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Our 2020 Homeschool Curriculum for Multiple Kids

August 13, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Well, the year 2020 has brought more than its share of surprises.

We were homeschoolers for ten years (not counting a five-month break) and last year I finally decided to let my kids attend public school.

After seven months, they were home again – suddenly. And now we’re back to homeschooling again too (like many of you).

If you’re unsure what to do with your kids, how to arrange their days, or what resources to use, I hope that reading our 2020 homeschool curriculum plan will help.

These are resources especially for the grades we’re teaching this year: third grade, sixth grade, and seventh grade. But you can use this as a framework for building your own plan too.

Just starting out with homeschooling? Check out my Get It Done Guide to First Time Homeschooling too!

See the 2020 homeschool curriculum choices we made for our family this year!

A No Stress 2020 Homeschool Curriculum Plan for Multiple Kids

Images c/o: AndrewLozovyi & IgorVetushko / depositphotos

(This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Fair warning: This looks like a lot of work. But it’s not.

As you read, you’ll see that I reuse multiple resources for each child and several of these resources are free or inexpensive.

I do believe, though, in investing in the subjects that matter the most for our family’s goals. In our experience, that always turns out to be worthwhile.

By the way, if you’re unsure what to teach and when, I cannot recommend the book Home Learning Year by Year enough.

It breaks down each grade level subject and lists specific concepts to cover, with curriculum recommendations.

Our 2020 3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Math – We’re using Teaching Textbooks this year for all three of our children. (Look for an in-depth review of TT later this year!)

Since our third grader is also using the BrainQuest Third Grade Comprehensive Workbook, we’ll be supplementing the math exercises in that along with TT.

ELA – For ELA, we’re just using the BrainQuest workbook along with What Your Third Grader Needs to Know. Easy peasy.

Science – We’ll be covering the science sections in both of the above books, but I want to add a bit more this year.

So we’re working with two Usborne resources: Science with Magnets and the First Encyclopedia of the Human Body.

Also – my third grader loves STEM, so I picked up the free STEM at Home resource from Carly and Adam. Done.

Social Studies – Social Studies is a bit harder to recommend, because we’re using the Usborne Time Traveler book.

(Note: I’m not an Usborne consultant. We received almost all of our Usborne books when we used BookShark curriculum last year.)

I looked around on Amazon and the Time Traveler book is super expensive these days. So if you’re looking for a more affordable resource, try the Usborne First Encyclopedia of History instead.

Our 2020 6th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Math – For my middle schoolers, we’re also using Teaching Textbooks. But I’m adding another resource for each child.

My sixth grader will also be working with Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook. I love this book so much.

It’s filled with easy explanations, colorful drawings, simple exercises, and an answer key. Perfection.

ELA – Our eleven-year-old is a math and science fan, but he doesn’t love reading and writing. So he needs a little more support in that area.

We decided to use the 6th Grade Common Core ELA Practice Book from ArgoPrep.

Here’s why I like ArgoPrep: Their books come with free video explanations of each exercise. If you visit the website, you can choose your math or ELA book and then watch the instructors explain each exercise.

No more grading!

Science – While my third grader loves STEM, my sixth grader is a STEM super fan. All he’s ever wanted to do is build and design things.

I attended a STEM educator conference over the summer and one of the presenters recommended Instructables for Teachers. It’s incredible and free, especially if you are not STEM-inclined (like me).

It’s separated by grade level and the full instructions and supplies for each project are clearly listed. You can easily scan to see which projects you can complete with your kids before getting started.

Social Studies – Our social studies program is going to be based around the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.

Now that we’re living in unusual circumstances in our country, I wanted to help my son learn about the food insecurity people in other regions face everyday.

We’ll also be learning about the culture of each country and some of its history as we go along.

Our 2020 7th Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Math – Teaching Textbooks again, plus Everything You Need to Ace Math in One Big Fat Notebook.

My seventh grader loves to draw, so we’re also using The Cartoon Guide to Algebra. It’s a really fun book and does a great job at illustrating some of the algebraic concepts that seem abstract.

ELA – For the basics, ArgoPrep again with the 7th Grade Common Core ELA Daily Practice Book.

By seventh grade, I also start to get serious about organization and writing with my kids. (High school is only two years away!)

So he’ll be taking two live classes with Open Tent Academy this year: one on Study Skills and one for IEW Middle School Writing.

Science – Our science for seventh grade is going to be based almost entirely around the free CrashCourse YouTube channel and the free program Ted-ED Earth School.

At this age, I start to let my kids have some say in their interests and my seventh grader is not interested in hands-on experiments. So videos it is!

Social studies – Our seventh grader will also be working with Hungry Planet, along with our sixth grader. Two for one!

What about Our Homeschool Electives?

We’re only working with one elective this year: how to play piano.

We got a keyboard from a friend and I bought the Alfred All-In-One Piano Course. Since our kids are a bit older, I decided to go with the adult version. But if I had younger children, the Basic Piano Course would be a better fit.

Whew! It looks like a lot on the page, but it’s really simple and streamlined.

Want to see some of our school year in action? Follow me on Instagram! We’re starting our school year on August 24.

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Lesson planning has come a very long way. . . Now that we’re homeschooling again, this digital lesson planner from @pocketfulofprimary is truly saving my life. . Four weeks to go! . . #lookwelearn #homeschoolmom #homeschoollife #homeschoolplanning #teacherspayteachers

A post shared by Look! We’re Learning! (@lookwelearn) on Jul 27, 2020 at 6:53am PDT

Need more help to plan your homeschool year?

Banish overwhelm and start learning with this easy guide to first time homeschooling!

If you feel overwhelmed by planning your homeschool year, take a look at these easy tips to streamline your homeschool schedule!

The Get It Done Guide to First Time Homeschooling

August 6, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Suddenly homeschooling for the first time?

You’re not alone.

Many, many parents are teaching their children at home for the first time ever this year.

As a veteran homeschooler, I want to say two things:

First of all – welcome! We’re not weird as we seem and we love to have new families join us. So hi!

Second – no matter how unprepared you feel, you’ve totally got this.

And, to help make the idea of learning at home easier, I’m sharing this super easy, nitty-gritty, get it done guide to first time homeschooling.

The Get It Done Guide to First Time Homeschooling

If you’re brand new to the idea of teaching your own children, this is a simple, streamlined way to get started.

And, honestly, even though I’ve been homeschooling for ten years, this is basically the way I approach it as well.

So I’m here to tell you: it works.

Want to make the first day of your school year special? Try some of these fun first day of homeschool ideas!

The Get It Done Guide to First Time Homeschooling

Images c/o: victoshafoto / depositphotos

To start, I need to make a confession: I’ve been working from home and homeschooling for years.

But, I’ve also sent my children to public school (twice) and worked out of the home as well.

So I understand how having your children always at home can be…a bit much. If you feel that way, you will face no judgment at all from me. I get it.

As I’ve been talking with other moms online and in person, the number one feeling they express is a sense of overwhelm.

Trying to work from home, manage their households, and teach their children seems like an impossible task.

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Seem familiar?

So let’s start by taking a deep, deep breath together. Take two if you need to.

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We’re going to get through this in four steps (five, if you want).

That’s it. That’s all.

You can do this.

Step 1: Look at your state requirements.

Before you do anything, and I mean anything, find out what your state (or province) requires homeschoolers to do.

If you search “(state) homeschool requirements”, look for an internet search result from the actual department of education for your state. Then read the list of regulations.

Some states are very hands-off and require almost no paperwork or specific standards, but others are very detailed and require regular evaluations and check-ins by parents.

Use those regulations as your homeschooling framework.

Step 2: Choose a math program.

After you read your state’s requirements, start selecting how you will teach each subject, especially the core subjects such as math and English Language Arts (ELA).

Fair warning: There are a ton of math programs out there. A TON.

Don’t get caught up trying to read through each one and compare them. Start with Khan Academy (it’s free!) and let your child start working through that from the very beginning.

You’ll get a good sense of where he or she needs to improve as they go along.

You’ll also see what they like and don’t like about that program, which will give you a good idea of how to choose something different, if you choose.

If you just want to keep moving for now, check your child’s appropriate grade level on Khan Academy and then buy a grade-level math workbook. Done.

Step 3: Choose an ELA program.

Once you get math going, find a way to teach ELA.

Khan Academy has some courses for this too, but they’re still working on them.

I generally use a grade-level workbook for ELA and then add a lot of books to read and discuss together through the year. (Look for my specific homeschool choices for this year coming soon!)

Still with me?

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Step 4: Choose a way to learn science and social studies.

Okay. The biggies are done. Now it’s time to move on to the other subjects.

Science is actually pretty simple these days. Find a great and reputable kids’ science YouTube channel and off you go. Pick up a book with easy experiments to try if you like.

You can do the same with social studies. With younger kids, find an excellent world travel channel and learn about a new country each week.

For older kids, focus on historical events and their impact on society. (Further down, there are a few recommendations you can try for this.)

Step 5: Pick an elective or two (if you want.)

That’s basically a school day.

If you do math and ELA four days a week, plus science and social studies two days each, you’ve covered all the basics.

Want to add an elective? Great! There are plenty of those out there for free too, including art, music, American Sign Language (which I teach!), and more.

A simple internet search will point you in the right direction.

And we’re done!

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Pat yourself on the back. You’re ready to go. Really.

Is All-In-One Homeschool Curriculum Good for First Time Homeschoolers?

You might be wondering why I didn’t mention any all-in-one boxed curriculum choices in the steps above.

Well, here’s why.

I have used several through the years. (BookShark was our absolute favorite.)

In fact, I was homeschooled myself from sixth grade onward with a boxed curriculum.

Here’s the thing about all-in-one-programs (at least in my experience):

They tend to fit well in some subjects and not at all in others. All of my kids were at different grade levels in each subject. They tended to need a grade-level math but an advanced ELA program or vice versa.

So I always ended up with materials I paid for, but couldn’t use. Boo.

Also – I found the big box a little overwhelming, especially when I was just starting out.

But you might be different. So, after you’ve gotten into a good routine, feel free to take a look at a few (especially BookShark).

Easy Homeschool Options for First Time Homeschoolers

Whew! I’ve said a lot here, but I can’t let you go without sharing a few good resources that will help you get started if you’re first time homeschooling. These are all excellent and, even better, free.

YouTube: CrashCourse Kids – an excellent science channel for elementary grades
YouTube: CrashCourse – comprehensive science and history for middle school and teenaged students
Varsity Tutors: Virtual School Day – free online classes for all grade levels (read carefully; some have fees)
Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool – a free comprehensive internet-linked curriculum for PreK through high school
TED-ED – video-based science, social studies, and history lessons for all grade levels

Need more homeschooling inspiration? Try some of these ideas!

Do you want to homeschool but feel that you can't possibly spend all day with your kids? Here's how to manage it.

Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner

March 23, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We were homeschoolers for ten years.

During that time, I taught up to four children. In four different grade levels. It was fun.

And at times overwhelming.

But one of the most important things I learned is that the only way to make homeschooling work (for me, at least) was to take a very relaxed approach.

I tried timed schedules and they just didn’t work for us. Especially because some of our children have attention issues.

The relaxed homeschooling approach, though, was perfect.

Which is why I thought it might be helpful to share this printable kids homeschool day planner – which is perfect for relaxed learning at home!

Cute Printable Homeschool Day Planner for Kids

With this handy planning page, you can structure your child’s learning day without going overboard.

Which will only stress you all out. Trust me.

Read on to get your copy – free!

And, for more ways to plan your homeschool without feeling overwhelmed, take a look at how I got by without using a homeschool planner at all!

This free printable homeschool day planner makes it easy to structure a day of learning from home!

What is Relaxed Homeschooling?

I feel like I need to give a quick primer about relaxed homeschooling, just in case you’re new to teaching kids at home.

Relaxed homeschooling takes a gentle approach to schoolwork.

Instead of structuring your day in a school-at-home fashion (with a set time for each subject and a set amount of work to cover), you choose your own way to cover each subject.

In fact, you can even choose which subjects to complete each day.

The overall goal is to learn on a continuous basis – not to cover a certain amount of the curriculum.

My kids loved it.

Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner

So – if you’re using a relaxed homeschool approach, this simple homeschool day planner is perfect for outlining what you want to accomplish each day.

To use this printable kids homeschool planner, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Pencils
Laminator (optional)
Dry erase markers (optional)

This homeschool planner includes two color pages and two line art pages.

One set of color and line art planning pages has labeled sections for the following subjects:

Math
English
Physical Activity
Creative
Free Choice
Science
and Quiet Time

Colorful Homeschool Day Planner Printable for Kids

The other set of color and line art planning pages is unlabeled, so you can decide which subjects or areas you’d like to teach that day.

The very essence of relaxed homeschooling!

You can even make these reusable.

Simply laminate the pages and use dry erase markers to fill in what you’d like to cover each day.

And you can let the kids color in the line art version too!

Scroll down to get your free Printable Kids Homeschool Day Planner!

Need more help structuring your learning days? Try these tips!

To get your copy of our Printable Relaxed Kids Homeschool Day Planner, click the image or the link below to download it to your computer!

>>> Printable Kids Homeschool Day Planner <<<

This relaxed printable homeschool day planner for kids is a perfect way to keep your learning days structured without going overboard!

How to Start the Homeschool Day Right

September 6, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

It’s the start of a new homeschooling year and, for many of us, that brings a ton of excitement about our new books, our new curriculum, and the kids’ new grade levels.

But we’ve been at this homeschooling thing for nearly ten years now and I’m here to tell you that the excitement… is going to fade. In fact, it seems like the longer you homeschool, the quicker it fades. And a lot of that comes down to having a rough homeschool day – or two or ten.

It’s so easy to think that you’re going to start the homeschool day right, only to have it dissolve into two shouting matches, a sibling fight, and a crying fit over a math problem by 11:00.

For years, I fell into the trap of planning weeks of lessons and then falling off the homeschool wagon just a few days in. I thought I needed to change my curriculum, revamp my schedule, or even try public school for a while.

I didn’t realize that I was planning my homeschool years right, but starting my homeschool days completely wrong. Here’s what I’ve learned about how to start the homeschool day right.

Take a look to see what didn’t work for me and what finally is working – after all this time.

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

How to Start the Homeschool Day Right

Images c/o: lanakhvorostova and SIphotography / depositphotos

Plan your day’s lessons and activities in advance.

Please, please, please do not set yourself up for failure by thinking you can do this on the morning you plan to teach a lesson. You won’t get up early and plan for it. Trust me. You just won’t. (I cannot tell you how many school days I’ve given up on because I fell for this idea.)

Take some time to set up a flexible plan for your school week. Shoot for having the lessons for the week done by the previous Friday. Then try to schedule only a few full days and leave yourself some space for lessons that take a little…longer than expected.

Have a family meeting first thing in the morning.

This one took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out. And, really, this tip came from my husband. Whenever he’s home during the day, he gets up and goes into the kids’ rooms to talk with them about how they’re feeling that morning.

As he told me, “That’s the best way to find out what’s on their minds before we get started. Otherwise, they won’t be able to focus on what we’re teaching, because their minds are somewhere else.”

So I started doing this on our homeschooling days too. When everyone gets up, I talk to them all individually to see how they’re feeling, what they’re thinking, and what they want to do that day.

I tell them we’ll try to get at least some of what they’d like done – after we finish our school lessons. It really does help them put those thoughts aside (at least for a while) to begin the school day.

Eat a really good breakfast.

Remember those old cereal commercials we used to see on Saturday morning? The ones that show the bowl of cereal, along with toast, eggs, and a glass of orange juice as part of a “balanced breakfast”?

They weren’t kidding. Kids really need to eat a filling breakfast to start the day, especially once they hit puberty.

I was allowing my kids to make their own breakfast for a while. That led to eating less than they needed, because they often didn’t “feel” like cooking as much as they should have.

Now that I’m back to making breakfast (and they make their own lunches and snacks), they actually get full and their moods are ten times better, which makes our entire homeschool day run smoother.

How BookShark Helps Me Start the Homeschool Day Right

One of the biggest changes that’s helping me start our homeschool days off right is using BookShark with my youngest.

BookShark is a year-long, book-based curriculum that includes ELA, history, and science for grades K-8. I’m using it for our first grader this year and it has done wonders for my homeschooling routine.

Because BookShark plans the weekly lessons for you, I have her daily plans done in no time. I just look over the prepared plan, review the books we’ll need, and we’re off and running the next week.

Take a peek at my BookShark homeschool binder to see how it works!

Start the homeschool day (and year) right with these tips!

See more ways to plan your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

How to Afford Homeschooling eBook Download

How We Structure Our Three Day Homeschool Week

August 16, 2018 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

We’ve always been rather creative in the ways we homeschool. While the idea of schooling at home might conjure up images of hitting the books from 8 to 2 Monday through Friday, we’ve never done it that way. Frankly, that doesn’t work for most homeschoolers.

Instead, we structure our lessons to get done in a three day homeschool week, even though the program we use is designed to be covered in four days a week.

Shocker, right?

But it actually works for us and has worked well for a few years now.

Read on to see how we use a three day homeschool week in our family!

Note: We’re adapting BookShark with our youngest child to be a three-day-a-week program, but you could really make this work with any curriculum – as long as you’re willing to adjust a few things along the way.

Need to get more ideas for organizing your lesson plans? See how we use a homeschool binder to keep our objectives front and center during the year!

Disclosure: I am a brand ambassador for BookShark and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role. For details, see my Disclosure Policy.

Why You Might Need A Three Day Homeschool Week

Images c/o: Wavebreakmedia / depositphotos

How can using a three day homeschool week help you? If you think that you can’t homeschool because you’re too busy, compressing your school week can give you some much needed time in your schedule.

Personally, I’m a homeschooling parent who also works secularly. So I need to get our school lessons done for the week in about half of a normal workweek.

Generally, we complete our school lessons during those three days and then I use a couple of evenings and the other two full days of the week to work. That way, I can relax with the family on the weekends, instead of being chained to my computer trying to catch up.

Even if you don’t work, though, using a three day homeschool week can be a good thing. It will leave you with two extra days a week for chores, errands, appointments, or field trips.

How We Structure Our Three Day Homeschool Week with BookShark

If you take a look at our BookShark homeschool binder, you can see that each day’s lesson is completely planned in advance. This is a HUGE timesaver when it’s time to cover the material. Since we do a three day homeschool week, though, I have to make a few tweaks.

First, I put all of the week’s activities for ELA, history, and science together to see exactly what we should be covering. Then I count how many pages we need to read, experiments we need to complete, and worksheets we are expected to finish.

Finally, I just divide all of those activities by three to see how much we should do each day. Pretty simple!

BookShark is designed as a 36-week curriculum, so if you complete four days a week of the program, you should finish your child’s coursework within 36 weeks.

In our family, though, we homeschool year round. So I have a lot of wiggle room on the schedule. This means I can take out a day and make it up during our longer year without falling behind.

It’s working like a dream so far!

Need more homeschool planning ideas? Don’t miss these posts!

See even more ways to organize your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

Should You Homeschool Year Round or Not?

August 13, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

If you’ve been around the homeschooling world for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve heard of families who homeschool year round. In fact, we’re one of those families, so if you haven’t met someone before, you have now!

Choosing whether to homeschool year round can be a tough decision to make. Which is why it’s normal to seek the guidance of experienced homeschooling parents when you’re considering this topic.

But the beauty of homeschooling is that you can do works best for you and your child. So whether you homeschool year round or not is totally up to you and yours.

If you’re considering homeschooling, then it’s clear that you want to understand your children and provide them with a good education. Homeschooling not only allows more family and bonding time, but it also creates an environment that supports the learning habits and needs of your child.

If you find that you are racking your brain with trying to decide if you should homeschool year round or not, here are a few things to consider before choosing one way or another.

Are you thinking of homeschooling but unsure you can do it? See how you can homeschool your own children, even if you’re not a teacher!

Image c/o: belchonock / depositphotos

Should You Homeschool Year Round or Not?

Homeschooling Year Round Does NOT Mean Schooling All the Time

While learning and education are important, it is also just as important to make certain that your little one doesn’t get burnt out from not being able to take a break.

If you choose to homeschool year round, a good alternative to a full summer break could be to take a couple of weeks off intermittently throughout the school year. This way, your child gets a little rest time (as do you!) and time for them to recoup and have a little fun in the sun as well.

Homeschooling Year Round Can Help You Avoid the Summer Slide

One of the biggest concerns that many public school teachers have is that it takes kids a few weeks after returning from summer break to get back into the swing of things at school. If you choose to homeschool year round, you’ll never have to worry about getting out of sync and schedule.

Being able to teach your child in an atmosphere and classroom setting that works perfectly for them and their learning needs is what homeschooling is all about. When you’re able to provide that education year round, you’re setting your child up for a great learning environment!

Homeschooling Year Round Doesn’t Have to Interrupt Family Vacations

Do you and your family have any traveling plans during the summer months or do people come to visit you and your family during the year? If so, consider that before deciding to keep up with the curriculum full-time.

While it doesn’t mean that you still can’t homeschool year round, it’s just important to understand that there may be times when you’ll be traveling or have guests over and you and your child will still need to get through your lessons and your work planned.

Talk It Over With the Kids

Instead of making this decision entirely on your own, talk to your child about their thoughts. You may be surprised by their answer in regards to what they prefer!

Some children like the scheduling and every day being the same, while others prefer a bit of time to recharge. Whatever the choice, rest assured that it will be the best one for you and your child.

How We Homeschool Year Round

We’ve been homeschooling year round for several years and here’s what we do:

We follow a typical school year for our start. We generally get started with our next grade in August, but we only school for three days per week. Every few months, we take a break for a week or two.

Over the summer, we take a very relaxed approach. We’re still homeschooling, but the majority of our learning comes from summer camps, field trips, and online courses. So far, this approach has worked well for our kids.

What about you? Do any of you homeschool year round? I’d love to hear how you make it work in the comments!

Still planning your homeschool year? Take a look at these posts!

Get more ideas for structuring your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

25 Fun Ways to Celebrate the First Day of Homeschool

July 23, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Back-to-school is an exciting time of year, especially when you homeschool! With new ideas and a fresh start, there is a lot to celebrate. Homeschool parents usually ooze excitement and you want your kids to get excited about the beginning of the homeschool year also.

Here are 25 fun first day of homeschool ideas to celebrate NOT back-to-school with your kids this homeschool year!

If you decide to try one of these first day of homeschool ideas, let me know which one your kids loved the most! I think we’re going to try numbers 2, 3, 11, and 19. 🙂

Need some ideas for planning your new homeschool year? Don’t miss our list of 10 new school year resolutions for homeschoolers!

Image c/o: andrekaphoto / depositphotos

25 Fun First Day of Homeschool of Ideas

1. Decorate your homeschool room with your kids.

This is a great activity for right before your homeschool starts or for the very first day. Grab some fun decorations and get started! Not only will decorating be exciting, but it is also a great way for your kids to have a vested interest in their homeschool.

2. Create a vision board for the year.

Setting goals for your homeschool is so important! Start your homeschool year off right by creating a large vision board with your kids. Discuss everyone’s goals for the homeschool year and write them on the vision board. Decorate it and hang it somewhere you can look at it throughout year. It will be fun to see all of the progress that your kids have made.

3. Go out to eat a special breakfast on the first day of homeschool.

This is such a fabulous way to celebrate back-to-school! Skip the formal school morning and head to a cafe or restaurant to ring in the new school year.

4. Eat dinner at a fancy restaurant on the first day of homeschool.

Shake things up a little bit and take your kids to a fancy dinner. You can talk about your day and what they look forward to for the rest of the year.

5. Have a dress-up dinner at home for your kids.

Have your kids wear their fanciest clothes and treat them to a fancy dinner at home. Use a table cloth, fancy dishes, candles and music to imitate a nice restaurant. You play the part of the chef and waiter and go all out!

6. Have a picnic lunch at a local park.

Pack your food and drinks and head out! If you don’t have a park nearby, the backyard can be just as fun. Bring a picnic blanket and enjoy your time together discussing the new year!

7. Have a family movie night to celebrate the first week.

After a great week of homeschooling, why not sit back and relax with your family? You’ve earned it! Let the kids pick the movie and spend some time together on the couch. Watch one of our favorites “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and then try this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory unit study!

8. Gameschool for the first day (or week!).

Who says games don’t count for schooling? They absolutely do! Get back into the swing of things with a game schooling day or week. From board games to card games, your kids will build bonds and have fun!

9. Take funny first day pictures.

You can set up a “photo booth” with an awesome backdrop, or just make silly faces! The key is to get some great pictures that capture your child’s personality! Hang them up in your homeschool room to set the vibe for your homeschool year.

10. Surprise your kids with a photo book with pictures from the past year.

Kids love to see how much they’ve grown! This one takes some advance planning, but your kids will love this sentimental celebration! There are several online options for printable photo books.

11. Enjoy a day (or several!) at a local attraction (children’s museum, water park, etc.) when public school has started back.

Beat the crowds at your local hotspots by spending a day playing when public schools are back in session. After the summer rush, this is a nice way to take advantage of a huge homeschool perk!

12. Create a time capsule.

Use a shoebox (or a similar sized container) and create a time capsule that you won’t look at until the end of the school year. Items could include: first day of school picture, an interview with your child and goals he or she has. Put the box away (in a place you’ll remember!) and make a note of where it is and when to open it.

13. Start a scrapbook and add to it weekly.

What a great way to capture memories! If you can’t keep up with a scrapbook page per week, consider doing it monthly. At the end of the year, you will have captured so many precious moments!

See more fun first day of homeschool ideas on page 2!

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25 Helpful Homeschool Planning Tips for the New School Year

July 16, 2018 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

I just love homeschool planning season. Many homeschoolers start planning for the new school year during late spring and early summer.

In our family, though, homeschool planning season is practically a year-round event. Even after almost ten years of homeschooling, I’m always looking for new homeschool planning tips that will help us along our journey. After all, each child is different and each grade level is different, so what worked in the past may not work as you go along.

Get your new homeschool year started on the right foot with these tried-and-tested homeschool planning tips that work! There are 25 here – all from veteran homeschooling moms (including me!) – and they’re great for any age and stage you’re teaching.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by your homeschooling journey? Take a breather with this article about the things you don’t need to homeschool!

*Don’t miss the fabulous Rainbow Resource curriculum giveaway at the bottom of the post!*

Image c/o: habovka / depositphotos

25 Helpful Homeschool Planning Tips for the New School Year

1. Simple Lesson Planning for Minimalist Homeschoolers – Look! We’re Learning!

2. My Super Simple Homeschool Planning Method – Homeschool Your Boys

3. Make a Homeschool Schedule – Homeschooling Ideas

4. Printable 2018-19 Homeschool Planning Form – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

5. How to Use Mind Maps for Homeschool Planning – Triumphant Learning

6. Free Printable Homeschool Planner Pages for Relaxed Homeschoolers – This Simple Balance

7. Printable Homeschool Quarterly Planning Form – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

8. Step-by-Step Instructions to Plan A Homeschool Year – Preschoolers and Peace

9. Planning for the Non-Planning Homeschool Mom – Homeschooling Without Training Wheels

10. How to Hold a Weekly Homeschool Planning Meeting – Hodgepodge

11. Five Simple Tips to Help You Schedule Your Homeschool Day – Finding Joy In the Journey

12. How to Plan Homeschool One Quarter At A Time – Lara Molettiere

13. 15 Homeschool Schedule Ideas for Kids with ADHD – Look! We’re Learning!

14. How to Pre-Plan A Homeschool Year – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

15. How to Frugally Plan Your Homeschool with Folders – Rock Your Homeschool

16. 2018 Weekly Homeschool Planning Worksheets – Table Life Blog

17. How to Plan A Homeschool Week – Blossom and Root

18. 7 Steps to Simplify Homeschool Planning – Triumphant Learning

19. The Ultimate Guide to Low-Stress Homeschool Planning and Scheduling – Hide the Chocolate

20. 7 Step Homeschool Curriculum Planner – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

21. How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule – Look! We’re Learning!

22. The Tools You Need to Plan Your Homeschool Year – Finding Joy In the Journey

23. How to Make Your Homeschool Planner Work for You – Rock Your Homeschool

24. Homeschool Planning with a Spiral Notebook – Blog, She Wrote

25. Free Printable Homeschool Planning Pages – Classically Homeschooling

These homeschool planning tips are awesome for jump starting your new school year! But if you need a little more help to plan your homeschooling lessons, check out these other suggestions!

Follow my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board for even more suggestions!

And now for the Rainbow Resource Back to Homeschool Giveaway!

Whether you’re an early bird who already started your new school year or you homeschool year-round (like we do), I’m pretty sure you could use a little extra money for homeschool curriculum. Right???

I’m thrilled to share an awesome giveaway that I’m offering with a group of education bloggers. We’re giving away $250 to help parents buy curriculum, educational supplies, and more to stock up their learning library!

Well, actually, we’re giving away $250 twice. Two people will win a $250 gift card to Rainbow Resource Center!!

To enter for your chance to win, simply use the Rafflecopter form below. The more entries you do, the better your odds are of winning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends July 27th, 2018 at 11:59pm ET. Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a resident of U.S. or Canada to enter. Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Terms & Conditions upon entering the giveaway.

How to Use a Homeschool Binder to Organize Your School Year

June 14, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen those homeschool moms who just seem to have it together? I mean, they have their lessons for the year arranged in advance, their kids’ extra-curricular activities are all planned out, and they keep monthly attendance religiously.

Yeah, I’m not one of those moms.

But, after many false starts, I’ve finally started to get the hang of that kind of homeschool organization. The key? Learning how to use a homeschool binder.

A homeschool binder is a wonderful thing, my friends. In it, I can keep all of our family’s lessons, activities, and plans organized in one place.

If you’re ready to take your homeschool organization to the next level (or just start becoming organized), read on to see how to use a homeschool binder to organize your school year!

Need some tips on scaling back your lessons? Don’t miss our tips for simplified lesson planning!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

How to Use a Homeschool Binder to Organize Your School Year

Images c/o: broker / depositphotos

Gather your lesson plans.

Here’s where it gets tricky for a lot of us. You have to actually have lesson plans in order to gather them. Personally, this is one of the reasons why I love BookShark. The lesson plans for the entire year are already written out. Talk about a timesaver!

We’re using BookShark for history, science, and language arts. And all of the instructor guides include 36 weeks of lessons for each of those subjects. I just opened them and collated them by week. Done.

If you don’t have lesson plans yet, don’t worry! You can write down your yearly objectives and divide them up into weeks. As you gather resources, you can add to those notes.

Create sections for each part of your school year.

Use tabbed dividers to section up your lesson plans. You can separate them by subject or by a timeframe (weekly, monthly, quarter, etc.) I find it easiest to keep all the lessons for each subject together by week. That way, I can just pull out the week’s lessons and get started.

On the other hand, if you complete monthly evaluations or quarterly progress reports, you might want to section your lessons by the month or the quarter.

BookShark makes it easy for parents to know what to do each week, because the lesson plans instruct you as to which resource to use and when. But you can always adjust each lesson as you see fit.

Add supplemental resources.

As homeschoolers, we tend to use supplemental resources during the year. A LOT of them. We might have book lists, curriculum guides, unit study ideas, and more that we want to keep up with as we go through the year. I like using a huge three-ring binder, so that I can keep all those things together in the back of my homeschool binder.

My BookShark binder is plenty big and comes with a handy carrying bag, so I can plan lessons on the go. Bonus!

You can always move your individual resources to the specific subject section or timeframe section in which they fit best. But I like to keep mine in the back in a reference section. Whatever works, right?

Do you use a homeschool binder to organize your school year? How do you make it work for your family? Share your experiences in the comments!

Check out these other tips for planning your homeschool!

See more ways to organize your homeschool year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

April 10, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

The question of what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum might seem like a strange one to ask. The more curriculum, the better, right? Well…

Remember when you first started homeschooling? Did you look at your bookshelves and imagine them filled one day with gorgeous picture books, beautifully-illustrated encyclopedias, and resources your kids would love?

I did. I wanted to make sure that my kids had the opportunity to learn from any book they wanted and that I had any resource I needed to create an engaging and happy homeschooling experience in our home.

Fast forward nine years later. Instead of staring lovingly at our academically-equipped bookshelves, I was fighting to keep the door of our homeschool closet closed. Actually, I was in the habit of hurriedly slamming it shut before an anchor chart fell on me. Something…went wrong somewhere.

What went wrong is that I went on a curriculum hoarding spree over the years. In my desire to make sure that my kids had every homeschooling resource they’d ever need, I’d managed to store materials for literally every grade level and their first two years of college. And, no, I’m not exaggerating.

Rather than feeling comfortable and secure in my homeschooling arsenal, I felt overwhelmed at the very thought of trying to plan the new year. So, I had to take some drastic steps to minimize our homeschool. And if you’re overloaded with homeschool curriculum, these steps might help you too.

What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

Images c/o: belchonock & ArturVerkhovetskiy / depositphotos

Revisit Your Educational Goals.

Before you dive head first into your curriculum hoard, take some time to revisit your homeschooling goals. After years of homeschooling, we can get so used to following a “routine” that we lose sight of exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with our kids. It’s understandable, but it’s also counterproductive.

Grab a notebook and write down a homeschooling mission statement. Imagine what you want your children to be able to do by the time they finish homeschooling and then write it down. Or imagine what you want to have accomplished for them by the time they graduate and then write it down. Be very, very specific with this.

Keep the Resources That Align with Your Goals.

Read what you just wrote. Then read it again. Think about what you’ll actually need to make your goals a reality.

Now, open the door of your homeschooling closet (watch our for falling charts!) or venture over to your overloaded bookshelves and start pulling everything down. And I mean everything. If it’s a LOT (like ours was), do one bookshelf at a time to avoid collapsing into a puddle of overspending regret.

As you sort through each resource, reread your homeschooling mission statement and ask yourself: Will this help me accomplish my goals? Trust me, you’ll know when it will. If it will, put it off to the side.

Get Rid of Everything Else. Really.

Okay. We’re at the hard part. You have to get rid of every other thing that will not help you accomplish your homeschooling mission statement.

Complete curriculum you personally love? Get rid of it.

Expensive reference book you saved up to buy? Get rid of it.

Program you’ve kept for years just waiting for the right time? Get rid of it.

Just so you know: If you’ve been homeschooling a long time, this might be excruciating. So, to ease the pain, do NOT flip through any of the materials you plan to discard. It will not help.

Now when I say “get rid of it”, I don’t necessarily mean throw it in the garbage. Find another family to donate or sell the program to. Donate it to your local library. Feel free to pass it on, but just get it out of your house. Once you do, your homeschooling space will look better and you will feel wonderful!

One last thing: Now that you know what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum, resolve never to get into this predicament again.

The next time someone offers to “give” you a program, reread your homeschooling mission statement. If it won’t help you accomplish it, it’s okay to say no! When you find out about a curriculum that’s on sale, read the details and reviews carefully to see if it will harmonize with your learning goals. If not, don’t buy it! It’s that simple.

Don’t miss these other homeschooling tips!

Get more tips for managing your homeschool on my Help for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!