Homeschool Planning In SIX Steps!

At the end of each school year, I begin the exciting process of planning out the next homeschool year! Most years, this is a rather simple process as I have either relied heavily on Ambleside Online or combined my students to complete the same grade.

Two years ago, I decided to stretch my homeschool wings a bit and created my OWN plans. These two years completed my oldest child’s time in middle school. We were still able to be rather flexible in our learning, while having plenty of fun as a family! I created two school plans based on Route 66/Oklahoma History and The Ancient Civilizations (of Egypt, Greece & Rome.)

Now, that my oldest is entering high school, (how did that happen?) I have decided to split up my students into their appropriate grade level. This means double the planning, something I have never done. Until this point, I have kept my students together for all subjects except math and handwriting. (Technically, also reading in the beginning!)

While this task of planning two school years out seems slightly daunting, I know I have worked toward this point. I have honed down my planning process so that it can be done rather quickly and efficiently. Let me share with you what I have learned, and hopefully it will get you planning in the right direction!

Steps to Planning An Entire Homeschool Year

Select a Subject List*: First up, decide on what subjects you want to include in your yearly plan. This may be more basic if your student is in elementary or middle school. For high school, you should consult your state graduation guidelines. If your student plans on attending college, you may want to consider their entrance requirements, as well.
- In a school year, high school students should complete English, Math, History, Science, Fine Arts & Foreign Language.
- Other subjects our family chooses to include Bible/ Christian Studies, Personal Growth, Typing, Logic, Martial Arts & Current Events.
- This is a simple spreadsheet-style map for all of your student’s high school years. HSOK-Plan-for-High-School.pdf (homeschooloklahoma.org)
- *This could possibly be step 2, as you need to decide what “grade” your student is in and what style of homeschooling you are going to do. For us, we are doing a cross between Charlotte Mason and Classical.
Build a Book List: Next, choose a book (or two) for each of the subjects. This may take several hours for research time, so plan accordingly. Once the books have been decided upon, make the purchase! If you are looking for cheaper options, check out your local library, used bookstores, online used books stores and digital resources.
- Our go-to companies for purchasing books from are Rainbow Resource, ThriftBooks, and Amazon.
- Your local library should provide access to several audio book services like OverDrive or Hoopla. Another free online library is LibriVox
Plan the Year Overview: As mentioned in the video below, you can complete step 3 or 4 first, but I typically plan my yearly overview prior to creating the calendar. This step shouldn’t take long and includes creating a basic map for the year. I use a spreadsheet to keep things looking neat. Along one side of the spreadsheet I type the subjects and book names (as space allows.) Along the other side I start by writing week numbers, and later add dates. I simply divide the subject’s book across the weeks of school. (For example, if a book has 30 chapters and we have 34 weeks of school, we will read a chapter per week and finish that subject early.)
- See the image below of the overview for my high school student’s freshman year.
Create the Calendar: For this step, I often print out a school year calendar like the one you can see below. I decide on start and end dates, as well as map out the break weeks for the entire year.
- You can check out these FREE calendars at: WorksheetWorks.com
- In previous years our schedule looked a lot different than it will this year. We used to take a 6-week break from Thanksgiving to New Years Day and a second 6-week break during July and the beginning of August. We would also have a break week roughly every 6 weeks or so. This allowed us to travel or have more flexibility. Now we will more closely follow our local school’s schedule to provide a similar schedule for summer activities with friends and jobs.
Design Weekly Checklist Charts: Depending on preferences, this step will look a bit different for every person. I am a checklist-on-paper kind of person, so I create a weekly chart that can be filled in for each subject/ day. This can also be done by writing simple daily lists in a notebook. Decide how this works in your house and make it happen! I do find that a written list helps students know what needs to happen each day and provides the necessary accountability!
**I am leaving a FREE Printable for you below, so you can create a weekly chart!
- Get your Printable Here: Blank Weekly Chart
Build the School Cart: We have played around with where to store homeschool materials, but a rolling cart seems to be the best! A cabinet also works but does require teacher or student to collect materials and return them before/after each lesson. A cart can also house writing supplies, art supplies and snacks for the day!