I like to plan our whole year over our summer break. I use a homeschool tracking software that keeps all of our lesson plans organized, records grades, hours, and attendance for me.
Here’s a post on how I create our lesson plans if you’re curious!
How do you plan for your year? Do you plan a week at a time, or a longer span?
We home school year around. It has worked best for our family since we have added a new baby to the family every year for the last 5 years! This allows us to take time off throughout the year as we need to. In the summer my husband and I spend time sharing our desires for the new year. Together we put together a plan of the curriculum we want to use and focus we will have. From there I order the necessary curriculum. As far as acutal planning, right now I do that week by week. Often something will come up to change one of our days and I like knowing that I don’t have my entire planner filled out and now that we missed one day it is messed up. I also like being able to weekly evalute what we will have time for so I do not over plan or under plan. Right now where I am at with all of my little ones this has worked best! 
At the time I am still “testing” the waters. My daughter goes to a Faith-based pre-school but I have been working with her using the Kindergartner program from COAH. She is so excited about learning and asks to do more everyday.
If I would quit having babies it would be so much easier to plan We are still trying to find the best method but I’m sure one day it will all click. ( it will right?? )
I tired this year to plan in the summer… and then crashed in October when we had unexpected trips… haha… so now I’m more of “here is a list of things to accomplish in the next 5 months”… and then plan either the weekend before or the night before the day… I need to get more organized!
We plan according to our schedule for the year, as much as we can: if their Dad’s gonna be deployed, training, at school, if we’re PCSing, etc… Last year we had a move at the end of the year, and we had to take quite a bit of time off before Thanksgiving to get moved, visit with family, and get to the new duty station. Knowing all of this, I cut their summer break short and we started about a month prior to give me some room, and to enjoy Christmas, and so far, we’re on schedule again. YAY! Even if we didn’t know, I would’ve been able to bring their books with us…since there’s not too many of them. I also try to print out ahead of time, and be ready at least 1-2 weeks ahead…just in case.
We have weekly goals and take each day one day at a time.
I have always been pretty lax with planning, and usually plan week by week. But, with the big kids joining HS next year, I think I’ll need a more organized approach. Like with an actual ink and paper planner lol!
I usually start planning for the next year in the Spring. I go to our local homeschool convention to look at all the curriculum choices and take the next few months deciding what I am going to use. I make my purchases by the beginning of August so that I can spend time that month to get everything together. I like to put everything into a lesson plan book and I give myself a 180 day schedule. I have never had a year where everything went according to plan. I always remind myself that one of the biggest benefits to homeschooling is having the ability to be flexible. Sometimes we do school on a Saturday, sometimes we are stilling doing school in July, sometimes a curriculum just doesn’t work and I get rid of it and start over with something else.
I plan, but I am flexible. It has worked well for 13 years.
Since my son is so young and when I did preschool with my middle I just did monthly or weekly planning but when I start my more structured curriculum I’m going to plan over the summer. If I have it done I will stick with it. I will have flex days/make up days built in.
We are so new to this - just months in. I would love to know how many of you attend Homeschool Conferences and how useful you find them. We plan on going to MACHE in St. Paul this year. From what I have heard, it sounds like it’s a good one. Do a lot of you purchase your curriculum there?
Homeschooling for the first time and I plan curriculum weekly. I am trying to find a better way since it can get pretty difficult along with house duties.
I pray pray pray! I go to our homeschool convention in April & that has always motivated me to have some things to decide between.
since I have my overall curriculum down (Heart of Dakota), I start planning in spring if there are supplements I want to add, like videos or field trips.
As I started homeschooling we planned two weeks at a time and even that sometimes got us off track but its better to reschedule two weeks then a whole year. I take one day at a time. This coming year I’m planning on trying out some online planner. If anyone has tried online planners and like it let us know.
I make a list of books and a list of goals and rough draft a 175 day schedule. Then i change it as we need. This year we needed to take an extra see off in December to help my mother in law through a hip replacement. So we will have an extra week in June. It is ok!
I used Managers of Their Home to set up a rough schedule before I had my 3rd baby…and since then, I’ve just let it go. I have subjects which we do daily, then subjects I do about 3 times week, and we just rotate through now. I should get back to planning since my 3rd is now 14 months old, and we have scheduled classes - it would help me so much more 
I’m not sure how I will do my planning yet. That is something I have been thinking about alot! I will be looking at all of your suggestions.
We are in our first year of homeschooling (PreK) so planning is not too difficult. I plan week by week at the moment. I am looking ahead to next year, however, and trying to get materials organized, worksheets printed and curriculum ordered. I noticed some curriculum sites offer free shipping or discounts when you order sometime between January and March, so I think I will keep planning ahead in at least purchasing curriculum in order to get some deals! I also think it would help me to plan the year as my husband is a pastor and his schedule varies a lot. I would like to have the most free time I can with him and the boys!
I like to plan for 3 months at a time. Planning can take stress out of the day, but sometimes it can create it if you are unable to accomplish all you set out to do each day. I am an overachiever, so my kids school day can look overwhelming on paper. I am working on finding some balance.