Cycle 3 Foundations Planner - What's New?

Hey friend! I have been SO excited to share this with you. If you've been homeschooling through Foundations, you know the beautiful chaos of it all—the memory work, the curious little minds, the numerous questions... and then the need you feel for "wanting more" at times. I was (and still am) in the same boat! Thus, the planner was born! I made this planner because I wanted everything gathered in one joyful, easy-to-use place, and I cannot wait to show you what's inside! 👀

One Weekly Page That Holds It All

Each week gets a single, beautifully organized spread, laid out for each of the days you spend teaching your littles at home. Right at the top you'll find your Timeline Card number, Devotions (matched up with Louie Giglio's Devotionals), Scripture, and check-off boxes for all seven strands of Foundations Memory Work. Everything at a glance, all in one tidy place.

QR Codes and Clickable Links—New This Year!

Across the top of every page is a row of scan-and-go QR codes—Geography Games (that I created to match up with each weeks States/Capitals), along with the CC Connected Links for: Foundations @ Home, Memory Work Audio, Timeline Motions, the Sandbox E-zine, and the read alouds from New World Echoes and Emperors of Rome.

And here's the brand-new feature for this year: most of the mini images next to the QR codes at the bottom of each page are now clickable links to the very same content! So whether you're a print-and-go family who loves to scan from your phone, or a digital, on-the-go family who'd rather just tap and watch, you've got both options built right in. Same great resources, two easy ways to get there.

Read-Alouds, History & Science—Already Curated

Each week is paired with CC Extra Reading selections (New World Echoes, Emperors of Rome, Exploring the Oceans), plus History Extras and Science Extras featuring Crash Course, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Doodling Through Education, Learn Bright, and more. There's space for your Reading/Phonics lessons along with a daily reading goal, and space for your Math lessons too—so it's easy to see your whole week at a glance.

Extra Reading & Encyclopedia Match-Ups

At the bottom of each page you'll find a curated Extra Reading list—Who Was/What Was titles, Story of the World chapters, and living books that bring the week to life—plus Encyclopedia Match-Ups with exact page numbers for your Usborne, Lyrical Life Science, and Kingfisher references. All the hunting is done for you.

The Fun Stuff (My Favorite Part!)

Every single page is tucked full of delightful extras:

• Did You Know? fun facts that'll have your kids saying "wait, WHAT?!" (Did you know Columbus thought the Earth was way smaller than it actually is?)

  
  

• Family Time Activities & Recipes—make apple butter, scones and tea for a Boston Tea Party, or Pan-Seared Duck for Thanksgiving week

  
  

  

• A Creative Corner with hands-on crafts and art tied to the week (draw a guitar, paint poppies, make an invisible handprint craft)

  
  

• Weird Laws by state for a giggle (did you know it's illegal to make ugly faces at a dog in Oklahoma?)

  
  

• Weekly Video Playlists and Geography Review built right in

A "Creating the Spark at Home" Guide

At the beginning of the planner, you'll find my "Creating the Spark at Home" page—a friendly cheat sheet packed with my best tips. WikiStix tricks for geography, which strands have official CC songs (and which don't), how to turn your TV into a memory work command center, ideas for multiple ages, and how to let your kids "be the teacher."

Now, A Little Heart-to-Heart 💙

Here's the thing I really want you to hear: this planner is a supplement, not a replacement. Your Foundations Guide is the heart of the program, and it is ALL you need. Truly. The weeks where you simply do the weekly memory work and nothing else? That is more than enough to nourish those precious minds. You are not behind. You are not missing anything. You are doing beautiful, faithful work.

So please don't look at these full, colorful pages and feel like you have to do every read-aloud, every craft, every recipe, every rabbit trail. You shouldn't! That's not the point. This is a pick-and-choose basket of extras—a little something to reach for on the weeks you want to add fun, and something to happily leave on the shelf on the weeks you don't. Some weeks you'll use a lot. Some weeks, none at all. Both are exactly right.

Think of the Foundations Guide as the meal, and this planner as a sprinkle of something sweet for the weeks you're in the mood for it.

So use it freely, leave it freely, and know that either way—you and your kids are doing wonderfully!