What makes you a successful homeschooler? Following some simple, but great, habits will help you achieve this – in having a routine, having continuous learning, encouraging independence, being adaptable, and reflecting and adjusting regularly.

When it comes to anything in life, we know that good habits are the things that will get us through successfully. A good habit will help you reach your goals, develop both personally and professionally, and feel fulfilled. The same is with homeschooling. There really needs to be some good habits that will help you be successful – you can’t just throw all your ideas up in the air and hope that the best ones will land on the target you placed on the ground. 

So what are these habits? Are they truly important to have? Remember that it takes time to build good habits – and some of these might not come naturally to you. That is ok. Just try and tweak and soon you’ll get there.

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5 great habits

Establishing a routine

Having a routine is usually the first one to develop. I am not talking about a specific structure, where you have outlined every hour of every day (unless that is something you want/need/desire). But I am talking about a routine, a flow – where your children know what the expectations of the day are. This will include the time for dedicated learning, for breaks, for other activities (and hopefully for play). Consistency is key. Children do like that (as do many adults). Having a routine or flow is going to help you be successful. But in all of this – DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. You don’t have to follow someone else’s routine, because it works for them and not necessarily for you.

An example of a weekly routine (and yes, it can be as simple as this):

• Monday morning – school work, free play and family walk
• Monday afternoon – dance class
• Tuesday morning – school work, free play, free crafting
• Tuesday afternoon – homeschool co-op
• Wednesday morning – school work, piano lesson and free play
• Wednesday afternoon – quiet time, activity of choice, play with friends
• Thursday morning – school work and free play
• Thursday afternoon – quiet time, activity of choice, play with friends
• Friday – school work and family adventure

Note – this doesn’t assign time. It can be done whenever and in what order. But it is a routine that works and can help you be successful homeschoolers.

Learn more here

Continuous learning

Homeschooling truly should be about prioritizing lifelong learning and seeking out opportunities to expand knowledge and skills. When you don’t view “learning” as being what is coming from the curriculum, but also from life around you and the everyday, then it is a rich and rewarding experience and homeschooling is successful. 

Independence is Encouraged

Children can be, and should be, empowered to take ownership of their learning. This is done through encouraging independence and self-motivation. It does take time to establish, but successful homeschoolers are helping their children develop this by providing opportunities to be in charge of their lessons, through time management and even deciding what and when they will learn it. When our children develop independence in homeschooling, it frees up our time, but more importantly this is a great skill for the future. 

Here is an interesting article on promoting independence in children.

Adaptability

Flexibility is key in homeschooling as circumstances may change unexpectedly (and often daily). Successful homeschoolers are adaptable and able to adjust their plans as needed to accommodate changes in schedule or curriculum. Need a day off for mental health? Take it! Sickness? It is ok – get the rest you need. If we are going to be rigid and say we HAVE to stick to the 180 days of a school calendar, then you are going to miss some of the beauty of homeschooling. Be successful. Be adaptable and flexible. 

Reflecting and adjusting

Reflection shouldn’t just happen once a year. It should be a regular occurrence. Regularly reflecting on progress and adjusting strategies as needed is important for successful homeschooling. Evaluating what is working well and what could be improved will only help you refine how you homeschool. This is one of the reasons why I have my girls do a national standardized test each year (even though I personally don’t like them as “tests”). I use the results as a tool to see where my girls might have some holes so I can plan for the coming year. As we reflect and we adjust, things are only going to get better for us. I used to do it monthly but have now moved to quarterly reflection and adjustment times. This is so I don’t get to the end of the year and realize I missed something important. Course corrections can happen quicker if you are regularly assessing – but it doesn’t need to be monthly if that doesn’t work for you (It got too much for me).

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We all have the ability to be highly successful homeschoolers. These are just some habits (of course there are always more) but they are so good to build in us – for our sake and for our children.