Plan Your Year 2020 *

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A review of Plan Your Year 2020

Do you know what the most important factors are for successful homeschooling? Diligence and consistency.

That’s right, you cannot homeschool without them. Day in and day out, math lessons need to be completed. Children must learn how to read. In short, kids must be educated.

And that requires consistency.

I received Plan Your Year for free and was compensated for my time. All opinions are my honest opinions and I was not required to post a positive review. For more information, please read my disclosure.

Consistency is Vital

I’ll be honest with you. Consistency is hard. And anytime you don’t know what to do, you’ll find something easier to do instead.

I’ve discovered it’s true with the kids. If they don’t quite understand what’s expected in writing, they skip writing. They do math instead!

And the next thing I know, we’re weeks into the school year and not a single writing assignment has been turned in.

They’re working on it.

So I investigate. It turns out the kids didn’t understand how to complete their writing assignments.

They SORTA got it.

• So they didn’t ask questions.
• They didn’t do any research.
• And they certainly didn’t say, “Mom, I need help.”

They avoided writing instead.

Homeschooling works the same way.

If you don’t understand what you’re supposed to be teaching, you’ll find yourself avoiding the subject. Avoiding the lessons. And avoiding your homeschool.

Consistency? What consistency!

The first approach people try to fix the lack of consistency in their homeschool is a weekly planning session.

Weekly planning sessions are great! You have the flexibility to plan your homeschool around the week’s events.

You can plan on spending all week working on borrowing with your little 2nd grader. And you can take advantage of the play on Pilgrims coming into town.

But you don’t always have time on the weekends to plan.

One year I found myself pregnant, exhausted, and sleeping. Weekly planning sessions went out of the window. My homeschool staggered throughout the year.

A few years later, my extended family started dropping by to visit every weekend. It was fabulous, fun, and fantastic!

But I had no time for a weekly planning session. Mondays turned into a perpetual crisis as I scrambled to cobble together homeschool plans on the fly.

Consistency is challenging under these conditions.

Eventually, I learned the benefit of planning ahead. All I did was print out every single worksheet, activity page, and map we might need for the rest of the school year.

And I filed them by week.

Consistency improved dramatically.

I began stocking up on science supplies and discovered we could now complete around 70% of the science experiments. Even if I forgot to run by the store to pick up apples.

And art became simple once I set aside a large box for art supplies and stocked it with paints, brushes, pastels, and modeling clay.

Advanced planning makes consistency possible.

This past year the planning I did, allowed me to take 30 minutes on Monday morning to quickly plan out our homeschool week.

But every week I wondered if there was a better way. A way to save those 30 minutes on Monday morning, even when I had a crazy Friday and weekend with no time to plan.

A way to put my homeschool on autopilot so I could concentrate on teaching my kids.

And a way to figure out the tricky courses in advance, so we don’t accidentally avoid a subject because my child doesn’t understand what’s expected.

Or we avoid a subject because I have only a hazy idea of what to do and figured I’d learn it on the fly.

I needed a way to simplify my planning while improving my teaching.

And that’s just what Pam has done: she’s created a course called Plan Your Year 2020!

>>>Watch Pam’s and my conversation about how to crisis-proof your homeschool!

Plan Your Year 2020

So exactly how does Plan Your Year 2020 work?

There are ten modules that walk you through, step-by-step, everything you need to do to create a unique homeschool plan which is tailored to your family!

Each module has a video lesson and a workbook that includes a transcript of the video lesson. This is awesome for those of us who learn best by reading!

You’re can download the slides shown in the video lesson and all the worksheets you need to complete the module.

And you even have a discussion link so you can easily ask questions and discuss the course in a private forum!

Plan Your Year 2020 Module 1: Create a Homeschool Vision

Do you have a vision for how you want to homeschool? You can nod your head and say, “I just want to give my kids a classical education!” But what does that mean exactly?

• Classical Conversations lays out an approach that hits memorization hard in the grammar years in a co-op setting.
• The Well-Trained Mind and Tapestry of Grace walk you through a history-centered approach to classical education.
• The Latin Centered Curriculum encourages you to minimize your subjects, go deep, and focus on mastering Latin.
• While a Charlotte Mason homeschool teaches a variety of subjects.

And each of these methods will give your children an excellent classical education.

The question is: what do you want for your homeschool and how do you figure out what’s best for your family?

That’s just what this module will help you discover: your personal vision for your family’s homeschool!

Module 2: Write Goals for Your Children

Pam spends module 2 walking you through specific goals for your kids. This is actually more important than you might think.

It’s too easy to fall into the trap of saying, I just want my kids to complete their textbooks this year.

• Why?
• What is the purpose behind completing the textbooks?
• How will it benefit your kids?

Everything in your homeschool should reflect your vision and your goals for your kids.

And goals will change child to child, and year to year. I do not have the same goals for my 15-year-old son as I do for my 7-year-old son! Their needs are completely different.

You need to spend time, not only creating a vision for your homeschool but creating goals for each child to meet this year.

And do you know how to set good goals?

You’re guided through everything you need to know. Not only to set individual goals for each child but how to set good goals.

Goals that will help you improve your homeschool and teach your children.

Module 3: Choosing Curriculum and Resources

Once you know how you want your homeschool to look and your goals for the kids, it’s time to choose your curriculum and resources.

Again Pam walks you through choosing the curriculum and resources which will be a good fit for your family.

You don’t want to end up with a resource that will take hours to plan when you work out of the home.

You don’t want to end up with a curriculum that doesn’t meet your family’s needs.

Of course, you could always follow the time old method of curriculum jumping until you find a curriculum you like.

But that’s expensive, time-consuming, and hard on the kids’ education. I really don’t recommend it.

This is why module 2 helps you create the criteria you need to find a curriculum that meets your family’s needs.

Module 4: Choosing an Annual Schedule

There are several different types of yearly schedules homeschoolers follow. You’re not limited to taking a summer break between June and August.

You can take long breaks in other months, homeschool year-round, or follow a traditional school schedule as I do.

That’s the beauty of homeschooling. It’s your choice!

But that’s also the downfall of homeschooling, you have so many choices that you freeze. You’re unable to make a decision.

Instead of letting that happen, Pam guides you through choosing an annual schedule that will work for your family.

Module 5: Create a Weekly and Daily Schedule

But a yearly schedule is not enough. You also need to figure out your weekly and daily schedules as well.

When will you be driving the kids to various lessons? When will you sit down and homeschool? Are you involved in a co-op?

Exactly how much time do you have to homeschool your kids?

These are vital questions.

You don’t want to be planning on reading books to your kids while you’re also planning the kids’ co-op classes at the same time.

You’ll end up scrambling every week because you don’t have enough time for everything that needs to be done.

Just remember as you work through the module, the good may crowd out the best.

So set your weekly and daily schedules to ensure you have time for the best homeschooling has to offer!

Plan Your Year Module 6: The Procedure List

The procedure list is a lifesaver! I really wish I had learned about procedure lists back when I was still homeschooling my oldest kids. They make that big of a difference.

In this module, Pam guides you through creating all the procedure lists you need to make homeschooling as close to open and go as possible.

It’s the module I’ve been constantly saying to myself, “Oh, that’s the mistake I made. Oops.”

Or, “That explains why we struggled so much. Hallelujah! Now I know how to fix it! ”

Because in the heat of the moment, it’s hard to remember everything you were going to do in a subject.

It’s impossible to remember to read, narrate, answer the questions, complete the map, and do an activity when the kids are whining.

Later in the day, you’ll remember you totally forgot to have the kids narrate or complete the map, and kick yourself for forgetting such an important part of the lesson.

Procedure lists keep you from making those mistakes.

Procedure lists save your homeschool from daily chaos!

Module 7: The Lesson Plan List

Now it’s time to create your lesson plans! And don’t worry, Pam doesn’t advocate created complicated and detailed lesson plans.

Instead, you’re walked through a few options for you to choose which lesson plans are best for you, your family, and the curriculum you’re using.

To be totally honest, this is another area where my system needed improvement.

Lessons plans need to be structured enough that you know exactly what you need to do, but flexible enough that illness, visitors, and a clogged sink won’t through you off.

And that’s exactly what Pam teaches you how to create! Flexible lesson plans.

Plan Your Year 2020 Module 8: Let’s Get Organized

Planning will only take you so far. You also need to organize your homeschool so you can easily find materials. So you can easily grab your plans and start homeschooling.

Being organized is vital!

Module 8 is all about helping you set up your homeschool for success. You’re given a supply list, tips, and guidance.

You will have an organized homeschool this year!

Module 9: Visualization and Implementation

So now you’ve planned and organized your homeschool for the new school year. But will your plans and organization actually work?

Nothing is worse than sitting down to use your wonderful plans and discovering you totally forgot to plan out your math lessons.

Or your plans for science just don’t fit your family’s style of homeschooling.

So Pam shares a method to ensure your homeschool plans will fit your family!

Module 10: Periodic Review and Maintenance

Now the trick becomes to maintain your homeschool. And you’re not left hanging! Pam walks you through the steps needed to periodically review and maintain your homeschool

You have everything you need to homeschool confidently this year, no matter what life throws at you!

How to Purchase Plan Your Year 2020

Product Name: Plan Your Year 2020

Website: Homeschool Solutions with Pam Barnhill

Type of Product: Book, Course, Forms, & Community

The Plan Your Year 2020 cart closes on August 17, 2020. If you missed your chance, you can grab the Plan Your Year book on Amazon! It covers the same information as the course.