20 Ways We Are Anticipating Joy into our Homeschool Lives this Year

I think for a long time, I assumed joy didn’t take effort - that the curriculum would magically find its way into our lives and schedules without a clear effort to make it life-giving. We’ve learned to plan ways to incorporate joy deliberately. It helps the flow of each day and the longterm motivation for the year. Here are some ways we’re anticipating joy this school year (and some links to the materials we’re using for it!):

1. We directly ask our kids what would make the days more pleasant or joyful for them. This year they informed me they would like an additional April Fool’s Day on the first day of school. They are now scheming and laughing maniacally in corners. Thoughts and prayers appreciated as always. But in all seriousness, the best ideas for joy always come from them.

2. Math can be such a challenge to daily motivation in so many ways. This year, the kids are getting new graphing calculators as they prepare for Algebra One. In the first week, they get to decorate the calculators in any way they please - bring on the stickers and markers.

3. I do my best to create an environment every year that reflects our overall themes. This year we are doing world geography and ecology - queue the incredibly fun ‘scratch the world’ map and plant propagation station in our school space. I know my kids will get a kick out of scratching off countries every week and watching individual plant roots grow.

4. To bring life and some nostalgia, we will also be using The Field Journals for part of their Ecology Studies. These sweet envelopes will end up on their desk each month and bring some personalized nature observations, drawing practices, and nuanced understandings of ecosystems into their science.

5. I’m over the moon about The Travel Book by the Lonely Planet. It’s simply stunning and the boys have already gravitated to it without knowing it will be a textbook this year.

6. We’re bringing in a lot of variation and a strong final goal for their writing. For their composition this year, the kids will use “Cover Story” by Clear Water Press to gradually produce a magazine of their own on a topic of their choice. They get to practice a wide variety of writing tasks while keeping the focus on their genuine interests.

7. The kids are thrilled to be moving from formal spelling lessons and into vocabulary work. To implement this, we are using the SAT Vocabulary cartoon book recommended by Arlene. Go check out her Youtube channel. She's awesome. They also were able to design the covers of their own vocabulary notebook keepers. Any personalization can help.

   
   

   

8. We are implementing a reward schedule for fantastic attitudes. After chatting with a friend who also has some kids with learning needs similar to mine, I’m excited to see how this will go. Our kids are also thrilled to see their own effort pay off with immediate results.

9. Over the summer, we also picked up the game Photosynthesis. We just had to break it open early and we already love it. We are excited to continue to use it as we study Ecology this summer and discuss soil quality, light space, and life cycles in forests.

10. Walking is a big aid to our school year. We take family walks at the end of each day to process things together and reconnect with each other. It’s a small practice that makes a big difference for us.

11. For years, we’ve used candles as a simple way to create ambiance in our school space. This idea came from Julie Bogart, and I’m surprised that the kids continue to love it even as they’ve gotten older. We often use it during writing assignments or reading.

12. Our cat Rosie is a great companion for reading time. If she sits with someone, they won’t budge from the spot until they absolutely have to. She’s not very cooperative about consistently being part of school, but she’s a great little reading facilitator when she does. If you have a snuggly animal, I can highly recommend this method.
    

    

    
    

13. One of our children has dyslexia, and we’ve found that using graphic adaptations of books can help him to understand the storylines and themes much better. This gives us the chance to cover a lot more ground by making careful selections about what books he can tackle in their original form and which ones will work better as graphic novels. Our favorite graphic novel books for kids can be found here.

14. Working with other families has always been a strong point, though availability of other families has often been a challenge where we live. We build one day each week with nearby families so that the kids can all learn together, and it’s often everyone’s favorite day of the week.

15. The kids love hands-on experimenting. Anything that we can do to bring in a physical or movement-based activity helps them to learn concepts better and remember them longer. This usually works best with science. It can be as easy as collecting samples to look at under the microscope. This is the microscope we have and love! Anything and everything we study, we bring this out to examine it at a closer level. It's held up wonderfully over the years.
    

16. Scheduling favorite subjects after more difficult ones can help keep the motivation going throughout the day. For one of ours, music practice is a relaxing highlight of the day and is largely self-directed. If he looks forward to reaching it after his more difficult subjects, it helps him to maintain his focus for the day.

17. Our oldest has shown more and more interest in blacksmithing. We were able to find him an incredible program for teenagers and plan on continuing to find opportunities for him to fire and bend metal. I have never appreciated a handmade coat hanger like I do now.

18. Movies and documentaries continue to be life-giving to us. We already have a few things lined up to correlate with our World Geography Studies.

19. There are few things as invigorating for kids’ studies than self-directed questions and research. As they have questions, one of the best ways support their motivation for learning is just providing them the tools to find answers. We have sometimes let a question derail the schedule for a couple of days, and the invigoration the kids get out of it gives them a new fire for their other subjects.

20. Snack surprises - like most homeschool families, I’m pretty sure this is where most of my budget gets spent. On days that I know will be longer and tedious, a surprise popsicle from their favorite local vendor often gets us over the crummiest of days.

    
    

    

Let us share the joy! Comment and let us know how you infuse joy into your homeschool days.