By guest author Carrie Austin

After 11 years of writing lesson plans during my public school teaching days, by the time I came home to homeschool my own kiddos, I had realized that the weekly plan format for lesson plans had its share of problems.

If there was any interruption to the week’s schedule, when using a weekly plan, I was quickly “off schedule” the rest of the week according to the plan. This left me rushing to cram the rest of the week’s work into fewer days, simply to be on schedule for the next week of plans.

So, with this in mind, when I began writing plans for my own kiddos I made daily plans, rather than using a weekly grid. In this way, if there was a big disruption on any day, I could set aside the daily plan without feeling like I had disrupted my entire week. Then, I would just pick the guide back up the next day and continue on where I left off, without feeling the need to double up and get back on schedule.

My goal was to finish the guide by year-end, without making each week a cramming in process in between. So, if you can think of your HOD guide as a series of days, rather than a week to be completed within in a week, you will find your path smoother all year long!

About the Author: Carrie Austin

Carrie Austin, from Heart of Dakota Publishing, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a middle school endorsement. She received her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. Carrie has eleven years of classroom teaching experience. Carrie and her husband, Mike, are the parents of Cole, Shaw, Greyson, and Beau whom they currently teach at home. Request Heart of Dakota’s 2017/18 catalog here.