planning: every content subject study detail vs. giving more leeway on specifics

[Colleen in NS]

I'm a planner and love to read about how other people plan their homeschool year. When I read about others' plans, I see people who plan much detail into each week, and even day, by putting in page numbers of specific books to read, specific questions to answer, on specific days, ahead of time. Every year I think "I should do that" because it appeals to my sense of order. But even when I plan in less detail than that, half the time I tweak it along the way anyway and then it seems like a waste of time to me. So, this past year (oldest was in 5th grade) I worked more on a "weekly study pattern" for each subject, concentrating my weekly schedule on making sure the skills texts were done (R&S grammar, math, Latin, spelling, WWE - which is actually quite tweakable), but not concentrating as much on making sure my kids read particular science/history/literature books and that we discussed particular parts of those books. I mean, they did read a lot, and they did at least skim over every part of their history and science "spines," and I did get age/level appropriate/sometimes-mind-stretching library books on particular people, events, cultural myths (we did ancient history this past year). But I didn't plan specific pages/events, other than "let's go from start to finish, picking what you want to read further on and what you want to write about." I didn't even *make* them read about the things in the library books I reserved - I just got the books, made them available, and told them to choose from the pile at their daily reading times.

 

But when I read about the detailed planning, I wonder: am I lazy? am I missing something? should *I* be planning for them to read about particular things?

 

Or,

 

should I be giving them some more leeway in the reading end of things (skills, no way - they have to practice grammar, math, Latin, writing, reading, spelling, and memory work around here)? It seems like I should be giving them more leeway, within a framework ("this year we study medieval history and lit., and earth/space science, with these particular spines that we'll read/skim through and use as bouncing off points for further reading"). And yet guiding them towards particular topics/people/events, inviting them to explore further with books that catch their interest, but not *making* them read about what really doesn't interest them at the time (figuring that down the road, the interest may pick up, if they've at least heard of the person/event/topic through their "spine" reading/skimming, and they can explore it all they want when they want if they have the skills to do so).

 

OK, there is the whole "what's important to your family will come out in your homeschool studies" - so we do read/study the Bible, we do point them towards missionary biographies and church martyr stories. And I'm seeing that there are some basic lit. stories, some basic history events/people, basic science info. that we do want them to know about, but overall with content subjects, I am much more casual. I don't plan way ahead of time the particular pages etc. - I just have the age/level appropriate books on hand for them to choose from.

 

I also figure this is good training in seeing a bigger framework and learning to choose within that framework what you'd like to study further. I like that. It seems like it's a step in giving kids a little more independence while sticking to making them still learn the study skills they'll need later on. But I still wonder if I am missing something by not planning so specifically with content subjects.

 

Which way do you lean, and why?

 

Thanks!

Edited July 3, 2009 by Colleen in NS

[mellifera]

I tend to plan by weeks e.g. week 1 should have x, y, and z done; week 2 should have a, b, and c done, and so forth. This year I did block out how it could work for the 2 older kids (mostly to make sure it could work without overloading them). We have the freedom to tweak the schedule if it isn't working, but it's there to keep us on track. It works for us.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

I think my style has changed over the years in response to my children. My first two (both dd's)thrived under the laid back system you described. I would assign pages for skill areas, but just make a list of books for content areas. It worked beautifully and they usually read more than I would have required.

 

Then along came my next two boys. My oldest ds is the "engineering type". He begs for more structure. He wants to know what the requirements are and feel confident that he has met them. He's almost 15 and I tried to wean him off of a page/specific, day/specific assignment sheet last year. He would go the the computer and take my assignment sheet and REWRITE IT and assign himself specific pages for specific days.

 

My next ds is somewhat "high-strung". He is simply more relaxed when everything is laid out for him. If I didn't assign certain books and require a certain amount of pages, he would choose books well below his level and never stretch himself.

 

My next three are all more in the "laid back" camp and I will probably go back to my original methods with this group. All three of them would thrive on just having a specific time with the book basket, so I am planning on doing that for them this year. Hopefully, older ds's will see how much fun it is.;)

 

FWIW - I do think it is valuable to stretch children to read more difficult literature. Because some of the classics are not as palatable to the modern mind, I find it necessary to assign pages in more difficult literature selections when the book is a stretch for the child's reading level.

 

Thanks for making me think through this. I have this whole day for planning and your question helped me gain some focus.

 

Blessings,

Leanna

[chaik76]

I originally tried a weekly/content plan. However, to get it "done" I need an in-depth plan for each day...so that's what I did (it worked great for the six weeks I planned last year). If I go "off" plan, I'll just add that at the bottom of my current schedule.

 

We don't use the library, so it's easy to plan with the books I have at home (okay...sort of easy...we have thousands of books!), and just makes for less of a headache.

 

At the same time, I'm willing to veer off-course...ds is extremely interested in Gladiators right now, so we're spending a couple of weeks on them, even though that wasn't in the master plan.

 

It sounds like what you are doing is working...if your children thrive on the method you've set up, it doesn't seem like there would be a reason to thrive. It sounds like you set up good parameters and then let your children explore within their parameters. That's actually something I strive for and hope to accomplish some day!!!

[JennW in SoCal]

Colleen, you have such interesting posts -- the way you share your thought process and the resulting questions. I find that to answer I have to really think about how and why we do what we do, an exercise that is enlightening for me! It may be boring for the reader, but you asked what we do and why, so here goes.....

 

I can not imagine having a detailed schedule. It is not how I function, nor how our lives play out. There are times I think I'd be more productive with a schedule, but the most structure I've managed is to have a rough routine -- starting school at 11 for instance (I have teens who sleep in), doing math first. Getting the subjects that I'm needed for out of the way so they can spend the rest of their day getting to their reading and writing.

 

I do assign literature -- it is the spring board for history rather than a history spine being the spring board for literature. I think what you are doing sounds terrific as your kids are getting a solid history foundation and have freedom to explore their interests. We did that for a year or 2 when my kids were the same ages as your kids. Since that time, especially for high school, I make a list of literature from a particular time period that I want to cover within a year and assign works from that. We sometimes get to every work I've listed, but often there are a few titles that are missed.

 

Last year for my senior, I wrote a syllabus for him that listed what he needed to be reading each week and listed due dates for essay assignments. It worked really well. For my younger one, having a general game plan for history and literature works just fine -- he loves to read and we enjoy discussing books together.

 

I'm in the middle of thinking through next year's list for 10th grade. I usually have a combination of great books, good books and books that relate to a particular interest, so the list starts big and gets winnowed down to something reasonable!

 

So that's my ramblings -- all without a morning cup of coffee!

[Chris in VA]

I scheduled everything out for 10-12 grade, largely because ds was rather independent. I needed to know specifically what we would discuss during the times we met. I just made grids and filled them in with assignments--I used several sources for the questions I asked, and we went from there. (I'm talking mostly about history and lit here. Math and Sciences were just do the next chapter or the next part of the chapter.)

 

For dd's elementary years, I used mostly do the next thing resources, trying for about a chapter a week of history, spelling, grammar and Latin, and unschooling or not schooling science. I added in read alouds, sometimes just picking up whatever I thought would be interesting, and sometimes coordinating them with history (same with her "readers"--we did not do a reading program but just chose literature). I had to make some lists, because I often forget what is on the shelf, and I like to use things to flesh out the time period (study an artist of the time or fix a great recipe, etc.). I don't like to overschedule our reading, because I don't agree with "over-theming." I know some worry about reading an historical fiction novel based in a time period that hasn't been covered yet--or reading about birds when you are studying the stars. My thought is that it's simply more natural to encounter information in many formats, over long periods of time, and "from different angles," so to speak.

 

Not sure if I answered you or not!

[Colleen in NS]

I tend to plan by weeks e.g. week 1 should have x, y, and z done; week 2 should have a, b, and c done, and so forth.

 

Within your each-week plan, do you specifically schedule pages to be read/talked about for the content areas? Or do you lean towards letting them pick (how old are your kids?)?

 

Then along came my next two boys. My oldest ds is the "engineering type". He begs for more structure. He wants to know what the requirements are and feel confident that he has met them. He's almost 15 and I tried to wean him off of a page/specific, day/specific assignment sheet last year. He would go the the computer and take my assignment sheet and REWRITE IT and assign himself specific pages for specific days.

 

My next ds is somewhat "high-strung". He is simply more relaxed when everything is laid out for him. If I didn't assign certain books and require a certain amount of pages, he would choose books well below his level and never stretch himself.

 

Aha! So it can be a case of "it depends on the child." I hadn't thought of that. Now that you mention the children I quoted you on above, I can sort of see that happening with dd8, maybe. She's not an engineering type, but she does sometimes want me to make decisions for her, like "Which dress should I wear today, Mommy?" "Whichever one you want, honey." "No, Mommy, I want YOU to pick!" And it has nothing to do (I don't think) with getting approval from me, I think she just wants ME to decide because she doesn't want to for some reason.

 

FWIW - I do think it is valuable to stretch children to read more difficult literature. Because some of the classics are not as palatable to the modern mind, I find it necessary to assign pages in more difficult literature selections when the book is a stretch for the child's reading level.

 

Thanks for making me think through this. I have this whole day for planning and your question helped me gain some focus.

 

After reading this, I edited my post a bit to say that I do pick age/level/mind-stretching appropriate books from the library, that they choose from. Yes, that would make sense....to assign things at times just for the sake of exposing them to something more difficult or something you really think they should read or that you think they would enjoy once they maybe got past some boring bits. I guess I already do that, now that I think about it, I just don't have the oomph that I used to have, or the foreknowledge (learning myself for the first time along with them) to plan it so meticulously for a year ahead. I work from a couple of reading lists, but I don't read way ahead.

 

And thank YOU for adding your thoughts!

 

I originally tried a weekly/content plan. However, to get it "done" I need an in-depth plan for each day....

 

It sounds like you set up good parameters and then let your children explore within their parameters. That's actually something I strive for and hope to accomplish some day!!!

 

Thanks! It's really only been in the past six months or so that I've been able to step back and see the bigger picture and work out parameters. Only I still wonder if I'm missing something, thus this thread.

 

Colleen, you have such interesting posts -- the way you share your thought process and the resulting questions. I find that to answer I have to really think about how and why we do what we do, an exercise that is enlightening for me! It may be boring for the reader, but you asked what we do and why, so here goes.....

 

Not boring at all! I always like how you share your thought process, too, so I'm glad you responded!

 

I can not imagine having a detailed schedule. It is not how I function, nor how our lives play out. There are times I think I'd be more productive with a schedule, but the most structure I've managed is to have a rough routine -- starting school at 11 for instance (I have teens who sleep in), doing math first. Getting the subjects that I'm needed for out of the way so they can spend the rest of their day getting to their reading and writing.

 

You know, I think I am sick of feeling like I have to be productive. Maybe that's why I'm inwardly rebelling against detailed schedules anymore. I've always been a detail-oriented, super productive person. And I'm tired! I want to play! I want to enjoy the books with my kids, and play with the microscope, and craft and teach them life skills and take them swimming and teach them how to find their own good books at the library, instead of getting bogged down by particular pages/passages/questions! I'm pretty sure now, esp. after attending that PHP conference, that if I concentrate on learning/teaching certain skills (and those do have to be particular, at least for me - it's all new territory), that the content learning WILL come, even if I don't schedule out pages to make sure get covered.

 

I do assign literature -- it is the spring board for history rather than a history spine being the spring board for literature....especially for high school, I make a list of literature from a particular time period that I want to cover within a year and assign works from that. We sometimes get to every work I've listed, but often there are a few titles that are missed.

 

This sounds like my understanding of the GB section of the WTM (at least my 2004 version - the new one is slightly different). It's one of the things that appeals to me about WTM. And the way you describe it still doesn't sound like you list particular pages each week for the next year. You make a general list of "I will do my best to get to these and read/talk/write, but it doesn't matter if something is missed."

 

SWB was so laid back, too, when talking about this at the PHP conference - it was so helpful to hear!

 

Last year for my senior, I wrote a syllabus for him that listed what he needed to be reading each week and listed due dates for essay assignments. It worked really well. For my younger one, having a general game plan for history and literature works just fine -- he loves to read and we enjoy discussing books together.

 

Are you a little more detailed for your older one, because he needs it for some reason? Leanna's post clued me in to the "it depends on the child" aspect of what I'm thinking. Something I hadn't thought about.

 

I scheduled everything out for 10-12 grade, largely because ds was rather independent. I needed to know specifically what we would discuss during the times we met. I just made grids and filled them in with assignments--I used several sources for the questions I asked, and we went from there. (I'm talking mostly about history and lit here...)

 

Bolding is mine. OK, that makes sense, as to why you would schedule out detail, esp. in high school.

 

I had to make some lists, because I often forget what is on the shelf, and I like to use things to flesh out the time period (study an artist of the time or fix a great recipe, etc.). I don't like to overschedule our reading, because I don't agree with "over-theming." I know some worry about reading an historical fiction novel based in a time period that hasn't been covered yet--or reading about birds when you are studying the stars. My thought is that it's simply more natural to encounter information in many formats, over long periods of time, and "from different angles," so to speak.

 

Bolding is mine. And that comment represents me, too. Our bookshelves are a mess right now, so in trying to straighten up a little the other day, whenever I spotted something I could use for medieval history or earth/space next year, I set it aside. Just to plunk it in one pile and show the kids they can choose from it. Or for me to read aloud from. or to use for writing skills practice.

 

So (comment to all), it seems like, for content subjects, if the topics are parent-driven for a particular reason, then there is a need to schedule things out more. If the topics are more student-driven within parent-driven framework for a particular reason, there is more leeway as to what your child reads, and then what your child writes about. Of course, that would mean that Parent would have to be more on top of things with being able to discuss books/topics - guess that's why SWB mentioned the Cliff notes and pinkmonkey notes at the workshop.

 

I'd still love to hear more thoughts if more people want to chime in.

[Colleen in NS]

bump

[HappyGrace]

Thought I'd give you a bump even though I don't have much to help you!

 

I've always been a plan out the year ahead of time by the week and also do the next thing kind of planner. I've just generally planned history topics to cover by week and what resources I wanted to use, then fit it into the week however I can. Skill subjects or workbooks are do the next thing. I mostly "unschool" sci the last couple yrs because my kids do a lot on their own.

 

Now, oldest dd is a rising 4th grader, but coming into logic age thinking, so I'm trying to find ways to plan more in a daily fashion, including planning out things like discussion questions, studied dictation where we really examine a passage for grammar and spelling, etc. We're on our Moderns year, and I'm really leaning toward TOG for Ancients for the following year because it has all that right there for you and you can just plug it in by day (or your dc can.) I like to read on here how people go through their TOG and plan it out in detail-it is very conducive to that. I have no idea HOW I'm going to do that type of thing on my own this year! So I'm glad you asked this question-it was something I've been trying to wrap my mind around but I couldn't formulate the thought as well as you did!

 

Great thread-I will be :lurk5: to see what people say.

ETA: I couldn't do a SL style schedule where you read a certain number of pgs each day, but I would like to come into each day more prepared to facilitate discussion, etc., so that's the type of daily planning I'm talking about!

Edited July 4, 2009 by HappyGrace

[Peela]

I plan page numbers for the week for history in their spine, but I do a general plan in teh holidays before each term, and then write up a weekly list each weekend.

I do like to have enough of a plan to have, say, 3 weeks on the Vikings, 2 weeks on the Crusades, 3 weeks on Knights etc. But not all their books will line up on that. This year we are using IEW's Medieval Writing Lessons and so I am lining up their reading with the assignments in that.

 

However, that is the only area I plan so much, and its not that much really. We do have certain books to read through teh year, but I gave up on page numbers per week ages ago. But I will say "Watership Down- 3 half hour sessions this week", and I will have certain books read on certain days. I wont know exactly when they will finish the book until they do, though. Then I will choose another.

 

I dont do teh library thing. Just too inconvenient for us. I have several books we work from, and then I use the internet.

 

All our other work- Maths and English- is just Do The NExt Thing, so no planning is involved. I still like to think of every year as having a main theme, which is our history topic, so I like to plan that part in more detail. But I tweak things a lot as I go and so have learned not to plan too much detail all at once.

[Carol in Cal.]

For history and literature, I collect all the resources that I want to use or books I want DD to read, and put them in order on a shelf. Then we go through them as we do the history. This was my way of making this a 'do the next thing' subject, and it has left me with the flexibility that I really want.

 

Why do I want flexibility? So that I can jump on opportunities that crop up. Around here there are lots of chances for good field trips. Last year these included 3 plays that were literarily appropriate for DD, and ones that I would have wanted her to study anyway. So we put aside the literature that I had planned for the time before and immediately after those plays, and studied them instead. I think that if I had really planned everything out fully, I would not have been willing to do that, and would have missed a great opportunity.

 

In general, that is why I have a 'do the next thing' approach to homeschooling anyhow. Life happens. I want to get to the next math lesson, and the next grammer lesson, and the next Writing Strands lesson, but if DD has gotten onto a robotics team or into an opera, those might not all happen the day after she has stayed up til midnight getting ready for a big performance or competition.

 

We school to some extent through the summer, so if I feel behind, we can always catch up then. Also, since DD takes classes during the school year, we have not been able to take advantage of the school schedule vacations as most homeschoolers do, so going on field trips and working them into our school schedule is how I give us that homeschooling schedule advantage.

[kalanamak]

 

Which way do you lean, and why?

 

I'm a planner, too, but things are too fluid here for me to plan things like I'd like to. I go over what I want to cover in a year, divide it up into 12 months, fill out a chart for each month and then log what we do on it. If I don't cover everything that month, it carries onto the next month. If I get far behind in something, we step it up to "first thing to do each day".

 

When I get home from work, sometimes I am just wiped out. Sometimes kiddo, who is an only, has a social opportunity I don't want him to miss, sometimes his SAHD is having so much fun, he doesn't bring kiddo home when he is supposed to. This means that at the next opportunity, lull, good patch, very rainy day, etc. we do extra work. I had yesterday off. We read for a couple hours, played a lot of math addition games, did some Sing intensive practice on money, did two lessons of GWG, double the usual handwriting, tried out/played with every thermometer in the house, listened to 2 Vox music masters, read all our Katie Meets The.. books and What Makes a Degas a Degas, did extra chores while trying out thinking strategies for remembering where his gym bag is, examined the mechanics of the broken water gun (cheap construction) and the good one he needs to take to his Super Soakers swim days at the Y, I can't remember what else, and it all culminated in him hearing a very strange bird call at the end of dusk as he was getting into bed. I had an inkling what it was because I'd seen this a couple times in the 10 years I've lived at this house, and we went out into the dark and watched a parent owl teach a full-sized child to HUNT!

 

How could I schedual that around wiggly wild boy? I just have everything at the ready (I get it that way while Papa has him out for park time) and, as my mother said over and over in my youth, strike while the iron is hot.

Edited July 4, 2009 by kalanamak

[Colleen in NS]

I've just generally planned history topics to cover by week and what resources I wanted to use, then fit it into the week however I can.

 

I plan page numbers for the week for history in their spine,

 

I do like to have enough of a plan to have, say, 3 weeks on the Vikings, 2 weeks on the Crusades, 3 weeks on Knights etc.

 

But I will say "Watership Down- 3 half hour sessions this week", and I will have certain books read on certain days. I wont know exactly when they will finish the book until they do, though. Then I will choose another.

 

To both of you: Why do you choose particular topics for particular weeks?

Peela: I like your idea of books by time rather than books by page numbers. It seems you could relax more and enjoy the book. I do the two hour nap thing every afternoon, sending the kids to their rooms to read/play.

 

For history and literature, I collect all the resources that I want to use or books I want DD to read, and put them in order on a shelf. Then we go through them as we do the history. This was my way of making this a 'do the next thing' subject, and it has left me with the flexibility that I really want.

 

In general, that is why I have a 'do the next thing' approach to homeschooling anyhow. Life happens. I want to get to the next math lesson, and the next grammer lesson, and the next Writing Strands lesson, but if DD has gotten onto a robotics team or into an opera, those might not all happen the day after she has stayed up til midnight getting ready for a big performance or competition.

 

I like your bookshelf idea. I've tried to do that, but it gets disastrous as they kids raid the shelves and get books all out of order - but then again, that's why I have books, so they can raid and read, :lol:. Anyway, rabbit-trailing here, I am culling my shelves today and have grand plans to put fiction authors back in alpha. order and put sections of history together AGAIN. It DOES make it "do the next thing," doesn't it.

 

(every time I see your name crop up here, I picture you in the airports and on the plane with me - that was such a great day for me!!)

 

I'm a planner, too, but things are too fluid here for me to plan things like I'd like to. I go over what I want to cover in a year, divide it up into 12 months, fill out a chart for each month and then log what we do on it. If I don't cover everything that month, it carries onto the next month. If I get far behind in something, we step it up to "first thing to do each day".

 

Sounds like you're a "flexi-juggler!" :D So when you say that if you don't cover something in a particular month it carries to the next or you bump it up the priority list, do you differentiate between "necessary skills work" and "content subjects?" If so, would you tend to carry over content subjects that didn't get covered, or just forget about what you missed content-wise last month and move on to the next?

 

Thanks for the discussion, people! It's fun for me.

[Carol in Cal.]

I like your bookshelf idea. I've tried to do that, but it gets disastrous as they kids raid the shelves and get books all out of order - but then again, that's why I have books, so they can raid and read, :lol:. Anyway, rabbit-trailing here, I am culling my shelves today and have grand plans to put fiction authors back in alpha. order and put sections of history together AGAIN. It DOES make it "do the next thing," doesn't it.

 

(every time I see your name crop up here, I picture you in the airports and on the plane with me - that was such a great day for me!!)

 

 

 

 

Well, recently my DD decided to completely rearrange her homeschooling area, and now all my great systems are messed up. She wanted more room for her creative displays, and so piled a lot of books together.

 

I need to get in there and systemetize them again, but have not had time to do so. So my system is far from perfect.

 

One thing that has been helpful when we are focussing on a specific country or area for a month or more is to put all the books about that onto a high shelf over her computer desk. She is less interested in that shelf, and so the books tend to stay there. So in general, except recently, my system for organizing history books and related fiction has been:

 

Area 1: US history and historical fiction

Area 2: World history and historical fiction

Area 3: Literature that we are studying independent of history, including literary elements books and books about poetry

Area 4: Sonlight 5 books, because I bought them used as a unit and didn't use them as Sonlight 5 intends, but rather as a series of culturally-oriented unit studies

Area 5: "Current" history and historical fiction books--over the computer desk so DD will not mess with them

Area 6: Books about California specifically--because we have a lot of those, and I try to salt them in every so often and want them in a separate place from other US history books. We studied CA history separately from world/US history, so this makes sense to keep separate.

Area 7: Scientific history and biography as well as science textbooks

 

I know that that sounds complicated, but really, it's just a collection of Billy bookshelves from IKEA plus the computer desk shelves. We also have a lot of books at home that are various places--in my bedroom, in DD's bedroom, on the mantel, in the back bedroom where we have many, many shelves, in boxes, etc. However, with the system that I have, at least I have a target destination for anything that is likely to be assigned or studied, plus a little extra room for fun books that crop up.

 

It was so fun to meet you and spend all the time with you in May!

[kalanamak]

T

So when you say that if you don't cover something in a particular month it carries to the next or you bump it up the priority list, do you differentiate between "necessary skills work" and "content subjects?" If so, would you tend to carry over content subjects that didn't get covered, or just forget about what you missed content-wise last month and move on to the next?

 

 

I concentrate on the three R's, those "come first". I worry less about exact history, science, art, music content at this age rather than adequate and productive time spent. If I don't get my 8 hours per month of history done, I do extra time the next month, and I leave a topic when we are "done". If we are getting a lot of meat out of the Greeks, I let the 4 hours I planned on mesoamerica dwindle down to some read alouds and SOTW without any extras.

E.g. I planned on 22 hours on Rome, but found that he is a little young for all the details and I've concentrated on the founding, the Republic and the Imperial Roman eras only...what "life was like", the technology, and some of the famous names. The "extra" time has gone back to the Greeks, because kiddo is sitting still for every rendition of the Iliad and the Odd I can find to read him, no matter how adult. We discuss the meaning of words. I've listened to the TC lectures on them, and throw in tidbits (e.g. how Odysseus tends to do bad before he does good, e.g. the armor of Achilles he doesn't give to Ajax, but after Ajax's death gives it to Pyrrhus.) We compare versions. This is so fascinating to him we are going much more in depth than I thought him capable of, and my instinct is that the is "good" and should be encouraged.

 

It is more the TIME I carry over. As I've noted before, I added up the advised times in WTM, to make a yearly amount, divided by 12 and then try to get this done each month. Unless you simply forget something important like math, the QUALity of the time is what matters, IMO. You can always review What Every X grader Needs to Know to make sure you aren't completely off base. E.g. I've gotten a few level 3 readers about Abe and George and Ben just so kiddo isn't completely lost about what nearly every other 1st grader has heard.

 

I suspect I will become more content driven as kiddo ages.

[phathui5]

We plan a lot of detail into each week, but I do my planning on Sundays for the coming week. So there's flexibility in the sense that each week I go "What do we need to study this week?"

[HappyGrace]

To know what history topics for the week, last yr and this coming yr, I used the Veritas Press cards (early modern and modern). The year before that I went by Biblioplan's schedule for MA/Ren/Ref and added in book basket books, lapbooks, pertinent copywork, etc. For Ancients in 1st grade I did SOTW and added in additional resources for each chapter. I had certain definite books that I wanted to get done each week, so we just read them until they were done, and the rest were in a book basket for them to read on their own (or not, but she usually read many of them!)

 

But my dc are still young (oldest is rising 4th grader) so up til this last year I read many of the chapter books to her, so it was on me to get them done. Last year I still read a bunch aloud, and told her when I wanted her to finish certain books by. This year I will still read aloud, but transfer over more to her. I'll probably continue giving her a "date to finish by"-she has been good about that rather than me having to assign her pages, etc.

 

My biggest problem is not planning too many books for each week, and from that picking which ones are the "best" to make sure we get those done!

 

And again, this year I'll be putting a lot more planning time into discussion questions and so on-maybe getting Cliff's Notes or PinkMonkey to help me. I'm also toying with the idea of doing less books, but with more quality discussion time on each one.

[Peela]

To both of you: Why do you choose particular topics for particular weeks?

Peela: I like your idea of books by time rather than books by page numbers. It seems you could relax more and enjoy the book. I do the two hour nap thing every afternoon, sending the kids to their rooms to read/play.

 

 

 

I choose particular topics because it lines up with the IEW Medieval Writing course. On eassignment can take several weeks. I am also using K12's History Odyssey adn rather than having them read teh chapters in order, I have shuffled a few around to line up with the topics in the writing program. I have never had to do this before this year but it is working well.

Actually, I did do it last year in teh sense that we spent 10 weeks on prehistory and early civilizations, 10 weeks on Early Religions (K12 cover that well), 10 weeks on Rome and 10 weeks on Greece.

[Colleen in NS]

I really appreciate EVERYONE's replies here, for you all taking the time to answer my how/why questions. I can see that there is a variety of reasons for why you do things a certain way, ranging from lining up with a writing course, to the fact that some kids seem to need more direction, to (me) hoping to give more content-choice responsibility to my kids as they grow older. Thank you all very much for participating.

 

And I still wouldn't mind hearing from others!:D

[skaterbabs]

I think it depends on the curriculum and the family dynamics as well.

 

For example, we use CLE for math & language arts. it is very much a "do the next thing" type of set-up. So instructions for those typically read "Do pages 29-31" or whatever.

 

We've found that with history (SOTW 1 & I Love America 1) and science (a real mishmash of materials) we need a far more detailed plan, both for the teacher's sake and the students'.

[mellifera]

Within your each-week plan, do you specifically schedule pages to be read/talked about for the content areas? Or do you lean towards letting them pick (how old are your kids?)?

 

 

The kids range from 14 to 4. Obviously, we don't do much structure with the 4 year old. The oldest tends to need me to tell him specifics (so many chapters read/discussed, do these problems, etc.) The other 2 have specifics for some areas, but I let them pick in other areas (like reading). When I write out a weekly schedule the kids get to pick what order they do things in. They seem to like that.