3 Tips for a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

3 Tips for a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the planning phase.

Searching for THE perfect curriculum.

Hours spent researching, reading reviews and debating whether it’ll fit our family’s needs.

Then…mail day!

I love opening boxes of new curriculum and rummaging through the loads of books.

It leaves me feeling inspired and motivated.

Then I grab my handy-dandy planner, a set of highlighters and a few of my favorite pens and get to work.

Planning days are my ABSOLUTE favorite day of the year.

I send the kids to Grandma’s house, turn on some music and revel in the peace and quiet that my homeschool lacks every other day.

And then it’s time to implement that oh-so-well-thought-out plan.

And that’s where we get in trouble.

You see, I’m not the kind of girl who sticks to plans all that great.

In fact, I get distracted by a fun reptile festival, empty park or just a day filled with sunshine.

And our plans fall off track and I’m back to square one.

Thankfully, I’ve learned a few tricks to plan a flexible homeschool schedule that doesn’t stress me out more than it helps me!

This post is sponsored by Homeschool Planet. All opinions are my own. I received the product for free and was compensated for my time.
A positive review was not required.

3 Tips for a Flexible Homeschool Schedule

Plan an Extra Week Each Quarter:

One easy way to make sure you aren’t “behind” schedule is to include an entire “flex week” into your plans. This week is there to serve as a buffer, in case you get totally off-track during the quarter.

We keep our “flex week” totally free of plans. They are simply there in case we need to take a day or two off throughout the weeks before.

If we stay on track and don’t need them, we fill the days with field trips, a quick getaway or just extra days off at home.

While these days help keep me on-track, they also motivate the kids to get their schoolwork done because they know that extra week will be full of fun!

Keep It Simple:

Each day, I write a to-do list for my kids in a simple spiral bound notebook.

And let me tell ya: that simple 25¢ notebook has been a lifesaver when it comes to arguments around our house.

I’ve found that having a quick checklist makes life easier for all of us.

While I’m cooking dinner each night, I’ll grab the kids’ notebooks and jot down their to-do lists for the following day.

And I don’t just include homeschool tasks.

Instead, I put everything I expect them to do to consider their day “complete.”

When they were younger, I even included simple instructions like “Brush your teeth!”

Having a checklist to keep them on-task is a huge burden off my shoulders. They don’t have to ask what all needs done that day…it’s right there in front of them!

Use the Right Tools:

When I found Homeschool Planet, I knew I’d found the answer to our own family’s troubles. Finally, I’d found a way to plan our entire year in about 20 minutes and I could adjust it, as needed.

In just a few simple steps, I had a flexible homeschool schedule that could work WITH me, instead of against me.

It makes homeschool planning a breeze, from start to finish. Homeschool Planet even tracks your homeschool hours for you, even when you need a flexible homeschool schedule.

Here’s how it works:

Set up your school year:

You can easily set up your entire year, in just a few short minutes.

Begin by selecting a start and end date, as well as how many days you’d like to homeschool each week. Want Fridays off? No problem! It will adjust the schedule accordingly.

Add any other days that you don’t want to do school, such as birthdays, holidays and vacations. It’s literally as easy as clicking a button!

Add your family:

You will create profiles for each member of your family. I only do this for the family members who are homeschooling, but if you add all of your family, you can easily add family events.

Once you get the students added, the fun begins!

Add lesson plans:

Now this is my VERY favorite part of Homeschool Planet’s flexible homeschool schedule tool.

You can make it as quick as you’d like or as detailed as you’d like.

For our family, we keep things simple so I used the integrated plans when possible.

Homeschool Planet currently has over 3,100 curriculum plans available for you to use.

For instance, when using Teaching Textbooks, I simply choose the level I need, how many days per week I want my student to do math, when we’re starting and whaa-laa! Homeschool Planet adds the lessons everyday.

If you’re not using a popular curriculum, that’s okay, too! You can manually add subjects and use the assignment generator to do the heavy lifting for you.

Make changes as needed:

Once you’ve got your plans all laid out, you’ll really see the magic in the flexible homeschool schedule you created on Homeschool Planet.

When things arise (and you know they will!) you can simply adjust your schedule with the click of a button. You can add more days, take away one of your “off days” or just have it adjust your schedule by one day. This option simply moves all of today’s assignments to tomorrow and adjusts each day thereafter, accordingly.

It truly works like magic and I cannot get enough of it!