Plan Your Year vs. Put Your Year on Autopilot: my thoughts and a review

I was given an advance copy of Pam Barnhill's Plan Your Year in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review or compensated in any other way, and all opinions expressed are my own.

So the other day an Instagrammer asked, “If you were a teacher before homeschooling, why did you decide to homeschool your children?” There were lots of answers that I held in common with the other respondents, but I had to be honest and say that, well, God kinda made up my mind for me.

So once the decision was made, my next question became “How do I plan for this?” One might think that my background in education would more than prepare me for the task at hand, but really, it did not. I never had to pick my curriculum, I never had to teach more than one subject! Plus, I had always joked that there was a reason that I taught high school and not elementary - after 56 minutes I could say, “Bye bye!” and start with a new, fresh batch of students. (In retrospect, this is probably not a good reason to state out loud.)

Thankfully, a benefit of being slow to make a decision was that I was able to learn about many different resources for new homeschoolers - chief of which was Pam Barnhill’s book: Plan Your Year. I used her first edition of the book to plan our year when we were still “playing” at homeschooling (because our oldest was still just in preschool) and it was a wealth of information. Then over a year ago, Pam released her “Put Your Homeschool On Autopilot” course and I decided to give that a shot, since this would be the year that we would no longer be “playing” but doing this homeschool-thang for real.  And that was a good decision. Using her e-course was instrumental for me having the confidence to tackle this past school year with a baby, a preschooler and as a “first-year teacher”. Because if there’s one thing that has helped me by being a former public school teacher, it’s this: I *know* what being a first-year teacher is like. (Spoiler alert: It’s not easy.)

In my opinion, the “Autopilot” course was mostly her e-book read aloud, but I think that was its strength. I liked having each chapter broken down into “module” form, with corresponding worksheets. I liked listening to Pam’s southern accent. And I knew that if I worked each module from beginning to end, I would have my year all planned out.

Then I received an email that Pam was releasing Plan Your Year, 2nd edition - with more material, more contributors and new snazzy forms! So how did it stack up against the old book/online course?

Well, Pam herself says, “PYY includes more options and spreads a wider feast of ideas about homeschool planning so you can pick and choose. Autopilot is video-based and hyper-focused on one method of planning that will help you plan an entire year in a few sittings. All of the material in Autopilot is included in Plan Your Year -- you just have to hunt for it.” This is 100% accurate. I appreciated reading the guest contributors’ ideas in each chapter (my favorites were Amy Milcic’s “How to use a Homeschool Vision Board for Inspiration” and Mystie Winkler’s “Break Week and Why It’s Vital to Your Sanity”) but in some ways the “wider feast of ideas” actually made it harder to digest.

Maybe Pam noticed this as well because each chapter closes with Action Items that are clear and concise, along with the corresponding forms. I found that when I got to these Action Items, if there was any lingering confusion/overwhelm from reading the "wealth of ideas," then the list brought things back into focus. Ah... peace and purpose restored.

And that’s really the point right? I’m planning the year so I can have peace that what I’ve chosen will accomplish the purposes I’ve set out for it. To that end, Plan Your Year is an excellent resource for the new homeschooler, or the “I’m-wondering-if-I’ve-really-got-this” homeschooler - and I’ve been both.

A Few of My Favo(u)rite Things...

This afternoon as I was sipping my drink, I thought it might be fun to share some of the things that I really look forward to having whenever we come to the UK. They are mostly all food, because well, I like food. And drink. (It explains why I'm nearly always heavier when I come home than when I leave... though the last time we came it was a lot more pleasing to my ego to say that I was heavier when I left because I was pregnant. Yeah... all those pounds I put on last time were *totally* normal pregnancy weight gain pounds. Totally.)

1. All the elderflower things

Elderflower! So exotic, so beautiful, and in the summer, in so many things. My perennial favorite is BottleGreen Sparkling Presse (water), but this summer saw the addition of Gooseberry and Elderflower yoghurt. These are dessert to me, and probably the main reason for my weight gain since I tend to sneak one every night after the kids are in bed. (ha!)

2. All the rhubarb things

Speaking of yogurt... every summer I've come here I've always been able to find rhubarb yogurt. This summer it's been a bit more difficult (guess it's going out of style) but Waitrose pulled through with their rhubarb and custard flavor. Readers from the midwest might be puzzled by this rhubarb-obsession, but I'll clarify that when I visit my parents (in the midwest) I like my rhubarb there just as much. For some reason rhubarb is just not to be found in California - or when it is, it's like, $6/pound. So more often than not, it's a delicacy to be enjoyed when I travel. And here in the UK, you can find it in yogurt, juice, popsicles (they're called "lollies" over here), crumbles, jams, gins and ciders.

And sweeties!

3. Tea and scones
I would say that tea is a actually still a new-to-me thing. Coffee was my go-to drink in the morning, but when I got pregnant with E my taste buds changed and tea was put in the rotation. Now I'll enjoy both, but tea is what I drink regularly. The nice thing about that is there is no shortage of tea around here! Plus, since there's less caffeine in tea, it feels perfectly natural to come in from a blustery day outside and fix myself a cuppa. Pair it with a fruit scone and watch me do my happy dance.

I do. 1 sugar and a splash of milk. Ta.

4. British strawberries
Fresh from the farm, plump and sooo juicy. The first time I had these was when my high school choir and I toured the British isles. Our director made the tour bus pull over when he saw a roadside stand selling the little rubies, and then a bus full of (always) hungry teenagers descended upon the fruit. Mmm... so good. We're lucky that when we come back to visit, it's almost always in the summer and therefore always during strawberry season.  I think there is a reason my kids are "fruit bats"... just look at this face.

5. The scenery
The one non-edible on the list - but how could you not love these views?

I wish I was a better photographer! But I hope some of these suffice.

Have you been to the UK? What are some of your favourite things? What did I miss? I'm still here for a bit, so let me know so I can check it out myself... :D

Doin' That One Thing...

The internet seems to think that Eleanor Roosevelt said the following:
"Do one thing every day that scares you."
Despite the fact that this sounds very much like advice someone would give at a modern-day graduation ceremony, and not something that someone from late 30's/early 40's would say, it's still a sentiment that I get. We gotta stretch, we gotta grow - otherwise life looks a little bleak, floating down the stream with all the other dead quitty fish.

Well, I'm proud to say that last week I took this advice to heart and I *did* do something every day that scared me: I drove a tank van in England. I drove it on the motorways.

On the left.

I drove it on the A-roads.

On the left.

I drove it in town.

The "L" is for "learner", not left. But still!

And I drove it on crazy small country lanes, that inexplicably, are still considered two-way roads.

Photo credit: this guy. Read his post. 100% true. 100% funny.

And now my heart is prone to palpitations. BUT. I. DID. IT. With only a minor loss of paint and t-shirts due to excessive sweating.  And (unfortunately?) I will have get to do it again next week, and the week after.
But you guys, I/we are having a good time so far! We're staying at a lovely cottage (complete with No shower!)

We found a super awesome playground.

We took the train to London and saw Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace

But, alas, no Big Ben

And the weather has been 100% totally British!

Clouds for days... :)

I hope to post more soon, but I will at least drop this post here now to say, "We're here! And we're doing well!"

Except for my heart. That poor thing needs a vacation.

When Survival Mode Meets Lent

I've been plagued by feelings of inefficiency this week. (Of course, by "this week" I mean "since Fire Baby was born" but you know,  let's not exaggerate here). More and more I'm becoming aware of the Things-I-Should-Be-Doing but for whatever reason am not, and it's got me down. Things like: meal planning, reading actual books, getting steps, drinking water, praying, smiling at my kids/spouse, planning ahead... I feel like I could go on, but even as I create this list my brain is seizing up.

And that's my problem, I have a thought, "Add this to my shopping list/calendar/to do list" and before I can write it down, I forget. Both to write it down and to actually do it. Oftentimes, the reason is a kid's need. But if I'm being honest, many times it's also just me being distracted. So I'm making my way through my days getting the stuff done that needs to be done (eat/wash/school/buy food/sleep (ha!)/repeat) but never making any headway on those "things that need to be done" (see above). The treading water metaphor comes to mind.

This is why I'm so grateful for the time my husband gives me on Sunday afternoon. I can do my  "Scholé Every Sunday" or just catch up on that nagging stuff. Unfortunately, more and more my Sunday afternoons are spent doing business, and less and less being spent on scholé.

I've already cleared some commitments off my plate - ones that clearly needed to be passed off for my health and family's happiness - but once you've done that, what else do you do? Just wait for the baby to start sleeping through the night? For the oldest child to turn 10 years old (the year when it supposedly "gets easier" according to this story) Ever since my 40th birthday this past February it's become a more and more urgent thought that I need to "get on with this" and not wait for some mythical day where everything's perfect, and the meaningful things in life happen consistently and with a cute mug of tea in hand.

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The closest thing I've had to #motherculture in...a millennia it seems! Props to @living_book_press for providing the reading material 📖😍

A post shared by Sara Rooney (@rooney.sara) on Apr 5, 2019 at 1:57pm PDT

(Though if the meaningful things do happen you can still have the cute mug o'tea)

I guess what I'm trying to say here is:
1. I feel old.
2. I feel tired.
3. I feel bogged down with the demands of life.
BUT I'm going to try very hard to not let these thoughts get me down.

It's also why I was so very grateful to find Ginny from Not So Formulaic and her Lenten study.  Her insight that "our Lenten obligation is in many ways met by the vocation of wife and mom," was the grace-filled word that I needed to hear. Lent this year arrived in the thick of all the feelings that I already had about not doing enough. I was (am) living in survival mode, and now, somehow, I have to do more? Pray *more*? Give *more*? Fast *more*? Well, yes... but No. I'm already fulfilling many of the obligations of Lent simply by being a mom of littles who are still quite dependent on me for everything. Instead, I needed a mind-shift: Lent is about "remembering ourselves back into the love of God" (a line from Laura at Mothering Spirit - who also spoke grace-filled words that I needed to hear). And remembering sounds like a spiritual practice that I can do.

So this Lent I've tried to remember the things that matter and move forward no matter how imperfectly I ended up doing it. Some weeks I woke up early and prayed a rosary (half-asleep with a recording - but a bad rosary is better than no rosary, right?) Some weeks I served my family by actually filling out the meal plan in advance. Some days I was able to fast from complaining (and some days not so much). Every Sunday of Lent I've done my "Every Sacred Sunday" journal and a little reading before doing the fiddly business of errands and such. Upon reflection, I see how God has used this time to lift my head from staring at my feet on the treadmill/waters that surround (choose whichever metaphor you prefer). It feels like coming up for air and finding myself inside the glorious lightness of grace.

God is good.

So good that as Lent comes to a close I'm finding myself thinking that the things I've "given up and taken up" I will continue to take up and give up. I'm not looking forward to Easter so that things can go back to normal. (Or as my son asked earlier this week, "When Easter comes can we give up Lent?") I'm looking forward to celebrating the Life Abundant that Jesus Is. You've read it here first: this year may go down in the books as the year I learned that Lent need not be dreaded. Which is good, because dreading something takes a lot of energy and now that I'm on the other side of the hill the words of Kimberly "Sweet Brown" Wilkins come to mind...

"Ain't nobody got time for that." 😎