Homeschooling is such a gift—and a big responsibility! If you’re feeling overwhelmed staring at a full curriculum and a busy family calendar, don’t worry. I’ve got a simple step-by-step guide to help you take that curriculum and turn it into flexible homeschool plans that work beautifully for your family, whether you’re teaching toddlers, preschoolers, or early elementary kiddos.
Let’s break it down together!
Table of Contents – Click to jump ahead!
1. Choose a Traditional School Year Calendar or School Year-Round
The first thing when preparing your homeschool plans is to decide is when you want to homeschool.
Do you want to follow a traditional school schedule—starting in August or September and wrapping up in May or June? Or would year-round homeschooling work better for your family? There’s no right or wrong here! Year-round homeschooling often allows for more flexibility and breaks throughout the year, which is especially helpful for families with little ones or frequent travel plans.
Whichever you choose, having this timeframe in mind will help you see the big picture and make your prepping your homeschool plans feel a lot more doable.
2. Identify Events on Your Family’s Calendar
Next, take a look at your family calendar. When thinking about homeschool plans, it can be easy to think only of school-related activities and curriculum. However, one of the biggest reasons most of us homeschool is so that we have extra time for family! So when preparing your homeschool plans, mark down things like:
- Holidays
- Vacations
- Birthdays
- Field trip days
- Co-op meetings
- Dance or sports practices
- Church events or service days
Trust me, momma—these things sneak up fast, and it’s so helpful to plan around them from the beginning. Remember, homeschooling is all about flexibility. You’re allowed to pause and celebrate life together! That’s part of the beauty of home education.
3. Review Your Curriculum and Break It Into Monthly Goals
Now let’s take a look at that curriculum. Clearly you can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can’t take the planning out of the teacher, because this is my favorite part of prepping homeschool plans!
Count how many units or themes your curriculum includes. Then divide those units by the number of months you plan to school. For example, if you have 10 units and plan to homeschool from August through May, aim for about one unit per month, giving yourself buffer time for review, catch-up, or spontaneous learning.
This part is especially helpful for preschool and early elementary ages. You don’t have to follow the curriculum exactly as written—think of it as a toolbox, not a to-do list!
4. Make a Rough Draft in a Planner (Like Our Printable Homeschool Planner!)
Now that you have your calendar, important dates, and monthly goals in mind, grab your favorite planner—like our Printable Homeschool Planner—and sketch out a rough draft of your homeschool plans school year.
Start by penciling in breaks, holidays, and vacations. Then add in your unit or theme for each month. That’s it! Don’t worry about filling in every little detail. The goal is to create a simple, flexible guide you can adjust as you go. In fact, many homeschool families prefer to write their lesson plans “in reverse”, recording each day’s activities in their planner as they complete them! This gives you flexibility and still helps you keep record of your school time!
Pro tip: Use your planner’s monthly and weekly pages to jot down ideas for read-alouds, crafts, sensory bins, lesson plans and field trips that match each unit. You’ll thank yourself later!
Mama, you don’t need a perfect plan to have a peaceful homeschool year. You just need a starting point, a bit of structure, and lots of grace. With this simple process, you’ll be on your way to a year full of joy, learning, and sweet memories with your little ones.
And if you need a little help getting started, be sure to grab our Printable Homeschool Planner—designed with YOU in mind!
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So much great information and guidance. Thank you!