How many times have we heard in our society to “Never look back,” or “Always look ahead”? I completely disagree with that advice. I think looking back is critical in growing as a person, as a parent, and as a homeschool teacher. Let’s look at three reasons why it is a good habit to look back and reflect in planning your next school year.

1) It invokes positive change through self-awareness

As studies show, keeping goals in view and reflecting on progress (or the lack thereof) can help with a person’s self-awareness. Increasing your own self-awareness and acknowledging the discrepancy between where you are and where you want to be puts you in the driver’s seat for accomplishing what you truly care about and can spur positive change for this next year. It’s much easier to implement positive change if you are aware of what has been holding you back. As James Clear writes in his book, Atomic Habits, “It is only when looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones become strikingly apparent.”

2) It spurs learning and process improvement

If you pause and look back on your homeschool year, you can determine what worked and what didn’t work. You can ask yourself which processes ignited successful habits in your kids and which ones were cumbersome? Recording what your kids enjoyed doing and worked through with passion, and what activities were drudgery will help you figure out what works best for your kiddos for this next year. Make a list, write in your journal, or doodle pictures (which helps connect feeling with thinking and reduces stress according to Psychology Today) for future reference and meditations on patterns of behavior.

3) It brings gratitude for the highlights

When we are inside the present, experiencing the trials and the struggle, we sometimes forget how far we have come as a parent, as a student, and as a family. We all have countless growth opportunities and joyful moments to be thankful for in our homeschooling life. For some of us, those are easy to find and right out in the open. For others, they are hiding until you reflect back and shout, “Come out! Come out! Whereever you are!” But by spending time reflecting on the year’s highlights and successes, you will hopefully find your gratitude for a life of choice, freedom, and bonding with your children. If gratitude doesn’t fill your heart, don’t worry! You’ve already taken a huge step in acknowledging that something needs to change for next year. That is your signal to start problem-solving on how things can be different for next year. How you can be different.

Planning Your School Year: Considerations

Knowing yourself better and what works for you, what you need to be challenged in, and additional accountability you may need is a big step forward for planning your year. The next step is asking yourself a few questions to make sure your year represents you, your kids, and your homeschool mission statement! Check out this downloadable workbook which may spur you on to planning greatness!

We also have a downloadable and helpful questionnaire for your kiddos to complete so that you can plan a year full of their interests too. Check it out at Ask Your Kids: Planning Your Homeschool Content Around Your Kids’ Interests.

Planning your school year should be fun and inspiring. It should be full of hope and excitement. If it’s not, get with a friend, create an oasis for planning, or tune in to some podcasts to get your hope floating. It’s a gift to get to have this time with our children, and this opportunity deserves us spending the necessary time reflecting and planning, knowing that we are speaking life and love into our children’s souls.

For more inspiration about reflecting and planning, check out our podcast episode 43 (reflecting) and episode 44 (planning).