Homeschool planning can feel overwhelming. Even if you’ve been doing this for a while. Staring down a blank slate of another year is exciting and daunting at the same time.
Homeschool planning requires a lot of thought. You need to figure out the curriculum you are going to use because the last one you spent so much time crafting isn’t going to cut it this year. Will you piece it together or use a homeschool all in one curriculum. There are other activities to plan. Or kids you are adding to your homeschool. And also graduating from your homeschool.
Will you use an online planner or grab a notebook or keep it in excel.
I know the overwhelm is starting to kick in, but take a deep breath. Whether you are new or you’ve been doing this for years, grab your coffee and let’s dive into homeschool planning.
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The Juggling Act of Homeschool Planning
The hard part of homeschool planning is your year is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. You can plan for every minutes of every day, but I can guarantee it won’t go according to plan.
And that’s ok. The purpose of homeschool planning is to sketch out what your year will look like. It isn’t a complete painting that is ready to hang on the wall. It is a pencil sketch that will allow you to erase and make changes.
This is the most important part of planning for homeschooling juggling lesson plans, work schedules, and household stuff. You need to do it in such a way that it is more manageable and less stressful.
Does it sound like we are chasing a unicorn? It does a little bit, but with smart strategies you can find your unicorn. But once you catch it, you will realize it wasn’t so mythical after all.
Balancing Homeschool and Working from Home
My work life and homeschool life are interwoven. While this post is going to be about homeschool planning, I need to add in working from home as well. You will never find the perfect solution to balance work and life. That is truly a unicorn. But it is possible to work and homeschool at the same time.
The key to balancing both is flexibility. I know that is not the deep, profound answer we are always looking for, but it is the most practical help I can give. You want to plan your work from home and homeschool days with flexibility built in.
The best way I know how to do this is by creating routines. This was the one thing I did that dramatically changed how our days went. Mom, if you want to minimize your stress, free up your brain space from the daily mundane tasks so you can think more creatively, then try creating routines in your day. If you don’t know where to start, then start with a morning routine.
10 Homeschool Planning Hacks to Make Your Day More Manageable and Less Stressful
Here are 10 planning hacks that will make your homeschool journey more manageable and less stressful.
1. What season are you in
As you start to do your homeschool planning, this is the most important thing to consider. Are you homeschooling with a newborn? Or are older kids starting college dual enrollment? Are you starting a new curriculum? Is there something else happening that is going to affect your homeschool?
Sometime in my homeschooling planning I neglect to consider the season we are in. And it leads to overplanning and feeling stressed out.
There will always be seasons of busyness and seasons of not so busy. Plan accordingly.
2. Create a yearly overview
Start all your homeschool planning with a yearly overview. I usually get the local school’s calendar because it has the full year on one page, and then I don’t need to spend time making my own. In our state, we are required to keep attendance and have a certain number of days of school.
First, I will mark the days that I know we are going to take off. We usually take off for Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, spring break, and Good Friday. Those are the planned days off. Second, I will mark our homeschool co-op days. These still count as homeschool activities, but it helps to see how many curriculum days we will have. Third, I will mark our start date. Finally, I will count off the days to our last day of school. This allows me to see the total number of days we have planned, and how many other days off we can take while still finishing on our planned last day.
This is how I plan our year. There are so many other ways to homeschool as well. You can do year round. Many families that homeschool all year will work for six weeks, and then take a week off. They will also take more time off in December and July. This works for many families. My kids voted to have a long summer break, so that’s what we do.
My yearly overview keeps me on track throughout the year. We want to take advantage of the freedom homeschool offers, having an idea of where we should be with attendance really helps to maximize our freedom and flexibility.
3. What are your goals
Think through what you want to accomplish in the year. This should change year to year because your kids are growing as students, and you are growing and changing as a homeschool mom. Your goals are going to change with you.
When we talk about goals it is in the simplest way. I know SMART goals are popular, but I actually despise them. A goal is simply something you want to accomplish, and you create habits in order to accomplish it.
What are your goals for your kids? Do you have goals that you want to accomplish? These need to be part of your planning. Write them down in a notebook so you don’t forget them. Rank the ones that are most important to you. Depending on the size of your goals, I would only have three that are your top priority.
How will you accomplish these goals throughout the year? What habits do you need to create in order to crush your goals?
4. Determine your school week
Did you know you can do a 4-day school week? Or you can do curriculum for four days and do field trips every Friday. A field trip can be as simple as taking a hike or going to the library. It doesn’t have to cost a thing. Or you can splurge and go to a museum.
There are so many things you can do with your week. You aren’t locked into workbooks all week. I am not one of those moms that shuns curriculum. As a matter of fact, I really like using homeschool all in one curriculum, but I adapt to our lifestyle.
Pssst…side note, you don’t need to do every single lesson in your curriculum either.
Our homeschool week is usually four days of curriculum, and then Friday is an enrichment day. We usually do homeschool co-op, or we will do a field trip. As my older kids get older and are doing college dual enrollment, they tend to have a longer week than the younger kids.
How do you want your homeschool week to look?
5. Tools for planning
Now that you have an idea of what you want to do. You need to put it some place. Write it down in a notebook, homeschool planner, excel, or use Homeschool Planet.
It is better to get all your ideas out of your head and written down someplace. I always recommend writing it all in one place. Whatever that place is, keep everything homeschool planning related there.
Writing everything down will get it out of your head, so you don’t need to keep thinking about it. Or spending energy remembering everything. If you have everything in one place, you also know where to look every time. It really takes the stress of your homeschool planning.
I typically keep things in Excel or in a notebook. I have also taken advantage of Homeschool Planet’s 30-day free trial. I was very impressed with this online planner. If I pieced together curriculum for all six kids, I would definitely use this. Since we use a homeschool all in one curriculum, they each have their own schedule that comes with the curriculum, so it isn’t necessary for me to plan everything. But I did like the flexibility and organization that Homeschool Planet offers.
6. Use an all in one curriculum
This is my favorite homeschool planning hack because everything is planned for you. Yes, I do adapt curriculum to make if work for us. I have swapped out subjects some years, but for the most part all in one curriculum saves me time and energy.
As a working and homeschooling mom, I need to find ways to lower my stress levels, manage my energy, and give my kids an excellent education. That is a lot to do.
I know many people shun the idea of using an all in one homeschool curriculum in their minds it is too much like public school. But here’s the thing about homeschooling, you get to do what works for you. If an all in one curriculum is what you need to use, then embrace your homeschool freedom and use it.
7. Where is the schoolwork going
With six kids you can imagine what our homeschool room looks like. Think sardines. That means I need to know where everything is going, so I can easily find it when I need it. This is vital to our homeschool planning, where is everything going.
All of our kids have desks, every the preschooler who doesn’t really do schoolwork, but she wants to be like the big kids. They also do some subjects online, so that means they all have computers and they need the space. Most of the kids have a set of drawers with their desk, and all their books go into the drawers. My younger student has a small bookshelf for his school books (his desk is small). We also have a bookshelf in our homeschool room for the extras. But everything has a place to live.
This is an example of what our school room looks like. We turned our formal living room into an office and homeschool room. The family room is our living space. But if you don’t have a dedicated room, then just have a place for all your curriculum. It will keep it organized and easy to find.
8. Set up your records
Each state is different, so make sure you know what records you need to keep. We need to keep track of attendance, so I set that up in Excel for each year. I also keep track of grades for all the kids. This isn’t a requirement for our state, but I want to keep the records for me.
If you have a high school student, you will also want to create a homeschool high school transcript. Get started on that before high school starts.
Set up your records before school starts, then you will just need to fill in the information when you are in the thick of school.
9. Plan your morning and the rest of your day
How do you want your day to go? You don’t need to plan every minute of your day or use time blocking, but have a general idea of what you want to do when.
I create routines because they just work. After many years of frustration and overwhelm, I’ve found what works for us. Time management for moms who work from home is necessary to master. If you aren’t sure where to start with routines, then create a morning routine. Start small and then add to it.
10. Don’t be afraid to change things
I save the most important homeschool planning hack for last. You can change anything that isn’t working. Yes, sometimes you need to give things time to work out, but if something just doesn’t work for you, then change it.
The most important thing to remember is you get to make your work from home mom job and homeschooling work for you and your family.
Conclusion: Homeschool Planning for Success
Homeschool planning is going to help you start your year on the right foot and minimize the stress of winging it. With these strategies, you can create a routine that works for you allows you to embrace the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling and working from home.
FAQ: Homeschool Planning
Q: What’s the best homeschool planner to use?
A: There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer since different families have different needs. Some prefer physical planners or notebooks, while others go digital with apps like Homeschool Planet or Excel.
Q: How far in advance should I plan our homeschool year?
A: It’s a good idea to have a yearly outline, but flexibility is key. Many homeschoolers plan their year by quarters or terms, revisiting and adjusting their plans as they go. Weekly and monthly check-ins are helpful for staying on track.
Q: How do I stay motivated when my homeschool plans don’t go as expected?
A: It’s normal for plans to go off course occasionally. When this happens, give yourself grace and adjust as needed. Remember that homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay flexible and focus on progress, not perfection.
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