Take into account the number of school days or hours, if any, that you are required to document according to your state law (see www.hslda.org).

Use a traditional schedule or set up your own year-round schedule.  These examples all include the usual 180 school days.

 •  Traditional Schedule: 9-month school year and 3-month summer break.  Includes 5 days per week, with 3 weeks of break within the 9-month school year, plus a 3-month summer break.

 •  Year-Round 5-Day School Week Option: 36 weeks of school, with 16 weeks of breaks interspersed wherever you wish.

 •  Year-Round 4-Day School Week Option: 45 weeks of school, with 7 weeks of breaks interspersed wherever you wish.

Keep a calendar, with large boxes to write in, near the phone where everyone in your family can see it.

Also use a planner to collect all of your organizational information in one place.  Include goals, calendar, schedules, lists, telephone directory, plus notes and information your family needs to find easily.

Buy a planner that is all set up for you, or use a large or small loose-leaf notebook and make or buy pages for it.

Organized Home.com offers online articles on how to create your own Household Notebook planner and offers free printable forms for your planner.

Mark both your master calendar and the one in your planner with the following information:

 •  Your school year schedule (see above) including school days, vacations, dates of major units of study, test days, field trips, and support group activities.

 •  Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and special days.

 •  All of your family’s appointments, church and social activities, music lessons, etc.

 •  Anything you need to be reminded of, such as library due dates (and number of books out) and household bills (payment dates and amounts due).

Set family rules and procedures for accepting invitations and scheduling appointments.

Check daily to see that you have transferred necessary information from your master calendar to your planner and vice versa.

These practices will help your family’s schedule to run smoothly!

 •  Compile a master to-do list, a single continuous list that replaces small slips of paper.  Assign individual’s names to items that are delegated to them.

 •  Add items as you think of them; cross them off when they are done (the fun part!).

 •  Assign items from this list to your calendar; monthly, weekly, or daily schedules; or daily to-do lists for each person.

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Decide and list which subjects, units, and/or topics you will cover during which weeks or months to make an overall year's plan.

For example, you could plan a certain number of pages per day in math and language, a chapter every two weeks in history and/or science, etc.

Instead of teaching all of your subjects every day, simplify your preparation and gain from your students’ focus by teaching fewer, but longer, classes each day.  You can retain the same number of hours of study each day and cover the same amount of material during the year.  Examples:

 •  Teach language arts on two days and math on three days.

 •  Study history for half the year and science for the other half.

Take a break to stretch or exercise, get a drink of water, and rest eyes at least once an hour whether or not you choose longer classes.

Teaching several of your children together the same topic at the same time can be the most efficient use of your time and effort.

You can use the same materials for all and adapt explanations and assignments for each, or collect age-appropriate materials on the topic for various levels.  (See suggestions in Newsletter #217.)

Compile a syllabus (a broad course outline, listing books, chapters, topics, other materials, resources, major projects, etc.) for each course or subject at the beginning of the year.

Read article by Joy Marie Dunlap on how to design and document your own courses.

Decide approximately how many pages of a textbook or other resource must be covered each day or week in order to finish it in the time you have allowed for it.  You can rough out a plan by dividing the number of pages in a book you want to use by the number of days or weeks you plan to study it.

 •  Allow for vacations, tests, and catch-up days.

 •  Textbook units can be shifted to coincide with other planned units, related events, or seasons.

 •  Record target dates in your lesson plan book for starting and ending each educational project (i.e. subject, skill, textbook, chapter, or unit) you plan to complete this year.  You may want to adjust your plan so that chapters begin and/or end with calendar weeks.

 •  Write out details of activities, assignments, or projects you want to include, along with the estimated time they will take.  Link these to the subjects, units, or textbook pages they go with.

Record your plans in a lesson plan book or notebook.  This can double as a record-keeping system by simply entering your completion dates and adding or deleting items.  See “The Homeschooler’s Journal” at www.fergnusservices.com.

Older students can become independent learners in some subjects by reading and checking off their assignments in their lesson plan books.

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Set aside a regular time each week to plan in advance for the next week.

 •  Plan your daily school lessons.  Consult your overall academic plans and lesson planner.

 •  Check your master calendar and to-do list.  Note and plan errands, phone calls, etc.

 •  Coordinate your week with your husband.  Evaluate and discuss anything that is bothering you and consider how you can fix it.

Spend a few minutes the night before, or early in the morning, looking over your plans for the day and gathering materials for the day's lessons.

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Work out a time budget that reflects your priorities.  Follow the steps below to create your regular daily and weekly schedules.

List all the things your family needs or wants to do, along with how often they are done and how much time they take each week.  Include:

 •  Family and personal devotions.  Schedule your own personal time with God in His Word and prayer to prepare for your day before your children get up.

 •  Maintenance: grooming, chores, meals, and exercise.

 •  School work: each school class or regular educational activity, reading aloud, individual studies.

 •  Calls, errands, meetings, projects, mail, paying bills, planning sessions.

 •  Social activities, relaxation, or entertainment.

 •  Sleep.  Many children suffer from sleep deprivation.  For optimal health and mental activity, it is generally recommended that children get 9-11 hours of sleep each night, even in the teen years.

Reserve Sundays for church, rest, family, and friends.

Limit the time your family spends on the computer.  This time can eat up your schedule very quickly otherwise.  Also keep your computer in a family area in order to monitor its use.

Add up the total time per week for all the activities on your list.

If your total is more than (or even close to) the hours in a week, start re-evaluating, prioritizing, trimming, or cutting out some activities until you have a comfortable fit and good balance.

 •  Allow extra time for slow-downs and transition time to move from one activity to another.

Now you can plan your family’s daily and weekly schedules to incorporate your plans and goals.

Your time budget assures that urgent demands don’t steal time from the important things you want and need to do.

 •  Establish regular times for family meals, going to bed, and getting up.

 •  Schedule a normal week's activities (see list above).

Don’t schedule so tightly that a few minutes here and there will throw everything hopelessly off schedule.

 •  Leave time for unexpected events and opportunities.

 •  Post a copy of your schedule where all can see it.  This is different from, and in addition to, your master calendar and stays the same every week, all year, or until you decide to change it.