This idea isn’t a new one among homeschooling circles, but sometimes we need to be reminded.
Create a regular routine for lesson planning in your homeschool.
How often this is done will look different from homeschool to homeschool. Some people like to do a month of planning at a time. I am in the weekly planning camp. Although I have general lesson plans created for each child for each subject, I still like to frame our learning week by week. Sunday is my day for that.
I use Sunday afternoons as my planning time. Last week’s schooling is complete, it is the start of the new week, and I am refreshed from a restful Saturday. By Sunday, I am mentally ready to look at the upcoming week with clarity.
Younger Children
Although the daily plan for my younger children doesn’t change much, it is extremely helpful for me to have everything I plan for written out each day. . . and written out ahead of time. I am a pen-and-paper planner–if I didn’t write it down, then it might not happen! Four of my eight children are in the lower grades, ranging from pre-K to 4th grade, and I move at a constant pace with them–consistently busy throughout most of our school time. When I fail to have what they’re learning written down, it just never turns out well.
I’ve tried writing out lesson plans as I go along, but doing so interrupts the flow to our day. Instead of helping my little ones through a problem or answering their questions or beginning a reading lesson, I’m busy with checking lessons and writing down page numbers. That means my children don’t have my full attention and it throws our schedule off, which means we usually don’t achieve our goals for the day.
I’ve also tried recording what we’ve accomplished after the school day is complete. Honestly, once our learning time is complete, we all move on to other tasks and personal interests and my mind is focused on lessons and assignments. I guess that’s the fancy way of saying: I usually forget to record it later.
Solution: Sunday planning
Even though most of our curriculum is “open and go”, I’ve found that writing down what each person is supposed to do each day ahead of time keeps us on pace. I can make adjustments for the coming week based on last week’s progress and plan accordingly.
Older Children
This year, I have 3 teens–two in high school and one in 8th grade. These guys move about independently for the most part. Sunday planning with them takes on more of a meeting of sorts. The four of us sit down at the dining room table to “settle up” as we like to call it.
At the beginning of our homeschool year, I gave my teens weekly schedules and assignments for all subjects. During our Sunday planning, we make sure that what Mama has written down has been faithfully carried out and that our coming weeks match up.
Here, I can check-in with each of them, find out what’s been working great and listen to the things that need changing. We even double-check supplies for any upcoming science experiments. This is also a time for them to express how they plan to juggle their time–learning to exercise good judgement and critical thinking about the upcoming week. They can explain their intentions and even request extensions on assignments if need be. By the end of the planning session, we are all on the same page and the week is set.
So, there’s a snippet of the weekly planning I do for our homeschool. It keeps me on track and helps my children reach their academic goals. How do you plan your homeschool lessons? Weekly? Monthly? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
