Adjustments {Homeschool Science Tip from Elemental Science}

Homeschool Science Tip of the Month - Don't be afraid to make a few mid-year adjustments to your plans.

You have spent hours researching and preparing your plans for this year. And you managed to avoid the perfect curriculum panic that almost always strikes just before the first day.

But now you are a few weeks into your school year and . . . well . . . things aren't going the way you had planned. That perfect picture in your mind of your year is not anywhere near the real thing. 

Should you pitch it all and start the process again? There are times when this is necessary, but in my experience, it is simply a matter of adjusting a few things here and there to help your day flow smoother or a matter of adjusting my own expectations of what my student should be doing.

When our daughter was in second grade, I had to scale back on my writing expectations. She was getting frustrated by the amount of writing I was assigning and it was sucking all the joy out of school time.

When our son was in first, I had to switch the order in which we did our subjects so that he could move from couch to table to bedroom. Getting a bit of exercise between the blocks of school time really helped him to be able to focus on his lessons - and we still do this with him today.

As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to move and adjust our plans in a way that best serves our students and maximizes their potential. So, this month, don't be afraid to make a few adjustments to that "perfect" plan.

More Homeschool Science Tips

Dig a little bit deeper into this month's tip with the following articles:

• 5 Questions to ask before changing curriculum
• Writing in Science: The Elementary Years
• Writing in Science: Middle School and Beyond
• 5 Ways you can become a better homeschool science teacher