Welcoming the New Year Without a Plan (Yet)

EP243: January often brings pressure to plan, reset, and have it all figured out. But what if the new year is asking for something gentler? In this episode of the Art of Homeschooling Podcast, Jean invites you to welcome the new year without a plan (yet) and return to your center before making any homeschooling decisions. Inspired by a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke, we explore why orientation comes before action and how creating space allows clarity to emerge. Perfect for homeschooling parents craving calm, confidence, and a meaningful, fresh start.

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Find the Show Notes here  https://artofhomeschooling.com/episode243/

Chapters

• 0:09 A New Year, Mixed Feelings
• 1:30 Rilke’s Invitation To Begin
• 2:43 Rejecting January Pressure
• 4:01 Orientation Before Planning
• 5:01 Common Traps When Off-Center
• 6:05 A Gentle Practice To Recenter
• 7:22 Taproot Online Invitation
• 8:36 Blessing For A Gentle Start

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:09

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, Jean Miller, and here on this podcast, you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. Hello, my friend, and welcome to the Art of Homeschooling podcast. I'm Jean and I'm so glad you're here. As this episode is going live, we're standing right at the threshold of a brand new year. Welcome, 2026. And if you're anything like most homeschooling parents I talk to, January brings a lot of mixed feelings. Hope, pressure, fresh start energy, and maybe a little panic creeping in around the edges. So today I want to offer you something that goes against most advice you hear this time of year. An invitation to welcome the new year without a plan yet. Let's start with a line from poet Rainer Maria Rilka that feels especially fitting this time of year. Rilka said, and now we welcome the new year full of things that have never been. This quote comes from a letter that Rilka wrote to his wife on January 1st, 1907. So very sweet. And I love thinking of this concept at the beginning of a new year full of things that have never been. Not things we should have figured out by now, not things we need to control, just things that have never been, have never even existed as we know them. There's mystery in that and possibility and perhaps a little uncertainty, even a little holy discomfort. It's really okay to start the new year without a plan yet. I want to reassure you of that. But before I forget, you can find the highlights of this episode along with the quote in the show notes at artofhomeschool.com/slash episode 243. January pressure is loud, my friend. January has a very loud energy, doesn't it? New goals, new routines, new curriculum decisions, new promises to finally get it right this year. And homeschooling parents often feel this especially strongly. I know I did throughout our homeschooling journey. I was definitely prone to feeling energized by the fresh start energy of a new year, but also at the same time feeling almost paralyzed. In a lot of ways, I think starting back up with homeschooling lessons after the holidays is even harder than starting at the beginning of a homeschool year. You might be thinking at this point, I should have a better plan by now. We need a reset like yesterday. Everyone else seems to be more organized than I am. Now, let me say this as plainly as I can. That pressure is not wisdom. It's just noise. And if we rush to make plans while we're still feeling off-kilter or off-center, tired or disconnected, pressured, those plans won't hold. They'll just add more weight on our shoulders. Here's the heart of what I want to share today. Before we plan, we need to orient or reorient ourselves. Before deciding what to do, we need to sense where we are on this homeschooling journey. Because in homeschooling and really in life, orientation comes before movement or taking action. So instead of asking these questions, like, do we need to switch curriculum? What does my homeschool schedule need to look like? What do we need to do to catch up? I want to invite you to ask gentler, truer questions first, like these. Where am I right now on this journey? Where is my child or each of my children in their learning journey? What season of life is our family actually in, not the one we wish we were in? Because planning without orientation is like setting off on a hike without checking the map or the weather, or even if you've packed snacks or not. And let's be honest, that never ends well. This is where I see so many homeschoolers struggle. Not because they're doing something wrong, but because they're trying to build clarity on a shaky foundation. When we feel off-center, here are some of the things we tend to do. We overplan, we second guess ourselves, we compare our homeschool to others. We chase the right answer, right quote unquote, meaning someone else's answer instead of listening inward. But when we connect with our center first, when we slow down enough to reconnect with our values, our intuition, and our children, clarity starts to arise naturally. It just bubbles up, not necessarily all at once, not in a neat checklist, but in a way that actually lasts. This is what I mean by welcoming a new year without a plan yet. It's not about avoiding responsibility, it's about creating space for something new to emerge. Remember Rilka's words, welcoming the new year, full of things that have never been. Those things need space and room to show up and blossom. So here's a simple practice you can try this week. No planner required. Choose a quiet moment, light a candle if that feels right, and read the Roka quote again slowly. Then sit with this question. What wants to grow in our homeschool this year? And what needs to be released? You don't need to force an answer, just notice what arises. Sometimes clarity comes as a feeling, sometimes as resistance, and sometimes as a quiet knowing you might have been ignoring. All of that counts. And if you're listening to this and thinking, yes, I want that kind of reset, but I'd love some support and I don't want to do it alone. I warmly invite you to Taproot Online 2026, coming up at the end of January. Taproot Online is a hands-on, heart-centered weekend experience designed by the Taproot team, a full team of experienced educators to help homeschooling parents like you return to center, to reconnect with your inner compass, clarify what truly matters, and step into the rest of the year with confidence and trust. Plus, get some hands-on ideas for learning experiences you can use right away with multiple ages and the whole family learning together. This isn't about fixing yourself. It's about remembering what you already know and reconnecting with that inner strength in a wonderful, heart-centered community. You can find all the details about Taproot Online at artofhomeschooling.com/slash Taproot Online. I'd love to see you there. So as we wrap up and as we step into the new year together, my wish for you is this. May you move gently, may you trust the timing, and may you allow space for the things that have never been. Thank you so much for listening today, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast. Bye for now. That's all for today, my friend. But here's what I want you to remember. Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast.