One of my intentions as a homeschool teacher was to prepare them to be self-directed learners. This would help them be able to take any course or syllabus and learn on their own. I intentionally tried to prepare them by teaching them basic study skills and having them use their own lesson planning book.

In their junior and senior year it was very easy to begin giving the kids their own lesson planning book. You can spend money on very nice planning books. There are numerous types all over that you can purchase.

I just made a template with columns and squares using Office, which gave us the exact number of squares we needed per week. I printed out the sheets that we needed and punched holes in them. Then, we added them to a notebook.

Now, each kid had their custom planner. Adding each class and assignment in pencil, they could see what was to be done. They took pride in checking off their assignments.

This took the load off of mom/teacher nagging about lesson completion. It encouraged maturity, too. It prepares kids for college self-directed learning. There won’t be a mom there asking, “have you done your homework?”

I noticed there was no transition for my youngest when he went to college, concerning his homework or completing things on time. He knew how to schedule and plan his work. I’m so glad now that he was prepared.

Lesson organization and keeping up with assignments is one of the many things that high school students need to learn before they graduate from homeschool. This is a life skill that is important whether or not they decide to attend college.

@2017 copyright Lisa Ehrman

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Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.