Our new school year is starting THIS WEEK and I am thrilled. As a kid, I always loved the start of a new school year and I feel the same now! Everything is prepped and ready to go – WOOT!
How I plan my school year has evolved a little bit with each year {and it probably will continue to evolve} but I really like the system that I have and thought I would share for anyone who is just starting out and needs something to get their wheels turning.
The tricky {but awesome!} thing about homeschooling is that it looks different in every home. What works for me may not work for you. Plus, life just happens and we need to be flexible. Some years you may have major life changes like pregnancies, new babies, job changes, moves, sickness, etc. that may change things up.
I love to plan. And I make a “plan” every year fully knowing that my reality is most likely not going to look much like my plan in the end. Which then begs the question, why plan at all then?! The short answer is that it brings me comfort and stability knowing that its there, but I don’t make myself a slave to it either.
So here is how I plan our school year!
First, I use good ‘ole Microsoft Word. I KNOW there are probably a zillion more efficient and easier ways to do this but I am comfortable with word and so that is what I use. Use what works for you!
I make a schedule for each of my kids. Jacob’s is BY FAR more complex than Sarah’s schedule but I still like to have one for each of my little ones.
I start by making a graph – a spot for each day of the week. Each week gets an entire page. Once I make my chart I just copy and paste it {changing the week at the top} for our year. Then I go through and shade off the days that I know we will not be doing school {birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.}.
Then I start putting plugging in our curriculum! Check out this post to see all of Jacob’s curriculum for 2nd Grade!
A couple notes about curriculum. First off, there is SO MUCH curriculum out there and it can be hard to know what you need and what you want. Addiction to curriculum is a THING, people! I would start off by looking at what your state requires. For example. since moving to Wyoming we have added “civics” to our subjects which we didn’t have before. Also, I would start small. Do what is required and then as you get more comfortable {and only if you want to!} add more to it. There are definitely things we do that are not required but we enjoy them. Do what works for you and your family!
Another note for our family is that we do four “formal” school days a week. These are when we do all of our CORE subjects. Then we have one day a week which is an easier day – usually Friday. Sometimes things happen though so be flexible. Also, make sure and check your state’s guidelines {many states have a certain amount of required days}.
I start with language arts! We use The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts. They have recently released new editions of their K-1 language arts with plans for a new level 2 as well in the near future. These divide the lessons up into days but Jacob has always used the previous editions which were based on time so we will continue to use that older edition for this year. So language arts is probably my easiest subject to plan. All I do is plug in “Language Arts” and then add the moving pieces in there {spelling, sight words, phonics, poetry, thank you letter…} so I don’t forget anything. I usually write in on my schedule what lesson(s) we finish that day just so I have a record of it. We do language arts Monday – Thursday. Friday {flex day} we don’t do any work in the course book but we do review his phonics cards and sight words as well as do his spelling test.
Next up is handwriting. This is also easy peasy to plan. We use The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting and there are 100 handwriting lessons in each level and so I just plug those into our Monday – Thursday slots.
I do also add our read alouds to our schedule {check out this post to see what we will be reading this year!}. This is probably the biggest area that changes from “my plan”. I read for 20 minutes each day {usually while Jacob does his handwriting} and so we just stop when we get to the end of a chapter after 20 minutes. Does that make sense?
Anyway, I planned for each book this year to take us seven days {reading Monday – Thursday} but sometimes they go way longer and sometimes they are shorter. I don’t worry about it.
Math! We are using The Good and the Beautiful Math Level 1. We do one lesson a day Monday – Thursday. We are about a fourth of the way done with this level {since we are playing a bit of catch up} and should finish in February and then will start Level 2.
I alternate our science and history days. I have toyed with the idea of doing a whole science unit and then doing a whole history unit and going back and forth that way. But I think the kids like switching things up and so we continue to just alternate. I do a science lesson one day and then a history lesson the next and go back and forth.
Sometimes lessons take longer and we need to split them up. When this happens I just finish the lesson the next day and continue going back and forth. No stress. Life happens.
For science, we use The Good and the Beautiful K-8 Science Units. Each unit has a different amount of lessons. Assuming I do two lessons a week, I pick enough units to give me anywhere from 30 – 36 weeks worth of material. This year we are doing, Kingdoms and Classification, Maturation and Sexual Reproduction, Marine Biology, Botany, and Arthropods.
For history, we are using The Good and the Beautiful History Year 2. We did Year 1 last year and are really excited to dive into Year 2.
A new thing for this year is the addition of typing. We are using The Good and the Beautiful Typing Level 1. This could be a total flop and I am okay with that! Jacob REALLY wants to learn how to type and so we will see how it goes. But I am very okay if we end up delaying this another year. We are doing this 2 – 3 times a week.
We are doing a new music curriculum this year which will be a little more intense but I also didn’t really feel like we got much from our study last year. So we will see how it goes. We are using Squilt and will be studying the Baroque Era, Classical Era, and some Christmas Carols {during the season}. We are doing this Monday – Thursday.
Jacob will also continue to do piano lessons except for this year he will be doing them with ME! I am a little nervous to add another thing to my plate but we will see how it goes – and Jacob is excited so we are just going to run with it!
Another new thing for this year is civics. Wyoming law requires this subject and so we are using Abeka’s Our America curriculum. This is my first time ever using anything from Abeka so we will see how it goes. We are doing this twice a week.
The last part of our schedule is our Come, Follow Me study. This is when we study the scriptures {this year we are focusing on the New Testament} as a family. We study this every day and love it.
Friday is our flex day. We review some of our language arts stuff {see info above}. We are also starting a new nature study this year. We are using Exploring Nature with Children and I am really excited about it. This will be something I introduce on Friday and then if the kids want to expand upon it in their free time during the week – GREAT! Right now, I have a new theme scheduled each Friday but I am starting to think we might do a new theme every week. We will see how it goes.
I also have an art activity the first Friday of every month. We are using The Good and the Beautiful Arts and Crafts Book. We do TONS of crafts constantly so I feel like having a once a month structured activity is totally fine!
Last up is our state studies! This is something I have mostly compiled on my own and is completely for FUN! Each month I pick a new state and I have powerpoint and books about the state, we make food from the state, do a small state report, and make a postcard.
Jacob also wanted to try soccer out this fall so that will be AWESOME!
That is JACOB!
Sarah’s schedule is far easier. Check out this post to see what she will be doing this year!
Monday – Thursday she will be using The Peaceful Preschool and The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Pre-K. For the most part, I am just alternating these each day and doing the TGTB Pre-K book lessons when we have reviewed the letter in The Peaceful Preschool.
She will also be doing The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting Level K. She will do this each day Monday – Thursday.
Each day she also does the Come, Follow Me study together with us as a family. It’s truly THE BEST!
That is IT! That is how I plan out my year. It’s a lot of work to put together but having a plan and some organization makes my heart happy! Bring on the new year!
You are amazing