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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

My Apologies

Photobucket has recently changed the way they do things, and therefore links to SO MANY THINGS on my sidebar are broken! I do apologize for that, and am working on a way to fix it. Thank you for your patience!

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Planning For Your Year-Round Homeschool

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Are you a year-round homeschooler? I confess, we typically homeschool all year long because...no one finishes their work by the end of the traditional school year. Every year, my girls start out saying they want their summers OFF so they are going to work HARD and make sure that happens. Guess what? Other than possibly our kindergarten year, that has never happened. There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line is, life just happens.

Most homeschoolers I know are on the hunt for the "perfect" planner. Misty Leask of Year-Round Homeschooling has created a beautiful, affordable option: The Essential Year-Round Homeschooling Planner! In it, you will find: 
  • Pre-Planning - determine your schedule, plan your curricula, and keep track of how much you spend
  • Monthly Planning -  Blank calendar pages, undated, so you can start when you want to start 
  • Lesson Planning - sketch out your week at a glance on one page, then write in more detailed plans on the two-page weekly spread. There are also quarterly planning pages to help you keep track of the topics you want to cover and your goals. 
  • Review - Here's where you record where you "should" be in your books, where you are, and the average grade of your student(s). There are monthly, quarterly, and year-end review pages.
  • Tracking and Misc. Planning - Here you'll find your attendance log, grading helps, pages to record field trip ideas with a handy list of suggestions, and finally, notes and brainstorming pages. 
I was impressed by the level of detail in the pre-planning pages, in particular. I have been pretty good, in years past, about sitting down and marking out holidays and such on a year-at-a-glance calendar, but it never occurred to me to consider when we would take a vacation or when my husband's busy times at work might be. We don't always know very far in advance when we can do things, because our schedule often depends on when we can see relatives, but we always go the same time of year so it's worth marking on the calendar.

I also appreciate the curriculum planning pages. They are set up so you lay out a basic plan and then add in extras as you go. So often, I end up over-buying when I can't remember what I already planned. Yes, that is true. No judging. I often have ideas in my head, but if I haven't written them down, it's easy to forget that I had an idea, and even that I already purchased something. I will tell you what I tell my children: If you have to ask, the answer is, yes, I really am that forgetful. It would be good to have my choices written down, so when I want to consider a new resource, I can see what I already own and have planned. You wouldn't think that would be a new concept after homeschooling all these years, would you? And yet...

The bottom line is, this is a beautiful, well-designed planner. It's a frugal option, too, because it's a digital download and undated so you only need to purchase once. You can print the pages you want and leave others out if you don't need them.

This planner is a good deal even at full price, but for this introductory period you can save some money.
  • From now until July 14th:  $9.99 
  • July 15th-17th: $12.99
  • July 18th-20th: $15.99
  • July 21st it will be full price: $19.99
Do take a look and see if this planner might be what you're looking for!