Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

Plan For & School Year Around

Homeschool Quarter Planning Form – Free UNIQUE 7 Step Planner

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

Today, i have free homeschool quarter planning forms. Grab other gorgeous planning pages on my Homeschool Planner page.

You know I’ve said before, it takes me sometimes several months thinking about a homeschool form for the 7 Step Homeschool Planner before I actually release it to you.

The reason why is because my forms are created out of need as I go throughout my many years of homeschooling.

Homeschool Quarter Planning Form - Build Your UNIQUE 7 Step Planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

4 Homeschool Quarter Planning Forms

This one, the homeschool quarter planning form, I actually have been thinking about for a year. And I am so OVER THE TOP excited to share it with you today!

Let me tell you first how I set it up, how I will be using it this year and why I needed it last year too.

How to Use the Homeschool Quarter Planning Form - Build Your UNIQUE 7 Step Planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Look at how I created this newest from.

  • It’s divided into 4 quarters or 4 pages with three month calendars on each page.
  • It has a box at the top right to pen in whether you follow an academic or a physical year calendar.
  • So that the calendars can be used over and over, pen in the day of week so your calendar is current year ready. Note: (Not that you would do this, but remember the first of the month doesn’t always begin on Monday or Sunday. I know you know that, but you’d be surprised how giddy you can get when filling in a new form.)
  • Because you can choose when to begin your homeschool year, you determine which months are your first quarter, your second quarter and etc. Just put an X, highlight the quarter or place a check at the top right section. I love the flexibility of determining which months are which quarters.
  • On the calendar highlight or circle the dates you want to reach certain objectives, goals or projects and
  • then use the lined box to the right of the calendar to write down your thoughts, plans or objectives.
  • At the bottom of the page or the end of the quarter is a place for evaluation.

Homeschool Quarter Planning Forms

Though I have two other objectives form which are kept on Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives I ran into small problems that set me back when planning with broad strokes.

Because this is my third high school teen, I know that our year needs to not only be varied, but focused.

Dividing the quarter planning forms up, I can focus on one or more skills or subjects for a specified period of time.

The other months I don’t have to plan so detailed. These new forms can use them in a variety of ways.

  • One or more can be used when you need to plan for a short term or three months.
  • If you have a high school teen, you may need to plan all of the quarters more precisely.
  • If you have an older child, but the rest of your children are younger, this allows you to plan for your oldest child in a more detailed way.
  • If you want to plan with fine details for all of your children, no matter their age, each form allows you a place to write down your plan.
  • The best part is that you can print off as many as you need. You can print one for each child, one quarter for all your children or print all of them for your children.

I have just started putting together my planner and will be not binding it for a while yet because I am still undecided about some things I want in it, but this is not one of them.

More Homeschool Planner Forms

Besides, I’m already using these quarter planning forms

I hope you love these new forms and read on to see how to get them.

These printable quarterly forms are subscriber only freebies and come in a bundle with other free forms!

How to Get the Free Homeschool Planner Quarter Planning Forms

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color”

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Why Nobody Cares if You Homeschool Year-Round (or shouldn’t)

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

Why Nobody Cares if You Homeschool Year-Round @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Why Nobody Cares if You Homeschool Year-Round @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

While I sit here writing this article, my husband has made a change into a new career that we’ve planned for and are excited about. Starting out, it means working 7 days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Grueling schedule to say the least for him, and I’m right there cooking/packing every meal for him because his workplace doesn’t have a restaurant. And a lot of times, he can’t leave the building for lunch or his lunch is shortened back from one hour.

Back to my point, what does this have to do with homeschooling year-round? Everything, for me.

That is just the point, my schedule has nothing to do with your family’s schedule and the schedules of other families have nothing to do with mine.

I too have shared many times over about the the advantages of homeschooling year-round, but it’s more important to know how to tell if you can instead of telling you why you should.

Look at Homeschooling Year Round Chaos or Calm, What is Year Around Homeschooling Part 1 and Part 2 if you want some more tips.

Homeschooling too is about not being sorry or feeling guilty for things you can’t control.

3 Quick Tips to Adapt to Homeschooling Year-Round

Instead of sharing pros and cons of homeschooling year-round because they won’t help one bit if you can’t, I want to share how to tell if you should even consider it.

Family schedule matters.

There is just no getting around it, your child’s learning ability can’t be the only weighing factor as to whether or not you homeschool year-round.

For example, my husband’s schedule is pretty predictable right now.

Homeschooling year-round gives me to time to plod along when I am getting up every morning at 4:30 to 5:00 a.m.

I wake my kids right up alongside us because I need my whole household to be on the same schedule.

By the way, this is a tried and trued tip, which has worked for me as we have experienced many different schedules. It is just too hard, not to mention stressful when half of your family gets up when they want to or some other hour and the other half doesn’t.

Guess what? The do-whatever-you -want-to- schedule for the kids comes back to bite you when you need your household quiet for the Mr. or even for a younger child.

This summer, instead of starting school at 9:00 or 9:30 a.m. like we use to, we start school closer to 8:00 a.m. or even before because we have been up for a while, finished chores and are ready for our day.

I remember back to our very first co-op I attended where the leader canceled school for the summer. I was puzzled because my kids were little and I was ready to keep on going.

Finding out later that day that her husband was the head coach at the local public school, I learned right away how a family schedule affects year round-homeschooling.

Who wants to have such a rigid day of homeschooling when dad is off for the summer? Not me.

Seasons matter.

I would like to say that seasons don’t matter here in Texas, but when you have 3  days of winter (okay, we had a bit more this year) and a lot of summer heat, days are long and hot.

Having the top of my kids’ heads baked just never appealed to me. Our time outdoors during the summer months is limited to a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening.

Guess what? That is a lot of in between time, which needs to be filled with meaningful activities.

For a majority of our homeschool years we have homeschooled during the summer than not because it filled our days with meaning and it also meant we could skip school on days when the weather changed to glorious.

When it is spring or fall, we don’t feel guilty spending a lot of time outdoors because we’re normally well ahead in our curriculum.

High School matters.

The few times we have followed a traditional public school schedule is when my oldest two sons graduated.

Whether your child is interested in going to college right away, starting a career or doing some Bible based work, you need to be sure he starts off right by finishing school close to the time he suppose to graduate.

There is nothing that stresses a responsible homeschooled teen more than having the feeling of being behind because he has a life after homeschooling.

Whether you read the pros and cons of homeschooling year-round, it shouldn’t matter to you because many years, homeschooling year-round has little to do with whether you want to or not and a lot to do with your family’s present groove.

Mercifully, homeschooling fits your circumstances and circumstances can change quickly.

By the way, I love this new schedule as we have all settled into it and knowing my husband’s deployment will be a few short months, like 3 or 4 at a time, I find the good in it.

Did I mention how much I get done each day by being up early every day? Here and there he may have off Sundays and that is a plus too.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


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Linking up @ these places:

7 Advantages to Starting Your Homeschool Year in the Summer

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

When I started my summer homeschool year, we still enjoyed summer fun like outdoor barbecues with traditional tasty Texas beef brisket, swimming parties and some putt-putt golf. Besides knowing how to homeschool means you learn flexibility quickly.

Did you know that it was not until my sons started high school that I started my homeschool year in the more traditional month of August?

7 Advantages to Starting Your Homeschool Year in the Summer

There are 7 advantages of starting your home school year in the summer for both seasoned and new homeschoolers.

Seven Advantages to Starting Your Year In the Summer

When the first day of school is in August, it feels like a race from the beginning.

1. Euphoric Feeling of Being Ahead.

Being able to dawdle at the beginning of the summer school year feels like a luxury and it sets a relaxed pace.

2. Curriculum Not a Good Fit?

One of the most important reasons I liked starting in summer was that it allowed me time to use a new curriculum for a few months to see if it was a fit for me and my kids.

This is a priceless perk because if it’s not working, nothing is really lost.

There is still time to switch curriculum and keep on schedule.

3. Complete Shipments.

We use many physical books and I get my shipment complete and in record time because companies are not really busy yet.

Too, I am able to telephone and chat if I need to with a curriculum vendor about his or her product because the early part of summer is not as busy.

4.Slower Start Equals Greater Momentum Later.

Another insider tip is that there is no need to start all of your new homeschool curriculum on the first day.  Why do we think that we have to do that?

The more children you have the more stressful this can be.

Start with one new curriculum and then gradually fold the others in. Until I started doing that, I was not really reading the instructions on the best way how to use my new gems.

Each week, I folded in another new resource savoring the tips shared, making adjustments to our schedule until we found a schedule that would work for the new year.

5. Meaningful Break from Co-ops and Classes.

A lot of co-ops and classes follow a traditional public school schedule.

This can be a peaceful break from the stress of having to be on the road each week.

With no piano classes to take the kids to or co-ops to attend, those few months of meaningful school without having to break up the day have been some of our best teaching moments.

6. History and Science Immersion.

What do kids clamor for more of and we struggle the most with?

Getting to the best part of homeschooling, which is hands-on activities for science and history.

Taking a few days here and there, without covering any other subject, we immersed ourselves the whole day into history or science projects.

Being able to sprawl out our crafts, books, maps or play-doh for the day and make one activity after the other was a welcomed changed to the fast pace of a traditional school year.

7. School Supplies Binges.

Okay, shopping early before school supplies are all picked over may not be an advantage for those that don’t gush over new office supplies, organizational thinga-ma-jigs, pens, binders and folders.

You know I have a sickness passion for cool supplies, new notebooks and notebook binders.

Don’t give up the fun and long lazy days of summer.

Use them to kick start your homeschool year in a relaxed way.

What do you like best about starting your homeschool year in the summer?

Look at these other tips:

7 Advantages to Starting Your Homeschool Year in the Summer

7 Advantages to Starting Your Homeschool Year in the Summer 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Year Round Homeschool – Chaos Or Calm

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

Year round homeschool can be chaos or calm depending on how you implement it into your schedule. Also, look on my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

When I first started homeschooling, I didn’t even think about following any other homeschool schedule like homeschooling year round.

Now, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Though I would love to follow my own schedule, the reality is my husband’s work schedule dictated our school schedule for many years.

Year Round Homeschool – Chaos Or Calm

Like my family, a lot of homeschoolers are self-employed and so that means we make our own schedules, but it also means that it usually doesn’t jive with a public school schedule.

For the most part, can you dictate your own schedule?

First, look at some of these homeschool books

5 BEST How to Homeschool Books

I've rounded up some of the best books to help you get started homeschooling.

Homeschooling for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! Armed with the knowledge to make better choices in curriculum will empower you to continue the path of home education. Unlike many books based on one family’s experience, Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is also based on Tina’s many years of mentoring hundreds and hundreds of new homeschoolers at live workshops. When you don’t know where to begin Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers equips you to successfully homeschool your children.

The Unhurried Homeschooler

Homeschooling is a wonderful, worthwhile pursuit, but many homeschool parents struggle with feelings of burnout and frustration. If you have ever felt this way, you’re not alone! Most of us need to be reminded of the “why” of homeschooling from time to time—but "The Unhurried homeschooler" takes parents a step further and lifts the unnecessary burdens that many parents place on themselves.

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace

Those who have made the decision to homeschool their children have done so out of great love for their children and a desire to provide them an excellent education in the context of a warm, enriching home.

The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life

Parents who are deeply invested in their children's education can be hard on themselves and their kids. When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?

Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom

Education has become synonymous with schooling, but it doesn’t have to be. As schooling becomes increasingly standardized and test driven, occupying more of childhood than ever before, parents and educators are questioning the role of schooling in society. Many are now exploring and creating alternatives.

When deciding if homeschooling year round is for you, look at these 3 questions to help you figure out if it will work for your family or not.

3 Questions to Ask If You Should Year Round Homeschool Or Not

Assuming you can, the next thing to ask is:

Is it by completely taking off months or just having a few weeks spread throughout the year?

1. How Much Control Do You Have Over Your Schedule

You can’t really decide this if this is your first year of homeschooling because you and your kids are getting off the public school treadmill.

If you have been in public school for years, there may be a pull for your children to play with kids from public school and that means you think you may want the summer off.

2. How Do Your Children Learn Best

But the longer you homeschool the more that desire to form an attachment with friends from public school wanes because you have made so many friends otherwise in field trips, co-ops and classes with other like-minded parents and children.

A lot of homeschoolers school lightly during summer because it allows them to catch up on things they have been wanting to do but didn’t get time to do during the regular school year.

3. Does The Weather Affect You Getting Outdoors

If you live in a place like Texas, where the summer is a scorcher, then choosing to school during hotter months and having off during cooler weather is a huge benefit to enjoying being outdoors more.

These 3 easy questions helped me to see that my homeschool schedule did not have to follow the public school schedule.

I did better as a teacher when I could take mini-breaks throughout the year.

My children stayed in a relaxed routine too when we kept the same schedule year round.

More Homeschooling Year Around Tips

This doesn’t mean you have to keep the same pace each month and you really wouldn’t want to.

Staying productive year round has been a good fit for us.

Do you like schooling year round?

What homeschool schedule do you follow?

Homeschooling Year Round @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

4 Benefits to Planning Early for the Next Homeschool Year

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

There are 4 benefits to planning early for the next homeschool year. Also, look on my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

Whether you are a plan-a-holic or prefer to wait until your children cover most of the curriculum you got the year before, planning for the next homeschool year is one of the most thrilling things about homeschooling.

4 Benefits to Planning Early for the Next Homeschool Year

Besides being just plain fun to do, there are at least 4 benefits to planning early for the next homeschool year.

Too, look at some of the how to homeschool books which will help you have a great start or if you need to switch midstream.

5 BEST How to Homeschool Books

I've rounded up some of the best books to help you get started homeschooling.

Homeschooling for New Homeschoolers: When You Don't Know Where to Begin

Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is a real eye-opener on homeschooling. It will alleviate a lot of the anxieties about getting started homeschooling. Reading each chapter’s highlights will give you encouragement, knowledge, guidance, and peace of mind to homeschool with confidence. The best part is that you’ll be educating the person who loves your kids the most in this world--YOU! Armed with the knowledge to make better choices in curriculum will empower you to continue the path of home education. Unlike many books based on one family’s experience, Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers is also based on Tina’s many years of mentoring hundreds and hundreds of new homeschoolers at live workshops. When you don’t know where to begin Homeschooling 31 Day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers equips you to successfully homeschool your children.

The Unhurried Homeschooler

Homeschooling is a wonderful, worthwhile pursuit, but many homeschool parents struggle with feelings of burnout and frustration. If you have ever felt this way, you’re not alone! Most of us need to be reminded of the “why” of homeschooling from time to time—but "The Unhurried homeschooler" takes parents a step further and lifts the unnecessary burdens that many parents place on themselves.

Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace

Those who have made the decision to homeschool their children have done so out of great love for their children and a desire to provide them an excellent education in the context of a warm, enriching home.

The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life

Parents who are deeply invested in their children's education can be hard on themselves and their kids. When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?

Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom

Education has become synonymous with schooling, but it doesn’t have to be. As schooling becomes increasingly standardized and test driven, occupying more of childhood than ever before, parents and educators are questioning the role of schooling in society. Many are now exploring and creating alternatives.

Next, look at these 4 benefits to planning your homeschool year early.

4 Benefits to Planning Your Homeschool Year Early

If you have kept up with what is working and what is not working during the year, then you have a beginning point in what you are actually wanting to purchase.

1. You Have a Beginning Point for Purchases

Walking into a curriculum filled convention, smelling all those wonderful smells is too enticing for even the most experienced homeschooler.

It is hard to resist buying on impulse. I know, I have done it.

Having a beginning point helps you to buy curriculum that your children will actually use and benefit from.

2. Purchases Can Be Spread Out

Helping a lot of homeschoolers, I know money matters when it comes to purchases.

Too, the more children you have to buy curriculum for the smarter it is to spread your buying out over several months.

I know when I have done this, I have gotten exactly what each child needed.

I didn’t feel like I settled for anything because I didn’t wait to the last minute to buy and feel the pressure of the new school year.

Sometimes the best time to buy is when you have received your tax refund, if you get one.

Curriculum vendors know this and will run a spring sale on curriculum.

Take advantage of spring savings and buy online from reputable places like Rainbow Resource.

3. You Get Choice Picks of Second Hand Homeschool Materials

Like me, if you like to use part new materials and part gently used curriculum, then you have to start early.

By mid-spring or later, popular used curriculum is in hot demand and sellers know this.

If you are wanting to sell and get top dollar, then plan to have your gently used curriculum ready early in spring to sale.

If you are a buyer and want to get a good value, then look at off-peak times like January or February when sellers are clearing out for the next school year.

4. Avoid Back Order Backup

Is it just me or are you sorely disappointed when you finally decide to buy that curriculum that makes your heart go pitter patter only to find out that it is on back-order?

I have done this several times because I thought I was being cautious. I ended up delaying the start of my school year.

More Homeschooling Year Around Tips

Disappointed is an understatement to how I felt when all books or supplies were not in my shipment.

To the outside world, we may seem slightly insane to be so over the top when it comes to homeschool planning.

However, planning for the next homeschool year is one of the best ways to brighten up the coming months in spring, especially if you are coming out of long cold winter days.

How about you?

Are you a plan-a-holic and pretty well plan year around or do you have a specific time you plan?

4 Benefits to Planning Early for the Next Homeschool Year @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus-2