End-of-the-Year Homeschool Hacks

We made it! We have made it through another annual homeschool journey, so grab these end-of-the-year homeschool hacks to help make the end of the school year smooth.

I almost said, “…to help make the end of the school year stress-free.” However, you probably would have counted me a liar and stop reading.

Of course, there may be stressors at the end of the homeschool year, but we can make things more bearable and run as smoothly as possible.

Try out a few of these end of the year homeschool hacks to help you through the transition into summer.

Don’t put away the anchor charts just yet.

Make an anchor chart to have kids describe their school year in three words. You will love what you see about your homeschool year.

Cover your school tubs with plastic wrap.

They are sure to gather dirt or gather up “stuff” while kids pass by the tubs. Avoid these issues with plastic wrap.

Get your next year’s binder together!

Print your new teacher’s binder. Evaluate which binder pages you didn’t need throughout the year and add the binder pages you needed more of. Grab some free Binder pages below.

How to Build Your Homeschool Binder + FREE Cheat Sheets & Dividers – This binder includes tons of cheat sheets and helps for students. 

Homeschool Planner Binder for Next School Year – This homeschool binder printables for homeschool is all you need to start planning, developing lessons, and more.

Must-Have Free Printable Homeschool Planner – Start your year organized with these printables to place in your new year’s binder.

Within the last few weeks of school, start a list of items you need more of.

This list can be left up in the homeschool area and added to through the last few weeks of school. You do NOT need to buy your supplies now. However, you will be extremely grateful before next school year when you know exactly what you need and what to purchase.

Print out next year’s reading logs for each child.

When we prepare for reading and have reading logs set for the year, then no matter what happens, you can keep reading a must for the year. If anything changes next year, at least you know that reading will still be completed regularly.

Free Reading Logs, Bookmarks and Charts – Scroll through this collection of free reading logs, bookmarks, and charts for keeping everyone on track. 

Free Color As You Go Reading Log Printable – Tracking your child’s reading lists can be tricky. However, they can be less complicated with no-prep lists you can get ready and prepared before the next homeschool year.

Book Report Templates and Reading Log PDF – Get these all printed and set up to prepare for a year of reading well. With these resources, your students can learn how to read more and review what they have read.

Make an end-of-year plan.

Although you may have planned out (I hope) your homeschool lessons to the end of the school year, that surely isn’t all you need to do.

List short-term goals to achieve by the time school officially ends for your homeschool like clean up your homeschool area, gather all materials and put them away, schedule an end-of-school celebration whether large or small, etc.

Double-check any homeschool requirements for your state or country and give some homeschool assessments.

You may not be a test-taking family, or you may be paranoid that your students haven’t learned what is on assessments.

It is actually beneficial to test your students if only to see what you may want to focus on next school year. It can help you with what to add to lesson plans for the following year.

Testing Resources for Homeschoolers – These resources provide a wide range of testing services that are available to homeschoolers throughout the United States and Canada.

Give your kids a homeschool survey or reflection assignment.

This is not just any survey. After all, your kids are your students and you are all on this homeschool journey together. The least we can do is get their insight and maybe adjust some to make it a better experience for them.

The survey can ask things like their favorite homeschool experience, their best book, input on the weekly schedule, suggestions for next year, curriculum feedback, and more.

End of the Year School Year Reflection Activity – This end-of-the-year activity is a must. This free resource will not only help students practice the critical skill of reflecting, but also make an interactive accordion book to display their thoughts and ideas.

Downloadable End of Year Reflection Questions – This resource provides thirty end-of-year reflection questions in two different formats ~ task card format and printable list format. You will also find numerous ideas for how you want to use these end-of-the-year reflection questions with your family.

Plan some fun for the summer.

The summer slide is real. Planning some fun educational (or undercover educational) activities will give kids motivation for the summer and excitement for the journey.

5 Free Printables for Creating and Planning Your Summer Schedule – Planning for a summer schedule will bring order to an otherwise chaotic summer. Prevent summer slide with activities to keep kids engaged and learning.

Create a next school year goal list – for yourself. Yes, YOU, homeschool parent.

Evaluate if you found yourself super busy or not getting everything done and why. What unexpected events occurred that changed your routine, and should you account for these surprises next school year? Did you have enough one-on-one time with each child? What did you learn?

Provide your kids with a wrap-up of school rules and remind them about being kind to each other.

Classroom etiquette in homeschool is very different from regular school. However, some things remain. There are certain dos and don’ts we all follow. There are also some things that we would like our children to improve on like being kinder to each other next school year.

Grab this resource to help:

Free Kind and Unkind Short Story Sorting Activity – Check out these 6 short stories to get your children thinking and discussing what kind and unkind behaviors are. Kids truly can be mean to each other, and by the end of the school year, it can get worse. Remind your kiddos about their actions.

Make an end-of-the-year time capsule (or digital time capsule).

You will NOT regret opening up the time capsule next school year. Have kids write themselves letters and keep photos, news, critical events, and more as a reminder of this school year.

Grab the resources below to help your homeschool make an end-of-year time capsule:

Creating a Homeschool Time Capsule with Printables – Capture your student’s homeschool journey by building a homeschool time capsule. Whether you open it in one year or in five, making a time capsule (digital or not) is a great way to remember all the amazing things that happened during the school year.

Making Your Own Homeschool Time Capsule – This surely has been an interesting year. Even with the unique year, there may have been unique events of your own within the home. Capture it all in a time capsule to re-visit in the future.

Check out some of the resources below to help you prepare for the end of your homeschool year.

End of the Year Lists for your needs, school year reflection, and more – You won’t remember everything you need for the end of the school year, yet this freebie can help you to at least prepare as much as you can.

Fun End-of-Year Activities for Homeschool – These quick no-prep activities are exactly what you need to wrap up the end of school in fun ways. These are mainly for fourth and fifth grade, however, I found they easily can be adjusted to use with younger or older students.

The end of the school year is such a big accomplishment. Just thinking back for a moment about what has transpired is enough to give you a sigh of relief and a pat on the back.

You did it! They did it! Praise God for another successful year – I didn’t say easy – but definitely successful.