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Are you feeling overwhelmed at the thought of planning a new homeschool year? Don't worry. You're not alone! Many parents feel stressed when they start thinking about lesson plans, schedules, and goals. But with a little organization and planning, you can have a successful year without all the stress. In this blog post, we will discuss some tips for how to plan your homeschool year without any headaches!
How to Plan a Homeschool Year: Subjects
When starting a new homeschool year, the first thing that I figure out is what we will be learning this year. Each child has different subjects and topics that they need to cover for the year. I have this checklist that will give you a starting point for what subjects could be taught but don't feel that you have to cover everything on the list. Most states have required subjects that need to be taught. You can see the HSLDA website or your state's Dept of Education website for more information. In our state, we are required to teach reading, math, social studies, language arts, and science. The rest of the subjects are left for us to decide. I consider my kids' interests and round out the rest of our curriculum.
How to Plan a Homeschool Year: Resources
Next up, you need to find your resources. This can be the books you use, manipulatives, and supplies. I purchase most of our supplies from Amazon, Thriftbooks, Rainbow Resources, and Christianbook.com. My biggest tip for this section is to find out how your student learns best and find a resource that will fit their needs. Most books will have a teacher edition that outlines what needs to be taught and when. I would recommend these only if it is your first year and you feel that you need some guidance or if it is a subject that you will need the answer key. Otherwise, especially in younger years, you will likely not need the teacher's edition.
When Will You Do School
You need to think about how much homeschooling you will do per day, how many days a week you will do school, and when you need a break. We homeschool year-round but still take time off. To start planning a homeschool year, check to see what is required for your state. We have to finish 1,000 hours for the year. Next, decide how many days a week you will do school. Most people will do school for 4 or 5 days, but the great thing about homeschooling is you can decide when and what days. We do school four days a week but leave the option open to finish anything extra on the 5th day. So next, look at the weeks you want to do school. For this, I print out a year-long calendar. Next, mark off the weeks that you need off. For us, this is two weeks for Thanksgiving, and three weeks around Christmas, any time for vacation, and we try to take off for the kids' birthday weeks. We try to do school in 5-week groups with a week off in between, so I will also add that. This leaves us 36 weeks, four days each week, and we will do at least 7 hours per day. (Remember: not all learning will be sitting down with a textbook. This is homeschool, not public school)
Start with the End in Mind
Once you have collected all the textbooks, novels, and other resources, it is time to start planning. You will need to start with the end in mind. Where do you want to be at the end of the year? For example, we use Teaching Textbooks for math. Each level is broken down into lessons and quizzes/tests. I will look at the number of lessons and tests and make sure that we have enough days to cover all the material.
Another example is we use Explode the Code. I like to finish two books per year, so I will take the number of pages from both books, add them together and then divide by the number of days we will do school. For science, I will have picked the topics we want to cover. Say we want to cover six different topics. If we are doing school for 180 days, I have roughly 30 days per topic. Of course, you can adjust this, but it works as an excellent gauge to keep you on track to accomplish what you wanted for the year.Â
“Perfect” Weekly Schedule for Homeschooling
Next, I will print a weekly page for each child. On it, I will make a “perfect week.” If everything were to go correctly, this would be what it would look like. For example, my middle is in third grade. For his “perfect week,” he needs to finish:
- Four morning works
- Four math lessons
- Four reading assignments
- Four language arts lessons
- Four science lessons
- Four social studies lessons
- Four nature study lessons
- One extracurricular each day
I will add each of these to the days and decide how much time each will take. This is a great time to adjust if you have too much material or maybe not enough. Include any activities that you have that are recurring, so you make sure to budget time for those as well.
“Perfect” Daily Schedule for Homeschooling
Lastly, I will set up a “perfect day.” I print out a daily page with the time down the side. This will serve as a guide and help keep him on task throughout the day. Does he have to do everything exactly at the right time… no, but it does help to make our days run more smoothly. I suggest adding in your start time, end time, and meals. Then start adding in subjects. I try to schedule the more “challenging” subjects earlier in the day and things that don't take as much energy towards the end. If you have multiple kids, this will be the time when you make sure that the schedules align. So if you need to be 1:1 with one kid, say for math, the other kid/s can be working on independent work.
Last but not least, don't be afraid to be flexible. The beauty of homeschooling is being able to do what is best for your child and help them succeed in life. Whether that is taking more days to cover a topic or starting later because mornings just aren't for them, YOU get to decide what works best in your homeschool. I wish you all the best and hope this how to plan a homeschool year post has given you some inspiration for your homeschool year.
Planning your homeschool year doesn't have to be stressful. In fact, if you go over the subjects you'll be studying and find some great resources, you can enjoy the process of getting ready to learn. Start with the end in mind by making a perfect weekly schedule, and then create a daily schedule that will help each day run smoothly. If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't worry! We've got a free planning guide to help make the process easier for you. Download it today and get started on a fantastic homeschool year!
