Record ~ Reflect ~ Create Your Days

Journaling can help us create the learning environment our children need, identify and take on challenges, and find joy in our homeschool days.

Why Journal?

Journaling clears out the clutter in our heads. It helps us process our needs, wants, and worries.

It is a place for us to put the things we can’t say or aren’t sure how to say.

A journal is a place to record whatever is sitting in our minds, filling or weighing down our hearts.

It is a place to have a conversation, ask questions, find solutions, make lists, doodle, and allow time for pause.

A journal is a place to put first thoughts, write down ideas without the need for a plan, and ask ourselves wonderings without the need for an answer.

Let’s Begin Together

Let’s begin! Grab a journal! It can be as simple as a spiral notebook or a new Word document.

Find a quiet, comfy place to sit.

Turn off your phone and any notifications.

Set a timer for as little as ten minutes.

Start writing.

Don’t worry about spelling or grammar or even making sense. It’s okay to switch topics or change thoughts. Try to keep your pencil moving.

Not sure where to start? Look below for journal prompts. Use them as guides or not at all. They are simply one place to begin.

**You can read more about the benefits of journaling and types of journaling in this post by Teresa from Capturing the Charmed Life.**

Bookmark this page. Each day, week, or month, return and choose a prompt or several. Remember, this writing is just for you.

Journal Prompts for Homeschoolers

• Begin with- This year… Today… I wonder… I need…
• Describe what a typical homeschool day looks like.
• If today were a temperature, how does your day feel?
• What parts of your day go well? Which parts feel hard?

• If you could do just one thing all day with your homeschooler, what would you choose? What would they choose?
• What is one thing you’d like to do differently this month, semester, year?
• What would you like to keep the same?

• What classes, curriculums, resources, and books did you and your homeschooler love last year? What made them wonderful?

• What questions do you find yourself asking?

There is no one right way to journal. Our handwriting can be messy or neat. Spelling and grammar don’t count.

Below is a snippet from my journal-

This year, my word is BE. I want to BE more present. More present when I sit at the table with Sophie while she practices long division. I want us to read more together and make more time for art and hands-on science. Since COVID and our homeschool co-op’s move online, it feels like we’re moving at warp speed. Why? Why do I feel like we just need to get it done? It’s not the learning I want to fly through. It’s the chaos of the unknown. The fear of sickness. It’s the anxiety of the news and truth and violence I want to fast forward and move away from.

What can I do? 

I can go to bed early and snuggle up with my girl and a good book. I can get us up earlier so we feel ready to begin. I can make smoothies. I can focus on learning and enjoyment instead of how many lessons we’ve completed. I can pull out games and paint markers, the basket-making kit I’ve been saving, and remind myself we are not running a race. 

Journal Prompts for Winter

• Winter is . . . Winter brings . . . Winter feels . . .
• Write about the things your family loves most. Maybe make a list of each person and jot down the things that bring them the most joy. Do these things live in your day-to-day life? Can they?
• Write about a really good moment this week.
• Write about a really hard moment this week.
• Write about where you are in your homeschool journey.
• If your homeschool days this month had a name, what would they be called?
• What is something you have learned recently?
• What would you like to keep working on as a parent, teacher, or human?

Here is a snippet from my journal-

Winter is my least favorite season. This year, 2021, it rings even more true. I feel stuck. Worse, I already felt stuck before the snow and ice came. My children are feeling this, too. Especially my teen, who, like me, would rather not be cold or wet. Today, when I woke up and saw another four inches covering the ground, I went into what my children call Robo Momma Mode. I needed something to control. I scanned the room for things I could fix, put in their place, and check off my list. I told my kid they couldn’t do ANYTHING until XYZ was finished.

It was a crappy start to the morning, and I made it worse.

I’m learning to catch myself when moving into robo-control everything mode. Not always before I start, but it’s progress.

I apologized and explained how I was feeling. I told them I trusted them to do what they needed to do, and I did.

I cleaned the dirty ceiling and bathroom.

I took Claritin to ward off the allergy attack any kind of moisture in the air gives me.

I journaled.

The snow doesn’t look quite so imprisoning.

Journal Prompts for Spring

• Spring brings… This spring, I want to…
• What is beginning? What is something that is growing inside you?
• Thinking back to the last several months, what has worked well? What needs revision?
• Write about something you loved doing this school year.
• What is something you are giving yourself this spring?
• What is something you feel confident about? What is something you could use help with?
• Write about a moment in homeschooling you want to remember.
• Write about a time when you helped your child overcome a challenge or you overcame a challenge.
• Finish any of these sentences- I feel…I need…I am…

Here’s a snippet from my journal.

I feel more capable of moving through the hard moments in the day when we can go outside and be together in the sunshine. I’m eager for our science lessons to return to the picnic table and for reading in the hammock. I’d rather homeschool in spring, summer, and fall and vacation somewhere warm in winter. Maybe that’s what high school for my youngest will look like. We’re working a lot on a growth mindset. My challenge is not feeling fixed about her fixed mindset. It’s hard when there are things to try, but fear gets in the way. I fear not trying something and missing out on what could be working. My homeschooler is the opposite.

This spring, I am saying yes to spontaneous in-person playdates and remembering how less seatwork doesn’t equate to less learning. We’ll try starting our day even later. Mornings continue to be tough, but she is awake and excited to learn by noon. Why start earlier? We don’t have to.

I’m also saying yes to more journaling—together and on my own. This clears the clutter and what-ifs out of my brain, and I already feel more focused. We should start our days this way, or at least I should.

Journal Prompts for Summer

• In summer, I feel…notice…want…need…
• A typical day in summer looks like…
• My hope for this season is…
• Reflect on previous summers. What went well?
• It’s typically harder to have structure in summer. If this is true for you, how does less structure feel?
• Write about what you loved to do as a kid during summer.
• Make a summer bucket list for yourself. What do you want to do this time of year?

Here’s a snippet from my journal-

Summer bucket list

• try not to turn into a banshee when we say goodbye to Clark
• tread water (literally) as often as possible
• sleep in the hammock as often as possible
• getaway to OH with girlfriends
• see The Bean in Chicago
• plant lots of flowers for the bumble bees
• talk to bumble bees
• get up with the sun and watch bumbles snore

Journal Prompts for Fall

• In fall I hear…smell…taste…feel…see…
• Write about change. What is changing outside and in?
• Write about your hopes for the new school year or season.
• What are you looking forward to? What are your kids looking forward to?
• If your week was a speedometer, how fast are you going?
• What do you love about this time of year? What feels hard?
• What is something you’d like to do before the year ends?

Here’s a snippet from my journal-

The rain pelting down on my camper’s roof is giving me a headache, or maybe it’s the temperature change. Autumn and I have a lot in common. We are hot one minute and cold the next. Last night, I woke up three times to rip my blankets off or add more. The dog lying horizontally across the bed doesn’t help me sleep. The late-night snackers in the kitchen rattling around don’t either. I’m tired. I’m a row of emojis- the angry censored one, the one with the little tear, the meh one. It’s the weather, the world, the change. It’s being online too much. It’s feeling like there’s no way to help.

Our children benefit from journaling, too! They can use the journal prompts above or try the ones below.

Writing Prompts for Young Writers | Spring

Creative Writing Prompts for Summer

Writing Prompts for Young Writers | All About Fall

Winter Writing Prompts for Young Writers

Looking to add journaling and creative writing time into your homeschool day? It’s wonderful!

Creating a Writing Practice with Our Children

Create a Writing Basket | Encourage Young Writers

I also offer creative writing classes and tutoring sessions to help students become more proficient writers.

Current Class Offerings on Creative ELA

Current Class Offerings on Outschool

Feel free to leave any snippets of your journal in the comments below.

Here’s to journaling—recording, reflecting, and using what we find in our minds and hearts to help us create the homeschool days our family needs and loves to learn.