How is it possibly already August? I don’t know about you, but it feels like this very important month snuck up on me this year.

We just returned from our annual trek to New Mexico and Colorado

This year we drove straight from Tennessee from New Mexico. 21 hours, and yet we were still smiling! These kids are seriously great road trip kids.

We went to one of my favorite places in the world.

A little place tucked into the South West corner of Durango, where I have been romping since the mid-1970’s.  It is amazing to see my kids now romping here, excited to come back each year. The Eldest is getting pretty great at taking pictures of the clouds. Which were amazing.

I snapped a few as well.

This year Little Miss was pretty intent on riding a horse. Thankfully her Aunt has some great horses, including Tess. The brothers quickly wanted a ride as well. Well, most of the brothers.

Lots of laughter, lots of hanging out and relaxing. We went later this year than normal, and it was good.

Now, it is suddenly August. Like on a Monday morning, slap-you-in-the-face-with-reality, August. Around here public schools are trickling back into session. We are trickling back in as well. A bit like dipping your toe in the pool to check the water. We are getting some work done this week, but our routine is not established yet.

Normally I take a day or two at a hotel and plan out the year. Not sure that will happen this year, since, um, school has begun. I feel a little like I am scrambling, although much is already in place. We have the benefit of some great tutorials, and The Eldest is taking most of his classes through a fantastic place. The middle boy…who I think I’ll refer to as Mr. Creative from here on…is joining that tutorial this year and will catch Math and Science, an English class and Drama.

I still have the Youngest Boy and Little Miss. They are taking a couple classes at another tutorial, but for the most part are being taught by me. Bible, History, Reading, English…yep.

So. My many homeschool friends, what did you learn last year that is helping you tweak this year? What did you learn that was grand, and what did you learn to set aside or change completely?

I think the thing I am setting aside is feeling the need to tackle every subject every day. I think it wears the kids out a bit, and it means shorter time spent on each subject, but spread out. This year we are going to try a longer chunk of time, but just a couple times a week, for Bible and History.

The thing that went well last year…morning reading time and color / relax time. We started the day with me reading something. We worked through the Harry Potter series and are now working through Andrew Peterson’s fantastic series, The Wingfeather Saga.

Now as I figure out final details of our homeschool year, I thought I would share a few blogs which help inspire and encourage me. Hopefully you’ll find something that sparks your ideas for this coming year:

Homeschool Mom had a good article today about planning your homeschool year, with some good tips.

This is an older post from Ginny at Small Things, but so worth the read.

Another older post, from Ann Voskamp this time, is a great view about why to homeschool.

I just came across this blog, Blog, She Wrote. Tons of helpful ideas here.

Erica’s site has loads of tips, printables and ideas. Grab a cup of coffee and spend some time here.

For those with older kids, you might check out Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus. Lots of ideas here!

Add any blogs you enjoy in the comments. The main thing, especially if you are new to homeschool, is to not stress. Be disciplined, think ahead, plan…and enjoy. Some days the dishes will absolutely pile up and the laundry will look like Mount Everest. Some days you will eat cereal for dinner. Some days you will get caught up in a discussion and forget something else.

Some days will be absolutely crazy.

Some days will be perfect.

Just like life…maybe that is one of the biggest lessons of homeschool. Our kids learn that life happens and we have to learn to adjust.

And…just to add some encouragement…you might end up with kids like these: