Planning An Intentional Homeschool Year & Printable Worksheets
PLANNING AN INTENTIONAL HOMESCHOOL YEAR
Download our FREE Intentional Homeschooling Worksheet now and get clear on your homechooling year.
Starting a homeschool year can feel daunting, especially if you are a first-time homeschool family. You may have so many thoughts in your head, and see so many different wonderful ideas on social media, that you just aren’t even sure where to begin!
You could be asking questions like
“Am I doing enough?” “
“Are my kids going to fall behind?”
“What curriculum do I use?”
“How am I supposed to teach all of my kiddos at the same time?”
Let me start by saying, the beauty of homeschooling is that it really isn’t a one size fits all. As the gatekeeper of your home, you get to decide what your homeschool year will look like for your family. You may gain inspiration from social media and friends, but as the year goes on and you find your rhythm, you will find what works for YOUR kids! No two homeschools are exactly the same and there is so much freedom and beauty in that. You are the only mom with your kids. They have one of a kind personalities, interests, passions, and even challenges that only you will know in your days. You get to come alongside them in this journey.
As a new homeschool mom myself, I felt these pressures and had all of these questions. I am a planner and knew I needed to have a “Why” and some sort of vision for our year written down to start it off the best I could. I am definitely not an expert, but I hope you find encouragement and freedom in these helpful steps I’ve listed below and have the excitement and confidence to start your learning adventure!
(Download the FREE Intentional Homeschooling Worksheet now)
1. Write down your Family Vision and Values
Prayerfully consider what your family values and loves doing and write them down. You may not celebrate every holiday, so choose the ones that mean the most to you and write down how you plan to celebrate them. Also consider writing things down you all love doing together daily, weekly, and monthly. These things will anchor your homeschool.
2. Plan your homeschool mission and “Why”
For this, I would brainstorm and write down all the things you hope your children will remember at the end of your homeschool season. It may feel more crucial to skip this and get to the important things, like picking a curriculum, but honestly, the curriculum isn’t homeschooling your kiddos, you are! This journey may not be easy and it will be so important to be able to come back to your “Why” on the hard days. Consider what you want your time to look like. Do you want to have certain subjects at certain times each day? Do you want all your children together at a table learning? Write them down, you’ll come back to this often!
3. Brainstorm ideas for learning together as a family
Now that you have set the atmosphere for your home, you can start brainstorming fun things to do in your homeschool year. This is a great chance to talk with your kiddos about what they’d like to learn this year. What do they want to do and explore? There is only one rule with this step, write down ALL of the ideas! This will be a great list to come back to when you are feeling stuck in your days.
4. Tie it all together
Now that you’ve looked at what is important to your family, your home, and your learning, it is time to tie it all together! This is where I try to choose a word. This word will serve as a simple reminder of what you do and don’t want your homeschool to look like this year. I chose the word trust this year. I want to trust God as He leads our family on this journey. I want us to trust each other as we learn and grow together. I also want to trust myself and my ability to not only love, but also teach my children.
I know there are a lot of specifics that go into planning a homeschool year. It is my sincerest hope that these steps helped encourage and ground you so you are ready to tackle the specifics and begin an intentional homeschool year!