Homeschool Planning

It's that time of year again. Many of us are looking back over the school year and thinking about our plans for the next. Some have already laid their 2010/2011 plans in stone. Others are putting it off until September.

In a beautiful effort to help us all with this task (that some of us love and others of us loathe) Jenny Bales presented a webinar series on the topic last year. Those webinars were recorded and can help you get it together this year. Prayerfully.

Jenny's homeschool group holds a Day of Reflection for moms in preparation for planning the next school year. They developed a self-evaluation survey for the mothers to complete with questions covering personal spirituality, successes and struggles from this year, and goals for the next year.

Jenny brings that experience to the entire Catholic homeschool community via two free webinars. These are ones well worth your time.

Prayerfully Reflecting on Last Year
Here is a chance to really step back from the busy-ness of family life and pause to reflect on the previous academic year's highs and lows. The focus will be to take some time to ponder our personal spiritual growth and our successes and challenges from the past year of homeschooling with a goal to prayerfully discern what, if anything, needs to change for next year. Participants are provided with a thorough self-evaluation survey at the close of the webinar to complete on their own time, which has been an inspiring process for all who have done it, so far! This webinar is part one of a two part series, continuing with Prayerfully Planning for Next Year but one can be attended without the other, if desired.

Prayerfully Planning for Next Year
Regardless of what stage of planning for next year moms have completed, this will be an opportunity to consider our plans in light of God's will through prayerful discernment. Having evaluated the previous academic year in the webinar Prayerfully Reflecting on Last Year, our goals for this discussion are to ask the Lord for guidance in choosing materials and preparing lessons for next year and setting some goals for ourselves, our family, and each individual child that truly reflect our priorities. This webinar is part two of a two part series but one can be attended without the other, if desired.

Presenter's Biography
Jenny is a richly blessed homeschooling mother of two children, with a baby boy due in June. Her daughter is finishing second grade and her son is finishing pre-Kindergarten. Previously a middle school and high school English/Language Arts teacher, youth retreat director, and strategic planning consultant (among other things), her enthusiasm for and experience with personal and curriculum planning has been a great asset to her own homeschooling way of life. She cannot wait to share with you the process she developed with her local homeschooling group to evaluate each homeschooling year and make plans for the next year all focusing on God's will for our families and raising holy children in Christ-centered homes!