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How to Be Mega Productive with a Homeschool Planning Day
How can you be a productive homeschool mom? One that takes care of her home and family while educating her children? The key is to have a homeschool planning day.
Do you ever look back on your week and have no idea what you actually accomplished, even though you feel like you went non-stop? Do you feel busy and yet unproductive at the same time? We’re sharing how a simple tool—the homeschool planning day—can help you be more productive and achieve the goals you’ve set for your family and home.
The Homeschool Planning Day
We recommend setting aside a weekly homeschool planning day—and no it doesn’t need to take an entire day! It’s just a consistent time each week to plan. By keeping it on the same week day as much as possible, it will become a habit and normal part of your routine.
Yes, you could do this monthly, but we recommend taking some time to plan weekly.
Often when we try to plan too far in advance, we abandon the plans when life inevitably interrupts. By having a weekly planning day, it’s easier to pivot and reset when needed.
What to Include in a Weekly Planning Day
Review your why. By reminding yourself each week why you are homeschooling, you’ll keep your eyes on the goal instead of the next hurdle in front of you. You’ll have the mindset of a marathon runner instead of a sprinter. You’ll stay in your own lane, instead of veering into someone else’s. (Do you need any more running metaphors???)
Think through what is working and what isn’t working. This is an important step so that you can make adjustments. Is your son struggling with a particular math concept? You can plan some time to reinforce what he’s learning through some games. Is your daughter writing on a topic, but doesn’t feel like she knows enough to do the assignment? Schedule a library trip to research more information. Did your kids beg you to do Poetry Tea Time because it was so much fun the last time you did it? Then include it in your plans.
Don’t forget the home in homeschool. There’s more to homeschooling than the schooling part. Not only are you educating your children, you’re also managing your home. And on top of that, many of you are also running a home-based business.
First, realize that you are still educating your children even when you aren’t doing a subject like math or language arts. You are modeling and teaching them life skills such as cooking, cleaning, managing a budget, and serving others.
Remember the margins. The whitespace your language arts teach insisted on around your writing is just as important in your life. Whitespace, or margin, gives you the space to breathe. If we don’t plan for it, then all the urgent things will crowd out the most important and you’ll be headed for burnout.
You cannot pack your days so full that there isn’t room for rest, enjoying one another, great conversations, or taking the time to do something you love.
Tips to Help You Be Mega Productive with Your Homeschool Planning Day
Try to ensure planning time is uninterrupted time. Hopefully, you can have an older teen or your husband available during this time so that someone is available to take care of the needs of your little ones. If not, be sure to give your kids some activities that will require as little from you as possible.
Then, find a place that you can get to work. Turn off your phone and notifications, and don’t let yourself get distracted by “checking social media real quick” because you have a little time to yourself!
Have the right tools. Our FREE homeschool planner gives you everything you need to plan your eclectic homeschool. It includes the following printable pages:
- Year At A Glance
- Month At A Glance
- Week At A Glance
- Daily Schedule
- Weekly Subject Planner
- Lesson Planner
- Yearly Activities Planner
Schedule the most important things first. When you don’t schedule the most important things first, then you’ll fill up your week with the good instead of the best. Be sure to include outside commitments and appointments as well. If you find there’s not time for it all, then you need to evaluate. Are we trying to do too many subjects? Are there ones we can combine? Do we spend too much time doing outside activities? What activities are the most important and which ones could we get rid of?
Get ready for the week ahead. Gather your books and supplies for the week, prepare or look over lessons, prep any crafts you want to include, and get your printing done. You may be tempted to do these types of things the “day of”, but I can guarantee you’ll be more relaxed and enjoy the process when you have them done ahead of time. And you can avoid the “Oh no, we’re out of _________!” issue when it’s time to learn.
Communicate plans to your family. It’s amazing how many of our plans are derailed simply because of a lack of communication. This is especially true as your kids get older and are making plans for themselves as well as the ones you are making for them. Sharing expectations is key to actually working the plan as a family. Create a “command central” in your home with a shared calendar. Have regular family meetings (dinner is a great time to do this). You want to be a team, but teams can’t work together if they don’t know what’s going on—if they don’t understand the expectations.
Start Incorporating a Homeschool Planning Day into Your Week!
You may be thinking you don’t have time for a homeschool planning day. But the truth is you don’t have time not to have one. In the long run, setting aside time to plan will increase your productivity—and most importantly it will help you cultivate the homeschool experience you want for you and your kids. With our homeschool planning course for parents, we will show you multiple ways to create your perfect homeschool planning day and more!
