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​I love planning the next year of homeschool!! It’s a time filled with so many possibilities and ideals that you hope and pray to bring to fruition the upcoming year. Today I’m going to walk you through my process of planning and give you a sneak peek into the books and curriculum we have lined up for my upcoming year 2.

When we first started researching schools for our kids, we stumbled upon Montessori.  I had heard about it in my single days, but didn't really pay much attention because I didn't have any children yet. I wish I had because implementing Montessori philosophy at home from birth would have greatly simplified and helped guide from the very start how to turn every thing into a beautiful learning moment. You know what the good thing is?  If you have small children, it's not too late.  Also, by reframing how you see your home from your child's eyes, it's actually pretty easy to implement at home.

When I first learned about the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling, the area I felt the most apprehensive about was Nature Study.  For some reason it intimidated me.  Chalk it up to me thinking I wasn't good at science, good enough at art, just not good enough (period). Gosh, we are our own worst critics, huh?

So naturally, I dove right in and learned that it is the one subject I look forward to the most now! It's everything I wish Science was when I was a kid and I am learning right along with my kiddos.  

I've learned a thing or two and want to let you in on it.  My very first suggestion: make Nature Study your ON-THE-GO subject!

It’s midsummer 2020 and I believe it wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that nearly all parents have had some sort of conversation regarding homeschooling this upcoming year due to the pandemic. Lots of parents I have personally spoken to say one of the following:

1. 100% we’re homeschooling next year, but I have absolutely no idea where to start
2. this wasn’t on my radar at all but now I’m considering it
3. no way, these kids are going to school next year!
   

No matter where you lie, it doesn't hurt to know the facts about how to legally homeschool your children.  I'll be specifically linking and siting options pertinent to the State of Florida, however, many of these links will also help guide you toward the rules and regulations of the state in which you live. 

Good news is... it's actually quite easy in many, if not, most states in the US!

​This post may include affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase based on my recommendation, I get a small remuneration at no extra expense to you. I only recommend things I actually use and believe to be a blessing.

​Recently I posted how we organize our school curriculum for my year 1 student and my year 0 student. As I was filing all the books in their proper spots, I quickly realized that I was going to have to be a bit more creative when it came to organizing Math. If you're like us, we have an incredible amount of math manipulatives and two activity boxes from The Good and The Beautiful Math K & 1 Math to organize. That's a whole lot! Let's dive in so you can see how we're doing it. 

I hope you enjoy this video below as I tour our Math organization in this home. Below you'll see all the resources I use and or recommend to start organizing all the math things in your own home.

​When I first stumbled upon this idea of having a morning menu within a morning basket, I thought it was superfluous. My naive self thought time wasn’t well spent in a basket when you have core curriculum to get to. Luckily, when I was knee deep in homeschool research, I started to journal and truly crystalize in my mind what my ideal home education environment looked and felt like for our family.

I started to ask myself things like:

1. What kind of environment or feeling did I want to present to my kids?
2. What are some daily priorities that I don't want to miss out on?
3. What are fun ways to love on my kiddos that helps them love to learn first thing in the morning?

​Eventually, all the answers to these question brought me back around to why this once "superfluous basket" was exactly what I needed to start our days with.

Homeschooling households with multiple ages, especially young ages, inevitably arrive at one point in their journey and ask, "How in the world do I school my young ones informally without them disturbing the older formally schooled child?"

In this post, I hope to give you some insight as to how you can tackle that question and set yourself up for success!

​I know we recently posted about our homeschool room, but I had to follow that post up with our newest organizational components, because we have put soooo much thought into this that it is worthy of sharing.  My hope is that if you are in the same boat as I am (finally having the guts to jump in after experiencing virtual schooling in March - June 2020) than here you'll find some inspiration, some motivation, and perhaps pick up some tidbits that will help you along on your family's journey as well.