Homeschool Planning: Subject Area Checklists
Welcome to Day 3 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge!! Today, let’s tackle the Subject Planning…
I don’t know about you, but I really mull things over in the summer. I generally have tentative plans at the end of the year for the new school year, but given some time, I often change course slightly.
Do you need to add in a different topic? Last year in history, for example, we were going to jump right back into our studies of the Middle Ages. Instead, we started with a general overview of world facts & geography. And then, we did a unit on the Causes of the American Revolution because it had been quite a long time since we delved into that. Similarly, this year I was thinking we were going to continue on with the Reformation (Henry VIII, etc.), but then I decided we would instead do a unit on Slavery and the Civil War.
Do you need to repeat units for your youngest child? I also gave a lot of thought about where ED is and what she has covered. She is my youngest. We may have covered some of units several years ago, but she was too young to really remember the details in some of our units. So, I need to make sure I repeat certain units so that she’s got some basic skills and knowledge. This fall, for instance, she’ll do a unit on the States of Matter: Solid, Liquid, Gas at the start of the year. I might check in with my older two to be sure they remember all that (after all, do YOU remember what the term is for going from a gas straight to a solid?!! … It’s sublimation by the way!) too, but that unit will mainly be for her.
Do you have everything set for the subjects you plan to cover? Do you have your books? Worksheets? Planned activities? If you’ve been carrying all this in your head, you might want to jot things down.
As I wrote up this post, I went over and checked to make sure I had Write Source Skills book for ED (that’s the grammar workbook we’ve been using for years). Turns out I needed to order that for her and I just placed that order this morning!
So that’s your Back-to-Homeschool Challenge for Day 3: Using the pdf below, jot down the topics, books & curriculum and extras you have planned for each subject. What areas do you still need to work on?
Homeschool Subject Area Planning Sheets
If you’re all set for the new year, congratulations!!! You’re a power-house homeschooler for sure!!
One more thing before I go… I wanted to be sure to say that not all homeschoolers cover all the subject areas mentioned above. Some cover topics more organically (like working on grammar during writing time).
Some homeschoolers spend more time on some subjects for a few weeks… and then switch and devote more time on another. In our family, we often do that for science and history because both are very time-intensive for us. The days/weeks we’re doing a lot of hands-on science activities, we just don’t have the time to also spend reading and doing activities in history. Our weeks tend to overlap a bit like this….
We also tend to cover grammar for a month or so and then switch to spelling for a month or so. It’s worked for our family the past few years. You’ll find what works best for your kids over time! 🙂
One of my best homeschooling friends uses a curriculum grid to help keep herself on task. You might enjoy that interview with her from several years ago. Working Outside the Home, Homeschooling Mom. (She still works outside the home and is still is as amazing as ever!!) This was her tentative schedule (by the way, her son learns one foreign language and her daughter learns the other):
If you missed the (free) curriculum grid in yesterday’s post I included it with the homeschool plans chart pdf. Sometimes it’s really useful to see if you’re being too ambitious. We definitely can’t cover it all!!!
As for knowing what topics and units to cover, I could go on-and-on about how I decide from year to year! I created some general checklists of what I hope we cover from K-8 and shared those checklists elsewhere on the blog. I’ll link to those below:
- Homeschool History Checklist — When we first started homeschooling I tended to cover history chronologically… you know Ancients then Middle Ages, then Renaissance, Reformation, Exploration… but then as the years passed I realized there were some other topics I felt we needed to cover (like Civics & Government and different cultures — we studied Africa, China, India… and along the way we also studied many different world religions as well)… and we slowly moved away from the strictly chronological mode of studying history.
You might be interested in these posts:
- Pirate Math Packet — Addition, Place Value Activities and More — This packet has a ton of fun, engaging hands-on activities to bring math alive for your 4-6 year olds!
- Multiplication Packets – Learning the Multiplication Tables 2s through 9s Fun multiplication worksheets, activities, and games for learning the multiplication facts easily!
Are you getting ready for the new Homeschool Year? These posts might be helpful:
If you are still in the Planning Stages of your Homeschool Year, you might want to check out this free resource:
Homeschool Planning for Next Year (Free Planning Pages): Homeschool Vision Planner
I shared these free Homeschool Planning Pages that I use as I try to figure out our long-range homeschooling goals. This post shares share the process I go through as I plan out the next year… I shared the planning pages that I’ve been using the past few years. I like having colorful planning pages to work on. This isn’t really a weekly/monthly planner, but rather a homeschool vision planner. This 30+-page pdf is currently FREE to download! Let me know if it’s helpful! ~Liesl
Free Homeschool Planning Pages (Homeschool Vision Planner)
You might also be interested in these FREE Homeschool Curriculum Resource Guides:
If you are looking for more practical homeschooling tips, you might be interested in our Homeschool Planning Series with tips on Creating Your Homeschool Curriculum. We have three (of four) free resource guides available for K-1, Grades 2-3 and Grades 4-5. (The Grade 6-8 Resource Guide is mostly finished. I hope to share that early this next Fall 2017.)
Creating a Homeschool Curriculum: Kindergarten, Grade 1 This FREE 50-page Resource Guide has been created to answer some basic questions: What subjects should I cover? Where do I start? How do I know what to teach. It offers topics, units and hands-on activity ideas that might appeal to your kids.
Creating a Homeschool Curriculum Grades 2-3 FREE 30-page Resource Guide
This guide is a starting point for choosing the material you might want to cover in your homeschool. What subjects, units and topics should you cover in Grades 2 and 3? Where do I start? This resource guide will offer suggestions on what topics and hands-on activities might be engaging for your kids at this age.
Creating Your Homeschool Curriculum – Grade 4-5 FREE Resource Guide
As many of you know, we started a Homeschool Den Chat FB group last January.We take a summer break, but so I’m not posting at we’ll resume regular posting toward the end of August. This is a closed FB group to share what’s working (and what’s not) in your homeschool. It’s a place to talk about the ups and downs of homeschool life.
• Share what’s working in your homeschool.
• Get inspiration from others!
• Talk about homeschool strategies that work.
• Learn from one another.
Find out more about the Homeschool Den Chat Group here.
See you again soon here or over at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page! You might also want to check out some of our resources pages above (such as our Science, Language Arts, or History Units Resource Pages) which have links to dozens of posts. You might want to join our free Homeschool Den Chat Facebook group. Don’t forget to check out Our Store as well. 
~Liesl
I’ve chosen not to use pop-up boxes at this point, but you can click here to Subscribe to our Homeschool Den Newsletter! Newsletters will resume in the Fall.
Happy Homeschooling! ~Liesl
