So now you have thought about your goals for your child/ren and the educational style that you resonate with, it's time to move on to putting some of your ideas down onto paper.


Here is the 12 year Home Education Planner Template (A4 or Letter) that I mocked up to help me pencil in ideas for materials and resources as I came across them.

Actually that's just what I did. I used a pencil (as it was erasable) and wrote titles and ideas in the table cells that they applied to - that way I could do it for either subject or grade. I could shift the titles sideways in their subject areas or delete others as I continued to refine my choices, adding new ideas as I found them too.

Remember to write in all the complementary learning materials that you have sitting around your home too, that perhaps you don't automatically see as 'educational'. Stretching your mind-set to see outside-the-box is part of satisfying yourself of the wholism of home educating. When a game can be maths/geography/spelling, when hanging out the washing is life skills, that favourite computer game becomes logic/thinking skills, that is when you have discovered the benefits of learning in the home environment and in the family.

There are a few other sheets that I added into the template too. One that really helped me was the "Ages and Stages" one where you write in your child's name and the age that they will be each year they will be home educated. What this showed me was where I could combine learning opportunities - for example where an older child will reach the age/stage that they could teach (their fourth repetition of) history to the next child.

I see no issues with one child teaching another within the environment of the home where a parent is there anyway and firmly believe that you learn more when you teach something to someone else.

Another thing I have learned in the process of living this lifestyle is that the maxim to Keep It Simple reigns supreme!

There's no point in making life harder than it is with children around 24/7 anyway.

So as you go about looking at resources for your family's education, keep your goals for your children and your preference for educational style at the forefront of your mind.

Use it as a filter to discard materials that do not measure up. There is so much out there eliminating all else is necessary - been there, done that!