Our Homeschool Lesson Plans

Why not have your children make their own homeschool lesson plans? It's easy and fun. However, what we like the most about it is that it is very empowering for the children. It teaches them how to take initiative and gives them time management, planning and advanced computer skills.

I started by teaching each of my children the basics of Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program, however, if you don't have or know Microsoft Excel, you can easily do this in Microsoft Word or even with a pen and paper.

In creating their own homeschool lesson plans, each of my children starts by creating a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that lists all of their school subjects down the left hand side and then all of the days of the week across the top.

Next, I explain to the children what schoolwork needs to be done this week, such as 4 Math pages, 2 Spelling Lessons, a Science Experiment, etc. Then I give the children their appointments for the week - for example, they have music lessons on Wednesdays, Monday is a Library trip, Tuesday is a field trip and they have a Dentist appointment on Friday morning.

Once the children have all the information they need, I let them plan their week however they want. They insert their appointments and outings first in their homeschool lesson plans, and then they insert what schoolwork they want to do on what days. I tell them that it doesn't matter to me when they do *most* of their schoolwork - and that they can choose which day of the week they want to do it on.

Our homeschool lesson plans actually contain 2 weeks at a time because time seems to go so fast around our house. An example of all the different subjects that go on their schedules are: Spelling Reading Grammar Math Art Science Computers Spanish Music P.E. Volunteer Work Planning (yes they PLAN for the next time they're going to sit down and plan their schedule - this is so important!), Literature, History, Field Trips and Appointments. However, these subjects change based upon what's coming up for us. For example, we recently did a study on nutrition so the children added that to their schedules.

Here's an example of how the children are learning to adapt their homeschool lesson plans to their own needs. My 8 year old son, Zennin, has drum lessons on Wednesday afternoon and he likes to practice all morning on Wednesdays. In planning his own schedule, he's learned that he needs to put a lot of his schoolwork on the other days of the week to make time for his drum practice and lesson.

Another example is my 12 year old daughter Raiyna. She really likes to push herself academically so it's pretty normal to see 2 chapters of Math a week and 4 complete Spelling lists on her schedule. I allow this so long as she doesn't appear stressed and her scores remain fine. However, once in a while she decides that she doesn't want to do as much schoolwork and instead, she wants to focus somewhere else, like horseback riding. So she'll adjust her academic schedule down and put a few more hours of riding into her plan.

My 10 year old son Quintin, however, is another story all together. Quintin doesn't like to do ANY work at all. He does devour books though so if Quintin had his way his schedule would be "Read, Read, stop for Guitar lessons, Read, Read...". How creating his own homeschool lesson plans has helped my "so totally not motivated child' is by showing him how little work he actually has to do to achieve his goals. As most veteran homeschoolers know, the schoolwork involved does not take near as long as the amount of time children spend in public school. Quintin has started attaching times to each of his lessons and has determined that his schoolwork can get done in 3 hours or less per day - AND - he can still advance quickly. And with all that extra time in his schedule he can check out even more books at the library.

I really like what this process has been teaching my children. Instead of passively standing by and waiting to be told what to do, they are taking an active role in planning their immediate futures. They are beginning to see that it takes a lot of planning to get anywhere. Whether it be a job or an education - or even just getting through a spelling book.

What also really excites me about this process is when the children "lobby" for something that they want to do. I'll tell them that if they can "fit it in" to their homeschool lesson plans, then it's no problem. It's amazing to watch their creativity, planning and problem solving when they are trying to make something work.

Children will need these computer, planning and organizational skills as they grow older and especially when they enter the world of work. Incorporating them into our homeschool now prepares them for their futures.

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