School in back in session on Monday for my crew. This year makes year eight for us on this crazy, fun homeschooling journey. Some days I feel like I blinked…but I am glad I have moved out of the new homeschool jitters. I have picked up some valuable tips and tricks from others over the years. I love to help build up others, so I thought I would pass along some of the knowledge I have gained.

My must haves…

The Planner

I have used multiple kinds of planners. I have found for the number of kiddos I teach as well as my personal style of planning, I prefer to have a printable planner that I can make my own. Of course, who doesn’t love a planner from Michaels or Hobby Lobby, right? I mean they are beautiful and colorful, and make us have all the feels, but I found that they just don’t quite serve my homeschool well with the amount of kiddos I have.

Side note: I totally use a Happy Planner to run my day to day life and I am obsessed, but just not for my homeschool planner.

My rockstar of a friend over at Rocks and Rubies designed my favorite planner hands down! The first year I used it, I felt like it was homeschooling manna from heaven. It’s seriously the bomb, totally affordable, and CUTE! I’m kind of a font snob, and I never get tired of looking at this planner. It makes my heart pitter patter…I know I’m weird. 😉

The Time

Time…what’s that? Ok Ok, I know this may sound ridiculous, but hear me out. I prefer to plan our WHOLE school year out over the summer. I print my planner, choose and order their curriculum, read over as much as my brain can handle, and prep as much as I can ahead of time. So when life hits during the school year, like those pesky doctor’s appointments, dishes, extracurricular activities, oh and that Mt. Everest sized mountain that is ever growing called laundry, our school day won’t be taken hostage. I like to use July and August as planning months to prepare everything for the school year. It. takes. time. Like a lot of time. I have found I have to be intentional about making the time to prep or our school year will be chaotic and in turn I am a grump.

The Meal Plan

Now this is a game changer. With a family our size, if I don’t have a plan, we blow our budget every time! I am guilty of letting this one slide more often than I should, but this year I am going to make it more of a priority. Although, I have found freezer meals to be my saving grace. Monthly freezer meal days definitely make my life so much easier. Some of my favorite recipes come from my collection of Pioneer Woman cookbooks, specifically this one.

The Curriculum

Trey (10th grade)

Math: Teaching Textbooks (We have used it since 3rd grade and it is one of my favorites!)

Grammar: Winston Grammar Wordworks

Writing: WriteShop

History/Bible/Literature: Notgrass Exploring America

I also enrolled him in an amazing co-op for Physical Science, Personal Finance, and Art. Using great resources like this definitely help make our year a success. Farming out some subjects can be much more cost effective as well as free up my time.

Ben (5th Grade), Emma (4th Grade), Annie (3rd Grade), Evie (2nd Grade), and Ellie (Kindergarten)

Math: Teaching Textbooks and Math Lessons for a Living Education

Phonics: Explode the Code (This is hands down one of the best phonics programs out there. Ben has been a struggling reader. ETC has giving him so much confidence. He is on the road to becoming a GREAT reader now!)

Language Arts: Primary Language Lessons

Writing: Nature Journaling

Science/Bible/Geography/Social Studies/Music/Art: My Father’s World Exploring Cultures and Countries (I used this in the past with Trey, and I am so excited to use it again this year!)

We have a motto at our house “work smarter, not harder”. With that being said, I love doing as many subjects as possible together to lighten the load on myself as well as building community amongst my kiddos. With most of my kids being elementary ages, THIS is the only way to go for me this year. We will be breaking off for Math and Phonics, but for everything else we are staying together. I made sure to add fun kindergarten activities for my younger one, while keeping it a challenge for the older ones.

I am so excited for this new year and what it will bring!

<3