Seven Steps to a Well-Planned Homeschool Year

Starting out a new school year in homeschooling can be a bit daunting at first. What should be in the list of things to learn? How do you decide what to include? Have you got enough? Have you got too much? There seems to be so much to learn. How will you manage it? And how will y ou fit all your plans into the timetable? You really need an action guide, don’t you?

Relax, and let me talk you through it. I have done this literally dozens of times, as I enter my twenty-sixth year of this wonderful lifestyle of home educating.

1. The best way to start planning your year is to actually look back over last year and consider what you have achieved.
   1. What did you manage to do?
   2. What was it that helped you to achieve these things?
   3. What did you not get done that you wanted to do?
   4. What was it that prevented you from achieving these goals?
   5. You can use the special diary pages with the lists of the various areas of consideration in your homeschool diary to work through this. By focusing on these questions on your brainstorming page you will start to get a clearer picture of what you want to achieve this year.
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2. Then you can use the planning page and goals page in your homeschool diary to work through those dreams and plans of where you want to go and what you would like to cover in 2010.
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3. If you are still unsure what you want to do this year then you might like to start by reading through some helpful articles at The Broad Room.
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   Don’t start by buying curriculum
   What is your vision?
   Two important questions to ask yourself
   Why curriculum doesn’t matter
   Why it’s never too late
   Why you might need to let go of the good things 
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   The reading and the calm planning you do at this early stage in the year will pay dividends throughout the year, as long as you keep calm and focused and don’t take on lots of extras throughout the year.
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4. Having said that, guess what you need to factor in when making your plans and timetable in your homeschool diary? You need to leave space for ‘life’, which ‘happens’ all the time. The unexpected, the surprise problems, all the daily busy-ness that can threaten to overwhelm us if we are not careful.
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5. When you have ordered your thoughts you can look at what your child needs and work from there, providing a balanced learning menu in a way that suits you and your family.
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6. Take a look at my bookshelf to see some of my personal favourite books that I have enjoyed using for learning and teaching.
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7. And finally, let me encourage you to post a comment or ask a question. Just scroll down here to leave your comment.

Stephanie.

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