So now you have had a couple of months to try out scheduling your homeschool with my best year yet system.

I hope it has been going well – and now I wanted to give you another hint to help you stay on track. The Monthly Review!

At the end of every month, sit down and look at the month just gone. The questions I ask myself are :

• What worked well this month?
• What could you do better next month?
• What was your biggest achievement this month?

They seem simple questions, but they really get you thinking about each month and what you could do better. If you take some time to answer these questions and continue to add to your workbook, then this will really help to stay focused on the things you want to do. And help you to really do them!

When you think back over the month you will begin to see where you are too busy, too tired and too overwhelmed! Did you have enough green light activities scheduled – or unrealistic expectations about what you could get done. Did you work on your amber activities so you have something ready for the coming month?

Taking a few moments to think about what you did well, will also reinforce that for the coming month. Sometimes this is more good luck than good management 🙂 But there will also be gems in there too. When you realize everything goes to pot after a visit to a certain homeschool group. But that a particular friend always inspires and motivates you. Or that if you get up half an hour early your day goes along much more smoothly. Find your own gems and build them into your system.

The monthly review doesn’t take long. I do it as part of my monthly scheduling session. But it keeps me accountable and helps me make improvements each month. There is something incredibly fullfilling about dreaming up your best homeschool year yet and then taking it step by step each month to make it a reality.

That is pretty much my whole homeschool scheduling process from beginning to end!

I am slowly refining and improving, but focusing on the type of homeschool we want to have (rather than just on academics) has totally transformed our homeschooling!

Do let me know if you are going to try it! And how it works out for you.