What do your lesson plans look like?

[lea1]

My guys are only 4.5 so we are still doing play learning, although I keep up with products and topics on this forum to learn. I am wondering if some of you could share a bit about what a lesson plan looks like?

 

We will likely use a hodge podge of products in the early years, following WTM, and then we may start using TOG at some point.

 

I read that people are putting together their lesson plans and I do not have a good idea of what one would include. Even a high level outline would be nice to see, just to give me an example.

 

Thanks!

[mlktwins]

Oops...gave you a long list of what you weren't asking for :-)!

 

In answer to your question, I'm doing what the poster under me is doing -- a lesson planner from a teaching supply store. I'm not writing out goals and objectives for this age. Should we be?!?!?!? I'm not even going to plan what lessons are going to happen each day. I'm just going to keep track of what we do each day to start and see how that goes. I do like the idea of a montly calendar to track reading.

 

Mendy

Edited March 27, 2010 by mlktwins
Removed my first response since I wasn't answering the poster's question :-)

[FairProspects]

I just use one of those teacher plan books you can get at a teaching store. They have 3 columns per page and 5 rows (labeled M-F). Across the columns I just have:

 

Reading K

 

Handwriting K

 

Math K

 

I just write in what we are doing M-F with page/lesson numbers (and if we are taking any time off for fieldtrips/activities I write that in).

 

I have a monthly calendar printed off a free site that I write in our read-alouds so I know what chapter to read on which day. Nice and simple! Writing it down just helps me to see what we will cover that week and to skim the material in advance.

[Ellie]

What lesson plans??:eek:

 

I say that only partly in jest. :-) The only time I felt the need for any kind of written plan was the two years I was doing KONOS, and I wrote out, a month at a time, which activities I'd be doing on which days. Otherwise, the most I ever felt the need to do was read ahead in whatever we were using.

[lea1]

Wow, this is an eye opener. I might have been thinking this was more complex than it is.

 

I was talking with my niece the other day and working on a teaching degree in college. When she has to create a lesson plan, it includes objectives or goals for the lesson, details of what they will cover and how and then how they will determine whether the student has grasped the material, or something like that.

 

Does anyone do this sort of lesson planning with older children? Perhaps it is less needed for the younger ones?

[amyco]

This our fifth year homeschooling, and I have never done the standard "teacher" lesson plan. For two children in six different subjects? It just is not feasible. My plans are just a list of subjects we need to go over each day, and when I'm feeling ambitious I might pencil in which chapters or pages we're supposed to do. I've been using a teacher planner, but I use it less and less--some days I don't even open it, because by this time I've got the schedule memorized.

 

One of the brilliant things about homeschooling is the nearly intuitive way you can know whether or not your child has mastered something. For example, my ds struggles with improper fractions sometimes, and I can see it immediately and we'll work on it. So my goal/objective, while not written out, is for him to master it, and I'll know he's done it when he gets them correct consistently! And with a program like Rod&Staff grammar, the lesson objectives are right there in the TM...no need for me to reinvent the wheel! ;)

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Instead of writing in ahead of time what we will be doing I write which subjects I would like to cover each day. After we do the lessons I record them in an Excel file. With my oldest, who is doing a combination of K and first grade work, we do reading, writing, spelling, math, science, and read-alouds regularly. Foreign languages are not scheduled. For most subjects I just do the next lesson. I do make a lesson plan for science, BFSU, becuase I need a more detailed plan.

 

Lesson plans as detailed as your niece is doing are not necessary for a homeschooling mom.

[Doodle]

I like to keep track of what we've completed. Trying to plan things ahead of time did not work for since we quickly got off track. I use the one page weekly lesson planner (basic unlabeled planner; Microsoft Word version) from the Donna Young website. I tweaked it for my needs.

 

http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/planner.htm

Edited March 27, 2010 by Doodle

[Ellie]

Wow, this is an eye opener. I might have been thinking this was more complex than it is.

 

I was talking with my niece the other day and working on a teaching degree in college. When she has to create a lesson plan, it includes objectives or goals for the lesson, details of what they will cover and how and then how they will determine whether the student has grasped the material, or something like that.

 

Does anyone do this sort of lesson planning with older children? Perhaps it is less needed for the younger ones?

Teaching in a classroom is different than teaching your own children, regardless of the ages of the children.

[peacefully]

.

[Researcher]

I probably won't describe this very well but I'll give it a go.

 

I tried the teacher's book style of lesson planner that they give at teacher's supply stores in the fall. What I found, is that I got very tired of writing the same things over and over each week or marking through something to move it to another day. The messy pages drove me nuts! :tongue_smilie:

 

Edu-track was given a whirl at my house but I hated the format. It was a very ugly old access database that was not user friendly. I admire what the guy was trying to do but they need some help to "polish" the program a bit. I also didn't like that there were no updates. Again, this goes back to it being an "old" program.

 

Then I tried the workbox planner pages so that I knew what went in each box for a week. This too used paper and became tedious after a while. I also felt that I didn't have a big picture of where I was going.

 

Now I use HST+ and really like it. There is a learning curve and some setup time involved, but once I got going it was really great. It's much more user friendly, there are frequent updates to the program, and they have good customer service and a forum to discuss the program's use. I also like that I can print out the pages of goals, daily assignments, reading list, and more if I want to.

 

Most of all, I like that it is flexible. I can hit the subjects that I feel are most important in a day and hold the others for when everyone is ready to tackle them. Some days DS or I are just not in the right frame of mind for something. A few clicks and everything is recorded just the way I want without a huge investment of time each day.:001_smile:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I make my lesson plans for the week ahead. I just put filler paper in a 3 ring binder and I write all our subjects out

 

example from my 6th grader from yesterday:

 

Bible: Matthew chapter 24

 

math: workbook pg 87 pgs 296-297 textbook (see mom when ready for textbook)

 

english: pgs 245-246

 

geography- finish Africa book (monday you will start project on Africa)

 

science- pgs 20-26- notebook the what do you remember questions. Do activity for older student with me

 

history-- test (see mom)

 

spelling-- do worksheets

 

vocabulary-- use vocabulary words in a sentence

 

 

 

Then at this age I expect her to be as independant as possible. She knows to come to me when needed but I still put it in

[lovemykids]

Oldest Child-

Math- TT math (enter in computer)

LOF Math (one chapter)

Language Arts

type history or science paper (summary of current book)

personal reading time

Megawords/ vocab pulled from lit/ or Spelling Plus

writing program (Wordsmith, IEW, or SL)

Science (your choice- include experiment and write up)

Spanish or Latin

nighttime History reading (if not completed in the daytime)

bedtime Bible study

(I feel like I am missing something...this will vary and can include music, art, outlining, ect. But I usually don’t have to plan art because it happens here all the time anyway.)

 

And I have boxes that need to be checked off, but I can't get them to show up in this post. Shrug. Actually, the younger kiddos sometimes get a little more detailed plan, but not much.

 

I used to write everything down in a teacher book, like a log. But I got tired of that! For high school, we need to get a new system of record keeping, since we don't really have one now- we are relaxed part of the year.

:tongue_smilie:

[lovemykids]

I probably won't describe this very well but I'll give it a go.

 

I tried the teacher's book style of lesson planner that they give at teacher's supply stores in the fall. What I found, is that I got very tired of writing the same things over and over each week or marking through something to move it to another day. The messy pages drove me nuts! :tongue_smilie:

 

Edu-track was given a whirl at my house but I hated the format. It was a very ugly old access database that was not user friendly. I admire what the guy was trying to do but they need some help to "polish" the program a bit. I also didn't like that there were no updates. Again, this goes back to it being an "old" program.

 

Then I tried the workbox planner pages so that I knew what went in each box for a week. This too used paper and became tedious after a while. I also felt that I didn't have a big picture of where I was going.

 

Now I use HST+ and really like it. There is a learning curve and some setup time involved, but once I got going it was really great. It's much more user friendly, there are frequent updates to the program, and they have good customer service and a forum to discuss the program's use. I also like that I can print out the pages of goals, daily assignments, reading list, and more if I want to.

 

Most of all, I like that it is flexible. I can hit the subjects that I feel are most important in a day and hold the others for when everyone is ready to tackle them. Some days DS or I are just not in the right frame of mind for something. A few clicks and everything is recorded just the way I want without a huge investment of time each day.:001_smile:

 

I have used a lot of planners, etc. None of them stick. Maybe I need to try again. I need something for high school!!

[Wheres Toto]

Keeping in mind that I spent almost 20 years as an Executive Assistant and have serious over-planning tendencies...this is what I do for our Unit Studies. (Our Math and Reading we just do what comes next in our lessons or do extra games if we seem to need more practice so I don't write these down ahead of time.)

 

I have a loose schedule of what topics I want to cover this year, some based on specific dates (like Holidays) and others just random. I have a book list under each topic - what resources we have (so I don't forget to use them) and what books I've seen recommended and want to get from the library. This is in a Word document.

 

For each unit we are getting ready to do, I make a list of activities including books to read, crafts/activities to do, etc. in a separate Word document. I find this keeps me more on track and less likely to be distracted or forget something. For instance, we're currently doing the human body and part of last weeks lesson looked like:

 

 

 

Body Parts/Systems:

 

Trace bodies and hang. Color.

 

Read:

From Head to Toe

 

Read:

Amazing You: Getting Smart About Private Parts

 

Put up body from

Giant Science Resource Book

 

Read:

The Skeleton Inside You

 

Read:

Science Odyssey Skeletal and Muscular Systems

 

Color skeletal system pages from TBB and Evan Moor while reading

Put up skeleton parts from

Giant Science Resource Book

and color.

 

Read:

Science Encyclopedia pg 156-157

 

Try to make a tent using just blankets and pillows. Then use chairs and tables. Point out how it was easier with something firm to help support and compare to skeleton.

 

Feel arm from shoulder to wrist. How many bones can you feel?

 

 

 

Watch:

The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles

 

Read:

MSB Activity Guide pg 8-9

 

Read:

Science Encyclopedia pg 158-159

 

Feel arm while bending elbow back and forth. Feel the muscle move.

 

Color Evan Moor Muscular system page

After a lesson is over, I copy the booklist from my year plan into another Word document, add any Math, Reading, Science, Crafts/Activities we did and the put this page in a binder with a few samples of work from the week. A recent one of these looked like:

 

 

Colors/Artists

 

WYKNTK

 

MSB Makes a Rainbow (video)

 

Science Encyclopedia

 

13 Artists Children Should Know

 

Art

by McDonnell

 

A Color of His Own

by Lionni

 

The Snowman

by Briggs

 

Color Dance

by Jonas

 

I Spy Colors In Art

by Micklethwaite

 

the Magical Garden of Claude Monet

by Anholt

 

Begin at the Beginning

by Schwartz

 

Mouse Paint

by Walsh

 

Harold and the Purple Crayon

 

Reading:

-at word family worksheet; did short A phonics reader for –ad and –ab; read

I wish I had duck feet, Great Day for Up

; played picture/word board game; played Word Whammer

 

Math:

Finished MEP Lesson 7; MEP Lesson 8; greater than/less than; read

What’s the Time

and discussed clocks; dice addition game

 

Science:

Observable properties – transparent, translucent and opaque; refraction of light; visible light spectrum;

 

Crafts/Activities:

cutting practice; Chutes and Ladders; Sequence for Kids; Leapster games; color mixing activities; warm/cool colors; types of lines; viewed artworks – Tahitian Landscape, Hunters in the Snow, The Purple Robe, People and Dog in Sun

This is even worse if you know I live in a state that requires absolutely no reporting, notification, portfolio or testing whatsoever and that my children are not even legal school age yet. What can I say, I think I'm a little OCD. But all this actually makes things LESS stressful for me.

[Guest]

I've actually spent all day working on mine. I've got us scheduled through the summer, up to the beginning of next year. Yay! I'm a planner, I don't do well without planning.

 

Here's a link to one of my weeks on Google Docs; we are very hodge podge right now, but it is what it is. :)

[BearWallowSchool]

I think lesson plan objectives are for "real teachers" when they are coming up w/ a lesson from scratch w/ no curriculum. Where most curriculums we use already have those listed in lesson.

 

I plan on doing just what you are doing. I may get a lesson planner from a teacher supply store and instead of writing M-F, put day 1, day 2. That way it won't get all ugly/messy when we miss a day.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I've actually spent all day working on mine. I've got us scheduled through the summer, up to the beginning of next year. Yay! I'm a planner, I don't do well without planning.

. :)

 

 

I am the same way--- also I do lesson plans to start to move my kids towards independance-- that way they know what is expected of them everyday and know what has to be done. My 6th grader would be totally dependant without them! It also helps my 2nd grader work independantly when she can.

[patchfire]

Hmm... to me, the "lesson plans" are what I'm currently doing for the summer and next year, and are subject-specific. I make plans for a day or a week, which is designated by number. I use a highlighter to mark what's been accomplished.

 

On a weekly basis, I copy dd's assignments from my master spreadsheets & files into an assignment book that SHE keeps. She checks off what is complete. It's a basic "Elementary Non-Dated Assignment Book" from Rainbow Resource - $1.95. I don't write in it more than five days ahead, and it's all in pencil. While it's divided into five days and we use those designations, it really is a list of "This must be done by Friday. Today's Saturday. Have fun."

 

And now I must go back to attempting lesson plans about prehistoric life.

[lea1]

Wow, these are some awesome examples! Thanks to those of you who shared what you do. I greatly appreciate it. I will be studying these to try to figure out what my style might be.

 

I knew that homeschooling moms did not need to do the level of detail nor something similar to what a teacher does. I simply used my niece as an example. I thought that some people would like have very detailed plans and others would have more high level plans or, possibly, no plan at all. But I wasn't for sure and I also was not sure what a high level or detail plan would look like for a homeschooling mom.

 

So, thanks again to those of you who shared what you do. This was very helpful. :001_smile:

 

If anyone else wants to share, I am all ears. :bigear:

[Lightly Salted]

I compile the IGs from everything we do with both kids (Sonlight core K, Science K, LA K, LA 1, Readers 1, Readers 2, and our math/art/music/PE and anything extra) into one master document each week.

[lea1]

What I pictured this would look like was first doing a high-level year long view, where I would break each subject down to see how much we would have to cover each month to finish.

 

Once I had the year plan, I was thinking I would have to do a high level monthly plan. From that, I had pictured listing for each subject, by week, which pages we would read, worksheets, games, science projects or other activities we would do, etc. Depending on the subject and how much info/planning is provided in the teacher's manual or instructor's guide, I might need even need to do some daily planning.

 

For the materials I have seen so far, it seems that much of the planning is pretty straight forward, just do the next lesson, sort of thing for the younger children. But having looked over the TOG samples, it seemed that more planning would likely be required.

[Osaubi]

Honestly I have tried one of everything! I have HST+ but I couldn't keep up with it. We were the most orgainzied and got the most done when I used this though. I wish they made an ipod version!

 

I was also successful for awhile with the Donna Young 6 week Excel planner.

 

Now my dh wants daily details of what we do in a day (so he feels apart of school) so I will be working on my own lesson planner. I thought about just using a notebook and journaling what they do in a day like unschoolers do.

 

If I ever get it done I will post it.:tongue_smilie:

[In2why]

I also like Donna Young homeschool forms. They are free and there are so many that it is easy to find something you can use.

I use the 9 week planning sheet to get an idea of what I want to get done....then I break it down into weekly lesson plans. I only do this for our core....Reading, Grammar, Math, Science, and History.

I don't always follow it totally and change what isn't working but if I don't put my goals in writing it is too easy to fall behind and before I know it the year is gone.

[lovemykids]

Honestly I have tried one of everything! I have HST+ but I couldn't keep up with it. We were the most orgainzied and got the most done when I used this though. I wish they made an ipod version!

 

I was also successful for awhile with the Donna Young 6 week Excel planner.

 

Now my dh wants daily details of what we do in a day (so he feels apart of school) so I will be working on my own lesson planner. I thought about just using a notebook and journaling what they do in a day like unschoolers do.

 

If I ever get it done I will post it.:tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, I have a notebook full of detailed lesson plans (with blank page numbers) from the beginning of this year, but we aren’t actually using about half of those things anymore, I don’t know why I bother. Next year, I may try for weekly plans, since we are using OM. But even that I plan to tweak. I used to keep a calendar of events, and homeschool days logged, and a daily planner. And yes, a journal too.

This thread is inspiring me to look into my word documents for the pretty planner I made. I sometimes love to plan, but things have gotten so crazy around here, it seems easier to do a daily plan when we need one, or else just wing it.

I have enjoyed some of the nice planning ideas posted here! I have used My homeschool plan.com, Tanglewood core book, DIY Complete homeschool planner, Complete Master Planner, and regular teacher planners bought from the office supply store. :001_smile:

[Julieofsardis]

I've actually spent all day working on mine. I've got us scheduled through the summer, up to the beginning of next year. Yay! I'm a planner, I don't do well without planning.

 

Here's a link to one of my weeks on Google Docs; we are very hodge podge right now, but it is what it is. :)

 

Could you tell me how you did that?? This looks almost exactly like the planner I do from my Works database, except I can't write more than 1 line in a box, and sometimes I need further instructions. I'm hoping it's something I can utilize for next year.

[melissel]

I've actually spent all day working on mine. I've got us scheduled through the summer, up to the beginning of next year. Yay! I'm a planner, I don't do well without planning.

 

Here's a link to one of my weeks on Google Docs; we are very hodge podge right now, but it is what it is. :)

 

Mine looks a bit like this. I just use a simple Excel spreadsheet with the days of the week (including Saturday/Sunday, since DH works weekends and they're our overflow days) at the top, and the subjects on the left. The biggest lifesaver for me was discovering that I can make the subject column appear on the left side of every page, but it only actually exists on the first page. So it's visible on every page, but when I need to bump lessons over because we didn't complete them on the days I thought we would, that column isn't part of the restructuring of the rows. Before I figured that out, I was lost (and of course DH was all, "I could have showed you that!" :glare: :lol:).

 

Some of our materials are "do the next thing"-type materials: WWE, GWG, etc. I schedule those anyway, because it's easy and helps me just look at a week and know where we should be. Some involve more resources--for example, SOTW. For each week's SOTW work, I also include the titles of videos I want them to watch on Netflix or United Streaming, specific related reading books or pages from other resources, etc., so I don't have to dig out the activity book unnecessarily. When we finish each scheduled lesson or group of materials, I gray out the box so I can see at a glance where we've skipped or didn't complete something and start there accordingly.

 

I also have rows for notes to myself "Order next chapter's worth of library books for SOTW; Look up and order books on XYZ holiday/event; Sign up for soccer." I also note related field trips I want to take during the weeks when we're covering certain topics.

 

I try to plan out at least 6-8 weeks at a time. We aim to school year-round, so I can take breaks when we need them, and this helps me contain any slacking off because I can look at my plans and see just how many days it's been since we did anything for a certain subject because we have family visiting. It's also so I can look back and see what we've accomplished--this is particularly helpful on weeks when I feel like we've just done nothing at all! I've worked without lesson plans and with lesson plans, and WITH lesson plans, I definitely hold myself more accountable.

 

HTH :D

Edited March 28, 2010 by melissel

[Guest]

Could you tell me how you did that?? This looks almost exactly like the planner I do from my Works database, except I can't write more than 1 line in a box, and sometimes I need further instructions. I'm hoping it's something I can utilize for next year.

 

I am using Open Office (free) right now, but I also have Works so let me check....okay - in a spreadsheet, you'd click on the cell that you are dealing with and then click Format/Font/Alignment and then check the little box that says "Wrap Text Within a Cell". Then I always center it. HTH!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My guys are only 4.5 so we are still doing play learning, although I keep up with products and topics on this forum to learn. I am wondering if some of you could share a bit about what a lesson plan looks like?

 

We will likely use a hodge podge of products in the early years, following WTM, and then we may start using TOG at some point.

 

I read that people are putting together their lesson plans and I do not have a good idea of what one would include. Even a high level outline would be nice to see, just to give me an example.

 

Thanks!

 

There is a big difference between the way that a teacher plans his or her day and the way that a homeschool parent plans homeschooling. With homeschooling, you will have immediate feedback on things like reading comprehension and math understanding. You won't have to build in measurements that you will use to track 25+ different students.

 

And as someone else pointed out, student teachers are being taught how to plan lessons, so they are being walked through some steps that will be naturally phased out over time. You don't need to worry that your "lesson plans" for your dd aren't similar to what your niece is doing for school any more than you need to fret that you don't do a detailed nutritional count for every meal you make at home (even though a school cafeteria probably would do so).

 

Which isn't the same as saying that you will want to do no planning. Just that you can probably do much broader strokes than a classroom teacher would.

 

Think about what you want to accomplish in a year. It might be a certain progress through a certain book or program (ex. a 1 year math curriculum or one level of First Language Lessons grammar). Take how many lessons there are and look at how long you want to take. That will show you how many days a week you will need to do that item to finish in the planned time. Don't forget to count tests and unnumbered activities or investigations if they aren't part of the numbered lesson sequence (upper level Saxon math tripped me up with this). Or you could go the other way and figure out how many days per week you want to do a particular subject and then project how long you will spend per book or level.

 

When we were doing kindergarten, the biggies were reading, math and read alouds. Handwriting was something that we dabbled with, but it wasn't linked directly with reading (in other words, it was ok that the kid could read "cat" but struggle writing it and especially not be essential that they could spell it for me.) Science was mostly a matter of investigating the world around us, reading about animals and answering why questions.

 

Don't burn yourself out by overthinking the lower grades.

[Pippen]

I use a two page table I made up for a week at a time, with subjects listed in order that we usually do them during the day. The vertical columns are the days of the week, horizontal rows are the subjects. Mine is along the lines of the one Lightly Salted posted, with information that I would need to rewrite each day already on the page.

 

I print up the charts on my computer, and enter the info in pencil before, during or at the end of the day, as needed. At the end of the week I file it into a folder. It's simple, flexible, and portable--just how I like it.:)

[Wheres Toto]

Could you tell me how you did that?? This looks almost exactly like the planner I do from my Works database, except I can't write more than 1 line in a box, and sometimes I need further instructions. I'm hoping it's something I can utilize for next year.

 

 

If you don't want to just have the text wrap when it hits the end of a line, but want to put in line breaks where you want them - In Word (or word processing program) tables, hit shift + Enter. In Excel (or spreadsheet program) hit Alt + Enter.

[hophr5]

This is my first year homeschooling all five and I have tried several different ways of writing lessons. I have found that simply writing down what we actually accomplish is much easier than trying to complete a to do list. I do try to sit down once a month and set simple goals that I want to try and reach, but that is more to keep me on track. My freshman, I write out each week lesson plans as to what I want her to accomplish each day, but even this is up for change if a better opportunity comes along. I have found that the best learning experiences just happen without any planning at all!!

[lynn]

I get confused, lost and overwhelmed when it comes to lesson plans. So, I purchase the daily lesson plans for the curriculum I am using and keep a have a notebook that I write out, in pencil, what needs to be accomplished daily. I do allow my son to work ahead if time permits, but it gives us a guide to see where we left off if we get sidetracked due to something unexpected.

[lovemykids]

I get confused, lost and overwhelmed when it comes to lesson plans. So, I purchase the daily lesson plans for the curriculum I am using and keep a have a notebook that I write out, in pencil, what needs to be accomplished daily. I do allow my son to work ahead if time permits, but it gives us a guide to see where we left off if we get sidetracked due to something unexpected.

 

You can do the same thing in a word document and then just print it out daily, that way it can still be changed as needed, but you save time by not having to write it out. You can even put those little boxes in front of each assignment. I think kids get a sense of accomplishment checking off the boxes.

I’d like to change to a weekly, flexible schedule instead of a daily one.

[EppieJ]

So, okay, I do make lesson plans...tentatively. I have an idea of what I want to cover for the year (usually by the end of the previous school year). From that, I break it down into specific books/activities/workshops that will be our resources. We currently have 8 subjects (not all of them daily, and we school only 4 days a week): Bible, Language Arts, Math, Art/Music, Science, His/SS/Geo, PE/Health, Spanish. Actually, I guess we have 9. We have one titled "Independent Study" where ds chooses what he wants to do/study. (We're part of an alt ed program). I use a lesson plan book and write in pencil because, inevitably, not everything will get done as planned. I like having the goal in front of me, tho, because it helps me stay on track. In addition, ds is a box checker so I usually print him out a "Daily Check List" so he can keep track of what's going on.

 

I know this probably seems like overkill to most of you, but it helps us stay organized, helps me keep my sanity, and makes it easier to track our progress. I like to be able to see what we've done and what's coming up. Did I mention I'm a former pre-school teacher? :)

 

I have also used Homeschool Tracker as a way of recording what actually gets done (verses planning the lessons on it.) It's an easy way to keep track.

[mom31257]

I make my own spreadsheets for planning in the summer. I make 2 sheets, one for each semester, listing all the weeks' dates in the left column and subjects across the top. This is where I list chapters, units, lesson numbers, etc. This helps me plan so that I finish everything during my year.

 

I do make a weekly plan for each of my children. I took the planner listed in the first link of this thread and tweaked it.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133451&highlight=lesson

 

I now also have a weekly page for my records. It is a spreadsheet with days of the week across the top. Down the left column I list the subjects we do together, then each child's subjects. This is just where I make my plans before filling out their planner. All the writing in is done by hand.

 

Next year, I'm going to give my kids one of these. I love the way it is laid out. There are 3 little boxes at the upper right of each block which will be great for checking off that it is done and a place to put that assignment's grade.

http://www.goodnewsplanners.com/

 

I will still make my own planner sheets, though. I have yet to find just what I want. I plan to make my own sheets then have them comb-bound.

[jclinton]

Wow, this is an eye opener. I might have been thinking this was more complex than it is.

 

I was talking with my niece the other day and working on a teaching degree in college. When she has to create a lesson plan, it includes objectives or goals for the lesson, details of what they will cover and how and then how they will determine whether the student has grasped the material, or something like that.

 

Does anyone do this sort of lesson planning with older children? Perhaps it is less needed for the younger ones?

 

My mom is a a teacher - and they have to tie their lesson plans to state standards to demonstrate how they are addressing them.

 

I don't get that complicated - there really isn't a need to. However, what I do is at the end of the year I write goals for each child. For instance last year ds 7 was improving phonics and reading, addition and subtraction and improving handwriting. Everything other than that was gravy. This helps me to focus my hs dollars and to be sure I am addressing the needs of my kids. I have a tendancy to go overboard - there are so many great programs and I want to do them all! :tongue_smilie:

 

Keep in mind that hsing is not public schooling. Teachers in ps have 20-30 kids - they have to be able to identify where those children are and set goals for them because there are so many of them. Plus they have to be accountable to principles, the state education department etc and have to prepare the kids for standardized testing. HSer's don't have to do all of those thigns - perhaps they have to prepare for standardized tests - but I don't know very many hsers who don't know what their children's learning challenges are. That type of lesson planning is almost overkill in hs. I have a schedule based upon my goals and the curricula I'm using. I don't care if what I'm using meets the standards the education system in my state has set because they are so incredibly low.

HTH,

JoAnne

[lovemykids]

Wow, this is an eye opener. I might have been thinking this was more complex than it is.

 

I was talking with my niece the other day and working on a teaching degree in college. When she has to create a lesson plan, it includes objectives or goals for the lesson, details of what they will cover and how and then how they will determine whether the student has grasped the material, or something like that.

 

Does anyone do this sort of lesson planning with older children? Perhaps it is less needed for the younger ones?

 

Writing out your goals is a nice idea. It does help to take notes and have goals written down somewhere, But usually, you are very aware of what your student is gaining from the education you are providing. Home educating is very up close and personal, since it’s one on one. I don’t see the need to make it any more complicated than a to do list and a schedule. You’ll have enough on your hands by the time your little one is in high school; at that point you have to worry about transcripts and record keeping. Don’t stress about it now.

[Hannah]

I don't do much pre-planning except for calculating how many pages we need to complete in a week to get through the materials for a particuar subject in the school year. All our curriculum is open-and-go.

 

We use a rotation system with math, memorization, and music practice done daily and the rest of the subjects are rotated so that we have a set time for school rather than a set schedule daily. The rotation just continues where it left off the previous day. We do history 4 days a week as we have a "History Club" with two other families and need to keep up with the group while reading the chapter/listening to the CD, mapwork, writing a summary and some read-alouds at home.

 

We typically get through two rotations in a week (and this is what I use to calculate the length of a lesson). Dd has some flexibility to choose what she wants to do, but has to tick the subject off as we go along and has to complete the rotation before getting to the subject again. She can also choose to split the allocated pages into two sessions if she wishes.

 

Our record-keeping is very simple. I have all the subjects we do printed out and we just jot down the exercise or page numbers that were covered in the day.

[Julieofsardis]

I am using Open Office (free) right now, but I also have Works so let me check....okay - in a spreadsheet, you'd click on the cell that you are dealing with and then click Format/Font/Alignment and then check the little box that says "Wrap Text Within a Cell". Then I always center it. HTH!

 

Thanks for answering. I do mine in the Works database, maybe that's the problem. I'm not sure how to transition over.

 

I do appreciate your help though!