Happy October! The weather has finally turned here and our days are gloriously fall. I'm still enjoying my cup of coffee on the patio in the mornings, but the blanket I snuggle up in has definitely been getting thicker. This time of year, my mind turns to weekend bike rides and soups in the crockpot. So thankful for cooler weather.
With a new month, it's also time for my monthly check-in for my 2026 Homeschool Resolutions. These monthly posts have been so good for me personally. Sometimes I make resolutions and then I just forget about them. But with this monthly accountability, I feel like we're really developing new habits over here. I've been especially encouraged by the first two as I habit stacked them with our morning time and that's really super charged our habit training. I've copied my resolutions below and I'll put my current updates in bold, just to help keep things at the top of my mind.
Our 2026 Homeschool Resolutions:
1. Reading Scripture together--While my kids each have their own devotional and Bible study times, I would like for us to incorporate some Bible reading together. I'm hoping this will open up some dialogue about what we're reading together and start our day on a good note.--We didn't do great on this over the summer, but when school started, our Scripture reading went right back into our Morning Basket. In just the last eight weeks of school, we've read through six books of the New Testament, one chapter at a time. And we started Hebrews. The chapters in this book are longer so we're moving slower. He reads in his NLT, I read in my NIV, and we discuss. It's slow, rich, and life-giving.
2. Praying together each morning--I realized our prayer times together have become route. The idea is that having this prayer time in the morning will open up an opportunity for us to share a little more freely. And practicing public prayer will make it less intimidating to pray with a group.--This is the habit that was the slowest going. While I have always prayed with the kids each night, I really wanted to pray with them in the mornings as well. When the school year started in August, I added prayer to the end of our morning time. It's been a nice way to seal our time together and launch in to independent learning. My next goal is to rotate who is praying so it doesn't become a "mom" thing.
3. 12 Read Alouds in the Year--We love our read alouds. And I love that reading good books together gives us a chance to adventure together... even on a limited budget. As the kids have gotten older and the books longer, 12 books feels like a good goal for the year.-- We've really been keeping up our read aloud habit, bring out total for 2026 up to 16 books so far ... with The House of Sixty Fathers and the Hawk that Dare Not Hunt By Day in May, Jungle of Bones and The Wednesday Wars in June, The Pursuit of God in July, Building 903 and The School of Obedience in Aug, and The View from Saturday in Sept. We started The Hour that Changes the World, and it's very good. However, it ended up being more information than our brains could hold. So we got half way through and decided to take a break for some fiction. During that time, we read The Kidnapped Santa and then went back to the nonfiction.
4. Go on 12 Hikes this year-- Ok, we've made hiking goals before and failed miserably.. So I'm keeping it really simple this year. Only 12.. should be doable.--At the beginning of the year, we were not doing well with hiking. But camping absolutely helped us out. Over the summer, we hiked waterfalls, multiple trails in the redwoods, and trails near the lava beds monument. Then we decided to tackle Lassen Peak, 5 mi round trip with 2,000 ft elevation gain. The kids did great. I took a little more time. But we did it. It was a great family bonding experience.
5. Celebrate Lydia's graduation--I can't believe I'm graduating my second kid. Unbelievable! I have a feeling the way we celebrate this one will be very different from the way we celebrated the first. But I want to make it just as special so it's time to start planning now.--We had a beautiful graduation ceremony and family party in May. And instead of doing a big party, she wanted to camp in the Redwoods which we did in June.
6. One on One Dates--Yes, this is parenting. But with homeschool, parenting and education bleed into each other. Having strong relationships and time to listen can only allow for more openness and connection during our homeschool days.--We've done a little here and there. In the past three months, we've had a one on one at least once with each of them.
7. Plan 6+ homeschool field trips--Having one kid graduated and two in high school, I realize more every day just how small this window of time really is. So field trips mean so much. Making time to enjoy learning, experience new opportunities, expand their horizons... I have 2 in the works right now, with multiple tabs open for potential learning over the next year.--Sometimes it's hard to identify where homeschool ends and life begins. But some of the things that we did over the summer that I would classify as field trips include: going to the Lava Beds Monument and some of the trails we did in the Redwoods. So far we've gotten in 3 formal field trips and lots of fun outings as a family. I'm currently working on two homeschool group field trips for the holidays.
8. Stay invested in our homeschool group--Our high school home group has been a lifeline this year. Giving my kids an opportunity to make likeminded friends AND be mentored by other quality parents... WIN/WIN! I'm definitely making time in our schedule to keep this going.--Unfortunately, it looks like our homeschool group is fizzling out for the fall. I still have hopes of reviving it with a few families, but currently chances are looking slim.
As you can see, my theme this year is CONNECTION, CONNECTION, CONNECTION! Now more than ever, I'm well aware of how important relationship is in our homeschool. Everything flows from that starting point. So happy to be raising my very best friends.
Are you making homeschool resolutions this year?
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