

So, here’s to another year. We’re walking into our 5th year of homeschooling and we’re in a new season of life. I have all my kids “in school” with two middle schoolers, a 2nd grader, and now a Kindergartner. I can’t wait to see how this year unfolds and I am just so grateful we get to do it together.

Traditions

Back to Homeschool is a big deal around here. The week before we try to settle back into a more formal learning routine I take the kids out to lunch and back to school shopping. Before we leave, I do a quick inventory of their closets and if we need certain items - we get those - but most of the time we’re pretty stocked up. (Since Utah has all the seasons and the kids are always growing I usually rotate clothes and do big inventories more in the late fall and late spring.) But, either way, at the very least I let the kids go pick out one new shirt they’re excited to wear for the first day back. I feel like this is just something simple to signal to all of us that our routine is about to change.

The week before (or weekend) before we start we do a deep clean of the house so I feel like everything else is ready and I don’t have other house chores hanging over my head. We like to start on a Monday so Sunday night my husband gives father’s blessing to all of us - myself included.

On Monday we usually kick off the day with a yummy breakfast, take pictures, and dive into our school work. On the first day we always surprise the kids with something special that we can enjoy but this year we did things a little differently…

3D Printer

On Sunday night, we decided to give the kids their big surprise a little early. Since we are pretty settled with our basic homeschool supplies we decided to splurge with our homeschool funds and go with a 3D printer. The kids were ecstatic and we’ve already been printing away. Here is what we went with for our first order:

This is something my husband is interested in so he’ll be taking over in this department because I really have no clue what I am doing. I do know we’ll be having the kids learn Tinkercad and I will keep you posted on everything we do to help the kids learn to design and print their own creations. If you have any suggestions for on-line kid-friendly 3D design classes - I’d love to hear them!

Schoolroom Details

The next morning the kids came out and I had all their books laid out in our schoolroom with a few new little things.

  • Plus Plus Kits: I went with t-rex, tiger, narwhale, and bumblebee.

  • New Yoto Cards: We got Mercy Watson, Brain Bots Our Planet & Inventors, and Rockford’s Rock Opera Collection.

PS The pencil cases were a huge hit. My girls do school all around the house and this year I got them a new canvas tote to carry their books around in and the pencil holders tuck perfectly inside. Also, right before they fall asleep my little boys love to draw and color in their bed so now they can keep their supplies handy too.

For a full peak into our homeschool room you can visit this post.

Breakfast Details

In our kitchen our breakfast place settings were all set up and ready to go. (I love to prep it the night before so it’s all ready to surprise the kids in the morning.) The kids worked on their Plus Plus and Legos and did some drawing while I made crepes.

ABC Plates + Apple Plates - I am obsessed with this combo and think I’ll use both every year now.

Nametags, Placemats, Flags, Back to Homeschool Sign: Back to School Party Pack (Discount Code HCL10 will get you 10% off)

After breakfast we took our back to homeschool pictures and then dove into our day!

One of the reasons why our day did not go so well is because we had to be to a trial class for my son at noon and it just really threw off our whole routine. Normally I would not schedule something like this, but it was unavoidable this year. I knew it would be rough, but I didn’t want to postpone starting school any longer. No matter how much we prepare or plan - I never feel 100% ready and there never seems to be a “perfect” time to start so we just went with it. With all the effort - we decided to not even have him do the class this year so…oh well! I’m glad that’s out of the way now so we can settle into a new year.

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed school year!

If you’re looking for some more back to homeschool inspiration be sure to check out these older posts:

Cassie Shepherd
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