Our Homeschool Plan
For 2020-2021 (Pre-k and Second Grade)

Good Monday Morning! We are diving into our first official Monday of homeschool today. We are super excited and I’m a bit nervous. Today I thought it would be helpful to some if I shared our plan for the new school year. I hope you enjoy – and have a great Monday!
Wondering why we decided to say goodbye to public school and begin homeschooling our kids? Check out this post here.
Before I get into our plan for the year , I’d like to share my style of homeschooling first. We are first timers over here – so I am anticipating that there will be a few bumps , and changes along the way. I have said before that I researched homeschool for months – the number one thing I have taken form every blog I’ve read is to be open minded. Be flexible. What works for one child or family – may not work for you. And, you know what? That is OKAY!
Finding the Right Style of “School”
Harper and Cole have very different personalities . Harper has an old soul. She is wise beyond her years . Cole on the other hand is just a ball full of fun. He is the one that is always laughing and never takes things seriously. Harper is more reserved and takes things to heart. So when it came to planning out our year , I knew that I needed to develop a style that would be a good fit for them both.
If you research homeschool on Pinterest , you’ll find so many different styles and curriculum choices. It can be overwhelming at first. I know first hand. I remember asking myself ” which style is more me , which is the best curriculum , am I going to screw this up?” Then I realized ( after more research) that yes, I will probably mess up more than once. We will survive and learn from it. That alone is a good lesson to teach our children. I want them to see me mess up , I want them to know that It’s okay for things to go differently as planned. This is where life happens and we learn to adjust . The choice of style or curriculum should be based off your children and how they learn. Not what you like best. You don’t have to stick with on thing, you can change everything up as needed . The is the beauty of having the freedom you get with homeschooling.
I decided our best bet was to go with an eclectic style homeschool. Meaning , I’m basically taking bits and pieces of each style and making my own. I feel as thought this is the best fit for my kids . This gives us more options , more flexibility and honestly it is cheaper. Since this is our first year and I have no clue how we’re going to do – or what is going to work best for us , I think sampling different curriculum , unit studies , etc. is more realistic . I mean , who wants to spend hundreds of dollars on a boxed curriculum and hate it..No one!
So , what’s our curriculum?
First and foremost – we are un-schooling (this is a great post explaining what this is. ). I want to break the habits of public school to an extent. I think it is important for both kids to have a say in that we are learning. I will be teaching the required subjects such as math , science , language arts ( includes phonics+ grammar+ spelling + fine art + literature) , life skills, music and finally health and safety . We will also learn about history and geography through unit studies. I am planning to use The good and the Beautiful curriculum for language arts. They actually have certain levels available for free download . Which is what I am using. I really like how this curriculum is laid out , everything is intertwined and flows. I am still looking into a math curriculum. For now we are just doing review from 1st grade , telling time and learning about money.
I plan to incorporate life skills into our learning by simply doing. Having the kids help with daily chores , grocery shopping , cooking, etc. These are tasks that I usually do myself , but allowing them to help is a great learning experience for them. These are things that are not taught in public school. When it comes to the unschooling method – I want my kids to THINK for them selves. I want them to understand why we are learning this. Like math for example – why are we learning this? I want to show them ways that we use math in our daily life.
When it comes to learning , I think having different subjects naturally go together is important . Having that natural flow is going to keep my kids interested in what we are doing. For instance – our current read aloud is Little House in the Big Woods – part of the What our day looks like. To start our day , I am up before the kids and make sure that I have all of learning supplies out and ready for them. I spend the night before printing what I need to , making packets and making sure I have all of our supplies that we need. I also try to come up with a couple arts and crafts projects for the kids to do during their free time. This isn’t something they have to do , but usually they ask for ideas so I like to have a couple on hand. First the kids get up , eat breakfast and start their chores. While they are eating breakfast, I will read aloud to them. Chores include getting ready for the day , picking up toys , feeding the dog , making their beds and gathering their laundry. Once chores are completed , they can start on their morning work. Morning work includes their “Today is” worksheet , money poem ( that we read together) flash cards and for Cole , his name and number tracing activity. This is for them to do independently ( usually while I’m getting our lesson out and ready. ) Harper’s morning folder is bare at the moment , I plan to add more after I see what she needs more review on. Here is what their morning folders look like. I simply printed and laminated the worksheets, hole punched them and I’m using a folder like