Okay, maybe more than a tad. More like a WHOLE LOT.

Like so many homeschooling parents, I start the planning season with a huge amount of enthusiasm and excitement. We’ll study all the great civilizations of history! We’ll read every classic children’s book ever written! We’ll visit every museum in the United States!

Naturally, I’m running on fumes by October. By January, our homeschool year is practically dead in the water.

I was diligent about homeschool scheduling, but I was totally unreasonable in my method. When a child would need extra time to master a concept or to finish an assignment, everything I’d planned for that week or month would get pushed back. Eventually, we’d be so far behind we’d never catch up.

Last year, though, I learned a new way of lesson planning that was far more suited to our busy family life. Here are the three tips I’ve used to learn how to create a flexible homeschool schedule!

Disclosure: I was compensated for my time to write this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positively-slanted article.

Image c/o: Dragonimages / depositphotos

How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

Plan according to resources, not weeks of the year.

How many times have you scheduled a week’s worth of lessons for a specific week of the year? For example, you might choose the third week of September to learn about fall or the second week of April to study the Titanic. These themed schedule ideas are great for getting kids excited about events.

But if you overdo the exact scheduling, you can wear yourself out. You’ll find yourself saying things like:

“We NEED to finish this entire math unit by Friday!”

Or “If we don’t get this read-aloud done today, we’ll have to double up on Monday!”

There’s nothing like a time crunch to get kids to hate school.

Instead of obsessing over finishing lessons by a certain date, plan your lessons around your resources. If your Language Arts textbook has 20 units, then you can aim to complete half a unit a week if you want to finish the whole thing.

That’s a much more flexible way of structuring your lessons. You’ll have room to pause and stay on a topic a little longer or even suspend lessons for a week so you can go on vacation!

Set individual objectives for each child.

Another tip that helped me be more flexible in my lesson planning was to evaluate each child’s progress from the previous year and set individualized goals accordingly. My third-grader, for instance, is not a fan of reading for fun. He has ADHD, so his attention span is so short that it’s hard for him to exercise the patience it takes to read aloud.

This year, his reading objectives are totally different from those of his fourth-grade brother. He’ll be working with short story collections on topics that interest him. That way, we can work through stories that he’s interested in reading and practice lengthening out his attention span as we go.

And it doesn’t matter if it takes us all year to complete one book. As long as he says he enjoys reading, I’m calling it a success.

Shift difficult concepts into future terms or even future school years.

My seventh-grader really has a hard time enjoying her math lessons, so when she and I looked at the list of objectives for the upcoming year, we both nearly had a panic attack.

Instead, we’ve decided to focus on strengthening the skills she struggled with last year. She’s already familiar with them, so it won’t take as long. Plus, she can focus on other math concepts as she builds. Since math is a comprehensive subject, kids will eventually learn it all. It’s perfectly alright to hold off for a while until our kids are ready to tackle new topics. That’s one of the beauties of homeschooling!

The Flexible School Schedule Digital App

So if you like to use homeschool planners, how can you find one that accommodates your flexible homeschool schedule? That’s what Flexible School Schedule is for!

This digital app is designed to be completely customizable to your family’s homeschool plans, no matter when your year begins, when it ends, or how long it takes!

With Flexible School Schedule, you can collect and organize all of your homeschool resources – digital, print, and even video – right in the app! No more sorting through your homeschool closet and coming across a resource you meant to use this year and forgot about. (I have totally done that, by the way.)

Keep an eye on how your individual students are doing this year with the student progress tracker. You can view their progress according to subject, topic, or a specific objective you’d like him or her to master.

Need a quick check on how your school year is progressing? View each child’s progress at a glance by the term and the year!

This app is truly designed for families that need a flexible homeschool schedule (like mine). It’s in development now, so be sure to visit the Flexible School Schedule Kickstarter campaign and make a donation to help make this project a reality!

For more ideas to plan your homeschool year, try these tips!

And don’t forget to follow my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board for more suggestions!

The post How to Create a Flexible Homeschool Schedule appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.

We’re quickly approaching back to school time – for public schoolers and homeschoolers.

If you’re a homeschooling family, you are probably in the middle of homeschool planning.

You know, the time of year when you’re up to your neck in curriculum plans, binders, and various storybooks you’ve collected through the years.

Lots of homeschoolers are now using digital lesson planners and they love them.

But, if you prefer pen and paper, I’ve got a list of 10 free homeschool planners that can help you get a jump on the new school year.

And who doesn’t need a little help in that area?

Read on to see the full list. You might find a few that can work for your family!

Are you drowning in homeschooling books? Need a little help narrowing down your choices for this homeschool year?

Take a look at what you can do if you have too much curriculum at home!

10 Free Homeschool Planners for the New School Year

Back to school time is one of my favorite times of year.

I love all of the energy around planning the new school year. In fact, I’ve loved it since I was a kid getting ready for school myself.

And I still get excited about new books, new plans, and new curriculum.

But, whether you’re a curriculum and planning junkie like me or if you’re more of a laid-back homeschooler, these free homeschool planners can help.

Take a look at the list below to find one or two you might like!

Would you rather go the DIY route? This tutorial from Homeschooling Down Under is awesome for making your own homeschool planner!

10 Free Homeschool Planners for the New School Year

This list of printable free homeschool planners is excellent for getting your school year in order!

Use these to plan lessons, organize curriculum, and more!

1

Printable Kids Homeschool Day Planner

Want to help your kids begin planning their own school days? This printable planner they can color is a fun way to get started!

Try This Idea

2

Donna Young's Home School Weekly Lesson Planners

Photo Credit: donnayoung.org

Donna Young is a homeschool planner's paradise. There are loads of printable forms here to get your entire year structured.

Try This Idea

3

Free Homeschool Planning Pages

Photo Credit: www.myjoyfilledlife.com

These printables are so helpful for getting a look at what you want to accomplish this school year!

Try This Idea

4

Free Homeschool Forms to Help You Get Organized

Photo Credit: 123homeschool4me.com

Are you overwhelmed at the idea of planning your school year? These forms can help you get an idea of how to record grades, attendance, and more!

Try This Idea

5

7 Step Free Homeschool Planner 

Photo Credit: www.tinasdynamichomeschoolplus.com

Use the lesson plans in this planner to outline your daily lessons for the entire school year!

Try This Idea

6

Weekly Learning Themes with Free Planner Downloads

Photo Credit: karacarrero.com

Teaching little learners? Here is a list of learning themes you can use each week with a printable planner!

Try This Idea

7

Two Fantastic Homeschool Planner Downloads (Plus Transcripts!)

Photo Credit: www.thehomeschoolmom.com

If you're teaching older kids, you'll love these printable homeschool transcripts you can use!

Try This Idea

8

Free Printable Homeschool Planner

Photo Credit: www.livinglifeandlearning.com

This colorful printable homeschool planner is perfect for your homeschool binder!

Try This Idea

9

FREE Homeschool Planner Weekly Checklist

Photo Credit: www.schooltimesnippets.com

If you prefer a minimalist approach to lesson planning, this grid planning checklist is perfect.

Try This Idea

10

Weekly Assignment Sheet for Students

Photo Credit: www.reallifeathome.com

Help your older kids keep up with their weekly assignments with this printable tracker!

Try This Idea

Printable Coloring Kids Homeschool Day Planner

Want to help kids start planning their own homeschool days?

This printable coloring homeschool day planner for kids is a great start!

It comes with a color and line art version for kids to fill in on their own. They can even color the line art version too!

To get your set of these homeschool planning pages free, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter this Sunday night!

>>> Kids’ Homeschool Day Planner <<<

The post 10 Free Homeschool Planners for the New School Year appeared first on Look! We're Learning!.