5 Ways I’m Preparing for Next School Year (July Edition)

As we head into year #17 and my last year with two at home, I’m feeling nostalgic. Setting up a new homeschool year doesn’t have the same sense of excitement as it once did. There are no cute school supplies waiting to be unpackaged. And most of the curriculum is digital, so there are no Rainbow Resource orders to stalk. Still, there are things to be done. My June tasks are complete, and August will be here all too quickly.

So what’s on my July to-do list?

1. Adding this year’s courses to transcripts

Typing course names & the credit value is a small thing. But who says all prep has to be big things?

This small thing means it’s done. And, come next spring, it’s an even smaller thing to add their final grades.

Small tasks are important, too.

→ See how to set up transcripts & grab my free template.

2. Prepping for easy dinners

Those first few weeks of the school year, as you know, can be rather chaotic. Adding in some food prep now, when my days are slower-paced, means that I can set us up for easier dinners later. Mix & match from the two methods below.

Method One: Of the dinners you make the most often, which ones have sauces, marinades, or dry seasoning mixes? Now, choose 2-3 that you can schedule over the next few weeks. As you make up the mixes for those meals, make an even bigger batch & store the extras.

Method Two: I discovered ‘freezer cooking‘ shortly after we got married (back when OAMC was popular). I rarely prepare casseroles or other all-in-one dishes. I mostly stick to raw meat + marinade inside a freezer-safe container. What do you make that is similar? Every week between now and the start of school, I will double at least one dinner and freeze the (uncooked) second portion.

Neither method requires much effort since you’re already making one portion for dinner. But both methods mean that, later!, dinner requires less from whoever is cooking dinner.

A few make-ahead recipe ideas:

• Fajita Seasoning (pantry) or Cilantro-Lime Fajita Marinade (freezer)
• Basic red sauce for spaghetti, pizza, etc. (freezer)
• All-purpose BBQ rub (pantry)
• Teriyaki sauce (freezer)

Many of the recipes in these posts can also be easily frozen. Just remember, avoid freezing any recipe that contains dairy. (I also don’t like potatoes, rice, or pasta.) But meat + seasonings/marinades are a great choice!

3. Starting the kiddos’ assignment plans

More than half of their subjects this year will be from outside homeschool classes, so there isn’t much I need to do this year. It’s such a weird feeling to be handing over so much of their education!

My older son will continue to use OneNote, so I need to set up his last notebook and subjects. For the previous two years, my younger son has used Google Sheets for his assignments It’s worked quite well, but we’re going to try Google Classroom this year I don’t have a particular desire to switch, but since two of his outside classes use it, it makes sense to switch everything over.

4 Planning to be sick

Rather, what our homeschool’s sick day plans will be when the inevitable happens.

Not the so-sick-they-can’t-get-out-of-bed kind of sick But when a kiddo is just sick enough that their brain isn’t working at full strength, but not so sick that they need to spend the day in bed Which curriculum or subjects can they complete easily What educational shows could they watch What one-person games are in your homeschool game cabinet?

I always update my list, as well. Now that my kids are all in high school & work mostly independently, it’s not so hard when I do get sick. When they were younger, I’d consider which subjects were the easiest to teach, which shows we could watch, etc.

→ Get some sick day ideas here & grab your free Homeschool Sick Days planner.

5 Sketching out some field trip ideas

This will be our last year to take a field trip with two kids. I’m not great at planning field trips, and even worse at executing them. Still, I like to start the school year with a few ideas on hand.

This year, I’m going to add a twist to make sure we actually go on the field trips — each of my kiddos will plan a field trip day or two. They’ll plan the main location, a side trip or two, and lunch.