How to write a main lesson plan
Figure out how long you'd like to take in your lesson.
A lesson plan can be anywhere from 1 week to 8 weeks, generally. That figure is not set in stone and you can play around in the area of what works well for your learner. You can figure out how long you want to take, but in my practice of this method I have seen that really anything can be niched down and nuanced into different subjects. From there you'll want to just make a list of all of the places you can draw resources from. The library, yes, but are there certain booklists in that subject online for you to reference? I have actually had great luck searching for 'pre-cambrian books 3rd grade', which is oddly specific. It's definitely worth a shot to search for things either in your child's interest or relevant to that interest.
2. Make your own 'sketched out' workbook. If your student is over age 7, do this with them.
Work on one page a day, take breaks often, you can take up to 3 days for one page for older children but perhaps your older child would like to work on more than one page a day. The goal is to finish the book and to finish on schedule but sometimes we develop other interests and get involved in a little thing called reality. Friendships, community, and family all taker time. In a homeschool environment for learning we are often left to harmonize the bits that get tangled within each other. We get in our own way at some points, and this is only one way to work with the demands of a life of homeschooling. We set the standard of grit and tenacity, and we also set the standard of adaptation and growth.
Work with your student, try to make one of your own on your own time but allow them to see you working on it. Your child seeing you struggle and work to get things done may just inspire them on a day where they are not feeling so excited to move forward in their studies.
Put it all together. The day it all comes together, take out all of the items you've used in the main lesson to make it a fun day. This is usually a day you've worked hard for! So, it is worth celebration and love.
3. Dedicate the time you'll need to work on it.
I am so dedicated to this I will write extra for my blog to ensure I have previously scheduled posts in order to pre-read the subject material and work on my workbook. Many times teachers will prep for hours to teach their one 30 minute class, and the same can be said for a homeschool teacher who has many pupils to tend to and to notice through a day. Each class is like a living being in and of itself- dedicated to the mothers children and that is different than a teacher planning their day. In some ways it will take far less time- there are less factors to navigate your small classroom over the large demands of a teacher notwithstanding other federal oversight in the profession. Bottom line- no matter where you are teaching you will need time to prep your material and your students will benefit from having your own work to reference because they will be exposed to beauty as you see it, as you draw it, as you express it in your teaching.
4.Find your own interest in the subject.
Many times, the things my son is into are things that I do not find a ton of interest in- things that he likes do not have to be things I like. However, I can find something that I like about the subject and that will aid me in going deeper into the subject. It has been helpful to use these 'sparks' of inspiration to drive myself to many reference points often sending me deeper into it than my son would know through me in one area, and yet it inspires me to work with the interest of another to draw common points. Revealing that history is created and made by people like you and me and is something that this type of research can do.
5. Don't wait around for perfection.
Thought webs, notes, task lists, sketched out workbooks, and more are all tools to put together the final product. You want to just go for it! Remember that ultimately you are doing this for your child, and there are more resources at your fingertips than there ever have been before. There is a lot of pressure in the homeschool community to have the best curriculum, the coolest manipulatives, the neatest toys, the most wild backyard that is also somehow perfectly manicured into a dream garden. All of these things are more than fine-they are incredibly helpful! However that pressure does not make you less worthy or less capable than you are right now. Remember to give yourself time to accept that how it looks during the draft phase won't be how you're presenting it to them. Please do not let that uncertainty of the creative process where you deep dive into creating something squeese out of you the idea that you are capable of providing an excellent education to your child as you are and as you work. If you are working at it, if your hands are not idle then inspiration will find you. Your work is worth it- they notice- and you will find a flow.