Jessica at Trivium Academy or anyone with an opinion!!

[Jolash]

When you talk about objectives for the year, are you talking about "what I want to accomplish" in terms of curricula, or in a broader sense, ie "long term goals"?

 

I must admit, I feel woefully inadequate in the latter regard. It overwhelms me to think about putting a "mission statement" in place!

 

Any insights will be appreciated!

[debbiec]

Objectives = your goals. I usually set my goals for my child, then find what curriculum or whatever serves that purpose. The idea is for you to make the annual goals (or more long range is my preference, to help me break it down yearly) ~ and allow the curriculum to serve the goals, rather than curriculum dictating your educational goals.

 

That is the short of it and I'm sure Jessica will have a lot more to say about it :)

[pianoplayer]

shorter-term curricula goals and longer-term "what I want my children to know before they leave this house" goals. The latter includes both academic and practical skills.

 

My hubby and I periodically sit down and brainstorm (and have discussed with our parents) what skills we want our children to have attained by the time they graduate high school.

 

Does this help? FWIW, I wouldn't try to write something as necessarily formal as a mission statement. Start with goals in bullet form - both shorter and longer-term - and add to them as brilliant ideas occur to you! :)

[debbiec]

Start with the "end" (long term goals) and work backwards (short term goals to reach the long term goal).

 

I read the question too quickly and didn't answer your question correctly. But, I think everyone would agree, as someone else said, you do both.

[Trivium Academy]

That is the short of it and I'm sure Jessica will have a lot more to say about it :)

 

:smilielol5:The nitty-gritty of it is, WHY are you teaching [this] subject right now? What is the point or goal of teaching it? Your goals and objectives are higher than your curriculum choices, your curricula could (and should) fulfill your objectives for the year but sometimes they fall short and you supplement with either a teaching style or with additional materials.

 

I think the only subject I am completely dependent on curricula for objectives is Latin.

 

Having reasons (objectives, goals) for what you're teaching and how you're teaching provides you with a purpose. If your only purpose is to finish a workbook or get through a curricula, the chance is higher that you will not accomplish that goal. You wouldn't run a marathon without knowing how long it is and where the finish line is. You could dehydrate, collapse from exhaustion, or just keep aimlessly following others running ahead of you with no clue as to where YOU are going.

 

We're in the marathon and we're all running towards that ultimate goal of graduating our children and preparing them for adulthood. Where is your finish line? When will you need to hydrate? Is there a resting place along the way?

 

It doesn't just apply to the big picture K-12, it applies to each year, month, week and even each day. What is your purpose for THIS day? I'm not saying you need to have huge daily, weekly or even month goals- but you do need a focus.

 

I have Ruth Beechick's Second Grade LA objectives photocopied and tacked to my bulletin board above my desk. I can't tell you how many times I read that. Has dd7's listening skills improved this year? If not, how can I start working on that? Have I taught antonyms, synonyms, compound words and homophones this year? If not, when and how will I? For some these answers can be in a curriculum but curriculum does not reach all areas- what about character training (b/c I lack a better word for it right now).

 

I think it's important to have broad long term goals, you need an ultimate picture you're working towards but it doesn't need to make you hyperventilate now. Yearly goals will help you make sure you're on track throughout the year and will provide your monthly or even weekly goals. Oops, we haven't covered compound words- let me see what I have that covers that or even print out a worksheet from the internet to discuss it with my child. We'll discuss it and I'll bring it up (show examples) until I'm satisfied she knows what a compound word is and can identify them on her own. THat is just one example of how goals can outreach curricula.

 

Don't believe for a second that I've got my act completely together, I'm working on these too but I have help. I'm using The Educated Child, Home Learning Year by Year, WTM and Charlotte Mason and other books to help formulate our objectives. As I gain a better understanding of what, how and why I'm teaching- the objectives become more tailor-fit to us. I may pull a 5th grade level objective for reading out of The Educated Child and a grammar stage objective from WTM to create 3rd grade objectives. It's not about following a rigid plan.

 

I hope this helps

[pianoplayer]

:iagree:Okay, maybe I'll tack this post up on my bulletin board above my desk!

[Trivium Academy]

tell you that I JUST today posted our 3rd Grade Poetry Memorization objectives and plan for next year. Of course, I picked these poems for particular reasons which aren't mentioned in my objectives but there isn't a need to write (or tell) everything. Lol.

 

http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/04/poetry-memorization-3rd-grade.html

[Beth in Central TX]

We're in the marathon and we're all running towards that ultimate goal of graduating our children and preparing them for adulthood. Where is your finish line? When will you need to hydrate? Is there a resting place along the way?

 

Like Jessica, I have many different levels of goals: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and long-term. Of course, not everything has a goal, but there are certain skills that I want my boys to have, so I have those identified, written down, and somehow woven into at least one goal level. It's really not a complicated system though. I have a spiral notebook with each level listed at the top, and as I think of specific skills I include them on the relevant page. My long-term goal sheet is really just an Excel worksheet for each boy's school career from K to 12th grade. Obviously, this changes, but I do have a vision of where I want to go with each one and how I plan to get there.

 

A mission statement doesn't really have to be that involved. Actually this whole process shouldn't be that way or you will never refer to it as a guide. Do what's easy for you to get a picture of your homeschool on at least 3 different levels (at a minimum): this year, next year, and 5 years from now. Even if you're not homeschooling next year, I think you at least need a guide to help you "as if" you are going to homeschool long term. On the other hand, your goal may be to enroll your kids in private or public school, so I would identify that as a long-term goal and work toward meeting any known school requirements.

 

We have a homeschool mission: To mold (our boys' names) into godly men and facilitate God's plan for them by providing a Christian classical education. Our key verse is Isaiah 54:13--All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace. When things get hectic or challenging, I look at this page in my spiral bound notebook to keep me on course. This marathon is long and hard at times, but in the end, I'm confident that my boys will win their own race.

 

HTH!

[Jolash]

Thanks everyone!

 

I'm not feeling quite so overwhelmed now, but... I've got some work to do! I know "what" I want for DS, now I need to be sure my plans are working toward that goal.

 

I love the image of running a marathon; stopping to hydrate, rest/recover etc, so that I can stay in it for the long haul!

 

Thanks again!

[Another Lynn]

since I don't have any written objectives/goals yet either. :) But at the Cincy HS conference I heard Andrew Pudewa's talk about education paradigm and he said everything can be simplified into three categories: Character, knowledge and skills. I thought these 3 categories were very helpful for getting my arms around what would otherwise be very overwhelming. Character is of course most important. Knowledge - you can't possibly cover all knowledge so you have to consider what knowledge you want to cover (and it may be different for each child) - and who are you listening to on this? the state? your neighbor? your inlaws? etc. Skills can be boiled down to two: 1)language and 2)math/logic.

 

This also makes it easier for me to discuss school topics with dh because I can categorize what I'm talking about and give him a frame of reference. We also agreed we should sit down and discuss each child (particularly regarding character) - their strengths, weaknesses, what we want to address and how to do it. We haven't done all this yet, but it has given us a place to start.

[Linda...inOwasso]

This is a great thread! Is anyone willing to share their long-term goals? Unfortunately, after reading Jessica's comments, I've been more in the "finish this workbook" mode with dd's. This discussion has made me realize that I want and need to establish long-term goals (meaning through the completion of high school).

 

Also, I'm pulling out my Ruth Beechik guides. If I remember correctly they go through 3rd grade. I know TWTM lists go through 12th but I haven't read TWEM yet.

 

Thanks to all for a great thread! And Lynn -- I love hearing nuggets of wisdom from Andrew Pudewa. I've never had the opportunity to hear him speak IRL, but I've heard he's very inspiring! Thanks for sharing.