As much as I try to stay on top of my homeschool plans, life often throws me a curve ball. This year, we added co-op classes to our schedule which forced me to adjust my initial plans. Then, we added in some travel for Emma’s competitive dance team. We had quite a few daytime rehearsals when she was cast in a big ballet production. And, we’re wrapping our school year up with a dance injury that requires 2 PT visits each week. Of course, that doesn’t even include sick days that inevitably throw off our schedule.
How is a homeschool momma supposed to stay on top of her homeschool plans when life happens? 
Staying on Top of Your Homeschool Plans
Plan Little Bits at a Time
When I first started homeschooling thirteen years ago, I planned 4-6 weeks at a time. It made me feel so good to plan and print everything we would need for the next month or so. It felt good, that is, until life happened and we got off track.
Oh the stress of having to go back in and rearrange all of our lessons in my planner. Moving all the printed pages from one folder to another when we got off track was such a waste of time.
So, now I only plan a week at a time. If we get off track, it’s much easier to rewrite my plans when I only need to redo a day or two versus a week or two. I find myself far less overwhelmed which makes it easier to stay on track with our small chunks of plans.
Grade Papers As Soon As Possible
Even as a public school teacher, I loathed grading papers. There were many times that I got so backed up that I would just throw papers away. I know, it’s my dirty little teacher secret.
That hasn’t changed. Except that now I’m grading far fewer papers than I had to in the classroom. There have been times, though, that I have found myself in trouble for not grading my kids’ papers in a timely manner. Once or twice over the years, I have put off grading papers only to learn that my child was struggling with a concept.
Oh what a horrible homeschooler! Now, I grade math, grammar, and Latin within 48 hours of the assignment being completed. Everything else is done on the weekends when I update our weekly schedule. By grading math on the night it’s done, I can see where Emma is struggling and address it before we move on.
Be Flexible
Planning in small chunks allows me to be quite a bit more flexible than I used to be. When I’m only planning a week or two at a time, I can rearrange for last-minute doctor’s appointments or a struggle with a math lesson.
This flexibility also allows me to let Emma follow rabbit trails. When we’re in the middle of a history lesson and something piques her interest, I can allow her to dive in a little bit deeper since I’m only having to rework the schedule for a handful of days rather than weeks at a time.
What do you do to stay on top of your homeschool plans?
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These are great tips, and it’s nice to see I’m not the only one who gets “off schedule!” I also only plan one week at a time. Last week I went ahead and planned for two weeks because we were going to be gone for the weekend, and in just that one week things got changed and moved around and I had to adjust for this week! So yes, I think I will stick to a week by week planning routine. 🙂
Thank you for the tips. I JUST posted about my first attempts at homeschooling two toddlers while on maternity leave (http://creatingmykaleidoscope.com/2015/04/29/homeschooling-toddlers-during-maternity-leave/). I give you a ton of credit!
Every time I get ambitious enough to try to plan longer life kicks me in the behind and reminds me to stick with one week.
I think the Lord smiles sweetly at us while we make our “to do list”.
I’ve homeschooled 16 years now have had done everything from 6 months planning to picking random lessons for the day as the kids walk up to the table. Funny it all works for a season. That is until it doesn’t work.
Homeschooling requires flexibility. In a classroom setting, when one child doesn’t show up for school the class moves on. At home, the earth stops rotating.
Be flexible. Write plans in pencil.
You’ve got that right!
Hi, I love this post! Staying flexible is key, not being a slave to our schedules and curriculum. I plan for the best and then just replan the next week, no looking back. We almost never get everything done and if I look back I get stressed. 😉
Thanks for sharing! I’m scheduling to pin it now!
Thanks for sharing! I like your “no looking back” attitude!
My little secret… I really don’t plan, I just document what we do as we do it. I have a weekly sheet that I meal plan and write our most pressing academic goals (1 per kid) as well as any household tasks that are over due. I document by subject, if I find by the end of the week, there is nothing listed under say history or handwriting then that’s what we do on Friday. But life usually works it out for me. ( Ages 1,3,5,7)
I have always wished that I could homeschool that way. My brain, however, doesn’t operate that way. If I don’t have a general guideline, we would get nothing done.
I like your article and find it encouraging 🙂
I am in my second year of homeschooling….and fought that battle ALL last year LOL This year we decided to choose the year round schedule, but keep the usual 36 weeks that most curriculum is laid out for. I put together our own curricula as well, and figured I would just plan 36 undated weeks, date them when we start, and just cross it off as we make it through…but make sure we complete everything in that week before moving on. I am hoping it helps as well as keeps the flexibility for life that we all encounter 🙂 I have a filing cabinet to hold one folder per week…everything is ready to go…We shall see how it works LOL I needed something to be more intentional and in sequence, because I felt we weren’t retaining by bouncing, and some weekends are very busy for us so planning wk to wk has been awful for me LOL to each their own…and freedoms of homeschool!!
Wow, Betty! It sounds like you have come up with a great plan! I hope it fits your needs this year!