Planning for a Shiny New Year -

You’ve survived another year of homeschooling. Maybe it didn’t work out just like you planned. Perhaps there’s an unopened box of latin grammar sit scornfully under your desk. Or maybe you pushed so hard you lost all touch with who your kids really are. Thank the Lord for new beginnings. It’s time to get a fresh plan for a shiny new year.

My Disclaimer! I am not a color coding – down to the second planner. I admire and sometimes envy those that are but I am not. I like to keep things simple and easy to see from a glance. Check out my video on record keeping to see what I mean. My way of planning is more slapdash that stunning. Keep what you like and ignore what you don’t. That’s my motto.

1st- Figure out what you MUST do

This varies by age, grade, stage of life, country, state, PSP, Charter School, husband, household and mood. But whatever it is you MUST do. Plan that first.

For my family: We MUST have devotions and together time daily. This core keeps our family connected and whole. You won’t find it on any record plannng course or transcript. But we MUST have this chunk of time or life gets hairy.

For my state: We MUST prove learning is taking place. We MUST provide attendance sheets. And my High Schooler has a list of subjects that MUST be covered….including PE.

After you consider grade and state requirements, refrain to adding any extras until you’re certian you have the time, energy, and dedication to crush your curriculum core. Do not add anything that will suck your joy or your focus into the abyss of homeschool guilt

2nd- Figure out what EATS your energy

We love art and crafts in our house. But we are not very good at it. We also tend to forget we scheduled it and save it to the end of our day. There are many art curriculums we’ve picked up knowing they’ll enrich our lives and add bounteous beauty to our home. But they whether and rot in a box. And this mama feels guilty just looking in their general direction.

What I’ve learned from these cardboard cubes of broken promises is STOP ADDING TO MY ALREADY CRAZY DAY. Don’t buy more to do. Don’t plan more than your day can hold and don’t hold yourself to a routine that just will not work for your family. Ditch it. Your kids need YOU and you need your energy refreshed to stay YOU and not turn into mean mama.

3rd- Flexibility- Be ready to tuck and roll

When laying out your homeschool year do not forget to add WHITESPACE! Flexibility is key. Schedule in days for life skills and services opportunities… aka housecleaning and taking grandma to doctor appointments. They happen to even the most structured homeschool style.

Look at your calendar for the last year and see how many consecutive days your family was able to complete school from start to finish. How many days did you need to spontaneously take off? Purposefully leave empty slots on your calendar as a cushion.

If you wind up not using them… BONUS POINTS for you!!! Stop early or get ahead. Our house gets ahead because if we didn’t need our whitespace days in semester one more than likely we’ll need double in the second semester.

Remember to keep Christ in the center... and your sanity in check. Do not overbook your year just because you like a new curriculum. Nail the Core Curriculum down first. There’s always summer if you feel like squeezing in extra.

Happy Planning.

I’m cheering you on,