My Approach to Planning
For a number of years I used Pam Barnhill’s free homeschool planning pages. They are available here: https://pambarnhill.com/homeschool-planner-2/. She also has various blog posts and YouTube videos about the pages as well as a paid version with more content. I no longer use the exact pages, but still incorporate many of the same ideas. In general I:1. Spend too much time researching and brainstorming options as this is the fun part for me
2. Think about what went well last year, what areas I want to improve upon, how much time and money we have for curriculum, what my daughter is interested in learning, etc.
3. Write down some goals for the year, what subjects I want to cover, and what outside classes or groups we might want to participate in
4. Start matching up resources with my subject list
5. Cut things from my list because whatever I can get from the library is more than good enough
6. Write what Pam calls a procedure list, which is a short statement of how we plan to use the resources for each subject
For example, we really liked the science book we used last year, so I didn’t waste TOO much time researching other science curricula, but instead chose to use the next book by the same publisher. After looking at the other subjects and resources on my list, I also knew that I should buy the lab kit and the audio book so that science could be a subject my daughter could work through more independently, which would free me up to be more involved in teaching language arts with a variety of books from the library. The procedure list I wrote for science was short: "4-5 days a week read or listen to the next section in the book, complete any required labs, complete the comprehension questions, and report back to me with a short narration about the information in the section. At the end of each chapter, complete the chapter review, talk to me about the test, study for the test, and finally complete the test." These procedure lists guide our days for the first couple of weeks while we find our rhythm. Eventually they get put away as we tweak things and generally learn what it looks like for us to consistently do the next thing in this new school year.
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| The curriculum is starting to arrive and get mixed in with the catalogs and back-of-the-envelop planning pages. |
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| Hopefully the comfort animal is getting ready for the new school year too! |
Our Plans for the 2024-2025 School Year
My daughter will be an 8th grader this year! My goal for the year is to take advantage of the freedom, flexibility, and creativity we have as homeschoolers while also preparing my daughter to take high school classes. One thing that is different for us this year is we are living in the same town as two of my husband's cousins. They both homeschool and have invited us to do some classes together with them! We will also be joining a local homeschool co-op which meets once a week and has a mixture of academic and enrichment classes for students.We have always started our day with morning time, which for us has mostly meant sitting on the couch together reading books. This year I am planning for our morning time to include playing wordle and quordle together, watching CNN10 (a middle and high school current events program), reading aloud a chapter or so from a fiction and non-fiction title, and exploring one more short topic of interest. I haven't decided what fiction title we are going to start with, but for non-fiction I am planning to read "Woven: Understanding the Bible as One Seamless Story" by Angie Smith. For our topic of interest we are going to start with reading some poems about dogs. My daughter would tell you these morning time plans seem a little long, but she isn't worried because she knows I will cut it down to size after about three days.
I always treat the Bible as a subject. In addition to incorporating Bible study into some of our morning time things, my daughter will also be attending Bible Study Fellowship on-line this year. They are studying Revelation. She will also be taking a worldview class with her cousins called "Lightbearers", which is published by Summit Ministries, and likely attending a Youth Group once we settle on which church to attend in our new location.
For Language Arts, we are using All About Spelling and Great Explorations in Editing to cover spelling and grammar. My daughter will also be taking a creative writing class at a homeschool co-op once a week. I am also going to have her choose books from a booklist to read, record in a reading journal, and respond to with essays and other creative choices. The booklist will mostly contain books related to her geography class.
For Math, my daughter is going to take Algebra 1 with her cousins! This is such an answer to prayer. I have been wanting my daughter to be able to take a math class from someone other than me for a long time. I still feel comfortable doing the math, but I have been struggling to explain the math more each year. In exchange, I get to teach language arts to two of her cousins who are in 2nd and 4th grade. So fun! So thankful!
For Science we will be using Berean Builder's Discovering Design with Earth Science. For Social Studies my daughter will be taking a world geography class at co-op, which we will supplement with literature at home. For electives, in addition to the topics of interest included in morning time, my daughter will also be taking a painting class and a drama class at co-op, taking on-line piano lessons through outschool, and playing volleyball and softball. She will also do lots of arts and crafts, gardening, dog care, and nature exploration in her free time.
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