How to set homeschool goals and track your progress!

One of the keys to homeschool success is setting clear homeschool goals and tracking your progress. This is not to be confused with setting a strict homeschool schedule and living to check the box every day!

When you set homeschool goals, you are providing focus and direction for your homeschool. Your clear homeschool goals will help you measure academic progress, encourage accountability, and boost your confidence as a homeschool mama.

In this blog post, we’ll explore some tips and strategies for how to set homeschool goals and tracking your progress along the way. 

I’m ready when you are! Let’s dive in.. 

 

— Hey! 👋🏼 I’ve created a fun homeschool goals printable pack that will help you organize your homeschool goals & track them! Get more info down below in step number 5 of this blog post! Enjoy!

Let’s start this party off by answering the question I know is in the back of your head…

 

Can I homeschool without setting goals? 

Short answer? Yes.  

Follow up question: Why would you want to? 

Think about it like this, when you go to the grocery store without a list, a few things will happen.

1. You’ll overspend. Without a list, the cereal looks real good under that grocery store lighting, among other things! You have no direction, no purpose. And you grab a bunch of things that you don’t need.
   
2. It takes longer. Again, no direction. With a grocery list, your shopping is in and out because you know what you need, there’s no question, you grab it and go.
3. You forget the important things. Ever run into Target for ketchup and leave without the ketchup? Happens every time. That list, even if it just has one goal on it (ketchup!), will keep you on track. 

So, can you homeschool without setting homeschool goals? Yes. Should you? Absolutely not. 

 

Listen friend, this blog post will walk you through EVERYTHING you need to know in order to learn how to set homeschool goals for your family! 

But I can’t jump through the screen and do it for you (as much as I would love to!) You’ve got to put some work in on the front end of this goal-setting thing, but I promise you that the outcome is worth it!

 

 

Walk through these steps to setting great homeschool goals and make it happen! 

Step-by-step, how to set good homeschool goals

Step 1: Define Your Homeschool Goals

It’s not meant to be funny, but it made me giggle. You’ve got to start somewhere, right? Before you start homeschooling (or start the next homeschool week), take some time to define your family’s homeschool goals. 

What do you hope to achieve through homeschooling? 

What do you want your children to learn? 

What skills do you want your children to develop? 

Whether you answer these questions week-by-week or before each school term, you will be able to set clear homeschool goals for your family along the way! The frequency for setting your family’s goals is up to you! 

Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can start to create a plan for how you will achieve them.

 

Step 2: Break Your Goals Down into Smaller Tasks

Once you have defined your goals, and their frequency, it’s important to break them down into smaller tasks.

This step will make your goals more manageable and easier to achieve. For example, if your goal is to teach your child to read, you might break that goal down into smaller tasks like learning the alphabet, learning basic phonics, and practicing reading simple words.

 

Step 3: Create a Homeschool Rhythm

Once you have your goals and tasks defined, it’s time to create a homeschool rhythm. 

Personally, we love these beautiful Homeschool Rhythm Cards from Treehouse Schoolhouse! 

Children (even some adults) thrive on visual prompts. Their day can quickly become chaotic inside of their tiny minds if they don’t know what’s happening next. 

That’s why I love the flexibility of creating a homeschool rhythm vs. a homeschool schedule. 

Now, you can read all about why I love homeschool rhythms right here. But basically, when you create a rhythm for your homeschool, you have more freedom during the day. If a task takes longer than expected, you haven’t “missed” a start time for the next task, you aren’t “behind” – Rhythms, especially when you use these rhythm cards, allow you to just do the next thing. It’s so freeing!! 

Your rhythm should include time for each subject you want to teach that day, as well as time for breaks and other activities. Be sure to factor in any extracurricular activities your child may be involved in, as well as any other commitments you may have.

I seriously can’t recommend the Treehouse Schoolhouse Rhythm Cards enough! They’re editable, they come with or without clocks, and have an awesome checklist! If you don’t have them, grab them right now! 

 

Step 4: Use a Homeschool Planner

To help you stay organized and on track, consider using a homeschool planner. This can be a physical planner or an online tool, but a planner of some sort will help you keep track of your schedule, assignments, and progress. 

You can also use it to set reminders for upcoming tasks and deadlines.

Check out all of our planning tools inside the shop! Here’s some of our favorites: 

 

• The Digital Homeschool Lesson Planner Starter Pack
• Our Quick-Print Monthly Planner & Organization Printables Pack
• The Simplistic, Online Homeschool Planner – Powered by Google Slides™

Step 5: Track Your Progress

As you work through your homeschool schedule and complete tasks, be sure to track your progress. This will help you stay motivated and give you a sense of accomplishment as you work diligently to reach your homeschool goals. 

You can track your progress in a variety of ways, such as through a gradebook, progress reports, or regular check-ins with your child.

But my favorite way is to use the Homeschool Goals Printable Pack inside my shop! 

 

 

This printable is a must-have tool for any homeschool parent looking to set and track their child’s academic and personal goals!

We’ve designed this resource to provide a clear and organized framework for setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Our Homeschool Goals Printable Pack includes sections for academic goals, personal goals, and progress tracking. 

Within each section, there are spaces to write down specific goals, action steps, and target completion dates. 

Additionally, there is a section for progress tracking, where you can record your child’s progress towards each goal, celebrate their achievements, and make adjustments as needed. 

Using our Homeschool Goal Setting Printable will help you and your child stay focused and motivated, while also providing a way to measure progress and celebrate accomplishments along the way! 

 

 

We’ve arrived at our last step for how to set homeschool goals and track your progress!

Step 6: Reassess and Adjust Your Homeschool Goals

As you work through your homeschool schedule and track your progress, it’s important to regularly reassess and adjust your homeschool goals. 

You may find that some goals are too ambitious, while others are too easy. 

Be willing to adjust your goals as needed to ensure that you are challenging your child and helping them reach their full potential!

 

So, now you know why setting GOOD homeschool goals and tracking your progress is an important part of homeschooling. 

Setting homeschool goals is crucial for providing direction, prioritizing learning objectives, encouraging motivation and accountability, celebrating accomplishments, and promoting lifelong learning.

We know that homeschooling (and grocery shopping 😉) can be overwhelming without clear goals and objectives. Setting goals will provide a sense of purpose, focus, and direction for both mama and child. It helps prioritize the most important learning objectives, encourages motivation and accountability, and celebrates accomplishments.

Additionally, it can foster lifelong learning by developing important skills and instilling a love of learning.

Overall, setting homeschool goals is an essential part of the homeschooling journey.

By defining your goals, breaking them down into smaller tasks, creating a rhythm, using a planner, tracking your progress, and adjusting your goals as needed, you can help your child achieve academic success and personal growth. And save your homeschool mama sanity along the way 🙂 

 

— Hey! Me again!! 👋🏼 Speaking of homeschool mama sanity… You know the best homeschool mamas in the world hangout with me inside the Homeschool Mama Academy, right?? Click here to see why it’s so much fun and why you should join us!