I have people ask me often HOW I do it.  How do I keep my sanity and homeschool 6 kids ranging from newborn to senior in high school?  How do I know what each child is supposed to do each day to ensure we learn all we should be learning in a grade?  Do we finish curriculum?  Do I follow the public school model as far as 36 weeks a year?  It can easily feel overwhelming, so much so that many choose not to homeschool even though their heart wants to.  

Let me put your minds at ease and lay it out simply for you.  It’s not hard at all.  It takes organization, and a lot of it.  I’ll let you in on exactly now I plan a year, how I make sure all curriculum is finished, and how to make sure each child is doing daily what needs to be done without a lot of thinking on my part (which is great in my current newborn sleep deprived state!).  

Step 1: Determine what works best for your family

Do you want to school year round, or have summers off?  Do you want to have breaks every 6 weeks, every 9 weeks, or only big holidays?  You must choose these details BEFORE the homeschool year starts.  

My personal family likes to school straight through with only holiday breaks.  They all want to get going and get the year done.  I plan for 36 weeks, but honestly, we typically are done in about 34 weeks.  Towards the end, many of my children see the finish line and ask me to double up and work ahead to start their summer early.  So I allow that.  We skip nothing.  We complete all the curriculum.  I want to get my money’s worth, plus ensure they aren’t missing out on exposure to anything they might need.  

Step 2: Choose and purchase the curriculum you’ll be using a few months before you want to start your year.  

I make a list of what subjects are needed for each child.  I check my state’s requirements online to make sure I’m covering everything required for that grade. There are SO MANY curriculum companies.  I look at reviews and do the flip throughs before deciding.  Now that I know what I love, the ordering is simple. Reach out to me if you want recommendations.  I’ve tried a lot.  I order and wait the next few weeks for it all to arrive. It takes me the whole summer to comb through all the different curriculums and grades and get familiar enough to start planning.  

Step 3: One child/grade at a time

I start with the youngest and work my way up.  I write out each subject, how many lessons are in each subject’s curriculum, them divide those lessons evenly into the 36 weeks to determine how many lessons per week that child needs to do in each subject to finish by the end of the year.  

I do this for each child on scrap paper, then I get out my prized planner.  I LOVE a good planner!  I start to map out week 1 for all of my kids based off what I have on scrap paper.  

I plan about 4 weeks at a time, and in pencil, because life happens and plans have to change.  I always stay 3-4 weeks ahead, so I’m never stressed or not knowing what we should be doing.  I typically take 1 day each month and just plan away for a few hours until the next month is ready in my planner for each child.  

If my children are junior high and up, I meet with them on Sunday afternoons with their school planners and give them details about their week ahead.  They know each day and each subject what needs to be turned into me to be checked for any errors.  I then meet with them briefly at the end of the school day once I’ve checked all work, and briefly go over anything they had questions or corrections on.  

All elementary aged kids meet with me each school morning and we work 1 on 1 on everything.  I teach them young to be independent workers when it’s age and subject appropriate.  Then by junior high, it’s just monitored by me.  

Step 4: Stay consistent

Your children need to know how a school day will run.  Start it and stick with it.  We know chores are first.  School right after.  Nothing extra until school is done.  No tv, electronics, play dates, extra curriculars, etc. until the school day is finished and finished well.  I do allow my littles play breaks throughout the morning/early afternoon just because it’s needed for their focus.  But they know we come right back to it.  

Step 5: Attitudes matter

Yours and theirs!  My attitude about school and learning will shape theirs.  And their attitude rubs off on others in the home.  I reward great attitudes and disciple wrong ones.  Sentences are a sure way to change those vocal children that want to complain.  The more complaints, the more sentences have to be turned into me before the school day is done.  I save those sentences and go over them once a quarter to review any improvement or any further need to work on an area.  

You CAN do this!  I have a lot of plates spinning, and I can easily do it with a lot of organization and planning ahead.  

Blessings on your journey ahead!!!