Homeschool Life and Lesson Planning
Scheduling core subjects. Organizing extra activities. Taxiing the kids from one place to another. Whichever philosophy and method of education one chooses, homeschooling moms and dads wear many hats! One of them is lesson planning. Let’s take a realistic and practical look at some things when it comes to homeschool life and lesson planning—because these naturally integrate in the homeschool lifestyle.
It’s easy for us homeschooling parents to try to “do it all.” But we have to accept that we aren’t a school, and even schools can’t “do it all.” We also need to acknowledge that the homeschool lifestyle immerses our families in the integration of life and learning. So, let’s get started with first things.
Quick note: The only odd number item on my list in this article is the first item. After all, it’s the most important one! All of the other odd numbered items on my list can be found at the podcast episode on Homeschool Life and Lesson Planning.
Take a listen . . .1. Pray
We’ll be teaching core subjects, that’s a given. So, what is there to pray about? The list below isn’t comprehensive, but it offers some things to consider praying about:
- What areas of character development do we need to focus on in this season for our individual children?
- What does our overall family schedule and routine look like?
- How to wisely plan quarters for our individual family?
- What do we need to be flexible about?
- What does our budget allow for?
- Who do I have in my circle of family, friends, church, or local homeschool community whom I can team up with for teaching?
- Which activities do we favor, and how many can we realistically fit in due to commitments and energy levels?
- Are there any subjects I can “farm out,” either online or in-person?
- How can we creatively blend some of our responsibilities or commitments with our children’s education?
As an example for the last question here, my husband and I commitment to being involved with local and state civics. As Americans, it’s our right and responsibility. We track bills, discuss them with our children in light of the principles of liberty or their opposite principles, contact our legislators, attend Apple Pie Day and Capitol Day, and we’re involved with helping OCEANetwork, our state’s Christian homeschool organization. Needless to say, we work these things into our life and lesson planning.
We involve our children in matters of education. Ours know why we teach and learn with the philosophy and education we chose. They also know, at age appropriate levels, why we don’t go with progressive philosophies and methods.
Realistically, we can’t do it all. There’s only so much time, resources, and human energy. So, looking for ways to integrate life and learning is essential. But that’s only a part of the picture. We also need to decide how to go about shaping our children’s character.
2. Plan for Formation, Not Just Information
Homeschool lesson planning isn’t just about covering material. It’s about shaping habits, character, manners, and worldview. Some questions to ask:
- How will a literature book or primary source, and the way we teach from them, shape our child?
- In what ways can the principles of life and liberty—we cover in lesson time—integrate in our daily lives?
- What character qualities do we need to prioritize first? And how can they be taught both formally and informally?
As an example for the first question: Teaching and learning with the Biblical Classical approach to literature helps us reach the hearts and minds of our students with a providential and biblical worldview. The Seven Loves of Literature are helpful when choosing the quality of literature we want for our homeschools.
Shaping and nurturing our children’s character can take an immense amount of energy. There’s a wide range of personalities and character issues in every single family. Leaning on the Lord for strength in these matters is paramount. Another thing to consider is how much energy we parents have for certain things, and how much our kids have during parts of the day.
4. Plan for Transitions Between Lessons and Activities
Many homeschool struggles happen between subjects, not during them. Build in things like:
- 15-minute resets
- Movement breaks
- Free art time to exercise other areas of the brain
- A walk as a family or by yourself
- Clear “closing moments” before switching topics
- A coffee, tea, or hot coco break
- Chores
- A play date
Doing little things in-between allows for “brain breaks”—for us and our children. That can even include things like pursuing personal interests.
6. Make Time for Personal Development
This one is for us, homeschooling parents. We need to set time aside to grow in our biblical worldview in various areas of life and learning.
Our education can keep going! For instance, we can grow in the fundamentals of an education from a biblical worldview, and we can read book essential to developing a biblical worldview.
8. Anchor the Week or a Quarter Around One Big Idea
Choose a unifying theme, leading idea, or principle for the week:
- “What is courage?”
- “How do we see God’s Principle of Individuality in what we’re studying?”
- “How can we apply God’s Principle of Individuality” in our daily lives?
- “What makes a society flourish?”
This creates cohesion across subjects.
As an example for the question about applying God’s Principle of Individuality in our lives, we can show appreciation for each other. What do we appreciate about each other’s personalities, strengths, gifts, talents, or tastes. This is a simple, but impactful way of building each other up and creating a culture of honor in our families.
10. Include Reflection Time
It’s important to slow down and turn back our thoughts upon how our lessons and plans went. It’s as simple as adding 5–10 minutes weekly for:
- “What was hard?”
- “What did we enjoy?”
- “What can we do to further enrich the content we’ll learn next?”
This strengthens ownership of our homeschools, and helps us evaluate what we need to freshen up a bit.
12. Bonus Ideas:
Use “Minimum + Bonus” Planning
There are essential things we need to teach and learn. Our children need an education that teaches them Bible, literature, English grammar, correct history, geography, art, etc.
So, plan in the following ways:
- Minimum essentials (must-do learning)
- Bonus enrichment (if time allows)
Consider teaching the essentials four days a week, and saving the fifth day for enrichment lessons. This prevents discouragement on hard days. A sustainable plan beats an ideal plan.
Celebrate Completion Moments
Build in visible milestones and fun days:
- Unit celebration
- Presentation day
- Family showcase night
Adding these touches may seem small, but planning for celebration motivates perseverance and memorializes great learning.
Get More Homeschool Life and Lesson Planning Ideas
For more insights, listen to Episode 166 Homeschool Life and Lesson Planning of the Principles in Practice: Biblical Classical Homeschooling podcast.
