Need Clarity? See Your Entire Learning Year at Once

See your learning year at a glance

As we get set to go back to school here in a few weeks in our little homeschool, I am just finishing up making my lesson plans.  I find that many times I get overwhelmed with the task and need to break things down.  In the years past I, like many mums, started off with detailed lesson plans only to lighten them up later in the year and leave the details by the wayside.  This year I have fought the urge to over-plan as the kiddos are now even older.   I decided to use an at-a-glance planning style to help remind me of the topics being covered and when they were going to occur in my learning year.  Perhaps this style may help you too.

I am an extremely creative person, I can't find my way out of a box, but I could easily come up with ten ways to use a pop bottle across your curriculum in less than two mins. - but that's another post.  Because I enjoy mixing things up and trying new things, I find that I must be more flexible in my planning and the implementation of my lessons.  The beauty of using this kind of at-a-glance resource is that it uses only a few key words to remind me of the focus for the week and it can be very flexible.  I have based it on a 36 week learning year schedule, but you may want to only use 34 weeks or 35 weeks depending on your family's needs and your homeschooling requirements.

Using this resource is very simple. 

1.  Print out the sheets: the cover, and then back to back pages to accommodate as many subjects as needed.  From there you can simply staple at the left hand side to make a booklet or you can 3-hole punch it on the left hand side and put it into a folder, duo tang, or ringed binder.

2.  Pick a single subject to start with and write it as a single column heading.  Take your main core or spine subject resources (text book, workbook, novel, etc.) and scan the table of contents to figure out the key concepts that will be covered throughout the year.  Many textbooks will have a outline style of concepts to cover and that will make your job easier. 

**Keep in mind and be realistic about what you can actually cover, want to cover and must cover in choosing the topics you will include in your year.  Not every topic has to be covered in a text.  (Keep in mind that most formal school classes do not even finish their text books in many subjects.)

3.  Figure out how many weeks you will school and then divide that number by the number of topics you will attempt to cover from the previous step.  You may end up with something like two weeks per topic and a few blank spots at the end of your year or you may end up with a new topic every week such is the case of using our Timeline of Christ for Children or Yummy Daily Spelling or using more formal programs like Faith and Life.  If you have an odd number of weeks either choose to give more important areas an extra week or keep them as flex weeks for review such as for a program such as Prima Latina or Latina Christiana which will have a week of review after ever five lessons.

4.  Using a pencil and in just a few words, write the concepts to be covered into your schedule.  By using a pencil you give yourself the freedom to accommodate illnesses, births, and even unplanned things like a field trip opportunity that presents itself.  You could simply and quickly switch a weekly focus to match your life and your homeschool reality.

5.  Repeat steps one through four for each subject, for each child.  This process can take a bit of time, but I find it is so worth it as it is a schedule that is tailored specifically to my family and our individual needs.

Click Here to find and download today's resources.
Click Here to find other free helpful planning printables from our Homeschool Helps area of our complete resource website, That Resource Site.

I hope you find today's resources helpful in getting you ready for your next learning year. 
Blessings,

Kalei