A few months ago, I was feeling overwhelmed by all the things, but especially about our homeschool. I was set to have a baby in the next month, Christmas was upon us, and then adding in homeschool on top of everything else - it was easy to feel overwhelmed! As someone who loves time management and productivity, whenever I start to get overwhelmed by life, I will eventually realize that something needs to change. I will stop, reflect, and ask "What could I do to make life a little easier?" And often, it just takes some strategic planning (and occasionally taking things off my plate) to start feeling in control and not a slave to my tasks anymore.
I've been doing a "Weekly Prep" as I've called it for many years since my kids were little. All it entails is doing tasks that help my week run more smoothly and help me feel more at peace going into the week. The list of tasks changes over time, throughout the seasons, as our kids get older, etc., but the idea has never gone away.
So, when I started to get overwhelmed by all the homeschool tasks (the extra tasks - not the daily homeschool lessons and things), I decided it would help if I made a list and worked on them one afternoon every month. I typically do this on the second to last Friday of every month, but you could easily implement this whenever it works for you! I chose the second to last Friday rather than the last Friday so I had time to get books from the library, for supplies to arrive, and I had some time to reflect and process before the next month begins.
Here are the tasks on my Homeschool Monthly Prep list:
- Tidy homeschool space
- Tidy curriculum cart
- Look through all curricula > note anything needed
- Order/request any books needed
- Plan any supplemental activities/crafts/videos/etc.
- Order supplies/materials needed
- Plan any field trips
- Sign up for extracurriculars
- Schedule appointments
- Update free reads basket
- Print any pages needed
- Switch out binders/folders
- Restock pencils, staples, tape, paper, etc.
- Go through photos on phone > delete, organize, save
- Go through emails > delete, organize, save
- Log/store anything needed for requirements
- Reflect on month > any changes?
This list will likely look different for every family, so I decided to create an editable Canva document you can save and adapt to fit your needs! You can find it here:
I hope this idea was helpful and will make your homeschool life just a little bit easier!