During the slower winter months, I always take time to reflect on how our year is going. I always find this to be the best time to think about what’s working for us and what I would like to do differently the next year. Learning how to plan a homeschool year doesn’t take much time, but you do want to be in a season of life where you can really reflect on your goals, vision, and progress thus far.
That’s why, the winter months always seem to be the time for me to sit down and do some homeschool planning. Different homeschool moms will have a different planning process that works for them.
But, I’m excited to share with you some tips on how to plan a homeschool year following a few simple steps.
Let’s get into it!
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When should I start planning the homeschool year?
Whenever you choose to start planning for the upcoming year, you want to make sure you are in a good headspace to really reflect on your curriculum choices and overall plan.
For me, a good time to do this is right after the new year. We take a few weeks off around the holidays, and I use this time as a “reset” for our homeschooling year.
Another homeschooling mom might prefer to do this over summer break, before embarking on new homeschool year.
Whether it’s winter or summer, whatever time you can devote to diving into curriculum choices, thinking about the number of days the curriculum will require, and all the important events you will schedule, will be a great time to jump into homeschool planning!
Grab a free homeschool planner
Before you get started with your homeschool planning, I recommend grabbing a homeschool planner to jot down your ideas. You can get one for free by leaving your email in the box below, or you can purchase a planner that is already printed and bound for you.
The free planner below includes schedule pages, an at a glance attendance tracker, monthly calendar pages, lesson planning pages, and more!
Read all about my favorite homeschool planner on this blog post, or simply download the free homeschool calendar and planner below!
How to Plan a Homeschool Year
You can plan a homeschool year by following a few simple steps. While it can feel overwhelming to think about planning an entire school year in a short period of time, you actually really only need a general overview.
The most important thing to think about when starting to plan a year are the homeschool laws in your state. You can visit HSLDA to find current information on the laws in your state.
Once you know the requirements your state has for homeschooling, you can choose the curriculum that will keep you in compliance. Not only that, but you can also choose the curriculum that fits your homeschool philosophy best.
Once you have chosen all your curriculum, you can determine the number of weeks you need to complete it and create a loose school calendar for your homeschool.
When creating a homeschool calendar, think of whether you will have a 4-day school week, if you will be doing year-round homeschooling, or if you will be scheduling extra time for field trips.
Don’t worry about creating a weekly schedule at this point. The goal of starting to plan a homeschool year is not to have every single detail hammered out.
You are simply trying to come up with a plan for your home school so that you can begin to purchase the school books and school supplies you will need in order to propel you to your overall goal.
5 Steps to Plan a Homeschool Year
As you begin to reflect, take some time to work through each of these five steps to plan a homeschool year.
Step 1: Write down each grade you will be teaching
If you are homeschooling multiple children, the very first thing you should do is make note of each grade you will be teaching.
Grab a notebook and write down the different grades, leaving some space underneath each one to jot down some notes.
Having an organized ist of grades will help you keep track of the homeschool curriculum needed for each individual student, as well as the unit studies you might choose to do altogether in family learning style.
Step 2: Research all state required subjects that must be taught for each grade
As mentioned before, it is so important to research your state’s requirements for required subjects, required number of school days, testing, and record keeping you must do.
Every state is different as far as homeschool law goes. A great place to find the most accurate, up-to-date law for your state is at HSLDA.org.
I like to also jot down these state requirements in my notebook so I can keep them in mind as I pick out curriculum. Knowing which subjects are required at every grade level makes it much easier to start shopping for curriculum.
You will also need to know if your state requires a certain number of attendance days, so you can determine how many weeks of school you are planning for.
As you pick out curriculum for your required subjects, you can browse the scope and sequence to see how many lessons are in each one. You can also determine the kind of schedule you will use, whether you are year-round homeschoolers, 4-day week homeschoolers, or you teach for a consecutive number of weeks with long breaks in between.
Step 3: Research curriculum for each subject area that will be taught
Once you have determined your state’s homeschool laws and made note of each grade you will be teaching, you can begin to look at curriculum.
A fantastic resource for narrowing down quality homeschool curriculum is Cathy Duffy Reviews. Cathy has already done all the hard work of sifting through the overwhelming amount of curriculum options on the market today. She has a list of the top 103 curriculum choices, with detailed descriptions and pros and cons.
I highly recommend beginning your curriculum research by checking out Cathy’s recommendations. You can also see tons of homeschool curriculum reviews by grade level on YouTube. Just search for the subject and grade level + “homeschool curriculum reviews”, and you will get lots of good results.
Make note of any and all curriculum choices you are intrigued by under each grade level you wrote down in your notebook. You can also write down prices of the curriculum, as these will come in handy for the next step when you plan your homeschool budget.
Don’t forget about younger children, too. You can research preschool curriculum, and even toddler lessons, as well!
Step 4: Plan your homeschool budget
I have a whole blog post on how to homeschool on a budget, so check that out!
But, planning a homeschool budget is so important to do before you make any purchases. Now that you have an idea of how much the curriculum is going to cost, it’s time to think about all the other costs associated with homeschooling as well.
When you plan a homeschool budget, you will consider things like field trips, extracurricular activities, food, and any child care you might need throughout the week.
It’s important to have an overall picture of what your budget is going to be before you start purchasing a lot of curriculum. Trust me, it can add up really fast!
Keep in mind, there is such a thing as “shiny object syndrome” when talking about homeschool curriculum. There are so many beautifully and wonderfully crafted books out there, but it’s not logistical to buy them all. No matter how much we want to!
Having a budget before you start purchasing can help keep those impulses to purchase under control.
Step 5: Purchase supplies and curriculum for the upcoming school year
Now that you have all the facts, have researched curriculum and cost, and have set a budget, it’s finally time to start purchasing curriculum and supplies.
If you started planning for next year early, you will have time to check out deals or wait for sales. That’s one major benefit of starting to plan a homeschool year early.
Make sure to research when the best deals are for that particular curriculum, as well as when you can purchase school supplies at their lowest cost.
I have personally found that school supplies are at the cheapest when public schools are getting ready to start back up. If you wait until the weeks just before school starts, and even a little after, you will likely find the best deals of the year.
Enjoy the process of planning the homeschool year!
As a licensed public school teacher, the planning part has always been one of my favorite things to do for the upcoming school year!
I really enjoy thinking about each of my children on an individual basis and choosing materials that will support each of their learning styles best.
There are so many high-quality homeschool resources available to us today that it can seem overwhelming to make sure we’re choosing the best.
Doing the research and approaching the planning time with a plan of your own is super helpful!
Remember to enjoy this time, don’t stress over all the choices, and stick true to your original vision and goals for your homeschool journey.
Happy Planning!
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