April 24, 2025 • 10 mins
It’s that time again… thinking for next year. 😅 My brain is doing that homeschool ping-pong thing where I’m asking all the questions and getting... not a lot of answers (yet).
✨ What’s next?
🔬 Where are we headed with physics?
📉 Are we scaling back? Shifting focus?
🔁 Are BIG changes coming?
Right now, I’m just talking it out, sorting through ideas, and trying to feel what makes the most sense for our family and homeschool life. This episode is a little peek into the decision-making mess—and magic—that comes before the plan.
If you're starting to think about next year too, you are not alone! Come hang out, share what’s on your mind, and let’s figure it out together. 💬💕
💖 Like what you hear? Don’t forget to follow, rate, and share this podcast—it helps more homeschoolers find their people.
#ThinkingForNextYear #HomeschoolPlanning #MakingEverydayMagic #SecularHomeschool #HomeschoolMom #PlanningSeason #HomeschoolChanges #RealHomeschoolTalk #HomeschoolDecisions
-💖Shanna
Just a mama making magic!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I just might be a glutton for punishment.
Welcome back to Making Everyday Magic.
My name is Shanna and if you are new hereor I am going to a family of four,
we are nearing the end,
getting into the fourth quarter
of our eighth year of homeschooling and
my life,my personal life has finally calmed down
(00:21):
enough that I feel like I can breatheso naturally.
Start thinking about next year.
I. Before we go any further, pleasescroll down, hit the big red subscribe
button, turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find me right on down
in the comments or over an Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
(00:42):
Okay, so yes,
I am starting to thinkabout next year and I have
a lot of things.
Part of it is that we're nearingthe end of the things we're using now.
Part of it is that we've just wrappedthe third quarter,
which is just kind of a natural pointof reflection for me.
We have settled down our personal lives.
(01:03):
If you've been following the move,we got off track ten wild.
We've been busy.
But I feel like I have the headspace againto kind of, like,
think creatively,which for me means I'm planning ahead.
So looking at next
year, I just want to walk you through
what I'm thinking so far for next year.
(01:25):
I'm buying anything.I'm not doing anything.
I'm just kind of verbalizing where I'm at.
And this is twofold.
One, because it's almostthe planning season and I like to share.
So it helps me figure it out.
And to you guys
more times than I can
count, have let me know about somethingI didn't know about before.
(01:45):
So maybe if I just start sharing
my little tiny buds of thoughts,
you guys can help me solidifya direction to head to.
So let me start with something that I knowI want to do on.
I definitely will use
Michael Klay Thompson's fifth levelfor my next year eighth grader,
(02:06):
and we will do level two with my next yearfourth grader.
That is what we will do for math.
I will use Matthew C for my youngest
and probably Dennis again for my oldest,because so far format.
Yes. Love it. Love the switch.
So that is probably pretty set in stone.
I'll continue things like battery.
(02:30):
I will continue skill sharpenersgeography from Evan
more probably Zane or blues or handwriting
and all about spelling spelling.
I think that will be our last level
of spelling, at least what we didwith my older daughter.
So I don't know if we'll continuefrom there with spelling,
but what
(02:50):
I will probably add in the EvanMore Animals workbook.
Amazing animals.
Because she is just obsessed with the copythey send over to me,
so we will probably do that again.She loves it.
Now here'swhere things go a little differently.
I do not know that
(03:12):
I will continue
with full timber doodle kits.
You guys knowI absolutely love Timber Doodle.
I absolutely love them.I love the things we put in the kit.
I love everything about it.
I love the ease of ordering scheduler.
I love timber doodle.
I love the people, I love the products.
(03:32):
I love the things that they put together.
I love it.
I just genuinely don't thinkthat we will qualify for cats.
So I will probably dowhat I have always done,
which is start thereand figure out what we want.
But I cannot fathomthat we will qualify for cats.
I was genuinely shockedwhen we did this year,
(03:55):
and what put us over the top
for my seventhgrader was the world history detective,
and I don't think
that I am going to carry that throughnext year only because.
And here is another big change
I think I want to use.
Oh, freedom from work, homeschooling.
I think it aligns with where we arein our social, political climate.
(04:20):
And I think that iswhat I want to be doing.
So I think I'm going to do that.
I have not decided if I want to buythe full book package for like 300
and something dollars, it's available,or if I want to try to source them.
If you guys have follow it around along,you know that
I have never used one of those curriculumswhere I had to source every single book.
So I'm a little
(04:40):
petrified about my follow through on that,
a little terrifiedof how that's going to go,
but I think I really want to do it.
I've talked about it for a long time.
I just didn't know that we were there.
And now I think I can't not do it.
It's kind of where we're at,and I think I want to do that.
(05:02):
Before we did Texas Historyand she did it like world history.
Detective, this year,before we head into high school
level histories and other programs,I want to make sure that she gets
that decolonized,
a different perspective than what
what we were taught and then whatmost curriculum pieces will teach her.
(05:24):
So it is important to methat she has that solid foundation
in a more accurate, historybased moving forward.
And same for me. I to so that
for science for science.
I know this year we chemistry.
We're gonna have a whole videocoming up on that same.
(05:45):
I want to go forward and do physics.
I need your input on this one.
I'm thinking about somethingthat's like a Lego physics physics
with Legos,which I think is so fun and cool, or the,
the virtual reality like,metal science physics kits.
Let me know your thoughts.
I genuinely don't know.
(06:05):
Would love to hear it.
So I don't know which direction I'm going.
There.
I also am
going to do science classes at the museum.
We did.
We've done them years before this year.
The person who had organized it before
had some life stuff pop upand it just didn't happen.
And by the time that I knew about it,it was too late
(06:26):
to kind of assume that role.
So going forward, I will be organizingthat for people that I know
at the museum.
Love those classes. Absolutely love them.
Love that we can outsource that,get that kind of classroom experience.
I love it.
I might do the same thing with art.
So my youngest takes art classes
(06:47):
at the art museumand they offer him school classes.
So I might do that as wellfor art to kind of outsource that
I need to be going into this next year,
I will have an eighth grader.
I need to be thinking about high school.
And right now we are very clearlyon a path that diverges.
(07:09):
There has been mention of applyingto a magnet school here in ISD.
If that is the case, I need to be
getting my ducksin a row for that transition
and knowing like the dates
and testing and all that.
That has her decision,not not putting that on her.
(07:32):
But there's been mention of that,
and we have made it
very clear that we run our homeschool
as a collaboration.
So if at any point this isn't serving themor they want a different path,
they absolutely can advocatefor themselves for that.
And we'll explore all those optionsas a family and see just what works best.
So that is somethingwe are going to be looking into. Is.
(07:58):
High school like public school,high school.
There's been an interest,
some offhanded comments,and for me to feel like
I am doing my best job for my learner,we're going to deep dive
that and learn as much as we canand give her the best choices.
Just.
I've always said that we homeschoolfrom a place of wanting to give her
or give our children
(08:18):
the best education possible,and that just might be not at home.
And that's okay.
So that is a big change.
So I just want to be preppingand thinking about that.
Either way though,I will have a high school after that.
So I will be doing all of my researchin both directions in this coming year.
So it's going to be really importantthat we're intentional.
Very, very intentional.
(08:39):
So those are the things that I am thinkingahead.
Give me any and all feedback.
Let me know what I need to know.
Let me know what I don't know.
Let me know all of the things because
I'm justmy wheels are starting, starting to go.
So I'll be back to sharewhat I'm learning, what I'm finding,
all of the things. Because you guys knowI love to come here and cheer.
(09:00):
Physics resources.
Let me know.
Give me any links you have on sourcing
the books for freedomor your thoughts on it if you've done it.
By work, homeschooling.
I'm excited.
I'm nervous about my ability to do itbecause I've never done it.
But but I believe in myself,
and I believe in the results
and the quality of the education,so that is important to me.
(09:22):
So, yes, this is just where I'm at.
Do you do this?
Do you go through this process of, like,not a lot
and then maybe like it comes to fruitionand you've kind of got it nailed down?
This is just my first step.
This is my first step. Start.Start thinking and start.
Milon, start researching, poking around,getting some feedback so that you guys,
(09:42):
I hope that you found any of this helpful,entertaining, or informative.
As always,
you can find me right on downin the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
I'm excited to come here and sharewhat we're doing learning along the way.
If you have any resourcesyou think I need to know about,
drop them down belowbecause it's incredibly helpful to me.
Yeah, a
little more outsourcing and possibly,possibly
(10:04):
transitioning
to brick and mortar. Who knew?
Not this coming year or the year after,
but that means I got to be readythis year,
right? Right. Okay. All right.
Well, anyways,
I did have an idea for, two videos
transitioning to middle schooland just having, like, sharing people's
stories about that
(10:24):
and transitioning to high schooland sharing success stories about that.
So or, you know, all the way up.
So we might do a little series on that.
Maybe for summer would be a good time.
But we've also got to the seasonplanning videos are coming up,
which is why my brain is starting to go soit's yeah, big things, guys, big things.
I just might be a glutton for punishment.
Welcome back to Making Everyday Magic.
My name is Shanna and if you are new hereor I am going to a family of four,
we are nearing the end,
getting into the fourth quarter
of our eighth year of homeschooling and
my life,my personal life has finally calmed down
(00:21):
enough that I feel like I can breatheso naturally.
Start thinking about next year.
I. Before we go any further, pleasescroll down, hit the big red subscribe
button, turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find me right on down
in the comments or over an Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
(00:42):
Okay, so yes,
I am starting to thinkabout next year and I have
a lot of things.
Part of it is that we're nearingthe end of the things we're using now.
Part of it is that we've just wrappedthe third quarter,
which is just kind of a natural pointof reflection for me.
We have settled down our personal lives.
(01:03):
If you've been following the move,we got off track ten wild.
We've been busy.
But I feel like I have the headspace againto kind of, like,
think creatively,which for me means I'm planning ahead.
So looking at next
year, I just want to walk you through
what I'm thinking so far for next year.
(01:25):
I'm buying anything.I'm not doing anything.
I'm just kind of verbalizing where I'm at.
And this is twofold.
One, because it's almostthe planning season and I like to share.
So it helps me figure it out.
And to you guys
more times than I can
count, have let me know about somethingI didn't know about before.
(01:45):
So maybe if I just start sharing
my little tiny buds of thoughts,
you guys can help me solidifya direction to head to.
So let me start with something that I knowI want to do on.
I definitely will use
Michael Klay Thompson's fifth levelfor my next year eighth grader,
(02:06):
and we will do level two with my next yearfourth grader.
That is what we will do for math.
I will use Matthew C for my youngest
and probably Dennis again for my oldest,because so far format.
Yes. Love it. Love the switch.
So that is probably pretty set in stone.
I'll continue things like battery.
(02:30):
I will continue skill sharpenersgeography from Evan
more probably Zane or blues or handwriting
and all about spelling spelling.
I think that will be our last level
of spelling, at least what we didwith my older daughter.
So I don't know if we'll continuefrom there with spelling,
but what
(02:50):
I will probably add in the EvanMore Animals workbook.
Amazing animals.
Because she is just obsessed with the copythey send over to me,
so we will probably do that again.She loves it.
Now here'swhere things go a little differently.
I do not know that
(03:12):
I will continue
with full timber doodle kits.
You guys knowI absolutely love Timber Doodle.
I absolutely love them.I love the things we put in the kit.
I love everything about it.
I love the ease of ordering scheduler.
I love timber doodle.
I love the people, I love the products.
(03:32):
I love the things that they put together.
I love it.
I just genuinely don't thinkthat we will qualify for cats.
So I will probably dowhat I have always done,
which is start thereand figure out what we want.
But I cannot fathomthat we will qualify for cats.
I was genuinely shockedwhen we did this year,
(03:55):
and what put us over the top
for my seventhgrader was the world history detective,
and I don't think
that I am going to carry that throughnext year only because.
And here is another big change
I think I want to use.
Oh, freedom from work, homeschooling.
I think it aligns with where we arein our social, political climate.
(04:20):
And I think that iswhat I want to be doing.
So I think I'm going to do that.
I have not decided if I want to buythe full book package for like 300
and something dollars, it's available,or if I want to try to source them.
If you guys have follow it around along,you know that
I have never used one of those curriculumswhere I had to source every single book.
So I'm a little
(04:40):
petrified about my follow through on that,
a little terrifiedof how that's going to go,
but I think I really want to do it.
I've talked about it for a long time.
I just didn't know that we were there.
And now I think I can't not do it.
It's kind of where we're at,and I think I want to do that.
(05:02):
Before we did Texas Historyand she did it like world history.
Detective, this year,before we head into high school
level histories and other programs,I want to make sure that she gets
that decolonized,
a different perspective than what
what we were taught and then whatmost curriculum pieces will teach her.
(05:24):
So it is important to methat she has that solid foundation
in a more accurate, historybased moving forward.
And same for me. I to so that
for science for science.
I know this year we chemistry.
We're gonna have a whole videocoming up on that same.
(05:45):
I want to go forward and do physics.
I need your input on this one.
I'm thinking about somethingthat's like a Lego physics physics
with Legos,which I think is so fun and cool, or the,
the virtual reality like,metal science physics kits.
Let me know your thoughts.
I genuinely don't know.
(06:05):
Would love to hear it.
So I don't know which direction I'm going.
There.
I also am
going to do science classes at the museum.
We did.
We've done them years before this year.
The person who had organized it before
had some life stuff pop upand it just didn't happen.
And by the time that I knew about it,it was too late
(06:26):
to kind of assume that role.
So going forward, I will be organizingthat for people that I know
at the museum.
Love those classes. Absolutely love them.
Love that we can outsource that,get that kind of classroom experience.
I love it.
I might do the same thing with art.
So my youngest takes art classes
(06:47):
at the art museumand they offer him school classes.
So I might do that as wellfor art to kind of outsource that
I need to be going into this next year,
I will have an eighth grader.
I need to be thinking about high school.
And right now we are very clearlyon a path that diverges.
(07:09):
There has been mention of applyingto a magnet school here in ISD.
If that is the case, I need to be
getting my ducksin a row for that transition
and knowing like the dates
and testing and all that.
That has her decision,not not putting that on her.
(07:32):
But there's been mention of that,
and we have made it
very clear that we run our homeschool
as a collaboration.
So if at any point this isn't serving themor they want a different path,
they absolutely can advocatefor themselves for that.
And we'll explore all those optionsas a family and see just what works best.
So that is somethingwe are going to be looking into. Is.
(07:58):
High school like public school,high school.
There's been an interest,
some offhanded comments,and for me to feel like
I am doing my best job for my learner,we're going to deep dive
that and learn as much as we canand give her the best choices.
Just.
I've always said that we homeschoolfrom a place of wanting to give her
or give our children
(08:18):
the best education possible,and that just might be not at home.
And that's okay.
So that is a big change.
So I just want to be preppingand thinking about that.
Either way though,I will have a high school after that.
So I will be doing all of my researchin both directions in this coming year.
So it's going to be really importantthat we're intentional.
Very, very intentional.
(08:39):
So those are the things that I am thinkingahead.
Give me any and all feedback.
Let me know what I need to know.
Let me know what I don't know.
Let me know all of the things because
I'm justmy wheels are starting, starting to go.
So I'll be back to sharewhat I'm learning, what I'm finding,
all of the things. Because you guys knowI love to come here and cheer.
(09:00):
Physics resources.
Let me know.
Give me any links you have on sourcing
the books for freedomor your thoughts on it if you've done it.
By work, homeschooling.
I'm excited.
I'm nervous about my ability to do itbecause I've never done it.
But but I believe in myself,
and I believe in the results
and the quality of the education,so that is important to me.
(09:22):
So, yes, this is just where I'm at.
Do you do this?
Do you go through this process of, like,not a lot
and then maybe like it comes to fruitionand you've kind of got it nailed down?
This is just my first step.
This is my first step. Start.Start thinking and start.
Milon, start researching, poking around,getting some feedback so that you guys,
(09:42):
I hope that you found any of this helpful,entertaining, or informative.
As always,
you can find me right on downin the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
I'm excited to come here and sharewhat we're doing learning along the way.
If you have any resourcesyou think I need to know about,
drop them down belowbecause it's incredibly helpful to me.
Yeah, a
little more outsourcing and possibly,possibly
(10:04):
transitioning
to brick and mortar. Who knew?
Not this coming year or the year after,
but that means I got to be readythis year,
right? Right. Okay. All right.
Well, anyways,
I did have an idea for, two videos
transitioning to middle schooland just having, like, sharing people's
stories about that
(10:24):
and transitioning to high schooland sharing success stories about that.
So or, you know, all the way up.
So we might do a little series on that.
Maybe for summer would be a good time.
But we've also got to the seasonplanning videos are coming up,
which is why my brain is starting to go soit's yeah, big things, guys, big things.
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