Why January Feels Hard in Homeschool (Even If You Love Homeschooling)

After the holidays, the rhythm is different. Sleep is different. Attention spans are different. Even the vibes are different.

And if you’re homeschooling with little ones (or a baby in the mix), it can feel like you’re trying to rebuild a routine on top of real life… and real life is loud.

So if you’re feeling behind, scattered, or like your kids suddenly “forgot how to do school,” you’re not failing. You’re just out of rhythm and that’s exactly what a reset is for.

A reset is not a restart-from-scratch.

A reset is:

• keeping what works

• simplifying what doesn’t

• rebuilding momentum with small wins

• choosing priorities that fit your family right now

A reset is NOT:

• buying a brand new curriculum out of stress

• creating a perfect schedule you can’t maintain

• trying to “catch up” in one week

• forcing everyone to push through something you already know isn’t working

The goal is a homeschool plan you can actually live in.

What a New Year Homeschool Reset Actually Is (And What It’s Not)

The First Step: Don’t Fix Anything Yet

Before you reorganize your homeschool room, before you change your schedule, before you swap curriculum…

The first step is a reflection snapshot.

Not a long journaling session. Not a guilt spiral. Just quick, honest data so you don’t accidentally “reset” away the things that were working.

What worked

What routines made your days smoother? What actually helped your kids learn? What felt like it was building confidence?

What was hard

Where did you feel friction? What consistently fell apart? What made you feel like you were carrying homeschool alone?

What you and your kids both hated

This one matters. If it was a daily battle, the answer usually isn’t “push harder.” The answer is often “simplify, shrink it, or change how it shows up.”

I walk through the exact way I do this in Episode 1, and there’s one specific mindset shift in the video that helps you make decisions without overthinking.

Choose Priorities for the Rest of the School Year

Once you have your snapshot, pick priorities, not a long list.

A simple approach I love:

• 1 academic priority

• 1 whole-child priority (social, emotional, life skills, independence, character)

This is where you check in with your end-of-year goals and ask:
What do we want to be true by the end of the school year… and what matters most to focus on right now?

This step alone makes the rest of the year feel so much less scattered. However full disclosure I can never limit it to just the one.

Reset Your Rhythm Block-by-Block

Now we rebuild your routine slowly, block by block, so you actually stick with it.

A reset rhythm might look like:

• connection first

• one anchor

• one finishable win
  …and then you add from there

This is how you rebuild motivation without forcing long days before everyone is ready. Momentum comes back faster when the day feels doable.

Quick Win: A 15-Minute Reset You Can Do Today

If you’re reading this while your house is still in holiday mayhem, do this:

15-Minute Reset

1. 5 minutes: write what worked + what didn’t

2. 5 minutes: pick 1 academic priority + 1 whole-child priority

3. 5 minutes: choose tomorrow’s “easy win” and stop

That’s it. Small wins build momentum.

Free Printable: New Year Homeschool Reset Workbook

I created a printable workbook to go with this series so you can:

• reflect quickly without overthinking

• choose priorities with clarity

• map out a simple rhythm

• keep notes in one place (because we always need somewhere to jot things down)

Watch Episode 1 + Binge the Reset Playlist

🎥 Watch Episode 1 (the full walkthrough):

Watch the full New Year Homeschool Reset playlist (start at Episode 1 and go in order):

Each episode builds on the last, and the next one is where we start resetting the homeschool space in a way that’s realistic and actually functional.