How To Complete A Mid-Year Review For Your Homeschool

Do you know how to complete a mid-year review for your homeschool? Mid-year reviews can bring back horrible memories of guilt and feeling not up to “standards.”

The truth is, as a homeschooling parent, mid-year reviews can offer a lot of insight.

When you work and homeschool, completing a review allows you to understand what is working and not working both in your homeschool curriculum and the schedule you are using.

Let’s talk about what a mid-year review entails for homeschooling and how it can help you.

Why Do You Need a Mid-Year Review of Your Homeschool Year?

One of the best times to do a review of your homeschool is after your winter break.

Sure, you may have been homeschooling through the holidays, but hopefully, you’ve stepped away from your regular homeschool programs and had some downtime.

This will allow you to look at your homeschool programs and schedule with fresh eyes.

What Is A Mid-Year Review?

Simply put, when you complete a mid-year review, you take a critical look at your schedule and homeschool curriculum and evaluate them.

This is when you ask important questions and find out where you stand and what needs improvement, scrapped, or kept. Being honest is key here, otherwise, you won’t reap the benefits.

Completing a mid-year review does take some time, but it is important to help you figure out what is going on behind the scenes for all those days when your child won’t do the work and /or is bulking and fighting you.

Or those feelings of being behind, but you aren’t really sure. These factors lead to frustration for both you and them…this is where it gets solved. You can pinpoint the causes and find a solution.

Many homeschooling parents like to do this right after the winter holiday break or at the halfway mark through their homeschooling year. For us, that’s January. This can really be done whenever needed, so choose what works for you.

How to Begin Your Homeschool Mid-Year Review

When you complete a mid-year review, let’s tackle the homeschool curriculum first because that usually takes the most time.

First, pull out your homeschool planner and write down all the subjects you are covering that year.

Next to each subject, note what you are using to teach that subject, if anything. For example, it might look like this:

• Math – CTCMATH
• English – Poetry & A Movie
• Art – Drawing 101
• Cooking – Kids Cook Real Food
• Geography – SchoolhouseTeachers
• Spelling – Spelling Workout
• Typing – Typsey
• History – Story Of The World
• PE- Gym, hiking, biking

Once you jot down your list, quickly do a “gut check.” I mean that before you ask yourself any of the following questions, go with your gut and decide which subjects are going well and which aren’t working for you.

You can quickly mark an X Or ✔️ beside each one.

6 Questions to ask about each subject:

The next step when you complete a mid-year review is asking the following questions for each subject:

1. Is this program still teaching effectively?
2. Does it still help us reach our goals?
3. Are my children enjoying it?
4. Does it still fit your child’s learning style?
5. Do you find it easy to teach?
6. How is the preparation time/effort?

If you find you are happy with the curriculum choice you’ve made, great job! Pat yourself on the back and keep going.

If you are not happy, decide how you can improve the subject. For example, can you add some living books if it is boring? Online activities? Videos? Games? That will reinforce learning and liven up a boring subject.

Perhaps it is no longer teaching in a way that your child learns, or is too much preparation for you, or there is another problem with it.

I always advise, ” use a program until it doesn’t.” Once it becomes more stressful, frustrating, and tears than good days, that’s a sure sign to reevaluate the product. Try something new.

By completing these steps, you have helped redefine what is working and what isn’t. You now have either a gold star or a to-do list. Starting points are good.

6 Questions to ask regarding scheduling:

Let’s move on to reviewing your schedule.

Grab your schedule/planner and review your state/province homeschool requirements. Some require 180 days, and some require you to get subjects completed.

Here are six questions to ask when you complete a mid-year review to help you find out if your schedule is working for you:

1. Compared to the goals you set at the beginning of the year, are you on track to reach them?
2. Do you need to consider any changes in your life, such as a move, a new baby, a new job, etc.?
3. How is attendance? (if this is required)
4. Are you and your family finding this schedule too exhausting?
5. Are the children forgetting what they are learning? Is it too relaxed?
6. Are you finding the days too long/short?

For me, scheduling actually gets looked at and changed/evaluated each month—the joys of working a flexible schedule.

We started in September with a 5-day schedule. We switched in October and November to 4-day scheduling. Then in December, we had a “when mom’s home, we do school” type schedule.

Therefore, in January, as I will work fewer hours and it will probably be heading into storm days, we will probably switch back to a 4-day schedule.

We found our days too long, so I dropped the subject. That’s Right! I totally removed a whole subject. And I split a one-year course into a two-year course.

What is the bottom line? Do what works for you and your family.

Homeschool Books:

When it comes to finding new curriculum or program, homeschool books can help. I always use the Well Trained Mind Books.

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at HomeThe Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition)

 

Cathy Duffy Reviews is great website to check as well for ideas.

How To Complete A Mid-Year Review For Your Homeschool

I encourage you to take some time to complete a mid-year review for your homeschool.

Figure out what is working so you can keep doing that. And figure out where it is falling apart, so you can fix it.

Evaluating your homeschool in a mid-year review will ensure that the second half of your school year goes smoothly.

Do you complete a mid-year review? If you have any tips or questions, please share them below. I would love to hear about them!

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