August 6, 2025 – Homeschool Planning: Simplifying the Schedule

Sherri Seligson

Planning for the Important Things in Your Homeschool

Planning? Is that even a thing when our kids’ needs are changing monthly? And that’s not counting sickness, potty training, meal prep, and outside activities that make each day a unique one. How can we even plan?

Well, the principle of planning is a Biblical one. The Lord desires us to plan our days and watch as He uses those plans to show us His good works.

One thing that I learned early on when my four kids were young is that if we don’t plan, then the urgent things take over our lives (too many co-op classes, field trips, and/or athletics, etc.). That means we can sometimes miss the important, but not urgent things. What are those? Things such as building relationships with your children, giving them time to be creative, exploring the outdoors, and learning who God is and how He loves them.

However, it is good to start from a plan and hold your hands open to whatever God has for you. At the beginning of the school year, prayerfully consider what spiritual and academic goals you would like to build and encourage in each of your children. These should line up with the important things in your days—the things that are both urgent and not urgent. It will remind you that these are what you don’t let slide if time becomes tight.

And did you know that teachers in public and private schools have teacher planning days throughout the school year? I say that homeschoolers should have those, too! Times when we can review our yearly goals and determine if we need to make any adjustments or recapture lost momentum. By pulling back and reviewing what you’ve done so far, you’ll often be encouraged to see how much progress you’ve actually made! Perhaps each quarter of the school year, team up with another homeschool family. You watch their kids, say, one Friday while they have a planning day, and then they watch your kids the following Friday for you.

Revisiting the big goals for each child during the year helps give you clarity, encouragement, and peace in your homeschool plans!

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About the author

Sherri Seligson, M.Ed. is a 21-year veteran homeschool mom, marine biologist and author of Apologia’s science courses, instructional videos, and more. Sherri loves encouraging moms and teaching families the wonders of God’s creation. www.sherriseligson.com; Facebook: SherriSeligsonAuthor; Instagram: sherriseligson 

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Todd Wilson

Keep It Simple, Susan (My grandkids won’t let me say stupid)

OK, we’ve been together long enough for you to know that I’m not going to offer any kind of planning advice. I don’t do planners, plans, or organization. So, about the only advice I can add to the topic of keeping it simple is to keep it simple . . . today.

For most of you, your life is anything but simple. If there was a homeschool reality show equivalent to Hoarders, you’d all be the stars. Somehow, you’ve managed to fill your day to the brim with all kinds of stuff.

I’m thinking that a total keep-it-simple makeover might be a little daunting, so how about a keep-it-simple-today makeover?

Start by making a mental list of all the things you’ve got going today (include school subjects, co-ops/meetings, doctor appointments, playing games with your children, reading aloud together, laughing together, snuggling with your husband after the kids are in bed . . . anything else you can think of).

Now, don’t do anything on the list that doesn’t really matter. So . . . you might need to cancel that appointment, skip math for your child who is already ahead, read a book that isn’t on the list just for fun, bake cookies just because, or watch a video in the middle of the day.

Need help in knowing what matters today? If you think about doing it and you sigh deeply because you dread the thought of it, then it doesn’t really matter. If you think about doing it and smile, then that matters.

Just for today.

That sounds simple.

be real,

Todd

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About the author

Todd Wilson is a dad, granddad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd’s humor and down to earth realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions, retreats, and churches across the country. As founder of Familyman Ministries and the Smiling Homeschooler, his passion and mission are to remind dads and moms of what’s most important through weekly e-mails, podcasts (The Familyman Show & The Smiling Homeschooler), seminars, and books and products that encourage parents. Todd, and his wife Debbie, still homeschool two of their eight children (six have graduated with four married) in northern Indiana. You can read more at www.familymanweb.com.

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Beth Mora

What Kind of Music Does Your Schedule Play?

If you study music, you will first learn that it has six elements: melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, dynamics and pitch, and form and texture. If you listen closely, you’ll notice that your homeschool schedule shares the same elements. 

Open your planner. You will note it has a melody, a sequence of single notes that create a tune. Each subject is a single note that makes the core of your homeschool. A composer selects each note very carefully, and so should we. 

It emits harmony, which is the combination of two or more notes played together. Do the chosen subjects create beautiful thoughts when combined together?

Your schedule has a rhythm, a pattern of sounds and silences. Review your schedule to note the periods of rest and work. Without the space for “just being,” a song can get on your nerves. 

Your timetable has timbre, a unique sound quality. Does your schedule reflect the unique values of your family? Does it keep with your priorities: God, spouse, children, church, and community?

Your calendar is also a series of dynamics and pitch, referring to the loudness or softness of the music. Looking at your school year, have you created highs and lows that break up monotony and leave space for creating memories? 

Form and texture are the overall combination of musical elements that create a sense of fullness and depth. Does your plan include a  “well-done” feeling and contentment? 

Dear Homeschool Mom, when you look at your freshly penned schedule for the coming year, what kind of music do you hear? Does it quiet your soul, or does it put you on edge? Or is it a symphony that has complexity yet is enjoyable to hear? 

With prayer and a finely tuned ear, create a schedule that’s beautiful for your family. Please keep it simple, and don’t be afraid to rearrange. 

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About the author

Beth Mora is a staff writer for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC and lesson designer for www.Schoolhouseteachers.com. She is the creator/teacher-on-camera for Here to Help Learning’s Homeschool Writing Program Grades 1-6, and a homeschool conference and women’s events speaker. Meet up with Beth at Home To Home, one of her favorite places to encourage. Everything she does, whether laughable or heart-gripping, is done to honor her Lord and Savior, Jesus. God’s grace is the salve that has healed her own life and is what she offers liberally to others.

Hal and Melanie Young

Your Own Plan

You’ve heard, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Or, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” On the other hand, military thinkers say, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Even the best plans have to adjust to reality! 

As we homeschooled our eight children, Melanie taught six grades at once for several years. She had to plan just to keep track, but with a big family things can go sideways quickly.

Here are some principles we use: 

• Your homeschool doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s, or any other school. It’s okay!
• Your plan is your servant, not your master, making homeschooling easier, not more stressful. If your blood pressure is rising, loosen up.
• Start the year planning by weeks. Only plan the days the week before. 
• Only plan to the detail you need. Some people schedule every fifteen minutes; this would have killed us dead. Our schedule only had days or even weeks. 
• Life happens. Plan four-day weeks instead of five and use the extra day for things that come up. Or plan eight out of nine weeks each quarter. Use the extra week for hands-on fun if you don’t need it.
• Use Google Calendar to keep track of outside classes, sports practice, appointments, etc.
• High school students can make their own plan if you give them the goals for the week. 

Ultimately, we can’t foresee everything, so our best plans have to include some humility. After all, we’re serving the One who does know the future, and we can trust Him to bring everything together in the end. And sometimes His curriculum for our family looks different than ours!

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. (Proverbs 16:3 KJV)

Your friends,

Hal & Melanie

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About the author

Hal and Melanie Young have been homeschooling almost as long as they’ve been married, and they’re still happy with both decisions! They wrote My Beloved and My Friend: How to Be Married to Your Best Friend Without Changing Spouses to encourage their young adults – find out more at raisingrealmen.com.

Start your school year off right with the Education Plan Builder and Custom Schedule Builder from the Homeschool Records Center on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. These powerful tools help you organize your students’ courses, customize their weekly schedule, and stay on track—all in one place. Simplify planning, reduce stress, and gain confidence!