4 Tips to Simplify Planning for the School Year
It's the end of July, and August is knocking at our door.
If you're feeling the stress of planning for the upcoming school year, then this post is for you!
I want to share with you four tips that have totally taken the pressure off me when it comes to planning for our school year.
Now, quick disclaimer: I recognize that we all have different personalities, preferences, and passions. As I share these tips with you, please understand that I not only expect but want you to adapt them to yourself! If what works for me would stress you out, then please don't do what works for me!
Some of us, by nature, are ultra-organized. Some of us, also by nature, are super not. Me? I'm a very weird hybrid of both (you can laugh; I'm laughing). Maybe you can relate.
If you've watched my videos on how I organize curriculum and how I file long-term paperwork, then you've probably already heard me say that I excel at setting up organizational systems, but I fall short in maintaining and carrying out those systems in the long run. (For those who are interested, here's a sneak peek into the psychology behind that: I am a creative, goal-oriented person, so I do well with projects. Once I've achieved creating the desired objective, then I lose interest and don't want to do the mundane, day-to-day tasks. My husband, on the other hand, is fantastic at carrying out routines. He can show up on time every day, do the same tasks repetitively without losing interest, eat the same type of sandwich for lunch every day, etc. Thank God for him! The world needs both types of people, yes? Meanwhile, I'm over here like--Squirrel!)
That may have been more backstory than you wanted, so moving on...
Because that's how I'm wired, I have to find a hybrid between creating an elaborate, amazing system, and setting myself up to fail because I won't maintain said system.
So, I simplify.
I'm a firm believer in making things easier on yourself, so you can excel in the long run! Let's face it. Homeschooling isn't a sprint. You have to pace yourself in your time, energy, and yes, even your preparations.
So let's talk about four tips to take the pressure off and help you simplify your planning process for the upcoming school year.
TIP 1. You don't have to have everything done by the time the school year starts.
I know. But you want to. I did, too, when I first started out. I totally geek out over getting that new box of curriculum, going through everything, looking at all of the plans and shopping lists and extras; I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.
And you know what? When I was first starting out--a mom of two with only one starting school--I was able to do that. Even then, however, I found out that doing all of the prep work upfront was not only unnecessary, but in some cases, it was counterproductive.
For example, that first year, we took the cumulative shopping list for all three subjects (Kindergarten) and tried to go buy everything we'd need for the upcoming year, all at once. We were ambitious! In the end, we spent a lot of money on a lot of supplies we ended up not even needing. It wasn't that our curriculum was wrong in the lists it gave us; it was that as we got our feet wet and got into the groove of homeschooling, we realized that we didn't have to do every single activity, plus there were some household items we could've easily substituted without making new purchases.
In terms of scheduling and laying out lesson plans, I used to think that I needed everything laid out upfront, but I found that as I went along, so much changed for us that I actually prefer not to do the entire year at once. Whether you like to plan it all or plan as you go, I have an excellent tool for you that I'll tell you more about in a moment.
For now, just remember that it's okay and is even beneficial to allow some things to come together as you go.
Just imagine if you walked into your first day on a new job and your boss handed you 35 weeks of "to-do" lists with tasks laid out for you. What would you even do with that? And how could your boss possibly foresee all of the company's specific needs that far in advance?
Planning isn't bad at all. I love to plan. Just be sure to give yourself some breathing room if you don't have time to get it all done right now. In the end, it may work out better for you anyway!
TIP 2. Remember, the schedule is ultimately up to you.
As you organize curriculum, lay out lesson plans, set up your homeschool space, and/or buy supplies, keep this in mind: Whatever start date you have in mind is actually an arbitrary date that you set. And if you set that date, then you have 100% prerogative to change it if you need to.
If you're stressing out that you may not have everything ready to start by August 24, then perhaps consider pushing your start date into September. If you think you need more time than that, then take longer.
In fact, our first year of homeschooling, we hadn't even been planning to homeschool until almost the last minute. We thought our daughter might be ready for preschool, so we started looking into a few, and the more we looked, the more we realized we didn't want to send her to any of them. So, we switched our focus to homeschooling, and by the time we ordered supplies and got ready to start, it was early October. Guess what? She still finished the "school year" (the grade level's worth of curriculum) by April.
Nowadays, our schedule is so far off from the school system's that I hardly even think about when school starts for everyone else. Our schedule is ours and is tied to nobody else's.
I just want to encourage you to take the pressure off yourself if you're trying to meet a deadline that you set for yourself, perhaps before you realized how much you would need or want to do to feel prepared to start.
TIP 3. Consider a soft start to your school year.
This strategy can be a game-changer for many families. A soft start (or soft launch) can benefit both parent and student. What is it, exactly?
A soft start is when you start just a few subjects and gradually build in more until you are carrying the full load.
For example, if your child's curriculum provides six subjects to cover, and if you plan to do each subject every day, a soft start might look like starting with two or three subjects per day for the first week or two. Once you're both in a good rhythm with those subjects, you could add one or two more in for a week or so. Once that feels manageable, go for it and round out the workload with the full schedule.
The benefits of a soft start are:
It helps keep everyone from feeling super overwhelmed right out of the gate.
It gives breathing room to ease into homeschooling (or to ease into the new grade level) without the shocking transition of going from nothing to everything all at once.
It allows you to use the first couple of subjects to tweak and change your approach before diving into the rest.
But, you may ask, won't that cause the subjects not to be in sync with each other?
It is true that some curricula may intentionally focus all of the subjects on certain themes at the same time, but in my experience, allowing subjects to disconnect from each other does not ultimately cause any significant problems.
For example, many curriculum providers may time their subjects with the anticipation that you will come up on Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter themes around the time of year that these events happen. I was worried in the beginning that if we got too far off of those anticipated schedules, then it would be counterproductive to cover those lessons at the "wrong" time of year. That was not the case for us at all. Almost twelve years into this, our kids have done Christmas lessons in June and Easter lessons in the Fall, and it's never really mattered.
The value in working at our own pace on each subject has far exceeded any small inconvenience of having themes misaligned with the seasons.
TIP 4. Use Wiser Lesson Plans to help lay out (& adjust) your schedule.
Years ago, I created an Excel workbook for myself that changed my life when it came to planning. I craved a planner that would allow me to project out the full year but would also give me the flexibility to change things as we went along, because one thing I learned: Despite my best intentions in planning everything upfront, things were going to change!
Once I had the spreadsheet (workbook) working well, I began to share it with others, and the other moms went nuts over it! In fact, I began making adjustments to it based on feedback from the other moms, making it all the more helpful.
This spreadsheet allows you both to plan ahead and to adjust as you go!
I've designed it so that you do all of your input onto one tab, and then this powerful workbook automatically generates up to an entire year of lesson plans for you to use. If you get off-track, you can easily go in, make a few edits, and it re-generates updated plans in seconds!
To make sure it is as easy for you as possible, I've even made a video that walks you through how to use it to its maximum abilities.
You can get your own copy of this specialized Excel workbook here. A one-time purchase allows you to download and keep the file to use as many times, for as many kids, for as many years as you'd like! (I do ask, respectfully, that you not share your download with others. I have put countless hours into developing this tool; please use it only for your own homeschool once you purchase).
The main thing to remember with all of this...
...is that you're in charge. You're driving the bus.
So, if you're feeling pressure, you're the one who can relieve that pressure! Remind yourself that what you do and don't do is ultimately up to you. Give yourself the time, space, and grace that you need in preparing for the upcoming school year.
You've already done the hardest part, making the decision to go against the perceived norm and do what you believe is best for your child's education. Now you only need to walk it out, and you can do that at your own pace.
You've got this!
And I applaud you, friends, because in the end...
Our kids deserve better.
Until next time,
Amy
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