Planning your homeschool year can be a task that even seasoned homeschooling parents do not enjoy. Before you purchase online courses or planners be sure to know exactly what the laws are in your area, this may be the most important beginning to your homeschooling year.
Once you know what your local city, county, and state mandates are, you can then decide how to plan your homeschooling year around your child’s learning style. If you are homeschooling more than one student then you may find that you need a different planning approach for each student.
Keep yourself focused on your homeschool goals otherwise, you may end up wasting both time and money on resources you will not need or use. Below are some helpful tips on how to plan your homeschooling year.
5 Tips for Homeschool Planning
- Your Needs - What are you feeling right now? Do you have any health issues that need to be addressed? Will you be juggling a job while you homeschool? Start by taking yourself into consideration, after all, you are the homeschooling parent and will be responsible for yourself and your family. Begin by addressing your needs and desires for the outcome of your homeschool year. This is also the time to schedule your parent-teacher conference simply because you are the parent and teacher and could use this time to re-evaluate how the schooling is coming along.
- Your Children - Do you know what the strength and weaknesses of each of your children are? Do you know their likes, dislikes, and passions? Keeping your children engaged with their homeschooling studies can be less frustrating if you take into consideration what subjects they do and do not enjoy, along with the time of day they are at their best.
- Your Vision - What do you want your year to look and feel like? Do you have goals for yourself and your children? Begin by writing a vision statement and place that in an area for the entire family to read. This will help keep everyone on the same page throughout the year.
- Your Stuff - Go through your work areas on a regular base and get rid of anything that is expired, is no longer working, or just takes up space. You will be amazed at how quickly you can accumulate items that do not serve you and your family any purpose.
- Your Time - It’s important to just start. There will never be a perfect time to start your homeschooling, so it is important to just chose a day and get started. Things will work themselves out throughout the year.
Remember, life happens and there are going to be days where you feel like you haven’t accomplished much. If you feel this is how most of your days go, take a brief break, and re-assess what is and what is not working. If you feel overwhelmed with planning then reach out to your local homeschooling groups. There are veteran homeschoolers that are more than willing to lend you a hand and a word of encouragement.