Jump to content

Menu

Do you use a planner of some sort?


Recommended Posts

I'm starting to feel a little disorganized. Kindergarten has mostly been just "do the next page" so I haven't felt the need to really write very much down, but now that I'm starting to figure out curriculum choices for first grade, I'm just making these random lists of ideas and library books and what not. This is not going to cut it. Umm...help? 

Edited by mom of 2 boys
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Excel to help me block out the year.  I number down the side either by topic (we did unit studies last year) or by month and across the top are the subjects.  In each block I an put when to use which book/craft/video so as I'm doing more detailed planning throughout the year I can look ahead to the next month/topic and see what I need to collect.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like OneNote for that stage. I'm a paper person for the actual day to day stuff, but the planning/ideas/high level goes into OneNote because you can drop darn near anything in there. PDF's, video links, documents, you name it. EverNote might be as good- I see it mentioned here, but I've never used it. Same premise though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is my adaption and transcript of this video. This is what I have been doing for years.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vzK2LvS6qOY

 

 

Crisis Planning Method

 

1. Fold a large piece of paper into 16 squares.

 

2. Label the first 12 squares 1-12 for each of the 12 months. Start with the first month of your school year.

 

3. Write important events in the square for each month–holidays, birthdays, vacations, events in nature, and any other disruptions to the schedule.

 

4. Write each student's name in the remaining blocks. Go onto the back if necessary. Write the priorities of the year for each student, and any weaknesses that need to be focused on.

 

5. Take out the curricula you will be using and write the main topics that will be covered into each month's square. Try to divide topics into units that fit neatly into each month.

 

6. On the back of the paper, label 12 squares–one for each month. Write any major expenses in each month. Schedule purchases, buying resources about 2 months before they are needed.

 

7. Plan a month ahead to create the weekly lesson plans, on another piece of paper, or in notebook. Create a schedule for reserving library books.

 

8. Do daily planning the Sunday before. Begin preparing the copywork for the week. Reserve books from the library.

 

9. Each morning prepare the final lesson plans. Finish preparing any unprepared copywork.

 

10. If you will be reteaching this material to younger siblings or other students, keep all copywork and notes in a notebook labeled with the grade.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a Google Spreadsheet, with each row being one week and each column a subject. (Link in my signature if you want to see more.)

Also, my library's online catalog lets us make lists under our accounts. I make one for each month of school, and go on at the beginning of the month and start requesting books. (I give the lists names like 3rd.01.September and 3rd.02.October to keep them ordered the way I want.) If I don't know exactly when to use a book, I just put it in a general list for that grade. I delete books once I've requested them and months once they're over.

Edited by whitehawk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use Onenote.  When I start planning for the next school year, I create a new notebook. So, for next year, I already have a notebook entitled 9th Grade.  The top tabs are titled with the names of the classes we will be taking. The pages on the right-hand side of each class tab will eventually be titled according to each week (Week 1 w/date, Week 2 w/date, etc.)  However, right now, the pages I have are titled:

  • Course Outline
  • Resources: This is where I have columns for potential curriculum; books; websites; Great Courses Plus courses; documentaries I may use (all with hyperlinks attached so I can just click and access the resource)
  • Maps: I will copy map images and create a sub-page with the title of each map
  • Miscellaneous - anything else that may apply.

By the time the above is completed and summer is just about over, I have chosen and received all our books and have a pretty good Idea in my head about how the class will be structured.  A couple of weeks before we start, I schedule our first week of school on the face of each class tab detailing work to be done for each day with checkboxes.  I also create a tab for "Weekly Schedule" which tells DD week-by-week which classes she has for each day (we do block scheduling). DD's laptop is linked to my Onenote Notebooks, so she sees everything I do and changes can be made quickly and easily.  I build the next week based upon what we completed the first week, or move onto the next chapter or lesson and so on.  

 

The original tabs I started with during the planning phase are moved to the bottom of each class page and I draw my resources accordingly for each week's class from those pages.

 

Sounds complicated, but it's actually really simple, keeps everything in one place, has streamlined all my work, and diverted all headaches.  I also keep a budget for each year and that is kept in one Excel spreadsheet called Homeschool Budget.  Each page within that spreadsheet is a homeschool year. As I order something, I list it on the page for the correct year, detailing which class it's for, and enter the price, which automatically subtracts it from my budget total.  This way I always know exactly how much I have left in my budget for that year.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also use excel for my big picture year planning. Weeks down the left and subjects/kids across the top.

 

We school 6 weeks on, one week off, so during my off week I transfer that info into a paper planner that lives with me. It has my life on the left side and my homeschool on the right.

 

I don't actually understand how folks homeschool without a planner. But I'm type A like that.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find that creating my own made the most sense. Here's the Teacher Binder that I use throughout the year. This is something that evolved a bit each year according to my needs, my kids ages, and so on. 

 

When I'm in the research phase, I keep a word document on my computer where I can copy and paste links to interesting books and ideas. Then I can also look at reviews online and do online research etc... to edit my idea list. When I'm ready to make plans, I print that out and pull out my favorite catalogs and start to make plans. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just using the blank schedule pages from BookShark (same as in Sonlight???), planing out 1-3 weeks in advance.  I've tried a *lot* of other things in the past, but this is working better than anything else so far.  

 

We always seem to have extenuating circumstances coming up: surgeries, therapies, doctor appointments, hospitalizations, etc., and since we get almost all of our curricula for free from our HSing charter, I freely change things up if something doesn't seem to be a good fit.  Planning 1-2 weeks at a time with the BkSk blank schedule pages gives me the flexibility to go with the flow and change our curricula as needed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a pencil and paper person - it's how I do most of my planning. But I have been using OneNote these last two years to actually breakdown curricula into lesson-sized bites, embed videos and other files, and then do weekly checklists for the kids. I have always done checklists, but I like OneNote for the older kids.

 

When my kids were younger we had daily checklists with Green-Yellow-Red boxes. Independent work was listed in the green box, work with mom was listed in the yellow box, and things they were looking forward to (field trip, library visit, etc) was in the red box. Green and yellow had to be done before we could do red. I just filled the boxes out daily in a do-the-next-thing manner. I didn't have curriculum which needed breaking down until my oldest was in 6th grade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have tried others, but started with and went back to the Homeschooler's Journal.  They also offer one for High School, and we are moving to that in the fall.

 

It is basic, but offers all I need. I am a pencil to paper person, and this has everything that I need:  daily assignments, field trips, lending/borrowing list, Objectives and Resoursce list, and more!  

 

I also appreciate the price.  :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a paper planner by Gallery Leather. It has a weekly planner on the left hand side and a note page on the right hand side. I write all of our appointments on the weekly planner, and I write our school work on the note page in a bullet journal style. I plan one week at a time. Any school work that isn't finished gets moved over to the next week's note page. Moleskine also has a planner with the weekly planner/note page set up.

 

ETA: I use the paper planner for our day to day needs. For big picture planning, I use my computer to save schedules, resources, etc. The big picture plan on my computer is then broken down into my paper planner.

Edited by MyLife
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have tried others, but started with and went back to the Homeschooler's Journal. They also offer one for High School, and we are moving to that in the fall.

 

It is basic, but offers all I need. I am a pencil to paper person, and this has everything that I need: daily assignments, field trips, lending/borrowing list, Objectives and Resoursce list, and more!

 

I also appreciate the price. :thumbup:

Wow- I LOVE the look of the high school journal! Simple, yet prefect for what we need. Thanks for linking. You just saved me $30 from buying yet another overly complicated planner dd won't use 3/4 of to keep track of her online classes. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...