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Homeschool Confession

Now that we’re halfway through the year, I have a homeschool confession to make.

I haven’t used my planner much. Umm … hardly at all … 🙁

It was the best of times … and ideas …

During the summer, I designed a complete homeschool/life planner that would help me set goals for each subject, keep track of ideas for books to read, crafts to make, educational websites and apps to explore, field trips to go on, play dates to schedule with friends, unit studies to plan … and I even included a meal planning and grocery list section.

I really love the idea of using it … but between moving across the country, having a new baby, and trying to balance blogging about homeschooling with actually homeschooling … I haven’t been as on top of my planning game as I would have liked. 

To be honest, though, even though I want to improve my documentation game, I’m pretty happy with our homeschool game. 

Eclectic … and then some

We’ve got a pretty eclectic, always-learning, education-through-conversation, child-focused thing going on – and it’s working really well. Library books, dollar store treasures, and thrift store finds have served us well so far, and we’ve begun working more intentionally through our Math (RightStart Math) and History curriculum (Story of the World). Science, Reading, Writing, Coding, Junior Engineering, Life Skills, P.E., Music, and All The Other Subjects have been easily integrated through play, conversations, and some great websites we’ve run across. (I’ve written about our favorite homeschooling resources here, if you care for more detail on any of that.)

Type C personality?

But … long story short, I have found a few parts of my planner useful, even in my definitely-not-type-A (or type B) (maybe type C … for Chaotic and Creative??) lifestyle, and I wanted to mention this as a baseline, minimalist planning method in case you’re looking for a simple way to reset the new year.

Learning IRL

I’ve been using the main “centerpiece” of the planner as an organized, easy space to quickly note the learning that takes place spontaneously in our busy, often-play-filled days. As the kids build things (with legos or magnatiles or snap circuits or mud or make crafts, etc.), read books, watch science shows, write signs or lists or stories to support their imaginary play, go to library events, run around outside, or just ask questions about things that lead to great conversations, I take mental notes of the “educational value” of their activities, and then I can quickly fill in the various subjects we’ve covered at the end of the day. 

My favorite soapbox

Okay, quick side note here: I say “educational value” in quotes because the further I get into this homeschooling journey, the more I appreciate the immeasurable value of life itself and the relationships we build and all the playful interactions and explorations that naturally fill our days. My teaching degree and years in the classroom beg me to measure activities by standards and boxes on checklists, but life experience with my own children is softening my somewhat heartless (if I may be so bold) school-centric view on education that only values that which can be tested, prioritizes a very few subjects above all others, and rewards those who can regurgitate facts faster than others. (I’ll finish writing my book on that can of worms though another day …)

And … back on topic. 

I did take the time at the beginning of the year to generally sketch out what I hoped to accomplish in each subject area and how much time weekly I would ideally devote to each subject, so I have that framework in the back of my mind. As I take notes in the planner pages about all these spontaneous learning moments, I am always impressed with how much kids really do learn without a strict structure. Then, with a large amount already filling my “schedule”, I can work in the subjects and activities that haven’t come up naturally.

Making Stuff Happen

Honestly, most everything we would want our kids to learn can/does come up naturally one way or another (and it helps to immerse them in a learning-rich environment so they’re surrounded by books, toys, and games that stretch them to learn and grow), but often the planning part is still useful for the simple reason that Grand Ideas may be forgotten if they’re not written down. For instance, my son loves working through activities on code.org, and I want him to spend more time doing that, but since he still needs one-on-one help working through it, I have to make sure to schedule in time with him in between caring for the baby and preschooler and life, et al.

Backwards Planning!

I’ve recently heard this referred to as “backwards planning,” and I was so relieved to hear that this was a legit thing! Using a planner this way also serves as a comprehensive portfolio at the end of the year, in case the government or anyone else cares to inquire how things are going :). It’s also nice just to have documented evidence for our own sake to see how learning-rich our homeschooled lives are, for the days when doubt may start to creep in. 

Batching

Another side note: We’ve been doing a lot more “batching” of subjects than I anticipated, because it’s been fun (and more efficient) to get immersed in projects and topics and see them through to some natural conclusion, and then move on to a totally new subject for a while. Since I have an overall big picture idea of the general things I want to accomplish (or the fun things that I don’t want to slip away in the general busyness of life), this works just as well, or better, than doing a few subjects every day; I know that if we’re deep into a study on Ancient Egypt, I can enjoy the moment and focus on Art appreciation or Music or Biology later. I’m also realizing that with just a little extra thought, most subjects can be tied together into unit studies – and my teacher-blood boils a bit hotter and happier at that thought ;).

New Year Sale

If you’d like to take a look at my planner and see if it might be helpful for you, you can see it here (or read my blog post about it here). As a tribute to the New Year (and new starts all around), I’m offering it for only $3 this week.

(The planner does have a 2018-2019 school year calendar, but it also has an undated calendar and the rest of the 57 page planner is undated and can be used year after year.)

Hopefully the planner, or something I’ve mentioned here, will help make your homeschool a little bit happier, simpler, and more manageable in 2019!