I don't do long range planning....

.....because it just doesn't work out. Resources that are working out great this year bore me to tears the next or a new resource come along that I want to use. If you look at various curriculum publishers like Sonlight they are constantly changing. Each year a slightly different booklist, resources and format. The first Sonlight catalog I looked at had each grade in a binded book , recommended only Saxon Math and a spelling program that they no longer offer. Times change.

I did find a copy of an early attempt of my long range planning. The older kids were probably about 6 & 7 at the time. Resources that I listed as being top-notched were sub-par by the time they reached the age to use them. It is a source of humility for me. I know I spent a great deal of time on it but it was useless within a year or two. I could've spent the time with my kids instead of researching and plotting out a defunct homeschool plan.

What I found that really works is keeping a notebook that I keep a running tally of what we have done, what we could do and what we should do. I don't have tabs for those labels....it's just more of a notation. I see a resource that might be interesting- I note it in the notebook. I keep a copy of various booklist that I come across. I might print off an idea from the various email groups that I'm on. I keep a list of science topics that I want to make sure they cover. Design-A-Study's Science Scope and Guides to History are resources that I keep accessible and whenever I wonder if I'm doing enough or if they are learning enough I can pull these out and check off items that we have covered. If I see any "gaps" I can adjust my curriculum next quarter. There have been very few times I felt there were any major "gaps" that I needed to address.

This time, planning is going to be so easy. First of all, I've been there and done that. I'm no longer lured by all the newest and greatest homeschool products on the market. I have no idea how a new homeschooler in 2008 sifts through all that information and comes out with a workable plan that didn't cost them a fortune. So much of the newest and greatest products are complete marketing junk but it would be so very easy to be lured in.

Second and more importantly I know what works for my family. The perfect curriculum for me is the one I create myself. I'm not writing up detailed lesson plans- ugh! -too tedious. I have a foundation that I work with and a year ahead of time I consult my notebook and start laying out a rough framework. Each season I do a quarterly review then I work out a day to day plan 3-6 months at a time. This allows me to customize and tweak as I go along. The only times during the past 13 years that I needed to make a major change during these quarterly reviews were the times I strayed from my CM foundation. Occasionally I did have moments of insanity and let myself get lured into using a resource that claimed to be the greatest.....sigh. But no longer- I have my foundation and I will not sacrifice the present moment with my children to overly plan the future.