We are on our third week of homeschooling for the year and I am back into the swing of planning like I never stopped. Everyone has their own way of planning, but I’ve been often asked how I plan out each week. I can’t say that what follows is how I will plan next year, but it works for now.

I begin Sunday afternoons by looking at my Google calendar to see what we have going on for the week and jot it into my weekly planner. Then I do a quick overview of what I would like to get done school-wise throughout the week.

I found my planner in the teachers’ area in the back-to-school section at Target. I have a real problem sticking with the same planner so buying one for less than $10 is the way to go.

A lot of the curriculum I use is pretty open-and-go, so I often just write down the subject name so I can pick up and do the next lesson.

I also take this time to order any library books that I may need for the next few weeks. I try to order 3 weeks’ worth of books at a time that correlates with what we are studying in social studies and science; that way I know I have them when I need them.

I make any copies I need for the week and make sure I have my supplies ready.

That is really it for my Sunday; all of this typically takes me around 15–20 minutes, depending on how often I get interrupted.

Every evening, I fill out my kids’ spiral notebooks with what they need to get done the following day and put any worksheets or papers into their binders. Because the week is already laid out for me in my weekly planner, filling out their notebooks only takes me about 5 minutes every evening.

I try very hard to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible. This year I have 3 kids in school and a toddler causing major chaos, so simplicity is the key to staying on track.