Homeschool Planning, Organizing, and Choosing Curriculum

I’ve learned a few invaluable gems of wisdom over the years as a homeschool mom, mostly the hard way. One of those gems is about planning, organizing, and choosing curriculum. You can have the most beautiful planner, the most useful planning system, the greatest organizational tools and methods, and the top ten picks of all the well-known homeschool scholars for your curriculum, but if it doesn’t work for you and your children, it’s all for naught. Lest we forget one of the greatest benefits of homeschooling — the ability to adjust and find what works for our own family’s learning styles — I wanted to start with this reminder. The best laid plans that are never carried out don’t amount to much. Keep your focus on your own goals and those of your children, not the Jones family homeschooling next door.

On that note, if you are looking for a system that works and want to do some research on different planning, organizing, and curriculum choice methods, you’ve come to the right place. Who better than homeschool moms themselves to share what has worked in practical application?

Planning

Anne Marie talks about goal-setting in our homeschools from a Christian perspective in her post The Homeschooling Gestapo on her blog Future.Flying.Saucers.

What happens when the plans aren’t working? Monique at Living Life and Learning wants to know if you can throw your plans out the window. Good question!

I love the encouragement Danika offers in this post about the purpose and plan for our homeschooling endeavors: We’re Warriors, not Whiners!

For those just wondering where to begin, head over to Diamonds in the Rough to read the Considering Homeschooling Series.

I wrote a post here at Embracing Destiny about one of my favorite planning tools, Purposeful Living: A Planner for Home and Homeschool.

Adelien has a helpful series called 5 Days of New Homeschool Year Preparation.

Organizing

Misty shares 5 Simple Tips to Schedule Your Homeschool Day at Joy in the Journey. She also has a helpful post about Affording Homeschooling.

Davonne has a whole series of decluttering posts on her blog that I have enjoyed, including this one about How to Handle School Papers and Other Mementos.

Katie shares what to include in your homeschool documentation binder.

World of Learning has some adorable free printables to create a memory book to save those homeschool highlights from year to year.

You can find 10 ways to prepare for back to homeschool days at Diamonds in the Rough.

Choosing Curriculum

As Christian homeschoolers, our most important “textbook” is the Bible. Anne Marie has gathered a great list of free Bible resources for a Christ-focused homeschool.

Brenda offers insights on choosing the perfect curriculum for your family, where to find curriculum for less, and curriculum choices for elementary grades.

Tara details how to choose curriculum at Embark on the Journey.

Encouragement

And because I believe encouragement is essential in making homeschool plans, here are some posts to lift you up and make you think . . .

The Reason I Could Never Homeschool by Danika Cooley at Thinking Kids

Socialization-Certification-Discipline: Negative Response to Homeschooling at Blessed Learners

Homeschooling Myths at Not a Stepford Life

Can you Teach them Everything? at Embark on the Journey

Homeschool Successes at This Sweet Life

Henry wonders if the homeschooling community might underestimate just how many people really understand homeschooling in his post at Why Homeschool: How foreign of a concept is homeschooling these days?

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Sara

Author/Speaker/Consultant at Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Sara is a homeschool mom to 3 creative girls. She holds a degree in Social Work specializing in early childhood development, which led to her interest in individualized educational options like homeschooling. She believes that learning should be a lifelong adventure, not just a checklist to get through. She is a writer, avid reader, introvert (INFJ), and dreamer of dreams.