Planning for 2009

Catalog and convention fever has hit the Sonlight Forums! Who would imagine that a curriculum catalog would generate so much excitement?

But sometimes a new Sonlight catalog generates frustration and confusion. Why? Because it seems as though it can't possibly be time to plan for a new school year when we're not done with this year's materials yet! Planning what to purchase for the coming year can cause your head to spin at all the possibilities, especially if you're trying to plan for multiple students.

A simple tool that I've found particularly helpful over the years is a spreadsheet that allows me to do some advance planning. There are many benefits to the exercise of filling out this type of spreadsheet:

• it allows me to *see* my planning all in one location (I tend to be a visual person)
• it often generates planning ideas that I hadn't considered before
• it prevents me from possibly "missing" doing a Core level before a student graduates
• it makes it easier to see where I might combine students with one Core, or at least plan on using "complimentary" Cores.

I'm sure there are more benefits to planning ahead ... including the fact that you really can't aim well at a goal until you set it ... but these few were sufficient to motivate me to invest the time in creating the spreadsheet.

Perhaps my spreadsheet will be helpful in your planning as well! Please feel free to copy this idea and utilize it for your own homeschool. This one is a sample of our homeschool plan ... take some time to create your own! If you like what you see, feel free to email me for a blank copy of this Excel spreadsheet.



~Judy
Sonlight Consultant