Illnesses, little household emergencies, or car repairs can often leave us reeling. The fact is, life happens, and it doesn’t care whether you’re ready or not. Homeschool planning also helps to be able to get back on track if things happen or pop up that you can’t avoid. For instance, the long-term goal of “Complete fifth-grade spelling” can be broken into short-term goals, let’s say, to complete spelling words in weekly increments, or list by list until the curriculum is completed. Having a lesson plan helps take the big picture and break it into smaller, more manageable pieces. And with just a bit of preparation and planning, you can have a clear plan of action for your homeschool year that will make for smooth sailing each and every day, no matter the grade level of your children. Making lesson plans is simply a type of “plan of action” that helps to lay out steps, gather supplies, and allot a certain amount of time so that you’re not completely covered up each day. When you decide to cook a new dish, would you consider doing it strictly from memory, with no recipe in hand? Unless you're a seasoned cook and have your dishes memorized, of course, you wouldn’t! You need the recipe to help you figure out the ingredients, the steps it takes to best put them together, and how long to cook it. Why Have a Lesson Plan in the First Place? After all, homeschooling is to be a liberating experience that helps you make the most of not only of your child’s education but your lives together. Above all else, remember to give yourself the grace that, should something arise that causes you to deviate from your plan, you can do so without regret. I do want to say, however, that you should never feel your lesson plan lineup is chiseled in stone. Laying out an entire year seems daunting, and like a lot of work, but there are some steps, tips, and tricks that you can use to help with the process. It can be intimidating for some homeschoolers to consider creating their lesson plans.
Even if your plan is loose, or you intend to utilize Unschooling or child-led learning, it’s still a plan, and you can make the most of it. Now, you're ready to get a solid plan and, lesson plans for homeschooling, prepared for the school year. Consider giving your children their assignment sheets at the beginning of the week and making them responsible to complete all that's been assigned to them.You’ve assembled your homeschool curriculum for the year, as well as other resources and online programs you’ll be supplementing with. Also, this system works wonderfully with the idea of "work boxes," or with the idea of making children responsible for their own learning. Mary's assignments, Robert's assignments.)ĭ. If you have more children and more subjects than can easily fit within the 12 provided, consider making duplicates of this spreadsheet, one for each child. Make a backup copy in case you accidently delete a formula and "mess up" the sheet.Ĭ. If you put your mouse on a cell and you see a lot of numbers and letters, that is a formula. Then go to "file" and "print." To print off week 2, type a 2 in that yellow square. To print off week number one's assignments, type the digit "1" in the small yellow square at the top of the page. Once you have all the assignments for all the subjects entered, then go to the "PRINT OFF WEEK" tab.ġ0. Go to the tab marked "subject_2" and repeat steps 2 through 7 above.
In column A (on the "PRINT OFF WEEK" tab) change "subject_1" to "John's Saxton Math" (or whatever subject you put in there).Ĩ. Fill out all 36 weeks worth of that subject.Ħ. in the slots Monday through Friday on that subject_1 tab.ĥ. Count the number of pages (or excercises) in that text book and divide by 180 school days to determine how many pages need to be completed every day.Ĥ. "John's Saxton Math") and type that in the yellow box where the words "Write the Subject Here" appear.ģ. Go to the tab below that is marked "subject_1"Ģ. I'm a homeschooling mom myself and I just don't have the time available to walk people through it.)ġ. This Excel spreadsheet was created to help homeschooling families set up all their assignments for the year in one easy to use location. And some understanding of how Excel works is necessary.*** ***You MUST own a copy of Microsoft Excel to use this file.