Jul 15, 20223 min read

Plan, Prep, Play: 3 weeks that make your homeschool year.

As year-round homeschoolers I have to schedule in a very important "break." It's how I get my boys and myself renewed for another trip around the sun. This break is three weeks and is called Plan, Prep, Play, though, you don't have to be a year-round homeschool to benefit from this sequence. I like to make it like an event in my mind.

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Week 1 is Planning Week.

This is the last week of school for us. I don't plan any new assignments, we just finish up anything we are behind in like electives we want to finish, or books that aren't quite wrapped up. I'm usually behind in History Lessons and readers so we do some History cramming this week, which is actually really enjoyable. This week history cramming was on The Battle of Tours and the boys re-enacted the battle. I played an entire week of Spelling Hangman with them because they think it's fun. Everett asked for his own student planner so I gave him an impromptu Power Point tutorial.

I pull a large manila envelope out and take a sampling of work to save. I also pull apart this year's lesson planner and put it in it's own labeled envelope. These three envelopes are moved to the "archive", a magazine holder hiding behind a chair in the schoolroom. While I'm facilitating curriculum wrap ups and looking over the year's work I am compiling a To Do list of what I need to do to get ready for the year ahead. It's a week of collecting my thoughts.

Being a Robinson Curriculum (RC) Homeschool really simplifies the planning for each year. There is already a base plan laid out and I already have all the RC resources available to me so no need to worry about shopping for and ordering curriculum for those subjects.

Week 2 is Prep Week.

The kids are on break this week. It's July, the fridge is stocked with cold treats, and the pool is assembled (with lots of flotation devices!). I consider my To Do List from Planning Week and proceed. First I create my new planner for the upcoming year, using my comb binder. I binge listen to creepy stories on YouTube and enjoy myself immensely. My second child wanted his own Student Planner as well so, I made him one too. Oh, I see Monday morning meetings in our future!

I open my, hot off the press, planner. I check my Math Resources and Language Arts Sequence tables ( these are free with links to resources listed) and fill in my curriculum materials lists for each student. I don't have to build a completely new curriculum for a subject if we didn't finish a resource yet. For instance, Will is still using McGuffey's Second Reader and the corresponding Copywork so I just transfer that information into this year's curriculum list.

Register with our homeschool association, check! Goal setting, check! Make spelling flashcards, check! Bulk print spelling, writing, and vocabulary packets, check! Organize school baskets, check! Declutter schoolroom, check! Take inventory of supplies and do any ordering, check! Each day I aim to do one or two list items.

Wow, this week was productive. The room is stocked, organized, and clean and ready for a new year of learning. Phew!

Week 3 is Play Week.

A whole week of free play is here! I have to admit that this year the one thing I didn't get to during Prep Week was to read Uncovering the Logic of English. I am going to read it this week. This week is meant to be restful for me. I spend as much time as I can relaxing with the kids, taking walks, visiting parks, making special snacks, and catching up with friends. And when it's passed we start a warm, steaming, mouth-watering, fresh new school year.

I'm dreaming of that first bite of school with all the crisp books, long pencils, new highlighters and three boys excited to contribute to their favorite subjects.