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Free Simple Homeschool Planning Pack

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This set of simple homeschooling resources is intended to help you simplify your goal setting, curriculum shopping and daily schedule.  Today, we are offering this small collection FREE for all of our newsletter subscribers.

Print Simple Homeschool Planning Pack Here

Homeschool Goals:  Sometime before you start your curriculum planning we suggest sitting down and writing out your goals for each student.  This doesn’t have to be detailed, it can be as simple as, “Get through 5th grade math.”  However, there may be subjects that you have more detailed answers for, “Develop empathy and self control.”  Doing this for each student is a great way to customize their education.

 

Homeschool Curriculum:  Print one page for each student and use this sheet to keep track of what products, resources and classes you’ll be using during the year to cover each subject.  Take this sheet with you to homeschool conventions and curriculum sales so you can always update and keep organized.

 

Homeschool Schedule:  This sheet is intended to be an independent planner for your students.  Print and add in your daily subjects and a photo of your student.  Laminate or store in a page protector then provide your student with a dry erase marker to keep track of their daily tasks. Encourage students to mark off the boxes as they complete each task.

 

Print our Free Homeschool Planning Pack Here

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Homeschool Planning Pack

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Free Homeschool Planning Printables

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HomeschoolPlanningPin

Well, I’ve done it again.

I’ve waited until the last two weeks before really coming up with a solid Homeschool Plan.

Sure I’ve been collecting various eBooks and curriculum resources over the Summer, but it’s been more like a Homeschool Curriculum feeding frenzy instead of an organized and thoughful process.

It’s time to load everything on the table and see what I’m working with here folks

Classroom.

That is not even this years photo.

I’m so far behind, I haven’t even made the obligatory mess of dining room table yet.

It’s going to be a busy week folks.

So to keep myself invested in this process I decided to update our Independent Weekly Homeschool Calendar, as well as our Goals and Planing sheets.  You can still print the older versions here and here if you like them, but this year I needed a little Color Pop to get my act in gear.  If you’re struggling to wrap your head around how to schedule your curriculum, try this simple tip for each subject.  How to make a list of Goals, Resources, and Action Plan

SimplePlanner

Download the updated Homeschool Planning Printables Here

I’ll be using these with my younger children this year for sure!  My older children are going to try Lesson Trek, mostly because I thought Middle School would be a great time to learn how to keep an online calendar as well.  We’re always looking for real life scenarios to add in that Technology requirement!

If you’re still curriculum shopping like me be sure to check out our Curriculum Reviews and our Homeschool eBooks!

ACNBooksTransparentSmall

I’ve just finished our Letter of the Week Preschool Curriulum, and it’s very low-prep, so grab that if you need a quick fix for your kiddo too.

Homeschool Curriculum Planning

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CurricuulumPlan

When it comes to curriculum planning I like to keep things organized.
But sometimes I get bogged down by the actual organization process.

This is pretty much how it goes every year:

I print up my planner.
I sharpen my pencil.
I heat up my tea.
I clean my desk.
I organize the drawers.
I check my email.
I look at all the curriculum I’ve flagged
I spend HOURS pouring over detailed reviews.
I hunt down the best prices for each title.
I load my carts
But before I EVER purchase anything,
I step back and make a list.

I list out ALL of the curriculum titles that I’m 90% sure that I will use.
Then I take the lists with me to each every homeschool book sale, and convention
in hopes that I’ll find each specific curriculum at a bargain price.

This also helps me deter away from impulse buys.

I usually write out this list by hand,
but this year I decided to make a printable Curriculum Planning List

CurriculumPlanPi2

Download: Homeschool Curriculum Planning Sheet

Isn’t it cute?
It’s not rocket science,
but it sure makes my lists look a whole lot more organized.

Plus you can print one up for each child,
staple them together and take them with you to your Summer sales

When you’ve got a zillion kids it tow,
it’s nice to have something that fits in your back pocket and frees up your hands.

I think it goes perfectly with the simple Homeschool Budget sheet I posted last year.
Be sure you read all the rules suggestions for implementing this budget sheet.

HomeschoolBudget2nig

So there you go, 6 years of homeschooling and I’ve managed two planning sheets.
At this rate, I should have a full printable planner by the time my children graduate :)

Siggy

The Best Homeschool Planners and Homeschool Resources for Free

Did you know that one of the key to homeschool success is having the right planner at your fingertips? Having a homeschool plan has so many benefits: it starts the day off right, keeps your focus and direction on important subjects, and gives you a stress free outcome throughout the day. Do you have a homeschool planner? If not, I’ll share with you incredible and valuable free homeschool resources to get you started.

The wonderful thing about homeschool organization is that you can start anytime! There have been many times where we had to adjust our homeschool plan. We’ve even had to make major changes in our curriculum and having a homeschool plan makes my job and their lives so much easier.

Don’t ever think that you have to wait until the beginning of a new school year or new year, any time of the year is perfect! Let’s do this — we need our daily lives to have purpose and meaning, so let’s do all things in decency and in order. Now is the time, busy moms and teachers!

Free Homeschool Planner

There are so many homeschool resources, but where do you begin? Let’s start with a free homeschool planner printable! It’s simple, yet, very effective and gives your day a well planned strategy. With this free simple homeschool planner, you’ll set homeschool goals for each subject, write a student plan with a list of curriculum, then create your weekly homeschool lesson planner.

The homeschool lesson planner will include a weekly dashboard of subjects and expectations for each student. You’ll include page #s, page count, and days of week.

Next, a homeschool calendar will give you a year at a glance or snapshot of monthly events including field trips, tests, special events, etc. This quick at-a-glance layout is available in two different formats; the first starting in January and the second starting in September.  However, use it whatever month works best.

Free Homeschool Portfolio

Homeschool record keeping is a necessary part of a successful homeschool, plus many states require it. While there are many systems and homeschool available, a popular choice is a homeschool portfolio.

What is a homeschool portfolio? A homeschool portfolio is simply a method to record assessments, grades, abilities, experiences or anything you deem important for future review. Remember, this document will grow and change over time, but it’s important to begin with the basics.

In addition, homeschool record keeping programs eliminate the stress of writing an end of year assessment using only your memory. Plus, it reminds you of the wonderful progress your child has made while revealing areas of for improvement. And, I love how it shows each students creativity and personalization that is not reflected in tests or exams.

Free Homeschool Resources

Now that you’ve got a concrete homeschool plan, your record keeping system is in place, it’s time to utilize more free homeschool resources to make your homeschool day easier. If you have a child that enjoys hands on learning, unit studies are a great solution!

We have developed a series of homeschool unit study helps that are designed to give you ideas that are creative, fascinating, and exciting for your homeschool students. For example, our year of free unit studies is a great start to get those creative juices going and flowing freely.

You’ll love the topics and your ikds will discover so much about the world and their surroundings, one subject at a time. Why are unit studies so effective? Unit studies provide flexibility, save time, and increase learning capacity. Unit students allow students to understand the framework of a topic by including several subjects.

If you are not creative or don’t have time and would like prepackaged unit studies, try our handful of fun and free homeschool unit studies! We’ve included these free unit studies in our year of unit studies resource.

Homeschool Assessment: Inventory Tips

Now that we’ve got our homeschool planning, homeschool portfolio, and homeschool resources available at our disposable, let’s discuss how we can best review whether our homeschool planning has been a success. While these homeschool assessment tips were designed for January, these would be a great homeschool resource to use after planning has been executed.

Try a mid-year or even a month review of your homeschool environment. It’s time to assess your progress, make changes, and even set new goals for the rest of the year. This Homeschool Checklist is a great way to review your homeschool day. And, if you are finding it’s all work and no play, add some more educational field trips. Remove curriculum that takes the fun out of learning, and replace it with your family’s learning styles.

Homeschool Organization

Now that we’ve taken care of homeschool paperwork, let’s take care of our organization homeschool operation. Do you find your homeschool classroom needs decluttered? Here are 5 quick tips on getting your homeschool organized and tidy so you have less mess and less stress!

Homeschool organizing doesn’t have to be frustrating and stressful. Instead, follow these 5 quick homeschool organizing tips to tackle the clutter.

  • Write a list of curriculum you are using
  • Remove unwanted homeschool curriculum
  • Remove broken homeschool materials
  • Resell your unused homeschool curriculum
  • Find permanent storage solutions to keep materials tidy

You can find all of these 5 homeschool organizing tips with more details as you conquer the homeschool clutter. Don’t forget, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and a constantly changing process. Not one curriculum works best for everyone, and not one procedure works for every student. Find out what works best for you and your family, and just stick with it! Great job, Mom, you made it this far, that means you’re ready to make it a successful homeschool day!

Homeschool Planning Pack

This homeschool planning pack will keep you on track with goals, curriculum, orders, and teach your student to maintain an independent weekly calendar.

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Student Portfolio Pack

Grab this student organizing pack to help you keep track on meeting state homeschooling requirements and your own homeschool goals for the year.

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Homeschool Checklist {mid-year evaluation}

Grab these 9 tips on a mid-year review to evaluate how your homeschool is running, and how your children are learning. Plus, track your homeschool goals with these 7 essential tips.

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Classroom Organizing Tips

Grab these tips to make your homeschool or classroom tidy and neat every day of the week.

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Monthly Unit Studies {for entire year}

Grab these wonderful unit study ideas for topic-based lessons that include several subjects like math, history, science, and more! You'll discover solar system studies, literature studies, Marie Curie biography studies and SO much more!

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Mushroom Unit Study

Head out on a nature walk and look for different types of mushrooms or other fungi with this mushroom unit study as your child gets practice with spelling, nature, journaling, and more!

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Parts of a Pine Cone Unit Study

Parts of a Pine Cone unit study includes valuable worksheets, charts and a notebooking Page.

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Trees Unit Study

Learn all about trees with this fantastic trees unit study --you'll find coloring worksheets, cut and paste, labeling, notebooking, and more!

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Pumpkin Unit Study

Grab this pumpkin unit study for kids that includes handy hands-on activities like worksheets, notebooking pages, and more.

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January Homeschool Checklist: Taking Inventory

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The new year is here, and even though it isn’t a new homeschool year, there is some housekeeping to be done! January is the perfect time to do a mid-year review of your homeschool, assess your progress, and set goals for the rest of the year. This ultimate January homeschool checklist will get your homeschool organizing and thriving.

Tasks to Focus on in January

  1. Mid-year review of your homeschool
  2. Portfolio organization and planning
  3. Student assessments
  4. Homeschool goal setting and evaluation
  5. Organization systems for your homeschool

How to Do a Mid-Year Homeschool Review

Do you remember the excitement when you finished plans for the year and the new books arrived? How are you feeling about your choices, now? Sometimes, we have the “best” plans but they just are not the best for our family. Or, we realize that there are gaps that need to be filled. A mid-year review gives you the opportunity to evaluate how your homeschool is running, and how your children are learning. This is not a time to be overly critical. If aspects of your homeschool need to be changed, feel empowered that you can change for the better. Do not worry about the “should have” or “could have” ideas. The best homeschool are ones that grow and change with family needs.

Mid-Year Homeschool Review Steps:

  1. Evaluate how you feel about each book or curriculum resource. Is the beautiful language arts book dull and dry? Are you pleasantly surprised by the last minute science choice? Do you wish you had never bought that geography curriculum? Be honest with yourself and make a list of what you would like to change in your homeschool.
  2. Ask the children about how they feel. Child input is essential to a healthy homeschool. Ask them to recount how they feel about their progress and resources.
  3. Track your goals and set new ones. Have you met your goals for first semester? Are there topics you still haven’t addressed? Where do you want to be in June?
  4. Organize and evaluate your portfolios. 
  5. Assess your students and look for gaps and growth. See if anyone is ready to skip ahead, or needs some extra support to keep going. Where have they blossomed? Where are they struggling?
  6. Look at organization systems in your homeschool. Where do you need more organization? Are the systems you have working or do they need a little tweak?
  7. Consider your homeschooling schedule. Is your general plan for the day still working? Are there unexpected difficulties that you need to address? Are you spending enough time on schooling? Are you spending too much?
  8. Formulate a plan to fix what is broken. Decide which areas need the most attention. Choose how you will address these concerns. 
  9. Revise your plans for the year and proceed with confidence.

Tracking Goals

Tracking your homeschool goals is essential to meeting them. It also helps you form better goals in the future. Look at what you planned to do before the year began. How are you doing with that plan? Are you meeting your goals? Have you surpassed them? 

  1. Take out your homeschool checklist of goals for the year
  2. Check off the ones that have been met
  3. Circle those that you have not gotten around to
  4. Evaluate if your original goals are realistic
  5. Decide which goals were easy to meet.
  6. Rework goals that are unrealistic
  7. Rewrite your goals list for the rest of the year

Portfolio Planning and Maintenance

Portfolios are the perfect way to track progress and evaluate your children. They also provide ongoing records of what you learned for state evaluations. However, building a portfolio from scratch in June is a daunting task. Take the time to plan what you will be including and do some maintenance work on your portfolios, now. This will make the rest of the year easier and mean that you have a completed portfolio at the end of the year.

  1. Make a list of what must be included or take out the list you already made
  2. Make a note of any items missing from the first part of the year
  3. Ask your child to do a self assessment on their portfolio. How does he or she feel about the work included? What would he or she change?
  4. Set up a routine for updating portfolio contents
  5. Update record keeping logs
  6. Celebrate what you have already accomplished this school year

How to Assess Students with a Homeschool Checklist

We often think of student assessment as tests or stressful requirements. An assessment is simply evaluating where a child is and where he needs to be. It does not have to be a written test and can be completed fairly quickly. A thorough assessment of a student’s abilities, needs, and accomplishments will help you build a better educational experience. 

  1. Where has your child done very well?
  2. What new skills has he mastered?
  3. Can he demonstrate his learning in each of the core subjects?
  4. Where is he struggling?
  5. Is there a gap that needs to be filled?
  6. How is his learning style affecting his progress? 
  7. Is he investing enough time and effort into his studies?
  8. Is there something that would make his learning easier?
  9. Are there environmental factors? Work space? Noise levels? Dietary needs? How can you provide a better environment?
  10. Is there something your child really wants to learn in the new year?

Tips for Homeschooling in January

It is important to not be overly hard on yourself in January. A new year is a new beginning. You have 365 opportunities ahead of you. Focus more on what you have accomplished and less on what you didn’t. Also, do not take too long doing a mid-year assessment. Work through the January homeschool checklist and move on. There is still plenty of year left for homeschooling. 

  • Go gentle on yourself and your children
  • Take the time to work through the checklist and evaluations, but don’t spend too long.
  • Approach the next half of the school year with optimism
  • Make sure your children know what they are doing well, and where they can improve
  • Be willing to let go of resources, goals, or preconceptions that don’t serve your family
  • Celebrate how far you have come

Winter Field Trip Ideas to Beat the Cold Weather Blues

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It’s cold and snowy outside. The kids are restless and spring is months away. Winter can make homeschool difficult. You feel trapped. (Possibly going crazy) Homeschool cold-weather blues are common. Don’t let them get you down. Escape your schoolroom and find these winter field trip ideas.

Winter can be the best time to take a field trip. Everyone needs a chance to get out, stretch their legs, and have a change of scenery.  Here are four ideas for homeschool winter field trips.

Aquarium Exploration

Too cold for the beach? Have the ocean come to you!  Aquariums are fun and fascinating for the whole family. You can take a trip around the world in an aquarium. There may be penguins from the antarctic and hippos from the hot jungle. An aquarium trip can be educational and recreational. Take some time to relax and just watch the fish swim. Or dive deep into learning with educational programs and informational brochures. The perfect way to beat those homeschool winter blues.

A Trip to the Mine

What, really? A field trip to the mine is not your typical excursion. However, caves, caverns, and mines stay at a constant temperature. So no matter how cold it is this winter, they will be tolerable. In fact, you will welcome the relative warmth underground. 

Make sure to find a mine or cavern that is set up for tourists to visit. Exploring caves can be dangerous. However, across the country, there are mine, cavern, and caves that are managed and safe. Take a tour with a knowledgeable tour guide. It’s amazing what you can learn in a couple of hours underground!

Field Trip into the Cold

Sometimes, you just need to embrace the cold. Winter provides plenty of opportunities for fun. What says winter more than ice skating? It’s great exercise and so much fun. Ice skating is also a phenomenal brain-building activity. Skating requires balance and cross-body actions, both of which activate the language centers of the brain. Plus you will be building pathways between the two hemispheres of the brain. This is essential for children to develop their math and reading skills, without even trying. So, head to your local skating rink or a thoroughly frozen pond, and exercise your brain and body. Oh, don’t forget about snow tubing, skiing, and snowshoeing. Bundle up and have some fun.

Field Trip to Nowhere

Sometimes the best plan is no plan at all. Take a drive out to the country, or a cruise around town. Drive down streets you have never traveled. Stop at that local shop that you always pass but never go into. Just see where life takes you. We often spend so much time getting places, we miss everything in between. A field trip to nowhere could keep you close to home or take you as far as time allows. 

Practice map reading skills along the way. Everyone has GPS, and that is a great tool. It will always lead you home. But for the field trip, shut off the GPS and find your way the old fashioned way. Unplug from your devices. Turn off the radio. Just enjoy the scenery and time together. You can become a party of explorers. Sometimes, we need to be tourists in our own backyard.

100 Homeschool Field Trips

If you are looking for more inspiration for finding fun homeschool field trips, we’ve put together a master list of 100 homeschool field trip activities you can add to your calendar! These low-budet trips are just right for homeschooling families and your children will love them!

Homeschool Planning Guide

Are you overwhelmed with planning your homeschool field trip? Here is a free homeschool field trip planning guide that will help you keep organized. We’ve organized this planning guide into six sections with tips and local recommendations.

  • Fine Arts
  • Local Government & Business
  • Museums
  • Parks & Recreation
  • Outdoor Activities
  • Group Tours

Click Here for our Free Printable Guide

Pros & Cons of Homeschool Unit Studies

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If your family is tired of textbook learning, or you have a child who learns best through hands-on projects, unit studies could be your best friend. Unit studies are short or long term curriculum plans that teach most or all of the coursework revolves around the same theme. So, instead of having math, science, history, and language arts as separate subjects, they are all integrated into one subject one a theme, such as horse, the civil war, space, or art history.

Topic-based lessons can be a fascinating way to homeschool. Before beginning them in your homeschool, here are some of the pros and cons of homeschool unit studies.

Free Mushroom Unit Study from The Crafty Classroom

Pros of Unit Studies

Unit studies could be just what your family needs. They are engaging and easily adaptable to various levels. This means the entire family can work together instead of having to teach every child a different program for each subject. Here are some other positive attributes of unit studies.

Passion Led

We are all motivated by our interests. Children learn better and retain more information when they are engaged. The easiest way to engage children is by appealing to their likes. Choose unit studies that your child will love doing. This eliminates the “boredom” of school and makes even the less desirable subject interesting.

Customizable

A unit study is what you make it. It can be on any topic you choose. Even the sky isn’t the limit. Traditional curriculum follows a set pattern. There are only so many different textbooks available. Most are not built around specialized topics. A unit study can also be customized to your family’s schedule and make-up. The same unit study could be used for one student, or adapted to be used with five at different levels.

At Student’s Pace

A homeschool unit study moves at the pace of the student. Unlike traditional lesson plans that tell a student what to do each day. Homeschool unit studies give the student a goal and resources to explore at his own pace. Siblings can explore the same subject matter according to their ability. The point is not to get everything completed, but to master the topic at hand.

Endless Possibilities

The greatest pro for unit studies is the endless possibilities. Anything can become a unit study. They can include field trips, projects, blogs, experiments, and volunteer work. Unit study-based homeschool curriculum is never limited to just books. There is no wrong way to do a unit study and the same topic can be explored many times from different angles.

Cons of Unit Studies

While unit studies have so much to offer, they aren’t for everyone. There are drawbacks to this kind of homeschooling. Before delving into the world of unit studies, consider the following cons.

Can Be Time Consuming

Putting together homeschool unit studies are a good deal of work. It requires much more of an investment than just using a textbook program. You will need to plan out every aspect of the unit study, find resources, create or find projects, and decide what your ultimate goal is. There are pre-made unit study available. These will save time, however, you will still have to gather the resources. Unit studies are doable for most homeschool families. Just make sure to evaluate how much time you have to invest before beginning.

Need to Stay Organized

Tackling a unit study requires organization. You will need to keep on top of what books and resources are needed when. Make sure to allow time for checking out books, ordering supplies, and delivery. Also, it will take a little more attention to stay on top of what students are doing.

Watch the Expenses

Don’t fall down the rabbit hole! Unit studies can easily get very expensive. Be conscious of costs when planning projects, tools, resources, and books. There is so much out there to explore, and so many ways to do it. Have a budget and stick to it. On the topic of getting carried away, it is easy to over-plan and want to do more than is humanly possible to complete. The best unit studies homeschool curriculum does not have to be expensive or elaborate, but it is easy to get carried away.

Non-traditional

Homeschool unit studies are not like traditional schools. There are no daily lesson plans. Assigning grades is not like marking paper tests or quizzes. They are very open-ended and free form. If you like structure and a more traditional school approach, you may not enjoy unit studies. However, unit study homeschool curriculum can be what you make them, just decide how flexible you are willing to be.

Do you have any pros or cons to add?

Now that you are aware of the pros and cons of homeschool unit studies, here’s HOW to create a unit study that’s fantastic and fits your family perfectly!

Or, if you are looking for great examples of fabulous unit studies, grab my favorite free unit studies right here:

How to Create Fantastic Homeschool Unit Studies

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Homeschool unit studies are a wonderful way to homeschool, but where do you begin? How do you build a unit study? It is easier than you think. Here is a simple step by step guide for building your next homeschool unit study.

Choose a Unit Study Topic

What is the focus of your unit study homeschool curriculum? This can be as broad or narrow as you like. Just remember that broad studies can be like runaway trains. A single idea leads to five more and before you know it, you have enough ideas to fill an entire school career. The best unit studies are targeted on what you want most to learn about a topic. For example, World War II or the Rainforest are topics that could be delved into for years and you still don’t reach the end. Have an idea of where you are heading and the key points you don’t want to miss along the way.

Set a Realistic Goal

While a unit of study can be open ended, it is important to know what your overall goal is. Is it mastery of the material? Do you want to reach a certain point in history? Set you goal so you have something to strive for. This goal can be as unique as your homeschool. It will keep you on track and give you the freedom to explore within the parameters. Plus, you will not have to wonder if you have covered enough.

Find a Spine

A spine is what holds everything together. It doesn’t have to be the longest book but it should cover the breadth of your study. Spines make it easy to follow a progression of study. It is like a jumping off point. You can follow your spine and then delve into individual topics more fully. Ideal spines include reference books, biographies, historical fiction, and original documents.

Add the Meat

Now comes the fun part. Add the individual resources, books, and activities that will expand the study. Remember to cover all your main subjects. How can you incorporate math? How about writing and history? This can be done through targeted textbooks or specific projects that require a certain skill.

Here’s an example. For solar system unit studies, you can create a scale model of the universe, calculate your weight on each planet, figure out how long it would take to reach each planet, and chart the length of each planet’s day and year. That can be your math education. For history, you can read about scientists who discovered the planets and the background of the space program.

Determine an Assessment

Just like you need a goal, an assessment is key to education. An assessment does not mean a test. It can be anything you want. The purpose of the assessment is to make sure the child has learned the material. It also gives the child a chance to demonstrate his accomplishments. Here are some ideas for assessments:

  • Narration of everything learned
  • A journal of the experience
  • A culminating project
  • A performance
  • A newspaper style article
  • A blog
  • A video
  • A comic book

Homeschool Unit Studies

What fantastic homeschool unit studies do you want to build? Try building your own today — you’ll be amazed at what your kids can learn with just a little planning in 4 easy steps. You’ll find some free unit study ideas right here and in the near future so stay tuned!

How to Fail at Homeschooling….

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Homeschooling your children is a monumental task. If you ask, most homeschool moms would tell you that their biggest fear is failing! Everyone wants to get it right and do the best for their children. However, sometimes trying hard not to fail at homeschooling is the surest way to fail! Here are seven ways to fail at homeschooling and what to do instead.

Making Homeschool Your Number #1 Priority

This would seem like a positive move. Making homeschooling your top priority will make you work harder and focus on success which will guarantee you do not fail, right? Wrong! Your homeschool is important but it cannot come before all the truly important people in your life. Your husband, your children, and God should always be your primary focus. When homeschooling ranks above everyone and everything else, you will be missing out on the special opportunities to enjoy your family and will quickly burn out. You need clear priorities that place homeschool in its proper place, as something you do not your sole reason for being.

Tips for Success:

Homeschooling is important and can become consuming. However, it should never take the place of your focus on your family and faith. After all, those are probably the reasons you started homeschooling in the first place. You will have more success if homeschooling is a family priority that does not get in the way of living your life.

Great Expectations

You start your homeschool journey or the new year with high hopes. You are going to make this the best homeschool ever. Your children will love every activity and excel in every subject. You will show the world how superior the homeschool model is! Failure is not an option. With homeschooling, you children will be perfect. They will enter college at 15 and earn full scholarships to the most elite programs. Your homeschool room with be the envy of every social media maven and you will still cook nutritious, three course dinners every night before spending hours in front of the fire while Suzy plays Schubert on the piano and Johnny recites Plato from memory. Ah, you will not only not fail, you will be perfect! Nothing is perfect though, and hoisting high expectations for perfection on your children will squash their desire to learn, as well as their creativity.

Tips for Success:

Goals and standards are good, but they need to remain in check. Perfection doesn’t equal success. If you don’t want to fail, accept that learning requires failure sometimes. Your children will not do everything perfectly. That is part of learning. Instead, be realistic. Kids will be kids. Let them explore and make messes. Give your children room to grow at their own pace. Enjoy the journey instead of rushing for the goal. Failing sometimes is actually the best way to succeed!

Too Many Extracurricular Activities

What about socialization? Homeschool kids need socialization. If they spend too much time at home they will be social failures. They need time with other children and rigorous activities. So, signing up for every extracurricular under the sun makes sense. You don’t want to raise socially awkward children. However, running to all the activities causes homeschool failure. Parents and children get tired and worn out. Family life suffers. Getting school work done gets stressful because of time constraints. Instead of giving kids a happy social experience, you create misery.

Tips for Success:

Extracurricular activities are good. They just need balance. Socialization happens everywhere. Homeschool children do not need to be at activities every day. Focus on a few activities that your child really want to do. Pick ones that fit your schedule, budget, and family values.

Not Addressing Learning Needs

Taking a one size fits all approach is a sure way to fail. You choose the top rated curriculum. You know, the one “everyone” at co-op is raving about! This is what will make your homeschool successful. Your child struggles with the work. It isn’t working for him, and you don’t understand why. You keep at it. He just needs to try harder. Failure is not an option. But instead of progress, you both get more frustrated.

Tips for Success:

The beauty of homeschooling is that it is personal and individual education. Trying to force a square peg into a round hole will never work. Every child has learning needs and a unique learning style. If a program isn’t working, the problem is probably the program. When you find resources that fit your child’s learning needs, your homeschool will thrive.

Self Defeating Attitude

There are two sure fire ways to fail at homeschooling. The first is to believe that you will fail. The second is comparing yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy. There is no one right way to homeschool. When you set yourself up as not being good enough, you set yourself up to fail. It’s easy to think that someone else, especially someone you only know through social media or blogs, is doing a better job that you. Everyone has struggles and everyone experiences homeschooling failures sometimes.

Tips for Success:

Instead of feeling like you don’t measure up, look at what is going well. Work on building the homeschool that works best for your family. No one has it all together, all the time. You can do this, believe in yourself!

Expecting School at Home

Most homeschool parents went to traditional brick and mortar schools. They know how school works, so they model homeschooling on their experience at traditional school. However, homeschooling is not school at home. Schools are designed like a factory, they are setup for production and testable results. There are rigid standards and strict schedules. Alternatively, homeschooling is an education model, with more flexibility. If you are trying to replicate school at home, it will increase your chances of failure.

Tips for Success:

Homeschooling should be about education at home. It is a lifestyle, not a school choice. Develop a love of learning in your home. Focus on the experience, not checking off boxes to keep up with public schools. You chose to homeschool because you wanted to escape public school education. Dare to be different and educate your children as a family, not a school. There is a fine balance between pushing for childhood development, hitting suggested milestones, and the standards of educational growth while allowing self-led learning, engagement, and natural discovery. Finding that balance for your own homeschool will lead to a successful outcome.

Free Homeschool Student Portfolio

Simple homeschool planning resources you will actually use!  These resources will help you meet state homeschooling requirements as well as add a little organization to your homeschool goals for the year. Inside you’ll find the following resources:

  • Colorful Cover Sheet
  • Student Profile Sheet
  • Monthly Tracking Log
  • Weekly Tracking Log
  • Daily Attendance Sheet
  • Quiz & Test Scores
  • Field Trips Log
  • Physical Education Log
  • Volunteer Hours Log

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Free Homeschool Portfolio

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Homschool Planner

Print our Free Student Portfolio!

Homeschool record keeping is an important part of a successful homeschool. There are many systems for record keeping available. One of the most popular and flexible systems is a portfolio. This quick start guide will show you how to easily build a portfolio successfully for each of your children. Here are our favorite tips and tricks for keeping a homeschool portfolio. Our Homeschool Portfolio is a limited time Subscriber Freebie Available Here

What is a Homeschool Portfolio?

A portfolio is a means of record keeping and assessment. It demonstrates what has been learned by a child in a specific area of study or over a particular time period. The portfolio is more than just a collection of grades or transcripts. Portfolios show a student’s ability and experiences. It is a living collection that grows and changes over time

Portfolios eliminate the stress of completing an end of year assessment. Instead of expecting students to demonstrate everything they have learned in a large test, portfolios allow them to show how their learning has progressed. It also allows for creativity and personalization, something that can never happen on a paper and pencil test.

Why are Portfolios Important?

Portfolios are important for many reasons. Some states require families to maintain homeschool portfolios. Other states give the option of creating a portfolio or taking a standardized test. The portfolio is a concise way to show everything that was accomplished over the year. Knowing your state homeschool laws should be the first step in planning a portfolio. Check out Understanding Your Homeschool Requirements by State to learn more about what your state requires.

In addition to state homeschool requirements, there are other reasons to keep portfolios. Some homeschool charter schools require student portfolios. Also, portfolios are a perfect option for high school. Since portfolios are highly personalized, they are a perfect choice for demonstrating high school credit earned. Even if you are not required to keep a portfolio, it is a very useful record keeping system.

What are the Daily Logistics of Maintaining a Portfolio?

The portfolio is a yearly assessment but has to be maintained daily. The single binder portfolio is the most popular, and required by some states. Other options include an accordion file portfolio and digital portfolio. It is important to make daily maintenance simple. Keep one binder for each subject. Also have a binder for additional logs and sheets. (see below) Each day add completed work to the subject binder. Also. record grades, attendance, etc in appropriate logs. Keep all binders in a central location. (Students can help maintain binders, too!). At the end of the year, you can pull what you need from these binders. That will make year-end assessments quick and easy to complete.

What Should Be Included?

Every portfolio is unique. There are as many different styles as families who keep them! Always include whatever is required by your state. You can then get creative with the rest. Remember that less is more! A portfolio is a snapshot of the homeschool year. It should not include EVERYTHING! Include just enough to meet state requirements and demonstrate growth. Here is a sample list of what to include:

  • Colorful Cover Sheet: This should include the title “Homeschool Portfolio” and space to write Student’s Name and School Year
  • Student Profile Sheet: This contains all pertinent information about the student. It will include strengths, weaknesses, course of study, and other personal details.
  • Monthly Tracking Log: The log sheet shows how many days each subject has met. There is a log for each month of the school year. The page is a grid with subjects across top, room for 31 Days on left side, and totals on bottom
  • Weekly Tracking Log: Similar to the monthly tracking log but it breaks the records into weeks. This is set up with subjects on left side, days on top, and totals on right.
  • Quiz & Test Scores: This is a record of all quiz and test grades received for each subject.
  • Field Trips Log: Include where you went, the date, and what was learned.
  • Exemplary Examples of Work: Show off student progress. Include a collection of the best work from the year in various subjects.
  • All State Requirements: Make sure that all requirements are met and included.
  • Physical Education Log: Keep a log of what activities/sports were counted as physical education and time spent on each.
  • Extra Curricular Log: This is a place to record what is done outside the classroom. Include clubs, activities, and performances. Be sure to also note any special awards or recognitions earned.
  • Volunteer Hours Log: Volunteering is real work learning. It is also a requirement for graduation in some states. Record all volunteer activities, dates, and how long was spent on each event.

Subscriber Freebie!!

For a limited time, our Student Portfolio is available to our newsletter subscribers for FREE! All you have to do is claim your free download by confirming your subscriber email address. If you’d like to join our subscriber list, we would LOVE to have you! It’s free to join and all the details are here.

Also…..Dont’ Miss our FREE Homeschool Planning Pack

Simple homeschool planning resources you will actually use!  Less is more when it comes to organizing and planning out your homeschool year.  These resources will help you set goals, keep track of curriculum decisions and orders, and teach your student to keep an independent weekly calendar.

  • Homeschool Goals
  • Homeschool Curriculum Planning
  • Independent Student Calendar

Can You Afford to Homeschool?

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Homeschooling, like anything with kids, can be very expensive! You may be hyperventilating when you search for curriculum options. This can lead many prospective homeschoolers to quit before they begin. They feel like they could never afford homeschooling. Homeschooling does not have to be expensive!With a little planning, it is very doable. Before diving into purchasing curriculum, learn how to budget like a ninja for homeschooling. Here’s a four step plan for you to make an annual plan that works.

Take an Inventory of Income and Expenses

The key to making anything affordable is knowing how much you have to spend. Knowing how much you have coming in and going out is vital. If you already keep a budget, great! Look over it and decide how much you can allocate to homeschooling.

If you don’t have a written budget, or your budget is tight, dig a little deeper. Take some time to look over your expenses. What other expenses need to be covered? Is there anything that can be cut or modified to make more room for homeschool resources? You may want to get a budget tracking app, such as MINT, to help with tracking expenses. After a few months, you will have a better idea of where your money is going.

Decide What You Can Afford

Now that you have analyzed your expenses, it’s time to build your budget. How much can you afford to spend? How much money and how much time. Time probably wasn’t what you were thinking. Saving money takes time! Yes, there are ways to homeschool for almost nothing but, everything has a cost. If you are choosing to create everything yourself to save money, you need to find a way to budget more time. There’s no such thing as completely free. Buying a boxed curriculum is expensive, but you will not have to create lesson plans, activities, etc.

On the other hand, you can save hundreds of dollars by building your own curriculum. You will need to budget time to gather all the materials, write out lesson plans, make up tests, and so on. Homeschooling can be affordable, just be realistic when budgeting your time and money.

Create Goals for Each Student

Homeschooling can also get expensive when you don’t have a goal. It is easy to get swept up in the amazing curriculum options. It is important to know what you need and truly want your children to learn. What subjects are required? Is there anything else that you want to add? Be careful not to add too much. One or two additional subjects is plenty. Remember this is about budgeting time and money. If you buy more curriculum than you can use, you are wasting money.

Try our FREE Homeschool Goals Worksheet!

Look at your goals and make a list of exactly what you need for each child. Are there any special tools you will need( such as a microscope or laptop?) See how many resources you already have or can borrow. Now it’s time to divide your overall budget between your children according to their needs.

Do Your Homework

Research is an important part of being prepared. Know what you want and research the options BEFORE attending any type of curriculum sale or homeschool conference. This will help you stay focused and make an informed decision. Look into how the curriculum works and what learning styles it serves. Read over reviews for potential curriculum choices. Know how much the curriculum choices cost and what they go for used. Having a short list of ideas will keep you from getting overwhelmed with the options. Also, an informed consumer makes better decisions. Your research will keep you on budget and help you avoid buying something you don’t really want. Remember sales representatives can be very convincing. Of course, they all sell the “best” resources around.

Try our Free Simple Homeschool Planning Pack

Fine Motor Activities for May

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If you are looking for ideas for your May Preschool Themes, today I have a great set of resources you can use to create many fun hands-on learning opportunities in your classroom. Our monthly fine motor activity packs have quickly become one of our best-selling resources for good reason! They are low-prep, interactive, simple, yet engaging activities that students of all ages are drawn to.

If you’ve missed any of the previous months, you can pick up the discounted Fine Motor Activity Bundle here. Here is a peek inside our May Fine Motor Activity Pack.

Seeds & Plants Fine Motor Printables

Our first theme for May is seeds and plants. Students work on a variety of different skill building exercises designed to create a thematic unit for your preschool classroom.

  • GEOBOARD: Students use rubberbands to create the pictures on a geoboard. Each sheet features a letter of the alphabet alongside a thematic picture.
  • MAZES: Students solve the mazes and follow the prompts. Each page features thematic mazes alongside a tracing activity or prompt.
  • PLAYDOUGH: Students use playdough to complete the prompts. Prompts require students to form and shape the dough to make pictures, solve problems, or complete the scene.

Spring Flowers Fine Motor Activities:

April showers bring May Flowers! After learning about seeds and plants, your classroom will be filled with flowers of all sorts!

  • TRACING: Students trace the pictures with colored pencils or fine tip markers. Each page features thematic content and prompts students to complete the pictures.
  • SNAP CUBE CREATIONS: Students use counting cubes to make thematic pictures These cubes can be snapped together. If you do not have cubes, students can color the squares in the grid to match the picture.
  • PUZZLE PICTURES: Students use puzzle blocks to create thematic pictures. These sheets feature thematic shapes and provide students with easy and more difficult patterns. A full-color example is available for easy reference.

Farm Animal Fine Motor Worksheets

After learning about all the new plant life that comes with spring, students will be thrilled to work on new farm life activities! This collection provides students with fun fine motor worksheets based on barns, and farm animals.

  • LISTENING SKILL SHEETS: Teachers will read the directions aloud and the student listens carefully to finish the task. Tasks involve fine motor elements, coloring, and prepositional positioning of drawings
  • CUISENAIRE™ ROD PICTURES: Students use colorful centimeter rods to build thematic pictures. Students are asked to color the rod key to show how many rods they used of each color.
  • BRICK BUILDERS: Students use classic building blocks to recreate these thematic pictures. Students work on storing, planning, and stacking before creating their final picture.

Mother’s Day Preschool Printables

Towards the end of May it’s time to celebrate our end of the year holidays; Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. With these printables activities, students will have a fun bouquet of tulips to give to Mom.

  • DOT & POKE: Students cut apart the halves. Students solve the dot to dot activities. Then, students use a push pin to poke a picture onto colored construction paper. See full instructions below.
  • CUT & SORT CROWNS: Each crown features a theme alongside a 4-step sequencing pattern. Students cut out the pictures and glue them in the correct order. Students write their name, color the pictures, then staple the sides to make a crown.
  • DAB & DOT: Students use daubers to dab by number in order to reveal the mystery picture. (Hold at a distance to help students see the pictures).

Memorial Day Fine Motor Worksheets

Finishing out our May themes is a collection of Memorial Day printables you can use to creat a patriotic unit in your classroom. Students can learn of the great sacrifice our men and women in uniform have made, and how we celebrate and thank the for their courage and bravery.

  • CUT & PASTE CRAFTIVITY: These crafty projects are perfect for little hands.Students color, glue, and cut to make fun, thematic pictures.Pair with a simple writing prompt or poem for extra learning!
  • POM PICTURES x 2: Students use pom-poms to complete the picture.For added difficulty have students use plastic tweezers to pick up the poms. Alternatively, students can glue poms to make these sheets into a simple craft project.

Our May Fine Motor Activity Pack is available as a single download, or part of our year-long Fine Motor Bundle here in our TPT store!

Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschool

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If you have a preschool student who is in need of working on fine motor skills, you’ll want to provide them with numerous hands-on activities and development tools. These activities should provide students with the opportunity to use their small motor muscles while having fun learning.

Our monthly fine motor skills activity packs are filled with engaging resources, worksheets, activities, and games that build those small motor muscles for young students. If you have missed the prior months activity packs, not to worry, you can still pick them up in our TPT store here.

HUGE Brick Building Mat Mega Pack Available Here

April’s pack is filled with fun, thematic learning opportunities covering Weather, Earth Day, and Easter. NOTE: If Easter falls in March you can simply swap out the Butterfly & Frog theme from March for the two weeks of Easter in April. Everything is designed to coordinate and adapt to the changing holiday. Here is a peek inside our April Fine Motor Pack. For each of the themes, there are at least 14 activity pages described below:

Earth Day Fine Motor Skills Activities
  • GEOBOARD: Students use rubber bands to create the pictures on a geoboard. Each sheet features a letter of the alphabet alongside a thematic picture.
  • MAZES: Students solve the mazes and follow the prompts. Each page features thematic mazes alongside a tracing activity or prompt.
Weather Fine Motor Activities
  • TRACING: Students trace the pictures with colored pencils or fine tip markers. Each page features thematic content and prompts students to complete the pictures.
  • PUZZLE PICTURES: Students use puzzle blocks to create thematic pictures. These sheets feature thematic shapes and provide students with easy and more difficult patterns. A full color example is available for easy reference.
  • LISTENING SKILL SHEETS: Teachers will read the directions aloud and the student listens carefully to finish the task. Tasks involve fine motor elements, coloring, and prepositional positioning of drawings
Easter Fine Motor Activities
  • DOT & POKE: Students cut apart the halves. Students solve the dot to dot activities. Then, students use a push pin to poke a picture onto colored construction paper. See full instructions below.
  • CUT & SORT CROWNS: Each crown features a theme alongside a 4-step sequencing pattern. Students cut out the pictures and glue them in the correct order. Students write their name, color the pictures, then staple the sides to make a crown.
  • SNAP CUBE CREATIONS: Students use counting cubes to make thematic pictures These cubes can be snapped together. If you do not have cubes, students can color the squares in the grid to match the picture.
  • PLAYDOUGH: Students use playdough to complete the prompts. Prompts require students to form and shape the dough to make pictures, solve problems, or complete the scene.
Easter Fine Motor Activities
  • DAB & DOT: Students use daubers to dab by number in order to reveal the mystery picture. (Hold at a distance to help students see the pictures).
  • CUT & PASTE CRAFTIVITY: These crafty projects are perfect for little hands.Students color, glue, and cut to make fun, thematic pictures.Pair with a simple writing prompt or poem for extra learning!
  • POM PICTURES x 2: Students use pom-poms to complete the picture.For added difficulty have students use plastic tweezers to pick up the poms. Alternatively students can glue poms to make these sheets into a simple craft project.
Fine Motor Skill Games
  • CUISENAIRE™ ROD PICTURES: Students use colorful centimeter rods to build thematic pictures. Students are asked to color the rod key to show how many rods they used of each color.
  • BRICK BUILDERS: Students use classic building blocks to recreate these thematic pictures. Students work on storing, planning, and stacking before creating their final picture.

With over 60+ pages of fine motor activities, this set is sure to be a hit for spring! With multi-level activities, this pack easily adapts to your homeschool or classroom setting. Read more and purchase from our TPT store here.

Bible ABC Dab & Dot Worksheets

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One of our best-selling curriculum notebooks is our Letter of the Week Bible ABC program.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to check it out, you’ll definitely want to head over to our eStore to view the course overview and sample pages.

One of the most common questions I get is, “When will a Kindergarten Bible ABC Program be available?”  While I do have a few planning pages in the work, it is still a long-term goal to add subsequent grade levels and (gasp) languages even.  (“Do you have this in Spanish?” is probably the next popular question.)

Anyway, my boys have been all about Dab&Dot lately with these Free Sight Word Dab and Dot worksheets I made for First Grade Mom and I got to thinking it might be fun to make some more Dab and Dot Worksheets with a Bible theme:

I’m super excited at how they turned out.  I chose to feature the lowercase alphabet alongside a beginning letter Bible picture for children to dab.  There are also letter bubbles for children to seek and dab their letter for each worksheet.

I would even encourage students to use different color daubers to complete their pictures if you have them.

This is the set of daubers we have at our house, they are nice because the ink doesn’t splatter everywhere.  They have a flat cap so you can store them upside down, and they take a little bit of priming before use (which I don’t mind at all, I prefer priming to splattering/dripping ink)

With 26 different letters, these would make a colorful display in your homeschool or classroom setting.  Give each child a letter or two, then back them with construction paper and hand them on the bulletin board. Or, print up the letters in your child’s name and have them create a colorful custom art project.  Better yet,  print up a complete set for each child in your Sunday School classroom and send them home with their very own Bible ABC book.

 

Read more and purchase this pack from our TPT store here.

There are lots of possibilities with this set, especially when you pair it up with our Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook.

We’d love to see your creations!  Don’t forget to TAG us on INSTAGRAM!!!

 

Looking for more Bible ABC Fun?

Try our Letter of the Week Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook Today!!

 

 

 

 

5 Tips to Balance Busyness in Your Homeschool

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5 Tips to Balance Homeschool Busyness

The demands on moms today, especially homeschool moms, are overwhelming. The truth is, most of those demands we create for ourselves. Do you find yourself say, “I’m so busy!” or even, “I’m way too busy.” I understand.

Here are five tips to find homeschool balance and why super mom is not busy mom.

Tip One: Create a Homeschool Mission Statement

Before you balk, thinking this is one more thing you have to do, this can be super helpful. It doesn’t need to be fancy or overly complicated. A simple paragraph of what you want to accomplish this year in your homeschool can help keep you on track. For example, “Our homeschooling goal for this school year is to be consistent with read-alouds, complete all textbook work planned out, be consistent with our daily schedule, and participate in one out-of-the-house activity.”

That doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? But this is a powerful little paragraph as the other tips will show. If you want, you can also have a family mission statement. This can help you keep homeschooling in perspective, too.

Tip Two: Recognize Your Limits

Let’s face it. We can’t do all.the.things. And we certainly can’t honor our mission statement and still get them all done. We have to be honest with ourselves and recognize that there’s no way we can do more than we can do. We can always do what we should do, if we are careful to honor what we should do first. 

If you’re the mom of littles, recognizing your limits will help you to spend your best energy on your own little family. Small children require great physical stamina!

As your kids grow, they demand more emotional energy. Knowing that you can’t pour from an empty cup will help you be available to them. Fill your cup with self-care and recognize when you’re moving into the burnout danger zone.

Tip Three: Learn to Say No (without explanation)

There are so many things that want our time and attention. A lot of them good things. Extracurricular activities, church, extended family, and friends. But hear me on this, you can’t say yes to everything without burning yourself out. If you’ve neglected your appearance, your health, or most importantly- your spiritual health, by saying yes to everything, it’s time to learn the power of no.

You can really say no without explanation. Ninety-nine percent of the time, no explanation is warranted anyway. Just say no. If it doesn’t help you honor your homeschool mission statement, you can turn it down. You have the power to do that.

Tip Four: Plan to Succeed

It doesn’t matter how you plan, as long as you do. In general, things don’t just happen.

Without a plan you’re more likely to overextend, say yes, and stray far from the good things you hope to accomplish. Our cell phones, Facebook, and boredom can distract us from our mission.

If you’re not a planner, creating a repeatable rhythm in your home can go a long way. Same wake-up times, same bed times, meals, and schooling.

If you fall somewhere between ninja planner and rhythm keeper, you can keep a simple calendar and a daily to-do list.  Print our FREE (SIMPLE) Homeschool Planning Pack Here

Tip Five: Ask for Help

There are going to be times, despite your best efforts, where you just can’t get the important things done without asking for help. Just ask.

Whether it’s your mom-in-law, sister, or spouse, be specific about where you need help and let them share your burden for a bit. This can be humbling if we’re used to doing all the things ourselves, but no one who loves you would want you to tough it through burn out.

There are no awards to be won for being busy for the sake of being busy. It’s totally fine to let others pitch in so you can rest when you need to, or simply get caught up.

The homeschool year may be just starting for you. I hope that these five tips to go from super busy, mythical super mom to peaceful and productive and present mom, bless you.

What tip can you use today to bring peace to your own homeschool?

Homeschool Helps

There are days when having something fun and educational to do can be a life-saver!  The Bible ABC Curriculum to the rescue.

Over 600 pages of downloadable resources for teaching children the Alphabet one week at a time. For each letter of the alphabet, you’ll receive 24 pages of Bible activities, games, worksheets, charts, coloring pages, math explorations and more. Designed to keep the prep work to a minimum, our Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook can be spread over 26 weeks.  View the sample pages above for a detailed course outline and a suggested 4-day schedule.  Suggested age range is Preschool to K4.

Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook

Character Training in 4 Easy Steps Using Chores

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Do your kids hide when you mention household chores? Do you hide when you have your own unfinished household chores waiting to be done? It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you have so many things on your plate. And it’s even easier to let chores slide when there are seemingly more important things to do. But what if you could combine your regular household chores with those vital teaching moments? Homeschooling affords us that very opportunity. Here are several ways you can include household chores as teaching moments.

1. Planning to Succeed

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Teaching Moment: Making a plan to accomplish household chores provides an easy boundary of expectations.

It’s easier to finish what is planned. Sit down with your children with pen and paper in hand. Make a list of all the household chores and add them to a calendar. Now you have a deadline to finish the chores or a set time to tend to them on a regular basis. Giving your children a concrete visual of the work that needs to be done can help them “see” how it fits into the overall rhythm of the family.

2. Patience in Learning

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” ~ St. Augustine

Teaching Moment: Practice patience with children learning a new skill so they can learn it more quickly.

If you’ve forgotten what it’s like to learn the skill required to do a new chore, try brushing your teeth with your left hand (or non-dominate hand). Try the same thing with writing your name. This is much like a child’s experience when learning something new. When you demonstrate patience towards their learning curve, they can begin to have patience with themselves in the learning process.

3. Diligence in Following Through

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” ~ John Quincy Adams

Teaching Moment: Encouragement to finish the job well teaches diligence.

When the going gets tough, we tend to give up. So, it’s easy to understand our children’s tendency to give in when things are hard. It’s human nature. What can help to overcome this natural impulse so many have? Encouragement. As parents, our words hold power. Our children do want to please us. We can use this power for good through encouragement.

Applying this encouragement to our children’s work efforts can be magical.

When encouragement fails to motivate them to diligence, we can help them see how the finished chore fits into the big picture. For instance, if a child’s chore it to empty the dishwasher, the completion of it provides clean dishes for dinner. This helps the child see the importance of their place and their work within the family. It helps them feel valued and loved.

4. Having a Good Attitude

“With every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” — Mary Poppins

Teaching Moment: Learning to have a positive attitude regarding our responsibilities helps us identify the fun in the work we have to do.

This makes the work easier to finish. Wouldn’t it be great if our kids could do everything with a happy countenance? Mom, this attitude starts with you. Modeling a good attitude while doing necessary tasks is the first step in establishing a good attitude in your children. This teaching moment has an impact far beyond teaching our children to have a good attitude. It will give you peace throughout your day. Why? A habit of a good attitude spills over to our homeschooling efforts, correcting our kids, and every element of our parenting.

 

There are so many teaching moments that we get to experience as homeschool parents. Using chores provides teaching moments that build character, and this serves our children for a lifetime. It makes our own parenting easier, too!

Free Homeschool Planner

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I know you are likely winding down from your 2017 homeschool year, and I am right there with you!  We are counting down the days till summer vacation over here, and it can’t come quick enough!  With the wrapping up of another successful homeschool year, it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t so that we can plan for the upcoming year ahead of us.
One task I like to complete at the end of the school year is to start planning for the next year.  I know that might not be how everyone likes to do it, but I like to have a plan in mind BEFORE the garage sales and homeschool books fairs start to pop up.  Otherwise, I turn into a homeschool curriculum junkie and I just buy it all, whether I need it or not.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Shout Out to all my #Homeschool Buddies: SHARE your best curriculum score! @CraftyClasroom” quote=”Shout Out to all my #Homeschool Buddies: SHARE your best curriculum score!” theme=”style3″]
My favorite way to plan my year is with my Simple Homeschool Planning Pack, which I’ve been using for years.  This year I’ve updated it with a couple more pages, and a whole lot of Rainbow….because this homeschool mama likes color!  It really only takes 3 or 4 pages and I’ve got everything planned out for my kiddos each year.   I’ve had so many people ask how I can get away with just a few homeschool planning pages so I thought I’d preview my planning method below:

Homeschool Goals:  Sometime before you start your curriculum planning we suggest sitting down and writing out your goals for each student.  This doesn’t have to be detailed, it can be as simple as, “Get through 5th-grade math.”  However, there may be subjects that you have more detailed answers for, “Develop empathy and self-control.”  Doing this for each student is a great way to customize their education.

Homeschool Curriculum:  Print one page for each student and use this sheet to keep track of what products, resources, and classes you’ll be using during the year to cover each subject.  Take this sheet with you to homeschool conventions and curriculum sales so you can always update and keep organized.

Homeschool Lesson Planner:  Sometimes curriculum doesn’t come with a weekly schedule, or it will be a five-day schedule and you want to homeschool over four days instead.  In this case, the simplest way to organize your lesson plans is to count the number of lessons or the number of pages in the curriculum.  Then divide that number by the number of weeks you plan to homeschool.  This will give you the number of pages you need to cover each week.  You can then further divide that number by the number of days you plan to homeschool each week. You now have weekly and daily goals for this subject.

Homeschool Calendar:  This sheet is intended to be an independent planner for your students.  Print and add in your daily subjects and a photo of your student.  Laminate or store in a page protector then provide your student with a dry erase marker to keep track of their daily tasks. Encourage students to mark off the boxes as they complete each task.  The page comes with a blank version as well so you can write in your own topics.

Annual Overview Calendar: If you have field trips or monthly themes you want to plan, then this calendar is for you!  Featuring a quick at-a-glance layout, this sheet is available with two different formats; the first starting in January and the second starting in September.  Use this calendar to jot down quick notes for annual requirements, testing or even

 

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Why Homeschooling Isn’t for Everyone

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Homeschooling is such a great way for kids to learn, but is it the right choice for everyone? When I first started homeschooling (twelve years ago) you might have heard me say things like:
  • Homeschooling is the BEST thing for your child!   -or
  • Everyone should homeschool no matter the cost.  -or-
  • What do you mean you are sending your kids to school….don’t you love them?
Okay, that last one is a tad dramatic, but somehow I had the preconceived notion that because I had decided homeschooling was the best situation for my family, that is was the best situation for EVERY family.
(Did I mention I was a tad self-righteous as a young adult? Just a tad…)
Fast forward to today and I am still homeschooling two of my four children. My eldest two children, grades 7 and 9, were just enrolled in a local private school last year. My youngest two, grades 1 and 3, are still being educated and home and we continue our daily homeschool journey.  We love and support our local charter school and my younger two boys take part in weekly on-campus enrichment classes.
So currently, we are like a hodge-podge homeschooling family now, but it’s working for us. And that is what the homeschool movement is all about…..doing what works best for each individual child and family.
So, back to the issue at hand…is homeschooling for everyone?  Well, maybe not?  If you are considering homeschooling, here are five questions to ask yourself before going any further.

Why Homeschooling Isn’t For Everyone

Although homeschooling is the perfect option for many families, unfortunately, it’s not for everyone. There are a variety of reasons why homeschooling isn’t for everyone, such as not having the time to homeschool or homeschooling simply doesn’t fit your child’s educational or emotional needs. If you’re wondering if homeschool is the right choice for you or not, ask yourself these five questions.

1. Do You Have the Passion?

In order for homeschooling to work, the passion to homeschool needs to be there. You need to be excited about all of the possibilities of homeschooling. Each day should feel like a new day to explore and have fun while learning. If you aren’t passionate about teaching your child at home, then commitment might become lacking, in which case homeschooling might not be the right choice for you.  Note:  It’s not all sunshine and roses. There will always be times of struggle when homeschooling, (some have coined the term, “Homeschool Burnout,” but the desire to continue to breath life and learning into your children should be an ongoing passion.

2. Do You Have the Patience?

Even if you have the passion to homeschool, you need to understand that homeschooling requires quite a bit of patience. It’s common to hear people say, “I just don’t have enough patience to homeschool…..” and there is a little truth to that…..homeschooling requires patience. Homeschooling takes time, energy, and commitment, just like anything else in life worth doing.  Your children are not going to be perfect little students every day of the week and understanding that beforehand can help you prepare for the trials ahead. There are seasons of homeschooling that seem like a daily struggle sometimes, and that is totally normal.  But like everything in life, when things are important to you, you stick with it and find a way to make it work.  This goes back to my first point, deciding if homeschooling is important to you. If you lack the passion for homeschooling then when your patience is tried, and it will be, you’re more likely to become frustrated and give up homeschooling altogether.  If you think your patience might be tried beyond your capability, there are many great homeschooling conferences (online and otherwise) to support the building of patience and realistic expectations.  These conferences and homeschool support groups are amazing as you continue your homeschool journey.  Sometimes all it takes is a new schedule, a little encouragement, or a renewed sense of purpose to instill order back into your homeschool. Take the summer to educate yourself about the specific joys and trials and the support resources available to you before making your decision to homeschool.

3. Do You Have the Time to Dedicate

Homeschooling is a big commitment for your time. A BIG ONE!  When you decide to homeschool, you’re dedicating a large portion of your day to educating your child, ensuring they learn and grow at an appropriate pace. Although you won’t be sitting down all day with your child, teaching for 8 hours straight, you will spend hours teaching and exploring with your kids.  Many homeschooling families strive to teach independent learning in their children, but that can be difficult if your child is not yet reading on their own.  So be realistic about your time scheduling, and even if you cannot dedicate yourself completely to homeschooling full-time, try looking into local charter programs, online school, or even block scheduling at private school settings.

4. What Are Your Children’s Needs?

Your kids are unique and with that uniqueness comes different needs. For one of your kids, homeschooling might lead to academic and emotional success, making it the right choice for them. On the other hand, another child might struggle with homeschooling, making it the wrong choice for your family. When deciding if homeschooling is right for you, take your children’s needs into consideration. Knowing your child’s specific learning abilities or disabilities is key to your decision. There’s no shame in admitting that homeschooling might not be the best choice for your child.  Many homeschooling families have a child or two in public or private education, while they continue to homeschool their other children.  Do what is best for your family and each of your children.

5. Are Both Parents On Board?

You might have the passion and patience to homeschool, but does your spouse? Even if you’re planning to be the one that does all of the teaching, it’s important that you have your spouse in your corner, supporting you in this decision. If your spouse isn’t comfortable with homeschooling, then homeschooling might not be an option for you at this time. Before making a decision take time to research and learn about the cost and benefits of homeschooling with your spouse.  Attend conferences, and learn more about your state requirements.  Find local groups and homeschool communities in your area that you can connect with and learn from. Make sure your spouse is 100% on board before making the leap into homeschool.

 

 

 

6 Steps to the Perfect Homeschool Schedule

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Are you tired of planning and re-planning out your homeschool year? There is nothing worse than spending hours upon hours getting organized only to have 2 weeks of sick days to throw a wrench in the works.  Or do you start off the year strong, checking off each item from your homeschool planner…..only to completely ignore your plans by the second month in?  Well, guess what?  It doesn’t have to be this hard.  Today, I’m gong to share 6 Simple Steps you can follow to create YOUR perfect homeschool schedule.

 

Sticking to a homeschool scheduled doesn’t have to be that hard.  In fact, it can really be quite easy with a little preparation at the start of the year.  Here are six tangible ways you can make your homeschool schedule work for you.

 

Choosing the Right Start And End Date

Between September 1 and June 1 there are195 weekdays. Most curriculums have 170 days of lessons

So, if your curriculum has 170 days in the curriculum, you could feasibly start the school year September 1, and end June 1 and still have 15 weekdays off.

15 days might seem like a lot but there is still more you need to consider.

  1. Are you going to want specific holidays or birthdays off?
  2. How many doctor’s appointments does your family typically go to in a year, including sick appointments?
  3. Does your curriculum build in review days, or will your child need extra review time?
  4. Will you be taking many field trips?
  5. Does your child work well when they’re sick?If the answer is no, then you’ll probably need extra sick days.
  6. Are you willing to have your children work in the evening if they didn’t complete their school work?
  7. Do you want to go on a family vacation before all the other kids get out of school?

 

There is nothing worse than feeling like you need to cram lessons down your kids throats so they finish the school year on time.I would rather start our school year in the middle of August and end mid-June.That way I can have a few more flexible days during the year for Doctor’s appointments and field trips.

 

Staying On Track During School Hours

 

  1. Have a consistent start time.If your kids are consistently not completing their work, then you may need to adjust accordingly.
  2. Stay home during school hours as much as possible.
  3. Don’t take phone calls during school hours.
  4. Don’t do chores during school hours.
  5. Pick up your groceries from the store using one of the many online shopping programs.
  6. Use YouTube if your child is struggling with a concept but you don’t have instructional time to explain it multiple times.(I also find my kids hearing something explained in a different way by someone else generally helps them understand a new concept faster).
  7. Plan daily breaks to help with focus.
  8. Know what time of day your kids work best and plan accordingly.

 

Planning Ahead To Stay On Schedule

  1. Know what assignments your kids can do on their own.Plan your days around it.
  2. Get ahead on favorite subjects on weekends and days off.
  3. If you need to miss a day during the week, work on Saturday.
  4. Plan your week on Sunday evening.Do this every week, because curveballs happen.

 

What To Do When Something Derails Your Schedule

  1. Build in plenty of flexible days at the beginning of the year so no one falls behind in work.
  2. Complete the most critical parts of the missed lessons immediately but then move on and make everything else up gradually.
  3. Extend your school day by ½ and hour to an hour until everything is made up.

 

Making The Most Out of Sick Days

  1. If your kids are seriously sick let them rest as much as possible, otherwise, try and have them do some work.
  2. Do the worksheets you can verbally.Obviously writing is an important skill, but for the sake of staying on schedule, you can do the writing for a day or two if your kids just can’t focus.
  3. Read their lessons and books out loud to them.
  4. Eliminate enrichment work until they’re better.
  5. Watch educational cartoons or documentaries on what they’re currently working.

 

Staying Emotionally Healthy

An exhausted homeschool Mom is one who will have a hard time staying on schedule.

  1. Get enough sleep.
  2.  Stay home Sunday nights.Emotionally prepare yourself for the week.
  3. Learn to say “I’m sorry no.My plate is too full with homeschooling.”A lot of people assume because you’re at home full time you can do favors for them or the church.Most of us have a hard time saying no.Homeschooling is a fulltime job.You can say no.I promise it gets easier.
  4. Don’t do activities just for the sake of doing them.Take a step back.
  5. Give yourself time out of the house without the kids.

 

Looking for more?

Print our Free SIMPLE Weekly Homeschool Planner Here.