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School Year Goals Form – 7 Step Homeschool Planner

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Zoom, zoom and the plan I had at the beginning of the year to tweak my goal sheet to make it a school year goals form quickly passed.  I still had it on my to do list and I finally got to it.

I hope you don’t mind if I squeeze in a few more forms for our planner before the school year.

When it gets to be June, I start hyperventilating dreaming of what I want to put in the planner for next year.

school year goals

I updated the form I did at the beginning of the year just a bit to make it fit for a school year and also because I needed a form for more general planning goals.

School Year Goals

Sometimes, I have more broad goals and not something that fits into exact educational objectives.  I just like having the options each year.  You know how I feel about that.

Too, sometimes I know, for me anyway, I tend to write down all that I want to do and have few reminders of what not to do for the year.  So the section I call “less of this” is just as important to me as I want to keep setting realistic goals each year.

This year though I am in a quandary about when to bind my planner.  On the one hand I don’t need another thing to pack and haul when we move.  Plus, I am not sure what kind of shape the planner would be in when we finally find us a new place.  But, then I get nervous thinking if there will even be a place to bind my planner if I wait to do it overseas.

I guess there could be more complex problems in moving overseas than finding a place to bind a curriculum planner, but I can’t think of any.

Enjoy the new form.

Download the newest goal form here.

Hugs and love ya,

Did you grab these other homeschool planning forms?

3 Homeschool Co-op History Resources Worth Exploring

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

As the homeschool co-op group leaders, we would go to the park each year to begin planning our co-op for next year.

Sharing 3 homeschool co-op history resources worth exploring, I hope to pass on a few tips to ease planning and to help you think outside of the box.

It is easier in the beginning of your homeschool co-op to have ideas and many hands do make the work light. However, life marches on, kids grow up and seasons of change hit all homeschool families. That normally meant that on more than one occasion, we were caught short-handed if some families had to plan graduations, had illnesses, added another baby to their family and well you get the idea.

3 Homeschool Co-op History Resources

Having a few tricks up your sleeve helps your history co-op through a few rough patches, but it can also add a welcomed change when needed.

History Brought To Your Classroom Co-op

contents of Mountain Men traveling trunk: beaver pelt, trading beads and ribbons, playing cards, tobacco twist, powder horn, moccasins, tin cup, bait bottle, leather flask

{Mountain Men Trunk Pic Attribution: National Park Service}

Traveling Trunks.

Traveling trunks have been a life saver on more than one occasion for us.

They are just what they say they are, which are trunks or mini-museums as I call them that come to your group. Chock-full of fun hands-on things like toys, books and magazines and objects from a time period or topic like beads or household items, our kids flipped over them. One trunk had an apron a pioneer girl would wear, a beaver pelt and things that a mountain man would use every day.

They can be the highlight of your history co-op or you can use them like we did, which was as a table display or station for the kids to visit and learn about.

Too, when you want a fun round up of things from a certain time period and not have to spend tons of money buying each item to only have to get rid of it later, they have been worth the cost.

I got our trunks from the National Park Service. They list what comes in each trunk at that website.  Too, some sites have a free .pdf for you to use to teach and the trunks I got had teaching notes.  Look at some of the choices of traveling trunks:

  • Frontier Classroom
  • Gold Miners
  • Heritage of the Southwest
  • Overlanders
  • Plains Indians
  • Steamboats A’ Comin’

These certainly are not all the topics available. A simple google search will also yield some wonderful results from other places for various themed trunks.

My first tip for arranging for a trunk to come to your home is to call the park or institution.  I know, it sounds like a bit of trouble, but a friendly voice that explains who you are and what you do means more than an email that might otherwise leave out some details.  People like to deal with real people that they can hear and have a friendly conversation with and ask questions to know that you will take care of what they will ship.

The most important tip is to reserve them way ahead.  Public and private school teachers reserve these trunks months ahead of time. So NOW is the time to reserve it for next year.  If your co-op meets during the summer you may not have much competition from public schools.

Traveling Trunk Fun{Our kids playing with the toys that came in our Overlanders (Oregon Trail) Trunk.}

Second, be prepared to use your credit card.  It never bothered me because I knew our group would reimburse me and it was an expense our group paid for.

Third, be sure somebody is in charge of it the whole time at the co-op because if something is broke, per the contract, you will probably have to reimburse them.

Finally,  be sure you have arranged shipment back to them.

Even with all that, I would rent a traveling trunk in a heartbeat anytime for my group. Also, there are some resources that we’ve used through the years that have made teaching history to a group so much fun.

We love the products by Home School in the Woods.

Like-Minded Folks From Your local community.

The next resource is pretty nifty and that is local people from your community who are history buffs.  Where do you find them?

I found so many resources through our local chapter of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution and here in the south we have Daughters of the Confederacy.

Veterans of war and retired history teachers many times are involved in doing reenactments and spend their spare time doing things they love.

Again, a little time on the phone calling a few people and I had more people calling me interested in what I was doing and wanting to offer their help. Sharing a love of history, some of these people have gone to great lengths to have accurate time period dress and to buff up their knowledge about a time period in history or about a person.

George Washington Mother 2 George Washington Mother

When we had our Early American co-op, I finally connected with this lady above, which was “George Washington’s mother, Mary Ball Washington”. A retired public school history teacher, she had spent many years dedicated to learning about Mary Ball Washington. She brought her fishing pole and even baked the favorite cookies of George Washington to bring and share with our kids. Mary Ball Washington was not a person that we had made time to learn about in our history co-op and it was an unexpected treat. Through her story telling and love of this time period, she had brought this time period to life when she talked about “her son”.

Most folks who are educators are priceless and giving of their time.  They share a common interest, which is the love of teaching children. Most have gone out of their way to help me when I explained what I was doing.

Even though “Mary Ball Washington” did not ask for any compensation, we presented her a thank you bag from our group, which had a gift certificate for gas and some nice smelling perfume and body lotion.

In addition, we also offered to feed her lunch. She was very pleased with how well-behaved our children were and not distracted by the little ones underfoot. But we all know, that is nothing new for our kids.

Take the co-op elsewhere.

Most of us visit museums for field trips and science classes, but sometimes we don’t know about all the educational programs they offer educators for history. Also, don’t assume that you have to be a public school or private school to take advantage of the educational programs they offer.

Educational Program in Museum 2 Educational Program in Museum 3

{Part of our class was inside as our kids learned about the chores of pioneer children.  Then, we had another wonderful instructor outside as our children explored the “comforts” (chamber pot) of pioneer life.}

Some museums are very organized as far as instructions for the group and programs and very aware of homeschoolers in their area.  Others, are still trying to understand how we don’t learn by segregating grade levels.

If you do delve into the programs, again, I encourage you to take time to make a phone call.  There is just no substitute for the amount of information you get because most personnel enjoy talking about the programs offere for educators.

Another insider tip, if you have never been to this museum or do not know other homeschoolers who have listened to the program you are looking into, is to try to mix up the activities.  Part of the time the kids can sit down and listen to the program and part of the time they need to move around or go outside.  This works best for a mixed group.

A long-winded educator that is boring and doesn’t know it can be a huge turn off to co-op classes.  And believe me they exist, and I have done my best to avoid them in our co-op classes.

Whether you are a small group and need help with adding some entertainment to your history co-op or you are a larger group and need a change, I hope your group can benefit from an idea or two here.

Look at these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,

 

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have homeschool high school the must cover subjects part 2. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School.

Planning high school subjects does not have to be a tricky conundrum. 

We may think we want a checklist provided by somebody else, when in fact, guidelines may be of more value. 

Guidelines for must cover high school subjects are more flexible than a checklist.

I tallows you to take into consideration your family’s goals, your teen’s maturing personality.

(I know, some days it doesn’t seem like it, but I promise they do grow up) and it allows you to adjust your plan, which is very common too.

When I shared Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1, my goal in that post was to be sure you knew to build your high school courses .

For example, I want you to have ar frame with the basics and keep a good balance of the core subjects.

Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2

Today, I want to share what I call “glam planning” in high school. 

I call these next round of courses you need to decide on glam planning, because they really embellish or add to the goals you have been working on in the younger grades that will now come to fruition in high school.

Chosen Direction Equals High School Course Selection

The direction your teen chooses to take makes all the difference as to which high school courses are selected.

Too, I think part of the confusion in understanding high school courses is realizing how you can break down course selections and how courses generally fall into larger broad categories.

Master High School Course Descriptions

As you can see from my picture above, American Literature falls under English.  It is not as specific though as say a study of plants which is a more narrow study of Biology, which falls under the broad category of Science.

Understanding both the direction your teen wants to take and more clearly how to articulate your courses, will help you to glam up your high school course selection.

For example, if your teen was going to enroll in a four year university then a lot of universities like to see a broad range of topics being covered.   In other words, was his course selection well-rounded?

If your teen is thinking about taking community college courses and then maybe head to the work field, then you would want to hone in on skills that will help him to accomplish that. 

You would want to be more specific in choosing the course of study. 

As you can see from the picture above that a plant study would be a great choice for your child if he chooses to become a biologist.

The bottom line is that must cover subjects vary for each person according to what are the end goals.  Understanding that you can get a specific as you need to or stay as general as needed will help you to not become stressed by the selection process.

High School Courses  1, 2, 3 Planning

In public schools here in Texas, the high schools have a variety of plans that you can choose to follow. 

I think as parents it is wise for us to have a plan and back up plan too because things don’t always go exactly as planned.  Look at the 3 plans below. 

The plan varies with the goal, but they are all good plans.

College Bound Recommended Minimum
Total Credits : 26 24 22
Remember that you don’t have to have everything planned to a “T” when your child enters high school.   Planning is good to help you reach goals, but just don’t allow your plans to rule when you need to change or be flexible.
If you will focus on keeping the core subjects balanced just like you have all along, you will have some breathing room as your teen decides on his final direction.
Look at this 9th grade course selection I laid out where I keep all the course descriptions pretty general.   Actually, it’s pretty close to what Mr. Senior 2013 did his freshman year.

Subject Area

9th Grade

Credit
English I1
Mathematics – Algebra 11
Science – Biology1
Social Studies – World Geography1
Physical Education1
Fine Arts1
Total 6 credits
  

Can you see how easy peazy it is to get 6 credits for their freshman year and I did not add any electives yet or a health credit, which is usually .5 of a credit?

Hint Hint: The rest of the grades follow this same type of layout.

If your teen was doing a foreign language then you would add that to your course study.

As you can see it is not hard to get the required amount of credits that you set up for them in high school. 

Key to determining the credits is being sure that you are within the normal range of most high schools.  

Using simple multiplication of 6 x 4 (number of years we usually equate with high school), your child can easily attain 24 credits for high school.

I have heard all kinds of numbers through the years, but I feel pretty safe in saying 19 to 26 total credits for high school is what you should aim for.

Some folks think 19 is too low, but then again it depends on your goals. 

How to Easily Plan High School Courses

That is not for any person to judge or say, it is your decision alone as a family to make.

Remember, that there is a lot of wiggle room in choosing courses that interests your teen in high school beyond the core subjects.

Just to give you an idea, beyond the core subjects, my son studied foreign languages for a couple of years, fine arts, wood working, ball room dance, public speaking and some volunteer work.

Look at these steps as to where to begin high school courses.

  • Plan each grade by filling in the core subjects, which are English or Language Arts, Science, Mathematics and Social Studies.  Some schools feel that foreign language is part of the basic core subjects.  With our world being more connected than ever before and with diverse cultures in each country, I tend to agree with them.  These subjects are your framework.
  • Determine your child’s direction. This are your glam subjects.  If your child is college bound, the college is the first place to visit and determine what they think is a well-rounded plan.  If you child does not know a direction which is completely fine too, then fill in with courses that interest them and are of importance to your family.  For example, if you child for sure is interested in dance or sports, is it really necessary to weigh them down with a lot of extra history courses?  If your child knows a direction and is work-minded, then give him skills in high school that will help him hone his work skills like courses on communications and computers.
  • Be willing to adjust as you go along.  There is a huge difference in maturity levels between children that are 14/15 years old and young adults that are 17/18 years old.

High School Courses

I will share more on this subject as I plod along too in my blogging, but I wanted to give you an easy starting point.

Plan high school just as you have planned the previous grades.

  In the most basic form, high school really is just a continuation of what you have been doing all along.  Keep on doing it and besides you’ll love “glam planning”.

Hugs and hang in there.  High school truly is fun!

I also found one book particularly helpful when planning:

Home School, High School, and Beyond

You’ll love these other powerful and practical helps from my over 20+ years of how-tos:

Ocean Unit Study: Vocabulary Words –Wave Pocket

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Yikes, we did it! Our house is finally listed for sale.   I thought I would share a few pictures of it because I have been talking about it for months as we have been getting it ready to sell.

You know I like things not so cluttered, but I still had to move out a good amount of stuff for pictures.  Plus you know I have been sharing pictures with you as my furniture sells.  So I have to constantly rearrange furniture so we can have a place to sit and do school,etc.

I love our saltwater pool with waterfalls.  It is a tranquil place outside.

This is part of my front living room area.

I cleared off my kitchen stuff  for the picture, but my kitchen is basically open to the rest of the house.  Though I don’t know this picture might make it look small, but it is a bit bigger.

I love my office and this is my “sanctuary” and place where I blog to you from.  I had to close one shutter because the light was too blinding for the picture, but I LOVE light and I normally have both shutters wide open.

Those are just a few pictures.  As soon as I take some more, I will share them with you.

In between getting ready for that and 1001 things you need to do to get ready for a big move, we have been trying to scoot along on our Ocean Unit Study.

I have been determined to school as long as we can because I know we will have one longggggggg interruption and I think I have come to peace with that notion.

Why are we our own worst enemies when it comes to meting out grace for ourselves?

Ocean Vocabulary Words Collage

Today, I have vocabulary words ready for our Ocean Unit Study along with a wave pocket.

Remember I try to aim a lot of my lapbooks for about middle school age if I can.  It’s so easy to find printables and projects on this subject for the younger grades, but tough to find hands-on things as our kids hit the middle grades to high school.  I am determined to keep it both fun and hands-on all the way to high school.

Ocean Unit Study: Vocabulary Words

So I do use cursive font and try to steer away from babyish looking clip art where possible to keep lapbooking likable for the older kids too.

Tiny also decided to do some coloring on this lapbook for a cover page.  I will share that in an upcoming post too.

Download Vocabulary Words and Pocket here.

Hugs and love ya,

If you missed them, grab these other posts in my Ocean Unit Study – Ocean Lapbook

3 Homeschooling Myths Debunked

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschooling Myths Debunked

Myth: “Familiarity Breeds Contempt.”

My experience:  What a bunch of malarkey!  Time spent with each other is priceless, precious and quickly passes when your children finish homeschool.  My sons and I, including my husband, have only drawn closer to each other through our intimate time together.

Oh sure, if a person indulges their children in selfish behavior, allows siblings to talk to each other in a derogatory way and gives more respect to other people outside their home than their own family, I wouldn’t want to live in a home like that either.

It is true that homeschooling is at times more about parenting than it is actual academics.  Homeschooling too is more stressful than any homeschool parent will admit at times.  But we need to, because it is okay to be stressed and not feel that you have it all together each day.  I certainly have had plenty of days like that.

Day to day living in a large household can be trying to say the least, but you have stress even if you lived alone.  At home is where family members should receive warmth, comfort and love.  When we stop parenting and accept negative behavior from any family member as normal, our home ceases to be a peaceful haven.

I have never been dogmatic about my choice to homeschool because I do feel it is a personal choice for each family.  It is one thing to not have the circumstances at the moment to homeschool, but it’s another thing to stand behind homeschooling myths as an excuse to return to public school.

3 Homeschooling Myths Debunked. Check them out and see if you can add any to the list! | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Learning how to get along with others in the outside world begins at home and not public school.

Sending your children away only mitigates any gaping hole in their personality that should be addressed immediately by the parent instead of waiting until their preteen or teen years.  By that time it’s almost too late because the separation for some children gives them a feeling of abandonment.

Thoughtless words or words full of grace is your choice alone to model at home.

In my home, we always have room to improve listening to each other, sharing and giving, but I wouldn’t trade a moment away from each other for the closeness developed throughout the years.

Myth: “My child takes instruction from somebody else better.”

My experience:  Ouch! This one hurts because sometimes the message a parent is sending is not clear.  For example, is a parent saying that their child can’t be instructed?

What I normally find is that as children grow they need to be validated by sources outside of their family.  This is perfectly normal because children need to learn how to be accepted by others.  It could also be that a child is clamoring because of not having enough friends.  Yes, this can happen in the homeschool world.  Some children thrive and learn with plenty of people around while others learn better within a small group.

Finding the root cause of why you feel that somebody else will instruct your child better is key to finding the solution.  Try to discern the true needs of your child instead of just taking as truth what they are saying.  Children are uncertain at times as to what they need and feel overwhelmed too.

Not taking this as a personal affront, hard as it is, helps to clearly identify a solution that will keep you homeschooling.

When a parent totally turns over the teaching reins to somebody else because a child has been hard to teach, I find it sometimes is a parenting issue instead of a homeschool issue.   Also, children can resent parents because they may not appreciate your protection.

Problems that a parent thinks will be addressed when the child is away only diminishes at the moment to return later as a more serious problem.

Myth: “How do you know what they are learning unless you test them?”

My experience: Especially for new homeschoolers, this is the hardest question to give assurance for because it requires a leap of faith—well almost.  Unlike the ’70s or ’80s when our world was less digitally connected, it was harder to find stories of homeschool success.  Oh stories of success existed because homeschooling trails were blazed by pioneers, but there were not easily found.

Today, you will find many stories from homeschooling parents who do not test to find out what their children are learning.

Homeschooling has been compared to rigorous, successful, private tutoring and rightly so.  This too has been my same experience.

The few seasoned veterans I knew at the time I began to homeschool passionately protested that day to day teaching my sons would expose me to concepts that my sons both struggled with and mastered.  I am forever grateful they had more confidence in my ability to teach my children than I did.

Teaching is not easy and it is an acquired art.  Important qualifications to teaching are not just conferred by a degree, but life experiences, preparation and time spent learning on the job.

Time spent intimately day after day with your children sets you apart as as a tutor who knows exactly what her children are learning.  Correcting immediately anything that my sons didn’t understand and expanding to great lengths when I needed to, I didn’t have to test to know their grade, or if they were passing or failing.  My failures were immediately apparent, but so were my successes.

Why reduce the breadth of a child’s knowledge to a thirty question multiple choice test when I know right then whether they are getting it or not?

I have mentioned before that tests are just tools.  If a tool becomes dull, it can become dangerous to use.  If it is sharp, it can be used for a good purpose.

Tests have their value in high school whether your teen is applying for colleges or for a job.  Too, a test may have a practical value in preventing reading problems.  Using tests as a diagnostic tool can be of more value than using it as a measuring tool of what our child actually knows.

Throughout the years and without any prompting from me, my sons took the end of the unit tests in our curriculum.  They always enjoyed using them as a review and to increase memory retention.

Now that my oldest son is doing college level work, no doubts are lingering as to the lack of my testing him in the early years.  I knew what he was learning each day because I knew that I was teaching him each day.

3 Homeschooling Myths Debunked

Taking time to debunk popular homeschooling myths helps to avoid mommy guilt. Confronting head-on homeschooling myths that I have both encountered and that I hear from homeschoolers that I’ve helped through my New Bee program also deepens my dedication to homeschooling.  It gives me a chance to ponder, because I know there is always room for improvement in both my parenting and homeschooling skills.

Look at some of these other empowering tips!

Also, you know I love ya, so check out my homeschool helps!

Homeschool Curriculum Help. Check it out over at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Have you encountered some of these same homeschooling myths?

Hugs and love ya,