How do you lesson plan?

[bry's-gal]

or even plan out the year?

 

Up to this point, I've been very laid back about it all-they were just to young to stress all of us out about it. The few times I did try to plan things, it just ended up getting thrown out the window for one reason or another.

 

How do you guys do it?

[bry's-gal]

:lurk5:

[esoloj]

I've found some goods tips from Simply Charlotte Mason. Look at the big picture (such as 4, 5 or 6 year history rotation and other subjects you want to cover). Then break the current year into terms and from there subjects can be divided into number of days per week. I then schedule my resources based on number of chapters in books or lessons to be covered each week. That's a rough overview of how I schedule. :001_smile:

[kmacnchs]

I'll give you another :lurk5:

 

I start mine "early" (not to me, but to others). We also school year round so that, when life gets away with us, I do not stress AT ALL - I know it would take a lot for them to "get behind". (that is not why we start them early; we do that b/c so far dds have been ready "early").

 

Ex. in the past year, we have gone on 2 vacations (not normal), my dh lost his job for 2 mo (when daddy's home, we generally do not school), and I have gotten pg (throwing up slows down school as well). However, since we are schooling through the summer, without feeling pressure or speeding anyone up, dd1 will finish all of her 1st grade subjects by mid July probably and dd2 will finish all of her K subjects by October (she started K in Jan.)

 

I pick curricula (mostly rec. by WTM) and just work on them at a steady pace until we are finished. I have never tried to "catch my children up" to where they are "supposed" to be b/c they have never gotten "behind".

 

I know, I'm not much help (if any); that is why, mainly, I'm just a :lurk5: ;)

[bry's-gal]

km- That is kind of what we have done. I've picked out what we are going to do and we just work on it until we are finished and then I move on to the next level up. It is working- my eldest is doing so well. I guess I'm stuck in the trap of feeling like I "have" to plan it all out!

[kmacnchs]

km- That is kind of what we have done. I've picked out what we are going to do and we just work on it until we are finished and then I move on to the next level up. It is working- my eldest is doing so well. I guess I'm stuck in the trap of feeling like I "have" to plan it all out!

 

I'm so type A so I WANT to plan. I do sometimes on paper. However, I quickly find that the plan and reality are not matching up (at least it hasn't yet and we're finishing up our 2nd year). It is not from laziness, it is from life - we are not behind so I don't stress. I know WTM suggests to plan...oh well, I just make monthly or bi-monthly assessments and as for the next year, just make sure all of the subjects are covered and when a subject goes by the wayside (they usually do at my house), I just try to make sure they are less necessary subjects...not saying I'm right, just saying that's what happens at my house...

[RahRah]

km- That is kind of what we have done. I've picked out what we are going to do and we just work on it until we are finished and then I move on to the next level up. It is working- my eldest is doing so well. I guess I'm stuck in the trap of feeling like I "have" to plan it all out!

 

I feel like I'm in the same trap with ya! Boy - the last year was easy - just do whatever, whenever (DS was doing K work and has already progressed well into 1st for math and reading, so things are going to be interesting this year for planning)....I feel since we're now formally at "first grade" I really need a better plan than the no plan approach - we should, I think, have some kind of structure to our day now.....as it is, sometimes we'll do things in the AM, other times in the evening - and I dunno, that probably won't be a good way to build his self-discipline and time management for the future!

 

The last couple of days I've been trying to figure it out - hopefully it'll come together soon!

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

I blogged about the process in detail here, but when it comes down to it, we're *really* laid back, so far. Even my 'official' planning isn't very elaborate. :) And, as I have a baby due at the end of September this year and we are registered for Classical Conversations, things are going to be quite different again!

[kmacnchs]

I feel like I'm in the same trap with ya! Boy - the last year was easy - just do whatever, whenever (DS was doing K work and has already progressed well into 1st for math and reading, so things are going to be interesting this year for planning)....I feel since we're now formally at "first grade" I really need a better plan than the no plan approach - we should, I think, have some kind of structure to our day now.....as it is, sometimes we'll do things in the AM, other times in the evening - and I dunno, that probably won't be a good way to build his self-discipline and time management for the future!

 

The last couple of days I've been trying to figure it out - hopefully it'll come together soon!

 

I don't plan as far as getting a certain # of things done by a certain date but our days are terribly structured...that's just who I am. We do school everyday (when I'm feeling well) for dd1 from 9:30-10:30 (math & spelling) and then from 2:30-3 (reads to me) & dd2 does school from 11-11:30. We do it then b/c that is when the 1yo is asleep and out of the way. I def. would encourage structure in your day but especially since your ds is ahead, continue to leisurely go at his pace! :)

[StartingOver]

I make plans for my 3 almost 4 year old, and my 2 year old !!!! Of course with the 2 year old it is just what we are reading when, and letter recognition, but it still keeps order in my house. She wants to do school to, and demands it. Plans are not a bad thing at any age. They can be changed if need be.

 

I do plan sort of, but end up adding in many different things. So no telling what we are doing and on what level. Generally I look at a book and see how many lessons. Such as FLL 1&2 is 100 lessons per grade. That is about 3 lessons per week. It gets it done a bit early because the real number is 2.7 per week. But then we just move onto the next thing. I would rather be a little ahead than a little behind. Although sometimes we have to go back and revisit things, such is life. We also school year round so generally are ahead most of the time.

 

I use Homeschool Tracker, but do each subject or text within a subject separately. That way if we get ahead in math, it isn't a big deal. I just print off what I want to do that day, and if we don't get it done I go back and mark it incomplete. That way it can be printed out tomorrow.

Edited May 25, 2010 by alatexan68

[RahRah]

I blogged about the process in detail here, but when it comes down to it, we're *really* laid back, so far. Even my 'official' planning isn't very elaborate. :) And, as I have a baby due at the end of September this year and we are registered for Classical Conversations, things are going to be quite different again!

 

 

"I leave a space next to each subject where I write in what we did rather than what we hope to do. At this stage of the game (and with two younger and unpredictable children) I would rather not feel constantly 'behind' or 'off kilter.' I don't want to rewrite the plans 100 times..."

 

SOLD!

 

It's the fine details I'm agonizing over and what you wrote just struck me as 'sensible' for us - if I have a big picture plan set, I can incorporate my details for each week as we go as long as we're sticking to the bigger picture (ie. math 5x a week, phonics/reading 4x a week, etc.)

 

--- deep breath ---

 

I feel better now!

[bry's-gal]

This has helped so much! I'm not as off track as I thought!

 

Heidi- Thank you for sharing your blog! It is pretty close to what I have been doing- I just had a sheet saying what I was covering and how often. I love the idea of writing down what we have finished! I do need to be better about sitting down once a week and making sure I have needed materials and jotting down things.

 

We do CC and I've noticed that when CC is in session, I do much better at staying focused. I'm hoping to improve on that next year. This year I've focused on reading, writing, and math and everything else is a bonus. Next year I'm adding in science and history with some art and music thrown in. I also do better when we have a rough schedule of how our weeks goes. All of our activities have recently finished so I feel so unorganized right now. Hubby keeps telling me that the eldest is doing wonderful and so far ahead that I can relax a bit for the summer. I know he is right and I'm just putting to much stress on myself!

[bry's-gal]

I though of another question!:lol:

 

How do you remember to get to the fun games?

I do good at getting the "formal" work done but I'm always forgetting to pull out a game or two and just have some fun learning and reviewing!:confused1:

[TXMary2]

I change planning methods from year to year or every other. My favored methods are using a spiral bound teacher's plan book, a spiral notebook and The Homeschool Tracker. This year, I am going to use all methods depending on student and subject instead of trying to pick one way. Here's some blog posts about my planning "issues."

 

We school year round, but I usually plan for 36 weeks/180 days of lessons in every given subject unless it is a one semester course. That gives us 52 weeks/365 days to complete it :) Therefore sickness, field trips, lazy days or whatever don't affect us much. Our school year runs from August to July.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

This has helped so much! I'm not as off track as I thought!

 

Heidi- Thank you for sharing your blog! It is pretty close to what I have been doing- I just had a sheet saying what I was covering and how often. I love the idea of writing down what we have finished! I do need to be better about sitting down once a week and making sure I have needed materials and jotting down things.

 

We do CC and I've noticed that when CC is in session' date=' I do much better at staying focused. I'm hoping to improve on that next year. This year I've focused on reading, writing, and math and everything else is a bonus. Next year I'm adding in science and history with some art and music thrown in. I also do better when we have a rough schedule of how our weeks goes. All of our activities have recently finished so I feel so unorganized right now. Hubby keeps telling me that the eldest is doing wonderful and so far ahead that I can relax a bit for the summer. I know he is right and I'm just putting to much stress on myself![/quote']

 

My boys will be going into 3rd, 1st, and K4 this next year. Baby girl due the beginning of Oct. has me planning for a really light fall schedule, but since you mentioned that you are participating in CC, I thought I'd share what I've written for plans so far.

 

Classical Conversations (3 hrs (one morning) per week for 12 weeks): Memory work: math (skip counting), English grammar, Latin, history (sentence and timeline), geography, and science. Elocution (speaking individually in front of class). Fine arts project. Science project. Then social time during lunch.

 

Daily (4 days per week):

 

Review all memory work, using CD and timeline cards. (20 minutes)

 

Sing hymn (Levi play piano), review Bible memory work (God Our Provider CD), and Bible reading. (30 minutes)

 

Handwriting workbooks. (15 minutes)

 

Spelling. (20 minutes)

 

Math worksheet/review/DVD. (45 minutes)

 

History reading corresponding with CC timeline cards or Science DVD. (30 minutes)

 

Expand on any of our memory work if needed. Geography, etc. (15 minutes)

 

Independent Reading/Quiet Time. (60+ minutes)

 

Piano Practice.

 

Levi and Luke will have daily checklists for their work, which can mostly be done independently if needed. I hope to have both math worksheets and handwriting workbooks on the table when the boys wake up, so they can start in right away (Dad can get them going if I'm not up yet.)

 

Leif will be attending Classical Conversations and joining in as much of the other studies as he is able. He will have his own handwriting workbook. My mom has offered to take the boys to Classical Conversations as often as I need her to do so, and may join us even when I'm able to go.

 

Thanskgiving - New Year's will be bare-bones essentials (math review, handwriting workbooks, reviewing memory work with CDs (no new material), piano practice (Christmas songs), and independent reading) along with as much Christmas season reading and celebrating as we can manage.

 

In January we will resume our weekly Classical Conversations classes for another 12 weeks (2 weeks off for spring break), the daily tasks we did in the fall, history studies with The Story of the World: Vol 3, science with Christian Kids Explore Physics, math lessons with RightStart, and begin studying English grammar, writing, and poetry with MCT. (Levi will have already completed FLL 1 and 2.)

 

I'm still undecided as to what to do for Latin, as CC uses classical pronunciation which is very different from Prima Latina/Latina Christiana's ecclesiastical pronunciation. We may not study any Latin other than what is included in our CC memory work until the middle grades.

 

In April, I'll review and decide where we want to go from there. For sure, we'll continue with math lessons, probably year-round.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Heidi @ Mt Hope

[StartingOver]

I though of another question!:lol:

 

How do you remember to get to the fun games?

I do good at getting the "formal" work done but I'm always forgetting to pull out a game or two and just have some fun learning and reviewing!:confused1:

 

With my little ones we do a morning and afternoon session of learning. Morning are for OPGTR, Math, and my son does oral reading to me or his sister, then usually art or music and free play. Then we go play outside and nap. After nap is game time ( scheduled in but decided by the kids, whatever they want to do ), we have a large selection of games, activity bags, art supplies, etc., that are only for school. Then in the after noon we do FLL, SOTW and reading aloud. Then they go outside again with dad in the evening.

[Closeacademy]

I do a year long schedule to see how long things should last us and what we are covering during the year. I use the semester planner for that:

 

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

 

Basically, I am able to sketch out things for a year.

 

I also write goals for each child and each subject they are studying for the year.

 

For an actual day to day planner that I use as I set up our days, I have a notebook for each child. This is how it is set up:

 

across the top--dates

down the side--subject

in each area I write the lesson plans, pages that we are doing and jot notes for extras (manipulatives, games, etc.)

 

I schedule science, history and grammar every 12 weeks. I schedule math, spelling, phonics, lapbooks, etc at the end of every week.

 

:001_smile:

[FO4UR]

I have never EVER kept any of my plans...

 

I plan all the time though.:001_huh::lol:

 

Writing it out helps me think through things...so when real life pops up I'm confident in what I cut and what I dig my heels in on and get done. If I don't plan at all, I will wander aimlessly in the sea of curricula that I'm tempted to purchase every other day. If I set my plans in stone, we will all be miserable and hate school. I am ever searching for that Happy Medium.

 

I think I'm settling in on planning each subject out in a yearly sequence...which may be as easy as "do the next lesson" every day. Then scheduling in the time for each subject on a daily/weekly basis. Finally, jotting it all down in a weekly planner..on a weekly basis. (so I can maintain the flexibility to speed up/slow down as needed w/o using up 16 erasers in the process)

 

I like the idea of writing it down AFTER you do the lesson...it makes a great deal of sense, ESPECIALLY with young dc.

[kmacnchs]

After nap is game time ( scheduled in but decided by the kids, whatever they want to do ), we have a large selection of games, activity bags, art supplies, etc., that are only for school.

 

Good idea! (I also forget to do the fun stuff)

 

I also like the idea of a PP to just write what we DID (I need to do that...)

[tennismomkelly]

I use Homeschool Tracker, but do each subject or text within a subject separately. That way if we get ahead in math, it isn't a big deal. I just print off what I want to do that day, and if we don't get it done I go back and mark it incomplete. That way it can be printed out tomorrow.

:thumbup: I plan the exact same way except I use Homeschool Skedtrack because I have a Mac. I love that feature!! The grid schedule I was using before drove me batty. :glare:

 

The only curriculum that I don't enter for the entire year is TOG. Instead, I plan out 1 unit at a time.

 

We school year round, but I usually plan for 36 weeks/180 days of lessons in every given subject unless it is a one semester course. That gives us 52 weeks/365 days to complete it :) Therefore sickness, field trips, lazy days or whatever don't affect us much. Our school year runs from August to July.

Same here! :)

[lovemykids]

You can make plans for a 5 yo????

 

At those ages they change so much and never at a steady pace. It's just easier to do the next thing as they are able. Writing it all down ahead of time is an exercise in futility. OYu could always write down what you do after the fact if you would like a record of progress.

 

I started writing out lesson plans when my oldest got to about 5th grade because he wanted an assignment sheet. Even now that he is in 7th grade I plan out content subjects 6 weeks or so in advance but skill subjects like math and Latin I only plan out a week or two. I don't know if this math lesson is going to be super easy and only require him to spend a day on it or if it is going to take a week to work the bugs out! Things change, and it is a waste of erasers to go out any further.

:iagree:

 

Or you could get a rough idea of your plans by dividing up the books, pages, etc. and counting the general months of school. Then you have a guide to let you know if you are on track or not. But every little detail will just be a waste.

[mom31257]

My dh teaches school so he takes the kids to do things so I can have "pre-planning" days like he gets. I go through all our stuff and list unit numbers, chapters, lesson numbers, topics, etc. I divide those all out over our year to calculate how much has to be done each week or month. For example, the math program that she will do next year will have 153 lessons. We will do about 37 weeks of school, so she will need to do 4 lessons a week most weeks. I'll throw 5 lessons into weeks we don't have much going on outside the house.

 

I developed a spreadsheet for each semester. I list Monday dates down the left column and subjects across the top. I then list chapter numbers, lesson numbers, etc., in the appropriate columns.

 

I also make a more detailed yearly plan of what we will do together. My kids are 6 years apart, but I'm trying to do some things together such as artist/composer studies, devotions, poetry reading, history projects, movies, or field trips, etc.

 

I make a weekly plan each weekend. I try not to do the weekly plans far ahead because I want to stay flexible. My kids will be using this planner for next year. I love that each day and subject has 3 small blocks at the upper right corner. My kids are list checkers by nature, so they will use one to check it is done. I'll use the other two for grades or that I've checked it.

 

The yearly planning helps me stay focused, but I'm going to stray from the plan when it is necessary or will benefit the kids.

[Amber in AUS]

I have just started using Planbook and I love it! I look at it as a smorgasbord of activities we can choose from that day and anything we don't get to i just bump along. LOVE that i can just bump it along! I also try to build in LOTS of margin. We school year round but there is always something that throws a spanner in the works, like this week we are all sick, no problem i have bumped all of our lessons to next week.

 

As far as which books and when how much to get done most of what we use is just do the next thing, or like AAS working to facility before moving on. It is hard to predict when facility is going to occur but i do tend to have some idea and just go with that, again allowing margin incase i have it wrong. Yet again Planbook is great because if we zoom ahead i can pull the lessons back and if it takes longer bump along.

[orangearrow]

I make a weekly plan each weekend. I try not to do the weekly plans far ahead because I want to stay flexible. My kids will be using this planner for next year. I love that each day and subject has 3 small blocks at the upper right corner. My kids are list checkers by nature, so they will use one to check it is done. I'll use the other two for grades or that I've checked it.

 

 

I like this planner! Excellent price, too!

[orangearrow]

I make up a schedule for every 6 weeks (although, this year, I am going to do a 9-week schedule). We will take a week off after each 9 weeks, during which I will make up the next 9-weeks' schedule. (We school year-round)

 

The biggest change this year is that I am going to make up the "master schedule" for myself and save/print it out...

 

Then, each weekend, I am going to write down in my girls' planners what they are do complete each week. They'll check their own lists off as we go along through the day.

 

We've done this before, but it's always been on individually printed out sheets. This will be the first time for them to keep it all in one place.

[Pretty in Pink]

I have long-term goals that I keep in mind. That said, I buy a year's worth of curriculum at once and plan to finish it in one school year. I calculate how much we will need to cover in each subject per week, on average, to meet that goal. That's it.

 

Then, every Sunday evening I print out an assignment sheet for each child (grid style, subjects down the left side of the paper and days of the week across the top) and I just pencil in the assignments for the week. This allows me to remain flexible in case we decide to linger on a topic, someone gets sick, or we take an impromptu sabbatical.

 

Now, my oldest has some control over his own week. For example, I print out his reading assignments, SAPs, and map for TOG and give them to him on Monday. I pencil in '90 minutes' on his history schedule on Mon, Wed, Fri. Then he decides how much work to do each of those days for history and the order in which to do the assignments. I pencil in for Logic '30 minutes, 3x this week' and then let him choose the days and times. You get the idea.

[jen_white]

I use Homeschool Tracker Plus (since 2001). Best thing I've ever bought for homeschooling...besides my WTM book.

[bry's-gal]

Thanks for all of the input! It is great to hear other's ideas and how they do it!

[Jen the RD]

You can make plans for a 5 yo????

 

At those ages they change so much and never at a steady pace. It's just easier to do the next thing as they are able. Writing it all down ahead of time is an exercise in futility. OYu could always write down what you do after the fact if you would like a record of progress.

 

 

:iagree:Don't stress out over this with a 5 yo. Really, I am not trying to sound condescending. I've been there and understand your heartfelt desire to do your best, but honestly, enjoy this time with your kids. How do I know?....BTDT :D

 

Jennifer

[MissKNG]

I really don't plan anything out lesson-wise yet as we don't have to report. I do have a spreadsheet projecting what we may use in each grade level (and it constantly changes) but at least I have an idea.

 

My big girl is a what I call a "volume producer" - she is able to work through so much material to the point where I don't have to worry if we are going to complete everything in one school year. I actually worry about the opposite - expanding on subjects to go deeper in order to slow her down.

 

So, I'm very fortunate (at least right now) that I don't have to worry about making lesson plans. I tried mapping out what we would do for the week back when we were working through Singapore Earlybird Math and I had to adjust so much that I stopped even trying.

[Tam101]

I've done a number of things from laid back no schedule to schedule each day with a spreadsheet. Both end up stressing me out because I worry we won't finish by the end of the year or we get behind. ect...

 

This fall I'm going to use Homeschool Skedtrack. What I like about it is if the child doesn't get something done it will automatically push the schedule back for you without having to rewrite the lesson plan. I just about have everything scheduled for next year and I left an extra couple weeks at the end of each subject, to allow for sick days and life. *fingers crossed* I think this is the answer for me!:D

[Tina D]

:iagree:Homeschool Tracker. The best thing in our homeschool for planning.

[Guest FiveLittleMonkeys10]

I don't really "plan" for the younger ones. I just give them what they have to do, and let 'em at it.

 

For the older ones, I will make a spreadsheet of what has to be done that week in every subject, and they have to figure out how to get it all done themselves. That is up to them, and I really think it helps them prepare for college.

 

We homeschool year-round, so we just keep on chugging along. Whenever they finish, they finish, and we move onto the next level. By doing this, we don't freak out if something isn't done "on time".

 

We just enjoy nature, and museums, and basically any field trip we can think up that involves what we are learning. :D

[bry's-gal]

FiveLittleMonkeys- When do you transition to the spreadsheet for the older kids? Do you do it gradually or just start it at a certain age? I know my two are still to young for that- I was just curious!

[Guest FiveLittleMonkeys10]

FiveLittleMonkeys- When do you transition to the spreadsheet for the older kids? Do you do it gradually or just start it at a certain age? I know my two are still to young for that- I was just curious!

 

It's all different for the different kids. My DS19 didn't get his until he was 14, but my DD15 started getting hers at 13. My DS12 has one know, but it isn't like his sisters. She does most of her classes independently while he still needs my help with a few. I suppose it is more maturity level than age. I don't give them a spreadsheet when they hit a certain age even if I know they won't be able to follow it and finish everything needed.

 

I would say when they seem to do more things by themselves is when to start. Kind of get them used to working independently. Don't do it all at once, just for certain classes. And eventually all of their classes will be on that spreadsheet (unless they take a course at CC).

[hsmom23]

This thread has been full of good ideas. Thanks everyone. I also have littles and have wondered how to add a little structure to the school process. I am planning to figure out how many lessons need to be done per week to finish by the start of the next year (schooling year round) and shoot for that. (3x per week to finish Horizon K before Oct. 1, 2011.) Right now I just plan day to day, but when we get our fiar stuff next week I will plan out the week on Sun eve. and I just write it right in my to do list, looks something like this: dishes, clean bathroom, school:100ez lessons and MEP, FIAR day 1, game, general clean-up .... then I just cross things off as I get them done. As the kids get older I am interested in Chechking out one of the tracking programs that adjust as you go, that is just awesome!:lol:

[Parrothead]

I plan out the entire school year during the summer. I generally divide and conquer to fill out 175 days of school. I try to complete our books cover to cover.

[kmacnchs]

OYu could always write down what you do after the fact if you would like a record of progress.

 

I think I already said it but I'm going to say it again: I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

 

I wrote out dates (weekly) on the side & names on the top and I am going to write what we get done each week. I even did it for my 1yo. I think it will be fun to see what he accomplished (first words, etc.) when he gets older...you know, you do that with your first but life gets away from you as you have more...

 

I do not like clutter so if I have what was done each week written down, I will feel better about throwing away wkshts that are not important to keep for HS or college transcripts :lol: