Back to Homeschool Blog Hop - Day 2 - Planning

Welcome to Day 2 of a 5 Day Blog Hop. Today we will discuss planning.  I'm going to quote my former Pastor's wife - Ms. Carmella.  She always said - A failure to plan is a plan to fail.  I think this is so true and great for the upcoming school year.

Let's dive in!

Curriculum choices is probably the first big thing, then purchase everything!  I haven't purchased all the books for literature because they range from $8-10 each and I can easily get them off of Amazon as needed.  Everything else I try to have on hand before we start and have it in a home.

Kids have bins for all their personal books and binders.

I make a master list  of assignments for all independent work - unless a course has a checklist already (like apologia).  This goes in a notebook for them to use and check off.  This year I might change that up because I have a new planner coming and I plan on having my oldest review it.  We shall see if I like that method better (or if he likes it better.)

Last thing is a visual chart I have on the wall.  The kids check off the boxes when work is complete.  This way I can see at a glance what they've accomplished.  

The next thing I do is PRINT everything I need for the school year.  I'd rather print extra then spend each week printing.  I have found that having a laser printer makes this affordable.  I highly recommend a laser printer to everyone - not just homeschoolers.  (It is great for printing coupons too!)

This is the one I have:





I like this one because you can duplex and make copies (with the scanner).  Ink is reasonable on Amazon too.


The last big thing for planning is cleaning my shelves and having everything I need for the year accessible.  I won't do that until I see what I need for each child's curriculum.  For example this year I have lots of colored paper on a whole shelf in my work space.  If I find I won't be using that much this year I'll move it to a downstairs shelf and just go get it when I need it.

I hope this post helps inspire you while planning out your new year.  I have to tell you this might be my favorite part of all of homeschooling.  I love new curriculum and printing all the work.  That is a fun part for me.


You can see more ideas for Back to School by visiting one of my bloggy friends below:

Jennifer @ Chestnut Grove Academy
Crystal @ Tidbits of Experience
Rebecca @ Raventhreads
Jennifer @  Milk & Honey Mommy
Dawn @ Guiding Light Homeschool
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Erin @ For Him and My Family
Beth @ Weavings
Or the complete Blog Hop group by clicking on the picture below: