August 7, 2024 – Homeschool Planning: Simplifying the Schedule

Christine Weller

Keeping Things Simple When Planning for the Homeschool Year

Homeschooling offers the flexibility to tailor education to a child’s unique needs, but the abundance of choices can sometimes lead to overwhelming planning. Keeping things simple when planning for the homeschool year can help reduce stress and create a more enjoyable and effective learning experience for both parents and children.

1. Set Realistic Goals:

Establishing clear, achievable goals for the year helps in maintaining focus and tracking progress. Break these goals down into monthly or weekly targets. This not only makes the workload manageable but also provides a sense of accomplishment as each milestone is reached.

3. Use a Simple Curriculum:

Whether you choose a structured curriculum or custom-build your own, it’s important to choose what’s going to work best for your family. When you know the needs of your children as well as your teaching style, you can ensure you get exactly what you need and ignore the extras and reduce the stress and clutter that can quickly accumulate with all the added things. 

4. Incorporate Flexibility:

Homeschooling’s greatest advantage is its adaptability. Stuff happens. Plan for flexibility in your schedule to accommodate unexpected events, interests that may arise, or concepts that require more time. This allows learning to remain a joyful process rather than a rigid task for both parent and child.

5. Work within your Budget:

Sometimes the cost of homeschool can be a stressful one. There are many valuable resources available to homeschoolers that are affordable and in some cases free—you just need to find them. Don’t spend more than you have to.

Overall, it is important to remember that emphasizing the depth of learning rather than cramming the schedule with numerous activities would benefit you in the long run. Spending more time on fewer topics allows for thorough understanding and mastery, which is a good goal to have. Look to foster a love for learning and prevent burnout for both you and your child.

About the author

Christine Weller has been homeschooling her two boys, 10 and 6, since birth in the lovely province of Ontario, Canada. She is also a mom blogger and children’s book author. She is currently working to support homeschoolers everywhere through various roles at The Old Schoolhouse®.

Homeschool Planning: Simplifying the Schedule
By Amanda Schenkenberger

I don’t know about you but when I look at any type of planner, I’m immediately overwhelmed. There are so many steps to complete, so many things to think through, and so many pages to fill out. I’m not sure if they are all important or if I should only fill out certain ones, and if only some of them . . . which ones?

Let’s be 100% transparent: planning can be overwhelming, especially with so many steps and details to consider. This is particularly true for homeschooling, where organizing and tracking everything can feel daunting. To simplify the entire process, I recommend taking one routine at a time and doing a brain dump.

Never heard of a brain dump? Imagine emptying your purse onto a table, sorting through everything, and only putting back the essentials. Apply this concept to your homeschool routine by writing down everything you want to include in your formal learning time. Then, cross out the unnecessary or unreasonable tasks, leaving only the essentials.

I suggest starting with this pared-down schedule when your homeschool year begins. As you get comfortable, you can gradually add in extras, like the occasional “lip gloss” or “extra pen.” This approach helps prevent overwhelm and allows you to build a manageable, easy-to-follow routine.

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Renita Bentz-Miller

Balancing the Schedule

One of the hardest tricks to master in homeschooling is the nearly impossible balancing act of the schedule! Imagine holding up your household while standing on a big, ever-shifting ball of homeschooling; add several children on your shoulders, and your husband right next to you . . . all while feeling pressured to make it look “easy” to the watching world!

After twenty-plus years of homeschooling my eight children, I have learned a few balancing tricks I’d like to share:

First, wipe your slate clean! You cannot carry everything on your shoulders and keep your balance. Take your calendar and ruthlessly eliminate everything that is not one hundred percent essential. Create some beautifully blank days on that calendar. Summer is a great time to take a step (or two) backwards to get the proper perspective. So often, in our pursuit of the “best,” we clutter up our schedules with lots of activities that are all “good,” but not “best.” Be more intentional with what you allow back onto the schedule from now on.

Next, lighten your load! You were never designed to carry the weight of everything on your shoulders alone. We mommas are excellent at picking up all the “stuff” lying around—cleaning, cooking, and, need I even mention, the never-ending laundry? But that doesn’t mean we have to carry it all! Start allocating tasks to your children that they can handle and clear them off your schedule. You’ll be amazed by how much easier life can be when someone else makes dinner.

Lastly, remember where your strength comes from! It’s not the shiny new planner, or your own willpower to master the perfect schedule. Your strength comes from the Lord, and His joy is your strength. Maybe you need an afternoon, or morning, or, better yet, a week with the Lord more than you need to color-code your schedule once again. Spend some time— put it on your schedule—with the Lord, gaining the strength and wisdom you need for the tasks ahead of you. I promise this makes the whole balancing act come together!

About the author

Renita Bentz-Miller is married to her best friend and is the happy (slightly crazy) mom plus “bonus-mom” to sixteen children. She is the co-creator of CrossWired Science, a full K-12 science curriculum for the entire family.  When not chasing children, or dogs, she enjoys long hikes, hot coffee, and a great book. Connect with her at www.momofmanybentzs.blogspot.com or online at www.crosswiredscience.com.

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Heather Vogler

Say Yes to Low-Stress Homeschool Planning

After fifteen years of homeschooling, I have finally found my rhythm. It has ebbed and flowed over the years as new children were added to the routine and others graduated but the basic framework for homeschool planning has remained the same. 

We homeschool year-round up until high school. Once they reach high school they tend to have summer jobs, volunteer opportunities, or activities that they are involved in so, if they finish their schoolwork by the end of spring, they have the summer off. If not, they will work on those miscellaneous one or two subjects throughout the summer that they need to finish up—usually math or English. For the elementary and middle school years we go year-round. I know this sounds intimidating, especially if as a parent you are used to having a summer break to work on projects around the house or to simply relax, but hear me out. If you try the method we use, you will have seven full weeks to “take off” school throughout the year—all while only having a four-day school week. This method lends to a relaxing and flexible schedule. Rather than lumping vacation together in the summer, you get to pick the weeks you take off throughout the year. You don’t even have to “plan” them. You can just have them on hold similar to public school “snow days,” just use them when you need them. If you are sick and need a week off—no problem. Did a family emergency come up? Take a week or two off.

To complete roughly one hundred eighty days of a homeschool year, we begin in August. By taking four day weeks, I have a full seven weeks to work with. With those four days I can choose to always do school on the same days, or I can look week by week and schedule it around appointments or activities. This method has proven to allow flexibility, grace, and wiggle room. As far as using a written planner, I simply write out what each child needs to do for Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and Day Four of each week rather than the actual day of the week. This has helped to eliminate a tremendous amount of stress, leading to an easy to implement homeschool routine. 

About the author

Heather Vogler, her husband, and five children call the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia home where they homeschool and homestead. Heather has homeschooled her children from the beginning and enjoys an eclectic style of teaching. As a freelance writer she has been published in Focus on the Family Magazine, War Cry Magazine, and Brio Magazine. Heather holds a BA in Christian Ministries and currently writes at ThriftSchooling.com.  

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Pillar of Faith

Natalie Mack

The Beauty in Planning

Oh no, not the “P” word. For many homeschooling moms, the thought of planning can bring about so much hope and expectancy. If life feels more organized when you plan and execute the plan, then the “P” word is full of promise. Imagine all the potential planners—from beautiful store-bought planners to that perfect homeschool planner advertised at a homeschool convention to the Canva-created downloadable planners sold on Amazon. And in 2024, fully into the digital age, from our GCals to smartphone calendars to Trello, the possibilities are endless. Each planner, whether paper or digital, can bring about the hope that finally my homeschool will be organized and that the title of Chaos Coordinator can be gleefully tossed aside. But the real beauty in planning might be to simplify your life and to decrease the frenzy by trusting God to order your family’s steps. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Let’s use our time of homeschool planning to seek Him for the best plan for our next school year. 

About the author

Natalie Mack is a National Certified Counselor, author, TEDx speaker, and experienced twenty-three years military home educator, with over twenty-two years of service to military homeschooling families and military homeschool support group leadership. She is known for her words of encouragement and advocacy for homeschooling, particularly during the journey from high school to college. Natalie is a mom of five: three college graduates, one college senior, and an 11th grader.

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