Blueprint Homeschooling: How to Plan a Year of Home Education That Fits the Reality of Your Life

Blueprint Homeschooling: How to Plan a Year of Home Education That Fits the Reality of Your Life

Blueprint Homeschooling is for home educating parents of all philosophies and styles who are looking for a better way to manage their time, energy, and sanity throughout the school year. Do you spend your school days searching for missing ingredients to science experiments? Do you feel like you are constantly behind or like you are not doing enough? It doesn't have to be this way. Blueprint Homeschooling is a friendly, humorous guide to planning your school year. Part workbook, part reference, it includes 43 step-by-step exercises to help you sort out your own approach to home education. Before you even take a glance at a calendar, you'll discover why you homeschool, explore some of the educational philosophies and teaching methods available, and set goals that take into account the reality of your life. By the time you finish the book, you'll have all the tools and supplies to make it through an entire year of home education, fine-tuned to the real world you live in.Topics include:~Discovering your values~Understanding your child's learning style, your teaching style, and educational philosophies~Setting long-term and short-term goals~Setting "bare minimums" for events like illnesses or major life changes~Creating a schedule that fits your daily reality and energy levels~Scheduling recurring events (like holidays, tournaments, or sports seasons)~Creating your own curriculum using library resources~Avoiding burnoutFilled with practical advice and stories from those in the homeschool trenches, Blueprint Homeschooling has something for beginners and seasoned homeschool veterans alike. "I'm going to be reading it again. And again. And again. Honestly, it's probably one of the first things I'll recommend to folks who are new to homeschooling, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone else, regardless of how long they've been homeschooling." - Lindsey Clements, homeschool mom of two "It helps you create a great set of plans for your family, no matter if you're starting out, or are a seasoned homeschooling parent. This is a book to use every school year." - Sarah Gallagher, homeschooling mom of four When I first started homeschooling, it was easy to feel lost in the sea of available options. I was fortunate to have a mentor who took me under her wing and walked me through the first few years of homeschooling. As some of my friends started to homeschool, I wanted to offer them the same kind of help my mentor had given me. After writing several essays to encourage and inspire them along the way, my friends asked me to write a book. Blueprint Homeschooling is my gift to those friends. It's full of all the advice, encouragement, inspiration, and observations about homeschool life I could come up with, built around the idea of planning for the perfect homeschool year. I hope that it will be a great help to you as you journey through your years as a homeschool parent. Amy Knepper is co-founder of a homeschool community in Washington State that serves hundreds of families with educational opportunities in theater, art, music, science, and math. Now living in Southern California, she devotes her time to local and online communities about writing and education. She has been homeschooling her two kids for seven years and is an avid fan of black tea, Korean dramas, and video games.