January homeschool planning for next year

January is the month I always began planning for our next year of homeschool. WHY? Well two reasons come to mind.

1. Thinking on next year kept me from thinking about how much longer we had left for this year.
2. I really did need a plan in place so when summer came I could take a break.

The more we plan now for next year, the less we will have to worry about during the summer. Make your summer break a real break. Especially for you mom. Don’t have constant school for teacher. When the student is on break, you too should be on break. Grant it, there are teacher work-days, but let’s not make them work-weeks. That can cause burn out real FAST.

Next year are you planning your homeschool yet??

Things I have done to prepare. While waiting on the children to finish assignments, I usually concentrate on something pertaining to school rather than getting sidetracked with something else. I plan the next two weeks of work, read up on material to make sure I am familiar with the lessons coming up. When all of the current lesson plans are up-to-date, I work on the next years plans.

First, I start with my calendar and plan my 180 days of academic school days. I decide when we will start school, what days we will take off, and what day will be the last day of school. After that is decided, I have a school year to work toward. I then sit down and look at the curriculum that is out there for us to use. We analyze the children and where they are academically to make sure we are on track. Once that is done, we begin to make our list of curriculum needs and wants.

Notice NEEDs first and wants second. Needs would be all the basics. Basics, in my opinion, are the 3 R’s plus some. You decide. My definition of “Needs” and your definition may be different. Start with your definition of needs then list extras that would be considered wants. Remember you can get some good buys on wants, used and at the curriculum fair.

If most of you are like me, you are ready for this year to be finished. Don’t let the hum-bugs get you down. Start planning for next year and let your child look at the catalogs with you. Our children are interested in new books too. They most likely will forget about them over the summer break, so it will still be new to them when you begin next year. Right now, in January, is the time of year we need to work extra hard to make things exciting.

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When do you start planning for the next homeschool year?