How do you all set reachable goals for your homeschool? We have only been homeschooling since January of this year. The transition has been very difficult for our entire family. It was unexpected and abrupt. Our 2 boys (10, 8, and 8) had 2 short weeks before Christmas break last year to wrap things up at their previous school. We still live in the same town, which I think makes things more difficult. Our 10 yr old often says he wants to go back to his old school when he is frustrated. Going back is not an option at this point. He says he doesn’t feel like he has accomplished anything since we started homeschooling. He is correct, to a certain extent. The boys learned tons just by experience, but book knowledge was lacking. I pretty much let them choose the direction they wanted to go with our studies and it was a chaotic mess. It’s time to get down to business and make sure we are reading, writing, and doing math daily. I know this will be a fight at the beginning and I don’t want to put too much pressure on them with expectations that are too high for them to reach. I want a timeline, but I don’t want it to be too strict. I want them to be challenged, but I don’t want to push them too hard and burn them out. We are part of a public charter school, so we have to follow state guidelines. They have been very lenient with us so far, but I’m feeling pressured, and rightly so, to do more. Any input is appreciated!
I would look at the strengths and weaknesses of each child for a start, then you can make your goals based on the weaknesses you see. Look at the state requirements, as you are part of a charter school maybe see what they say each child should be learning when. Once you know all of that you can check the scope and sequence of the different curriculum you choose and see that it lines up with what they are supposed to be learning. Sometimes you can still get away with letting the children learn about what they are interested in by doing unit studies and yet staying focused in subjects like Math and English etc… This way you have your goals. You can also make personal goals- I.e- To learn to work independently in Math this year. And then you take the steps to help make that happen.
Setting goals was my least favourite thing to do but as you get to know your children and get to know what you want for their future, goal setting becomes easier. You have the long term goals and the short term goals but all the goals you make are for the future, ultimate goal. Where do you want to see them in 5 years? What do they need to get there? What career choice are they leaning towards? What do they need to get there? What personality flaws do they have that can hinder them from getting there? What strengths do they have that will help them get there? Everything works together, it is both academic and personal.
Hope this helps 
I wanted to share with you the blog post link below. It is mainly speaking of highschool homeschool but it absolutely applies to homeschooling in general. I thought it would be of help. Here it is:
Also, when there is such a change as yours, (abruptly leaving school to start homeschooling) it’s likely that it will take some time before you all get adjusted to the change. You may have noticed that even those of us who have been homeschooling for a while have had difficulties adjusting as well, learning our way through it, gaining and maintaining a vision for homeschooling. Especially for the children, they will need time to learn and adjust to the changes. It’s a process, for sure.
When setting goals, I do pretty much what you’ll read on that post I linked above. I look ahead, getting a picture (a vision) of what I would like for the end to be like. I then search and find the instruments that will help accomplish what I’m looking for. For more immediate goals, I do the same thing. I just try to be realistic with the time I have available, the energy I have as well, and take other things into consideration such as my children’s maturity, capabilities and interests. If I overschedule ourselves for the year, the week or the day, or if I pick out curriculum that does not fit well with us, I readjust until it is right for us. It takes a while, like I said, to discover limitations and other things like that.
Don’t be discouraged! Things will most likely smooth out as time goes on and you gain more confidence in what you all are doing. The same applies to your children. They might not be able to see ahead to the future, but you can. Routine finally sets in, or maybe the vision for homeschooling becomes more clear to our children after a while, and things just start to take a shape of its own.
And as always, “Commit your works to the Lord
And your plans will be established.” Prov. 16:3.
Keep us updated on how things are going!