If you're like me, you found yourself adapting to the world of homeschooling this year. Whether it has always been your objective to homeschool your kids, or you were forced into the idea because of the global pandemic - we all have this in common: keeping our lesson plans organized throughout the year among all the other things on our to-do list.
Since this is my first year homeschooling, I didn't know what to expect on how to keep track of the schedule or lessons, but after A LOT of Pinterest research, talking to a teacher friend of mine, buying worksheets from Teacher Pay Teacher and a few activity books at Target and then discovering The Good and the Beautiful homeschool curriculum, I set off to create a 39 week plan to get me and my 6 year old son through first grade.
Here's how it's going and here's a look into our homeschool room...
Looking at the big picture first and setting First Grade goals.
I use the Hope Planner daily edition to keep track of the things on my todo list for work and around the house (and for prayer journaling too), but I wasn't sure if I would have to buy a separate homeschool planner since this was my first time homeschooling. I'm a bit of a minimalist, so the idea of having a second planner was NOT appealing to me. Luckily I didn't have to go that route!
I use the Hope Planner daily edition to keep track of the things on my todo list for work and around the house (and for prayer journaling too), but I wasn't sure if I would have to buy a separate homeschool planner since this was my first time homeschooling. I'm a bit of a minimalist, so the idea of having a second planner was NOT appealing to me. Luckily I didn't have to go that route!
Before I put anything into my Hope Planner, I first set a plan outside of it for the whole year by determining what the goals were for First Grade.
I looked at how much time we would spend in homeschool for the year. Because I was also 8 months pregnant at the start of the year, I knew there would be a lot of down time in October once our daughter arrived. I split the year goals into months and then made smaller goals to accomplish for the month.
PS - I did this all on scratch paper because there was a lot of scribbling and erasing as I created the plan.
Once I had a clear vision on the month, I further broke it down into weeks. This is where I went from scratch paper to a more official organization system – manilla folders.
That's right, I have organized our entire homeschool year using manilla folders, one for each week. Very official. Ha.
The manilla folders allow me to organize all the worksheets that I have purchased, coloring sheets, and sight word flash cards for each week. On the outside of the folder I have written down our lesson objectives for the week and I also use this space to keep track of the points Asher (our son) earns for prize box each week. It's also a great filing system for any extra "free-style" drawings that Asher creates, or the writing assignments in our Good and the Beautiful workbooks.
So, where does my Hope Planner fall into place? I'm getting to that!
Because I have the whole year planned out and organized in Manilla folders, I don't need to get too ahead of myself by writing the plans in my planner for the year. I do that each week instead.
Every week – either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday – I sit down to map out the daily lesson plan for the week. I pull out the weekly folder where I've pre-organized the assignments for that week and that's when I determine what we're going to do each day that week. At this point, I write it down in my Hope Planner.
Lesson Plans in my Hope Planner
Because I have one child doing homeschool, it's easy for me to fit his plans for each day in the daily "do" section.
I organize my "do" space using the following set up...
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ABC - for homeschool assignments
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$ - for work to-dos
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♡ - for items pertaining to our household
This helps me to separate tasks between the three things I'm constantly juggling as a working, homeschooling, mom. Oh boy, that's a heavy title!
If you're using the Hope Planner weekly edition, you could use the same task organization strategy as I do as well.
Or, use the Lesson Plan Printable for each week
If that's not your cup of tea to have your tasks intermingled on one page like I do, you could use our Homeschool lesson plan printable to keep track of the plans for the week on a separate sheet of paper that easily fits into the pocket of your planner. This is also helpful to use if you are homeschooling more than one child.
We are mid-way through our first year homeschooling and I have to say it's going really well. Yes, some days are a complete circus with multiple meltdowns had by both me and him. But drama aside, I have really enjoyed watching the fruits of my labor blossom in him. To see what I am teaching him "click" and see his progress unfold each week has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done!
And, to be able to do it in a way that melds so easily into the regular way I was managing my days with my Hope Planner has made it an easy addition to my day.
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