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How to Plan The Story of the World History Curriculum

How to Plan the Story of the World History Curriculum

(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

I’m so glad I found The Story of the World (SotW) curriculum for history!  So far we’ve used and loved Volumes 1 through 3, and I just finished planning Volume 4 for the upcoming school year.

* 2023 Update: I’ve now used all 4 volumes and still highly recommend this curriculum! This year I’m starting again in Volume 1 with my middle and youngest kids!

I’ve already talked about how we customize SotW in our homeschool. In this post, I’ll show you how I tackle planning it. 

Story of the World, Vol. 1 Bundle: Ancient Times; Text, Activity Book, and Test & Answer Key
Story of the World, Vol. 1 Bundle: Ancient Times; Text, Activity Book, and Test & Answer Key
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Looking Back on 2020: A Homeschool End-of-Year Review (Part 1)

Looking Back on 2020: A Homeschool End-of-Year Review

2020. What a doozy!

Most of us are still reeling from the unexpected spin COVID-19 put on the last few months of this school year. And just when we thought things were looking up, we find ourselves in the midst of another set of trials and civil unrest.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I was planning out our curricula and wondering what the year would bring. I definitely didn’t expect all this!

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A Tour of Our Homeschool: Math Shelves

A Tour of Our Homeschool Math Shelves

In the previous post in this series, I introduced you to the curriculum shelves in our homeschool area. Now let’s zoom in and see what’s filling up those shelves. 

Note: If you missed the first couple posts in this Tour of Our Homeschool series, start here to get caught up. (There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Right now, it seems to work for us to have a shelf (or two) for each main subject area and a coordinating bin for the non-book materials for that subject. So, for example, here are the math shelves and the storage cube drawer where I keep the curricula and math supplements we aren’t using this year.

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A Tour of Our Homeschool: School Room

A Tour of Our Homeschool School Room

Asking what a homeschool room should look like is like asking what someone’s backyard should look like. That is, there’s no one right answer. It totally depends on the needs, desires, resources, and situation of each unique family.

So far, in this Tour of Our Homeschool series, I’ve shared about the desks and tables we use for homeschooling all over our house. Now I’d like to focus in on the corner of our lower level that we call our “school room”.

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Schoolhouse Teachers Mini-Review: Our Experience So Far

Schoolhouse Teachers Mini Review title on watercolor background

I’ve mentioned the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website here and there on this blog in the past. Last year (2018), I won a year’s membership to the site and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. In fact, I think it will be a staple in our homeschool from now on! 

Someday I plan on writing a full, detailed review but, until “someday” comes, I wanted to fill you in on our experience with it so far. 

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Top 10 Time-Saving Tips for Homeschoolers

Top 10 Time-Saving Tips for Homeschoolers with hour glass on sand background

Homeschoolers have gained back a lot of time with their kids by keeping them home. But it still seems like it’s never enough! So, in the spirit of not wasting any more of this precious commodity, let’s get right to the tips!

The list below includes the top ten ways I’ve learned to save time in our homeschool. It’s organized from very general to very specific – hopefully there’s an idea for everyone!

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A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Family

A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Family title on blue sky background with red heart balloon

One of the things that helped me the most in my transition from “What is homeschooling?” to “Let’s homeschool!” was reading about what homeschoolers actually do all day. Reading “a day in the life” blog posts about actual, real-life, home educating families doing actual, real-life homeschool-y things opened my eyes to the limitless variety of ways learning can (and does) happen. 

I’ve been wanting to write my own “Day in the Life…” post for a long time and here it finally is!

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Our Curriculum Choices Year 6

Our Curriculum Choices Year 6 title on chalkboard background

I can’t believe it’s August again!

That means it’s time to share our homeschool plans for the year ahead. (If you’re curious about what we’ve used in the past, check out this post which has links to all the previous years.)

Year 6 Snapshot

We’re really in the thick of it now. I’ll be homeschooling my fifth and second grade boys and their three year old sister (whose unreliable, dwindling naps should make for a crazy-making an interesting year). 

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Strategies for Buying Homeschool Curriculum: A Grocery Store Analogy

Strategies for Buying Homeschool Curriculum title on grocery aisle background

Is it just me or has our society overcomplicated things that should be fairly straightforward? 

Take food, for example. The overall process seems like it should be pretty simple. Grow or buy food. Cook food. Eat food. Done. 

But when you get to the grocery store and spend the first 15 minutes just trying to pick a breakfast cereal from the 129 choices available, you quickly realize this might be harder than you thought.

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Homeschool Planning with a Master Course of Study

Homeschool Planning with a Master Course of Study title with partial spreadsheet

I’m a list person. I love lists. If there’s a problem for me to solve, the solution will probably involve a list. And, if it’s a list in the form of a spreadsheet, all the better!

Now, even if you’re not on the same page as me about lists being the answer to life’s most pressing problems, please hear me out. 

There’s one list – and, yes, it’s a spreadsheet *giddy squeals* – that has helped me plan out our homeschool years more than any other resource I’ve made or bought. The best part is, it’s *EASY* and *FREE* to make and highly customizable. 

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