Do you lesson plan?

[Runningmom80]

If so, how far ahead?

 

My DS is becoming more predictable so I'm wondering if I should start lesson planning. Adding my twins in last year made things a little hectic trying to figure out who was doing what.  But then I am afraid he'll make a leap and I'll be annoyed I planned.

[kbutton]

I do for vocabulary--that's not something we really do at our own pace. He does x number of assignments in a given timeframe with tests. I made tests mostly as we went last year. They went very well, so I am making them ahead this year.

 

Most things that are "do the next thing" are broken down into lessons already, and my son likes box checking, so I tell him how often he has to do a lesson and let him schedule it. The rest are things we can't seem to make work out on a schedule no matter what we do--it's stop and start all the time (like math).

 

I am trying to plan farther ahead for my younger kiddo. He's more steady as you go, but his work is easier to set up on the fly as well, so it might be moot.

[Mike in SA]

Yes, thoroughly. If you ever need to convince someone that your course was legitimate, the lesson plan is a key component. Few educators recognize MCT, AoPS or college-level materials.

[4KookieKids]

Yes, thoroughly. If you ever need to convince someone that your course was legitimate, the lesson plan is a key component. Few educators recognize MCT, AoPS or college-level materials.

 

Can you expand upon this please? How would a lesson plan making things more seem more legitimate than just providing the course book and explaining that your child worked their way through it?

[Mike in SA]

The lesson plan demonstrates expectations and adherence to schedule. It is not necessary to track perfectly against it, but when a plan is not present, it is difficult to tell whether the instructor was qualified to assess student progress.

[4KookieKids]

The lesson plan demonstrates expectations and adherence to schedule. It is not necessary to track perfectly against it, but when a plan is not present, it is difficult to tell whether the instructor was qualified to assess student progress.

 

Could you give me an example, please, if you have one available? I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around what this actually looks like.

[Mike in SA]

We buy lesson planners from a teacher's supply.  We list the courses across the top, and the daily work below.  We fill it in one or two weeks ahead, using a syllabus as a guide.

 

The syllabus is where the real work is, where the proposed lesson plan is laid out.  This might be what you are thinking of.  Our US History lesson plan (from the syllabus) is listed below.  (I hope it formats ok - if not, I'll have to edit a few times!)

 

 

Edit: Had to attach it..

 

Here is a lesson planner that we use during the actual year (as we may not adhere to the original plan perfectly):

 

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sky-2017-2018-Academic-Twin-Wire/dp/B06VY9MVQD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498324177&sr=8-1&keywords=lesson+planner

.

US History Lesson Plan.pdf

Edited June 24, 2017 by Mike in SA

[Clemsondana]

I write down what we did AFTER we do it. For many subjects, we 'do the next thing', so I just write the pages done in math, the section read and lesson discussed in MCT, etc. At the start of the year, I get a pocket wall chart and make cards for each subject for each day, so, for instance, 2 cards that say 'Kilgallon grammar' and 2 cards that say 'MCT vocab' and 4 cards that say 'math'. We choose the schedule that we think will work - we tend to load a lot onto M and T, W is an in-the-car day so we choose to focus on subjects that have less-bulky books, Th is co-op, and then F is another at home day. My kids get their cards for the day and work through their subjects.

 

For history and science, the elementary years are usually divided into 'units', so I usually have a stack of books that they can choose to read, and I write down what they chose for the day. My older child is moving to middle school, and our history format is changing to 'Monday, outline chapter from text, Tues, add notes from other sources in book box, W read from book or do history detective pages, and F write report/essay about the week's work'.

 

I like writing it down afterwards because I still have a record, but it makes it easy to adjust to the days that we fly through things or the days where I want to do extra practice or a field trip. It is not unusual for a kid to say 'grammar was easy, so I went ahead and did today and tomorrow's...I'll do double vocab tomorrow' and that's fine - I just write what they did. I have a record in case anybody needs to know, and a plan to keep us on track (and a year-long overall outline), but I don't feel constrained to doing what is already in the lesson plan book.

Edited June 24, 2017 by ClemsonDana

[Cake and Pi]

I have a long-term lesson plan/ flow chart that I use more like a road map.  There are no time frames, just when this, this, after this, that, that, and/or that.  

 

The one time I tried to plan out 5 weeks ahead I ended up throwing away 3 of those weeks, so I stick to detail-scheduling only a week or two out at a time.  I have a page for each boy with the resources used (books, curricula, whatever) in a column down the left and lesson day number across the top.  I treat it like a loop schedule.  We school very irregularly and often miss large chunks of time for mental or physical health reasons, so we do the next lesson day regardless of how many days have passes since the last.  I fill in what each boy will do daily using each resource in the columns, except for DS1's math.  His progress in Beast is *so* unpredictable that I just fill that in after the fact.  I check off the days and record the date that each day was completed at the bottom.  I use arrows to move assignments around if they end up getting completed a little earlier than expected by a day or two.  If a subject gets farther off track than that I erase the row for future dates and rewrite it.

 

I really like having the weekly schedules.  I feel so accomplished when I see a column of check marks!  DH is pleased because he can see what we're doing while he's away.  The kids are happier knowing what is expected of them.

 

I love the idea of writing out a (date-less) syllabus for each subject!  I may have to try that.

[SoCal_Bear]

I schedule a week or two out, and I write it in his student planner in erasable ink for him to follow. We usually have an ongoing discussion about what he is interested in doing. I keep records electronically in on Homeschool Tracker of what was completed, books that were read, field trips that were taken and classes that were taken. This way I have a record of attendance, a record our various courses of study and the time spent on each course or subject area or total hours spent by year. 

 

We are open and go type of homeschoolers.

[Mike in SA]

Found the syllabus associated with the lesson plan above...

 

Course Name:            Social Science

Textbooks:

1. Current, Richard N., Harry T. Williams, Frank Freidel, and Alan Brinkley.  American History. A Survey. 7^th Edition.  Alfred A Knopf, New York, 1987.  ISBN:  0-394-36535-6.
2. The Unfinished Nation, 52 half-hour video episodes
3. “The Unfinished Nationâ€, 52 lessons
4. Textbook Resources and Quizzes :  http://glencoe.mheducation.com/sites/0012122005/student_view0/index.html

 

Description:
This is a two-semester course based on “The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People†by Alan Brinkley.  The first semester covers America’s history to Reconstruction (1877).  The second semester covers America’s history from Reconstruction to the present day.  The course include 52 video lectures, 52 lessons, and online quizzes.

 

Course Outcome:

After successful completion of this course the student is expected to:

1. History
   1. identify the major eras and events in U.S. history.
   2. apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods.
   3. explain the significance of the following dates: 1607, founding of Jamestown; 1620, arrival of the Pilgrims and signing of the Mayflower Compact; 1776, adoption of the Declaration of Independence; 1787, writing of the U.S. Constitution; 1803, Louisiana Purchase; and 1861-1865, Civil War, 1898 (Spanish-American War), 1914-1918 (World War I), 1929 (the Great Depression begins), 1939-1945 (World War II), 1957 (Sputnik launch ignites U.S.-Soviet space race), 1968-1969 (Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and U.S. lands on the moon), 1991 (Cold War ends), 2001 (terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon), and 2008 (election of first black president, Barack Obama).
   4. understand the causes of exploration and colonization eras, and able to identify reasons for European exploration and colonization of North America, and compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies.
   5. understand the foundations of representative government in the United States, and able to explain the reasons for the growth of representative government and describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.
   6. understand significant political and economic issues of the revolutionary era, able to analyze causes of the American Revolution, explain the roles played by significant individuals, explain the issues surrounding important events of the American Revolution, and analyze the issues of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, including the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise.
   7. understand the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson, and able to describe major domestic problems faced by the leaders of the new republic, summarize arguments regarding protective tariffs, taxation, and the banking system, explain the origin and development of American political parties, explain the causes, important events, and effects of the War of 1812, identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe, and analyze the reasons for the removal and resettlement of Cherokee Indians.
   8. understand westward expansion and its effects on the political, economic, and social development of the nation.
   9. understand how political, economic, and social factors led to the growth of sectionalism and the Civil War, and able to analyze the impact of tariff policies on sections of the United States before the Civil War, compare the effects of political, economic, and social factors on slaves and free blacks, analyze the impact of slavery on different sections of the United States, and identify the provisions and compare the effects of congressional conflicts and compromises prior to the Civil War, including the roles of John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.
   10. understand individuals, issues, and events of the Civil War, and able to explain the roles played by Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, and explain the causes of the Civil War.
   11. understand the effects of Reconstruction on the political, economic, and social life of the nation.
   12. understands the political, economic, and social changes in the United States from 1877 to 1898, and able to analyze political, economic, and social issues.
   13. understand the emergence of the United States as a world power between 1898 and 1920.
   14. understand the effects of reform and third-party movements in the early 20th century.
   15. understand significant events, social issues, and individuals of the 1920s.
   16. understand the domestic and international impact of U.S. participation in World War II.
   17. understand the impact of significant national and international decisions and conflicts in the Cold War on the United States.
   18. understands the impact of the American civil rights movement.
   19. understands the impact of political, economic, and social factors in the U.S. role in the world from the 1970s through 1990.
   20. student understands the emerging political, economic, and social issues of the United States from the 1990s into the 21st century.
2. Geography
   1. student understand the location and characteristics of places and regions of the United States, past and present, and able to locate places and regions of historical importance in the United States, compare places and regions of the United States in terms of physical and human characteristics, and analyze the effects of physical and human geographic factors on major historical and contemporary events in the United States.
   2. understand the physical characteristics of North America and how humans adapted to and modified the environment through the mid-19th century.
3. Economics
   1. understand why various sections of the United States developed different patterns of economic activity, and able to identify economic differences among different regions of the United States, explain reasons for the development of the plantation system, the transatlantic slave trade, and the spread of slavery, explain the reasons for the increase in factories and urbanization, and analyze the causes and effects of economic differences among different regions of the United States at selected times in U.S. history.
   2. understands how various economic forces resulted in the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, and able to analyze the War of 1812 as a cause of economic changes in the nation, and identify the economic factors that brought about rapid industrialization and urbanization.
   3. understand the origins and development of the free enterprise system in the United States.
4. Government
   1. understand the American beliefs and principles reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and other important historic documents.
   2. understand the process of changing the U.S. Constitution and the impact of amendments on American society.
   3. understand the dynamic nature of the powers of the national government and state governments in a federal system.
   4. understand the impact of landmark Supreme Court cases
5. Citizenship
   1. understand the rights and responsibilities of citizens of the United States.
   2. understand the importance of voluntary individual participation in the democratic process.
   3. understand the importance of the expression of different points of view in a constitutional republic.
6. Culture
   1. understands the relationships between and among people from various groups, including racial, ethnic, and religious groups.
   2. understand the major reform movements of the 19th century.
   3. understand the impact of religion on the American way of life.
   4. understand the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created.

 

 

TEKS Outcomes:  The course is designed to satisfy TEKS for Social Science objectives as stated in §113.20 Grade 8, adopted 2010,  http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter113/ch113b.html.

 

Evaluation:  Grades will be assigned in accordance with the following grading scale:

A

90-100

B

80-89

C

70-79

F

less than 70

 

Grading Policy:

Lessons Test

20%

Units Tests

35%

AP History Practice Tests

25%

Notes/Daily Work

20%

 

Detailed schedule is attached.

[Mike in SA]

So, we have:

 

1. Syllabus (prior post)

2. Initial Lesson Plan (attached in earlier post, above)

3. Daily Planner, filled in 2-week forward increments (with grades included)

4. Final Grades / Transcript

 

ETA: Yes, our 8th grade US History was full AP-level.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Mike in SA

[StartingOver]

We do the next things, but they are more predictable now too. So I have homeschool tracker and can do lesson plans for all year, or all of a text then schedule or reschedule as needed. The kids can all access from their Kindles, the laptop, Chromebook or even my cell phone. I love that. I can also keep books lists, records of books read, chore lists, and appointments, classes, events, etc.,  all in one place. It will do transcripts when we are ready also.

[quark]

I love what Mike described. That was my ideal before life got in the way. I did keep records after the fact.

 

If you use a method like Mike's you will have so much of your course descriptions/ college application materials for the high school years all written out, significantly reducing stress for you, the parent, during application time.

 

But...I think it's also okay not to do that if your child's path seems straightforward (whatever that is). We did not encounter any need to present plans to anyone during our journey. If a child is headed for B&M high school, I see more reason to lesson plan and record keep.

 

In our situation, my lesson planning really messed up my kid's love of learning. A was so intent on internal motivation to learn that planning would have felt too rigid. I am kind of the person who feels the need to follow a plan so I don't think I would have been good at deviating from it. Dropping a plan felt so very liberating.

 

Once A started classes with external providers, we simply followed their/ A's lead. I kept notes and ideas in spreadsheets and notebooks and a blog. It was mostly do the next thing and worked perfectly here.

[Mike in SA]

For "love of learning" material, we just track progress. Otherwise, the love gets beaten into submission and lost. Those topics tend to be WAAYYY out there acceleration-wise, so we don't even list them as individual courses. No lesson plans for those.

[slackermom]

I tried to do daily or even weekly lesson plans when we were homeschooling (grades 4/5), but I found it was not worth it for us.

 

What we did do was develop a "learning list" starting around age 6/7, when we were after-schooling, where my child and I wrote down all the big and little goals we had. Then we broke the list down to make real plans, but it was flexible, and changing.

 

When we switched to full time homeschooling, I tried to do detailed lesson plans in advance, but out of necessity it turned into documenting what we had done as went along. We developed a routine for the homeschool schedule that was basically block scheduling, and I did refer back to the learning list fairly regularly. Some of those goals were written up on index cards, and fleshed out as needed.

 

I put together a pocket organizer with:

Photocopies of the table of contents of each textbook used

A log of books read (I was able to track a lot of this by using library lending records)

Several grade levels of detailed curriculum guides downloaded from our school district's website (not to follow precisely, but to have as a reference tool of sorts)

Schedules of various programs (museum classes, dance lessons, library programming, etc)

Records of test scores and awards won

 

eta:

We might homeschool highschool, if the kid does not get into one of their preferred schools. In that case, I WILL do more lesson planning, as we will need to be more focused, at least for grade 9/10.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2017 by slackermom

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Mike, I love that plan. That sort of thing would suit my needs beautifully. 

 

But for my daughter, unfortunately, not so much. I've tried, but she gets stressed and/or disengaged.

 

I provide a weekly list of work - some are daily must-dos, some are must-dos by the end of the week, and some are just suggestions.

I take notes of everything she does and I take photos of everything, so all the KLAs are well-documented.

 

The thing for us is that she can wake up and be feeling all creative and the day ends up full of creative writing, drawing tutorials and making up her own crochet designs.

Or she can spend a week or two totally immersed in maths and that is what meets her needs at that point.

Or the flavour of the week might revolve around a current essay she's working on, so it's mostly research and note-taking.

 

When I provide plenty of great resources and then let her choose from them, things tend to balance out in the end.

 

It gives me grey hairs though. I'd love a nice lesson plan.

[chocolate-chip chooky]

Also, two or three times a year I do a really thorough 'day in the life' write up.

I note everything, as best I can, from the moment she wakes up, until she's asleep.

 

I always include a couple of these in our yearly homeschool report to our state government, so that the wishy-washy description above has a bit more meaning.

If anyone asks 'but what do you actually do?', I could whip out one of those day write-ups. They are very honest and I don't cherry-pick my days. They are what they are.

[RoundAbout]

I don't plan at all.  Years ago I had a friend who did all of these amazing lesson plans for her young children, but it was very time consuming and I always wondered how much better it would have been if she had just applied that time to actually teaching, reading, and discussing with her children. In retrospect I think the planning was almost a hobby for her and she really enjoyed it. I'm the opposite and find it just produces a lot of anxiety for all of us when we inevitably get off track.  I only have one child though, and I think we are a bit more unschooly than most here? We sit at the table and do at least an hour of math every morning (usually much more), and an hour language arts block, and piano practice 2x/day now, but everything else is a lot more loose and DS has a lot of say in what he wants to work on each day. We are working through SOTW, and an art program, and do read aloud and field trips where there is a lot of discussion but we don't have goals or a schedule for it. I'm sure things will change as we head into middle and high school but for now this works great for us. 

[4KookieKids]

 

 

WOW! Thank you so much for all that information, Mike!! That's super helpful and interesting to read!!

[rebbyribs]

The ideas for planning here have been really helpful- thank you all for taking the time to write out what you do.

 

 

A log of books read (I was able to track a lot of this by using library lending records)

 

 

Awesome that it works for you, but not all libraries keep track of books borrowed.  At some point I had been trying to remember the title of a book we'd read the previous year and thought that maybe I could just search through our library records. They weren't available.  It turns out that our public library made the decision not to track this information so that it could never be subpoenaed used against patrons.  If I want to track library records, I can't use the library site do it electronically, but I could print off a receipt each time I check out books and keep them in an envelope somewhere.

[slackermom]

The ideas for planning here have been really helpful- thank you all for taking the time to write out what you do.

 

 

Awesome that it works for you, but not all libraries keep track of books borrowed.  At some point I had been trying to remember the title of a book we'd read the previous year and thought that maybe I could just search through our library records. They weren't available.  It turns out that our public library made the decision not to track this information so that it could never be subpoenaed used against patrons.  If I want to track library records, I can't use the library site do it electronically, but I could print off a receipt each time I check out books and keep them in an envelope somewhere.

 

Our library set it up so that patrons have to turn on their own tracking through their individual accounts. The library isn't supposed to be able to access it. I sign in to my account online to check it, and I can turn the tracking off again if I prefer that. Hopefully that continues to work the way it is supposed to work.

 

One library system we use also has a "bookshelf" function, in which you make a list by selecting various titles from the online catalog. I have used that more as a wish list when I was previewing resources for a future study topic. It doesn't link to circulation, so it doesn't track if I ever borrowed the titles.

 

I always requested no receipt when checking out books, because it would include a print out of the books remaining at home, and we always had the maximum out, which is 75 items per card. The receipts would reach to the ground.

[regentrude]

I have never lesson planned.

I know which materials I want the kids to use; they have freedom to choose what to work on and for how long (with the exception of a daily math requirement for DS who could not work in longer binges like DD)

[regentrude]

Yes, thoroughly. If you ever need to convince someone that your course was legitimate, the lesson plan is a key component. Few educators recognize MCT, AoPS or college-level materials. 

...

 

The lesson plan demonstrates expectations and adherence to schedule. It is not necessary to track perfectly against it, but when a plan is not present, it is difficult to tell whether the instructor was qualified to assess student progress.

 

To whom do you present this plan?

I have never needed to convince "educators" that what I am doing in my homeschool is solid - my kids standardized test scores and grades in DE classes spoke for their excellent preparation.

 

I wrote course descriptions after the fact. 

Edited June 27, 2017 by regentrude

[Mike in SA]

To whom do you present this plan?

I have never needed to convince "educators" that what I am doing in my homeschool is solid - my kids standardized test scores and grades in DE classes spoke for their excellent preparation.

 

I wrote course descriptions after the fact. 

 

We have pulled them out with local B&M schools when older DS decided to go to public HS.  Many kids have their home school credits disallowed, and this kind of prep is precisely what was expected to validate the quality of the course.  We did not have issues with class placement, but did still have to battle for credits earned.

 

Some of the reason for the level of prep is due to my own experience as an educator (both secondary and post-secondary).  It's not that I believe the documentation is essential for education - it's that I have seen the bureaucracy from the inside, and recognized the importance of the documentation to others.  Personally, I think that level of documentation is a bit much, but I am not the one we were preparing to convince.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I never can lesson plan. If I had a plan I'd rebel anyway. I pretty much start on page one and we go through. We have never not finished anything. YMMV

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[regentrude]

We have pulled them out with local B&M schools when older DS decided to go to public HS.  Many kids have their home school credits disallowed, and this kind of prep is precisely what was expected to validate the quality of the course.  We did not have issues with class placement, but did still have to battle for credits earned.

 

Oh, that makes sense for re-entry into b&m school.

[deerforest]

I have a rough idea of what I want to accomplish in the upcoming year, I do a lot of research identifying materials and roughly making sure we have time to cover what I want. I keep a wiki page of all our possibilities and once a week I work out the specifics for the upcoming week. I then document what we actually did the previous week.

 

Every time I tried to do a plan like Mike, we've failed. DD often works much faster than I anticipate, we hate a resource, or we go deeper in one area than anticipated, and I end up spending time reworking it over and over. It just doesn't work for us at all.

 

But, DD is going to use some Oak Meadow materials this year, and they have a detailed weekly schedule. I'm having her own it so we'll see how that goes.

 

 

[Runningmom80]

I'm thinking I'll start by planning goals for 6 week increments.  (I'm going to attempt a 6 week on, one week off schedule this year.) I did the notebook checklist method this past year, and the kids didn't really care either way about it.  My DS is starting to take more ownership over his goals and I do not want to get in the way.

 

I bought Build your library grade 8 for my 10 year old, which comes with lesson plans, so I have at the very least a guideline for him for history and language arts. (Although I'm adding in MCT second semester and he's doing a separate science.)

 

Anyways, I'm babbling.  Thanks for the replies, I like seeing what everyone else does!

[regentrude]

Wanted to add another thought:

the few times I attempted a schedule for certain subjects, my kids ended up ahead of schedule within a week. Forcing them to adhere to the schedule would have meant telling them to stop working on a subject they felt excited about. This is completely contrary to my educational philosophy; a main objective of homeschooling was to have them excited about learning. Telling a kid to put the math book down or quit working on their history project, just so we can fit to some preplanned schedule, would accomplish the opposite.

Edited June 27, 2017 by regentrude

[Tumbatoo]

Nope. I use a mix of ready to go curricula and do whichever lesson is next. I don't need to plan how to teach the next algebra lesson, we just do it. If we read about something cool and want to make a craft, no problem. If it involves a purchase, I put it on hold until we get the missing item. If we don't get through all the subjects for the day, the missing ones get pushed to the next day. And, that's how we roll...pretty much :)

[theelfqueen]

I do lesson plan. Probably comes as a result of my background as a secondary teacher. Also I use very little "curriculum" so I have to figure out how to get from point a to point b on the timeline I am planning. Even things that seem "do the next thing" aren't always for us (ie we didn't do every lesson in WWS) ...

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Runningmom80]

I was just thinking that planning may help me do more fun stuff. I'd like to be more prepared worth supplies. That said I can still do this in a loose manner.

[Donna]

Dd or I keep track of what she does each day.

 

For subjects with a set curriculum, she simply does the next thing.

 

For subjects where I am putting together multiple materials into our own course (like history), before the school year begins, I plan the year by week so I can align whatever spine we are using with videos and additional reading so it all makes sense/goes together and so everything gets done within the course timeframe. We don't always stick to the plan exactly but pretty close...even if dd works ahead or gets behind, she is still able to read and watch the videos that go together.

 

I type up course descriptions at the start of the year now that she is in high school and someone might eventually want to look at them.

[MamaSprout]

We buy lesson planners from a teacher's supply.  We list the courses across the top, and the daily work below.  We fill it in one or two weeks ahead, using a syllabus as a guide.

 

The syllabus is where the real work is, where the proposed lesson plan is laid out.  This might be what you are thinking of.  Our US History lesson plan (from the syllabus) is listed below.  (I hope it formats ok - if not, I'll have to edit a few times!)

 

 

Edit: Had to attach it..

 

Here is a lesson planner that we use during the actual year (as we may not adhere to the original plan perfectly):

 

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sky-2017-2018-Academic-Twin-Wire/dp/B06VY9MVQD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498324177&sr=8-1&keywords=lesson+planner

.

 

This is exactly what we do too. I prefer a teacher plan book with room for weekend commitments, but pretty much that same otherwise. Things do change (or dd decides to read her entire history textbook over the summer), but it is mostly a sanity saver. It wouldn't have worked when she was little, but works great now.

[MamaSprout]

Wanted to add another thought:

the few times I attempted a schedule for certain subjects, my kids ended up ahead of schedule within a week. Forcing them to adhere to the schedule would have meant telling them to stop working on a subject they felt excited about. This is completely contrary to my educational philosophy; a main objective of homeschooling was to have them excited about learning. Telling a kid to put the math book down or quit working on their history project, just so we can fit to some preplanned schedule, would accomplish the opposite.

 

I plan, but would never hold kiddo back from doing more, or be afraid to shuffle science to next week because she binged on history this week. It's more to figure out about where we need to be when. We would forget to do subjects if I didn't... because we're like that.

[MamaSprout]

I'm thinking I'll start by planning goals for 6 week increments.  (I'm going to attempt a 6 week on, one week off schedule this year.) I did the notebook checklist method this past year, and the kids didn't really care either way about it.  My DS is starting to take more ownership over his goals and I do not want to get in the way.

 

I bought Build your library grade 8 for my 10 year old, which comes with lesson plans, so I have at the very least a guideline for him for history and language arts. (Although I'm adding in MCT second semester and he's doing a separate science.)

 

Anyways, I'm babbling.  Thanks for the replies, I like seeing what everyone else does!

 

We do lesson plans more or less a semester at a time, but I never write anything in the planner more than a week out (other than planned days off). Some things, like math, actually don't get written down until that morning, and that's mostly so she remembers where she left off and I remember to look at it before she starts.

[8filltheheart]

I do plan, but not for young kids bc I have found that their pace is unpredictable. I don't plan to the level Mike describes bc so much of what we do we do together and is discussion based. But I do break down independent work into daily chunks and give required assignments. Even for some subjects we do together, I create a general outline of daily expectations so that I stay on track.

 

My kids are actively involved in the process, though. For my older kids, I sit with them and we generate realistic daily expectations together. (For example, my kids self-study Latin. We sit together with the Latin materials and they help me determine how much to assign day by day. I write about 6 weeks worth of plans at a time.)

[pinewarbler]

The ideas for planning here have been really helpful- thank you all for taking the time to write out what you do.

 

 

Awesome that it works for you, but not all libraries keep track of books borrowed.  At some point I had been trying to remember the title of a book we'd read the previous year and thought that maybe I could just search through our library records. They weren't available.  It turns out that our public library made the decision not to track this information so that it could never be subpoenaed used against patrons.  If I want to track library records, I can't use the library site do it electronically, but I could print off a receipt each time I check out books and keep them in an envelope somewhere.

 

I did that for 3 years. The envelope was so big that it was frightening. I realized I'd never have time to go through it if I did need to find a book title. Worse still, it was printed on thermal paper and the data was fading :cursing:

 

I did read-aloud with my kids hours a day for so many years, and I really wanted to keep the list of the best ones. I also read a lot of non-fiction that centers around education and wanted to be able to go back and re-read ones from years ago.

 

It all went out the door when we started tidying up à la Mari Kondo

[MamaSprout]

Library software systems have the ability to "turn on" your check out history even if they have a policy of not doing so by default. If they say they "can't" ask to see if a supervisor can.

[Porridge]

For certain things like math or grammar, it's just do the next thing. 

This year for science, I am *trying* (trying is the operative word) to lesson plan.  I am loosely using BFSU and chose ~ 10 topics (threads) for us to tackle this year. I allocated ~ 2 weeks for each topic and chose library books to go with each section. I did not plan out activities / experiments because I'm still not sure I want to do that many...

 

For our household, I've realized that I have one child whose personality and learning style make planning an imperative. IF there is no plan, more often than not, nothing gets done. I feel like my lesson planning is so rudimentary.... I'm sure I'll perfect it over the next decade....just in time for the kids to graduate and not need lesson plans anymore :) ...I aspire to be Mike in SA....

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by JHLWTM

[Porridge]

I do plan, but not for young kids bc I have found that their pace is unpredictable. I don't plan to the level Mike describes bc so much of what we do we do together and is discussion based. But I do break down independent work into daily chunks and give required assignments. Even for some subjects we do together, I create a general outline of daily expectations so that I stay on track.

 

My kids are actively involved in the process, though. For my older kids, I sit with them and we generate realistic daily expectations together. (For example, my kids self-study Latin. We sit together with the Latin materials and they help me determine how much to assign day by day. I write about 6 weeks worth of plans at a time.)

8Fill, around what age do you begin more formal planning or individualized courses of study?

[8filltheheart]

8Fill, around what age do you begin more formal planning or individualized courses of study?

Individualized courses start right away. When they are really little, it might be as simple as what books we choose to read as easy readers or read alouds. (For example, I have had kids obsessed with dinosaurs and outer space in k2, but others more interested in bees, ants, knights castles, etc. We just go with the flow of interests at those ages.)

 

In terms of actual planned out courses that I specifically design around them for core subjects, 3rd grade.

[katilac]

To whom do you present this plan?

I have never needed to convince "educators" that what I am doing in my homeschool is solid - my kids standardized test scores and grades in DE classes spoke for their excellent preparation.

 

 

Not every homeschooler has DE or even amazing test scores. If a student is a poor test taker, or if weakness in one area pulls down their score, they may have a bit more proving to do - if they want to get into an honors college on the campus, for instance. An ACT score of 29 is in the 91st percentile, but many honors colleges have a qualifying score of 30+. It's not impossible to get in otherwise, but some convincing will be needed. 

[regentrude]

Not every homeschooler has DE or even amazing test scores. If a student is a poor test taker, or if weakness in one area pulls down their score, they may have a bit more proving to do - if they want to get into an honors college on the campus, for instance. An ACT score of 29 is in the 91st percentile, but many honors colleges have a qualifying score of 30+. It's not impossible to get in otherwise, but some convincing will be needed. 

 

And you think the college will actually look at your detailed educational plans and change its decision based on that? Has anybody really done it? I mean, shown up at college admissions with the detailed lesson plans and convinced them to admit the student who did not have qualifying test scores? I am trying to wrap my mind around how that would work, and why it should - the lesson plan alone is not worth anything if the student cannot demonstrate mastery. How would they even know that this is really what was done in the school? And who would spend the time to peruse such detailed documentation? I would not expect them to do more than browse the course descriptions.

Edited July 27, 2017 by regentrude

[MamaSprout]

Okay, I guess I need to back track. We don't lesson plan... we schedule (and then sometimes ignore it). Our lesson planning is figuring out what resources we're using and what order roughly we are using them in. Dd is my efficiency expert and if I'm not organized, she thinks "time's a wasting" that should could be using for art.

[katilac]

And you think the college will actually look at your detailed educational plans and change its decision based on that? Has anybody really done it? I mean, shown up at college admissions with the detailed lesson plans and convinced them to admit the student who did not have qualifying test scores? I am trying to wrap my mind around how that would work, and why it should - the lesson plan alone is not worth anything if the student cannot demonstrate mastery. How would they even know that this is really what was done in the school? And who would spend the time to peruse such detailed documentation? I would not expect them to do more than browse the course descriptions.

 

Do I think a school might look at a lesson plan and change its decision based on that? Yes, I do, because the specific example I used was trying to get into an honors college when you were a point or two below the standard cutoff. 

 

We (the family) had a lengthy meeting with the honors adviser at dd's school before she applied for the program, and she had another lengthy meeting with him on her own after she applied. Her application to the program was read, her essay was read, her course descriptions were read. Had her test scores been out of line with what we reported for course work, I have no doubt he would have reviewed and discussed documentation with us or her (lesson plans and work record).

 

I think it's pretty obvious if a student has "really done" the work when you have a thorough discussion about it. Some students demonstrate mastery of certain subjects quite well in person, a mastery that their standardized test scores may not reflect (again, not all students have AP or DE in addition to testing). 

 

When a school or program finds a student intriguing, but are concerned by test scores, some of them do dig deeper. As well they should, with all of the blather about holistic admissions. 

Edited August 3, 2017 by katilac

[greenfields]

I don't plan any lessons.  I wing it each day. 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by greenfields

[Runningmom80]

I don't plan any lessons.  I wing it each day.  Busy with extracurricular activities.

 

I tried to lesson plan for kindergarten, but that faded quickly.  We are grade 1.5 right now at age 6.5.

 

Maybe I customize or adjust learning based on daily needs or inquiries.  But I don't plan lessons.  Even if I planned lessons, there are still gaps because knowledge and technology never ends.

Yes, for youngers I don't plan.  DS is entering 6th grade so I'm feeling the need to be more prepared.  He's also more predictable at this age then he was at 6.5 :)

[mschickie]

I do schedule.  I make a master generic schedule for each subject over the summer.  Depending on the subject it is planned out for 3-4 days per week (occasionally 5 days but I try to make it 4 since we do a co-op once a week) for anywhere between 30-36 weeks (subject dependent).  I keep all of those sheets divided in a binder.  Dd then has a weekly planning sheet that I made.  Every week I check off the lessons we have completed and then fill out the next week's plan sheet based on what we have going on that week.  Doing it this way allows me some structure and plan but also the flexibility to change things up without getting to far off track.