Let me Tell You the Secret to a Successful Homeschool Week

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Ever wonder what the secret to a successful homeschool week is?

You’ve probably wondered this after a week where nothing went right. Those weeks where you can’t find the printables you need. You don’t have the science supplies for this week’s experiment. The kids hound you asking what they’re supposed to be doing today in math. A dreadful week where nothing goes right and you’re lucky the kids completed one math lesson!

What you need is the simple secret that will help you have a successful homeschool week.

What is The Secret to a Successful Homeschool week?

The secret is simple: use Fridays to plan out your next homeschool week.

Why Fridays?

Because Weekends Are busy!

I don’t know about you, but weekends get busy. Friends and family drop by. You have activities and Church to attend. Life is busy.

It’s a rare weekend where you’re able to relax with nothing to do.

To make things more challenging, it’s hard to find time to disappear Sunday evening to plan the upcoming week.

And if you’re like me, you’d far rather be chatting with family and friends, enjoying a good book, or watching a show with your husband.

Homeschooling shouldn’t isolate you!

It gives you Time to Shop for Supplies

In addition, planning the next week on Fridays gives you time to shop for the supplies you need.

It’s something you don’t have time to do if you plan on Sundays. After all, I suspect the last thing you want to do late Sunday evening is dash off to the store to find lye for Monday’s science experiment.

How to Use Fridays to Plan Your Homeschool Week

As I mentioned above, the secret is to use Fridays to plan your homeschool week.

So let’s go through the steps to a successful planning session!

Just add your supply list to your shopping list or make a note to drop by the store while you’re out running errands on Saturday.

Review Next Week for a Successful Homeschool Week

Before you sit down to plan the next week, you’ll need to review the previous week. It’s Friday, so you should have a good idea of what went wrong that week.

This gives you the chance to correct mistakes immediately. To adjust your expectations and plans.

As an example in my own homeschool, Apologia Earth Science comes with a 2-day a week schedule in the notebooking journal. It’s a well-thought-out plan.

But it’s too long for us.

My daughter burned out trying to get through the reading assignments, experiment, and notebooking pages in one afternoon.

So we evened out the assignment over 4 days. She now completes the reading assignment and corresponding notebooking pages on Mondays and Wednesdays. The experiments and experiment pages are done on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Planning your week on Friday, when you’re still tired from a crazy and hectic week, will also prevent you from overscheduling.

By Monday you’re rested. A full load doesn’t look as overwhelming. But on Friday you’re tired. You’re ready for a break. And you’re more likely to schedule out an evenly spaced week that won’t overwhelm you by Tuesday.

Friday gives you the chance to plan next week with an eye towards correcting any problems you dealt with this week.

Grab your homeschool planner and supplies

When I sit down to plan my homeschool week on Friday, I grab the children’s A Plan in Place Student Planners along with their crates.

I keep the children’s individual school supplies stored in crates. You can read more about my crate system here.

Then I start with the kids one at a time. We do a quick review of the week and then start planning next week’s homeschool together.

Check Your Calendar

The first job is to check the calendar for any appointments, visits, or disruptions that may be coming down the pike.

While I try to plan all appointments and activities in the afternoon, it doesn’t always work. So I plan the day off if we have an appointment in the morning.

Also, it often helps to plan a lighter homeschool day on the days when we need to head out in the early afternoon.

Knowing what’s scheduled for the next week helps you create a plan that will allow you to successfully homeschool your kids!

Plan Your Successful Homeschool Week

Now it’s time for you to plan out your homeschool week. I like starting with math because math is easy… lesson, lesson, lesson, lesson, test.

Next, my family moves on to language arts which is almost as easy since we use a complete language arts program.

Finally, plan out history and science. Remember to check for any odd supplies you may need for a science experiment or history project. Plan to pick it up over the weekend.

And now your homeschool week is scheduled. You can go into the weekend knowing the next week is planned.

My recommendation to you is to try planning your next homeschool week on Friday. If you do a four-day week, spend a few minutes on Friday planning the next week in advance. Or if you homeschool five days a week, spend a few minutes planning the next week before you call it good on Friday.

Every second you spend planning will be worth the effort on Monday.

Your kids will be able to grab their pencils, notebooks, and books to get started on their schoolwork first thing Monday morning. And you won’t be running around trying to print pages or search for needed science supplies at the last minute.

Do you plan your next homeschool week on Friday?

Recommended Reading:

• Top 10 Steps to Planning Next Year’s Homeschool
• 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Daily Schedule
• 31 Days to a Well-Run Homeschool
• A Plan in Place Homeschool Planners