What ARE you planning???

[Samiam]

So I have seen the threads here about "done with planning", and similiar threads on other HSing forums I visit. Threads about what planners to buy, where to buy them, etc etc etc.

 

I'm sitting here thinking "What am I missing?!?!:confused:". What are you planning? Why are you doing it for "first semester", etc? Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?

 

I don't normally plan full semesters in advance. Most of my curriculum is open and go. A few things we have done, say Apologia Elementary science books, I did need to count chapters to get a rough idea of how many weeks it would take us if we did one week vs two weeks per chapter...so basic things like that. Or knowing we are going on a vacation in a month or so, so checking to see where we would be in curriculum at that point, so make sure we stop at a good point.

 

I get basic supply planning, like making sure art supplies/science etc are on hand.

 

But what I don't get is the whole "I've planned the first 12 weeks" type statements.

 

Let me say that I am organized, and even known as "anal about organization" by certain family members.

 

I use the basic HST software. But I just sit down each Sunday night and input what we will do that week. Certain things, I might even load in for a couple of weeks at a time if I have to make my own plans, like Apologia (how many pages to read each day, what other activities to add to it). But for the most, it's like, just do the next lesson in the book. By just doing one-two weeks at a time, I can adjust our schedule for last minute field trips, Dr's appts, random days off, whatever life brings. What happens to your 12 week plan when life events throw it off? What happens when your child didn't "get" today's lesson, say Math, and you are going to need to stop and spend an extra day or two on that topic?

 

I have alot of plans in my head. For example, I know in my head which subjects we will do every day, and which we will do a few times a week. That gets incorporated into my weekly plan that I input on Sunday nights.

 

So yeah, I GET some planning, but what I am scratching my head about is the 12 weeks of planning in advance, or even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?

[patchfire]

Out of all my oldest's subjects for the coming year, one or two resources are broken into specific lessons. The remainder, I have to break it down, or I've pulled the subject together myself. History, art appreciation, music appreciation, art skills... that's all me. Part of her science, again, I pulled it all together to make a "course." The part that's scheduled out (PLATO science), I still have to print the worksheets & schedule any experiments. One of her math books is broken down into lessons (thank GOODNESS!) but other main one isn't, and none of the extra resources are. Then there's memory work (which is the last thing I'm working on, thankfully).

 

Now, my little guy, I planned out SOTW 1 for the year, art, and I'm still working on his memory work. I probably should have scheduled out HWT, but decided not to. I guess it would be easier if I had the open and go, but there's no way I could leave my planning to the week or day before.

[kittysmom]

I plan ahead because the second the "school year" starts, our lives get really busy and complicated. Sports seasons for two boys, orchestra and co-ops get started again, and work picks up for me. I might not necessarily have time to look every weekend and make plans for the next week. So rather than realize that at midnight Sunday night, I like to take advantage of downtime in the summer and all I have to do is look at my plans and go.

 

As to what I'm planning, I don't do a lot of open-and-go curricula. I modify and tweak according to my kids' needs, and I do a lot of reorganizing so that my kids are studying the same topic at the same time in science, history, and geography. It takes a lot of work in the summer, but it makes things go much easier once we get back to work!

 

My plan is pretty loose. It's pretty much a chronological plan, not one tied to a calendar. I guess what I do is make more of a teacher's guide, rather than lesson plans on a calendar. So if we get sick or decide to go out of town, we just skip that week and get restarted the next week.

[mrs.m]

I'm doing it because I never really sat down each week to take care of the planning. And flying by the seat of my pants wasn't working. ;) So then I was stuck doing some planning about mid-week out of frustration. It didn't carry me far enough, though. I can do 6-9 weeks at once and be ready to sail along until the next big planning session.

 

The truth is that I just do life this way--in big chunks, rather than little bits at a time. I don't do laundry daily, I do a big chunk on Saturday. I cook once per month. I thoroughly clean my house every 2 weeks.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

What we do is mostly related to seasonal activities and since I have more than one child, I like to schedule our "field trip days" on similar days. Also, some people, me included, don't follow the teacher's guide to the letter. I might rearrange something to suit our climate or time we are taking off. I may skip some lessons or want to delve deeper. I think putting the first semester down on paper keeps you on track and helps you remember the little things you want to do but might forget. If I were to do Lesson 11 during week 3 and didn't write that down, I would be in a pickle later. My brain won't store all of my tweaking, wish it would, though. :D

[~Kirsten~]

I don't do much planning, either, and that's coming from a very compulsive person! But I only have one school-aged child, we school year-round so I don't stress about "getting behind," and most of the materials I like and use are open-and-go. None of it has a teacher's guide, per se, but it's pretty intuitive. So I think that's a factor. I can see needing to do more actual, structured planning as I have more than one or as they get older and the material is more challenging. But maybe not.

 

To answer the exact question, right now I'm "planning" memory work, in that I'm choosing and printing off pages for a notebook, just so that I have it in front of me to grab. Also, I "planned" SOTW additional readings some time ago by hunting through our library system with the Activity Guide in hand. Does that count? :tongue_smilie:

[JudoMom]

So I have seen the threads here about "done with planning", and similiar threads on other HSing forums I visit. Threads about what planners to buy, where to buy them, etc etc etc.

 

I'm sitting here thinking "What am I missing?!?!:confused:". What are you planning? Why are you doing it for "first semester", etc? Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?

 

I don't normally plan full semesters in advance. Most of my curriculum is open and go. A few things we have done, say Apologia Elementary science books, I did need to count chapters to get a rough idea of how many weeks it would take us if we did one week vs two weeks per chapter...so basic things like that. Or knowing we are going on a vacation in a month or so, so checking to see where we would be in curriculum at that point, so make sure we stop at a good point.

 

I get basic supply planning, like making sure art supplies/science etc are on hand.

 

But what I don't get is the whole "I've planned the first 12 weeks" type statements.

 

Let me say that I am organized, and even known as "anal about organization" by certain family members.

 

I use the basic HST software. But I just sit down each Sunday night and input what we will do that week. Certain things, I might even load in for a couple of weeks at a time if I have to make my own plans, like Apologia (how many pages to read each day, what other activities to add to it). But for the most, it's like, just do the next lesson in the book. By just doing one-two weeks at a time, I can adjust our schedule for last minute field trips, Dr's appts, random days off, whatever life brings. What happens to your 12 week plan when life events throw it off? What happens when your child didn't "get" today's lesson, say Math, and you are going to need to stop and spend an extra day or two on that topic?

 

I have alot of plans in my head. For example, I know in my head which subjects we will do every day, and which we will do a few times a week. That gets incorporated into my weekly plan that I input on Sunday nights.

 

So yeah, I GET some planning, but what I am scratching my head about is the 12 weeks of planning in advance, or even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?

 

I have all lesson plans/assignments entered into HST+ (thought I only assign them a week at a time). I know that math for my 6th grader will take 156 days, while math for my Ker will take 142 days. I know that they need to do 1 page of Daily Grams each day, but they need to do about 2 pages of Easy Grammar (and they'll finish in anywhere from 112-129 days, which will give us some time to focus on diagramming, and we've got wiggle room with the subjects). I also know how I'm going to fit in serious writing instruction and a poetry unit, that I'll probably need to order Latin Prep 2 around Christmastime, and so on and so forth.

 

I know that I've got 180 at home school days (this does not count the approximately 30 days that the boys will be at an enrichment program). If I subtract out planned vacations and time off, this gives me only 25 wiggle days before July 1 of next year. I would like to finish the year strong, instead of saying "crap...we missed math too many days so now we'll have to work some of the days in June (our typical light month/month off)".

 

Since I only assign work for 1 week (and print out the boys assignment sheets daily), the day to day doesn't get too messed up.

 

The other thing I did was get 1 term worth of work (copies, etc) ready for each boy so I don't have to spend any time on the weekends doing this.

 

By investing a lot of time up front this year planning the details (with flexibility, since my plans are numbered instead of assigned to weeks/days), I cut down my weekend planning time. Last year I spent at least 3 hours on the weekend prepping; this past weekend I spent only about 90 minutes, and much of that was tweaking and finishing making copies for the term. My actual planning time now should be only about 15 minutes every morning (to print out assignment sheets). This frees up more time for me to teach and grade work (I was having a horrible time last year trying to find time to grade completed work).

 

Maybe it's because my boys are so close in age, but I can't keep mental tabs on where everyone is and where I'd like them to be.

[kwickimom]

I had to plan most of my subjects according to how I wanted to do them. Like SOTW..there are WAY too many things to do in the AG, so I figured how many days a week i want to do History and I read each chapter from the AG and put together what exactly I was going to do. I make a monthly list of supplies needed and I went through the entire booklist to see what my library had and made a booklist. Then I typed out each lesson into my planner for the entire year. I did the same for Elemental Chem..It has a 5 day plan and I condensed it into 4. So I had to pick and choose what exactly to do. I check out the extra links and activites in the book to see what I want to do. Some of my subjects like MM, FLL and WWE dotn require actual plans as it is laid out for me, but I did look through it and I fied all the workbook pages.

 

I am following the filing system, so I wrote out plans for every subject for the entire 36 weeks I am schooling. Then I ripped apart all the workbooks and filed it all by week.

[melissel]

I plan because it helps keep me accountable to myself, and because although most of our stuff is open and go, I want to include extras that I will completely forget about if I don't put everything together in my spreadsheet--readalouds, links to United Streaming videos, reminders to order the library books for the next few weeks (sometimes our interlibrary loan takes awhile). And there are some subjects I want to only do occasionally--our Building Thinking Skills books, for example. The kids love those, but we don't really have time for them every day. So I try to throw them in periodically to mix it up a bit, and I forget to do that if I don't include it in my schedule.

 

Really though, the main reason is because I will allow myself to get too far off track if I can't look down at my spreadsheet and see how far behind we've gotten. It's too easy for me to tell myself that we're just a little bit behind in whatever subject, so we can take it easy today if we need to, when really we're worse off than I thought. It also gives me a boost to see when we ARE on track--it helps to motivate me.

 

It helps me in so many ways to see everything on paper in front of me. I don't know why I need it, but I do.

Edited July 13, 2010 by melissel

[GoVanGogh]

The first two years we homeschooled, I planned out everything. I soon realized that nothing ever went as planned. I would think back on all those hours I spent planning and think about all the things I could have done with that time - like snuggle with my child while reading a book, taking a walk with the family, clean house even!

The past two years, we 'fly by the seat of our pants' and are much happier and more flexible. I never stress about what we don't get done, because I record (and reflect on) what we actually do get done.

So --- I'm not planning anything right now. :D

[johnandtinagilbert]

Not everybody uses grab and go materials is the simple answer.

 

Mapping out how many lessons per week is part of my planning. When you get to higher maths, the books don't necessarily lend themselves easily to 180 days of school.

 

I often have to prepare lesson plans b/c I don't use pre-packaged for everything. So, I take what we're using and break it down per day or week.

 

Sometimes I combine more than one resource, so I have to compile a plan.

 

I include a lot of internet practice for what we use from books, so I have to coordinate websites to materials to weeks and balance too much with too little. I also use a flashcard type website (Quizlet) so I have to enter the material for study (lots of kids = lots of vocabulary words)

 

I make sure there aren't any unusual supplies needed that will take time to save $ or ship.

 

making copies...much easier to have 7 maps per week printed and filed, then rushing 5 min. before the lesson begins. I have very little wiggle room as a teacher day to day.

 

Generating booklists so I can shop locally, used stores and save on shipping.

 

Timesavers so my children can go to a copywork folder and pull out the next lesson w/o flipping through my teacher materials. They are not as kind to my manuals as I would be.

 

Preparing notebooks for younger students.

 

Making sure I add a day for exploration of materials and not jump into a program w/ expectations that they know just what to do and also pre-reading those instruction on how to use different programs.

 

Designing a daily schedule that serves well.

 

Putting crossover materials like poetry and writing with the coordinating science or history materials.

 

If I waited for the week before to put in ALL this information for 7 children in school, I would spend all day Sunday working and not resting before the Lord.

 

I used to use HST and honestly, the cost of printing daily and the time it took me to enter all the info. annoys my carpal tunnel. It is much less work for me to make annual plans, as checklists, and give each child a schedule or "lesson plan" as we call it, for the entire year.

 

Our weekly planning is simply transferring all the info, written, into one place, our personal planners. This is also how I teach time management planning skills to our family.

 

Studying ahead for subject areas that are new to me (Latin) or where I am weak (history)

 

I could grab and go when they were all below 3rd grade or so, but now...um no. I wish.

 

Now, back to designing my own physics for grades K, 2, 3, 5, 7. Talk about time consuming! WOWZA!

 

If I had 1 child....probably wouldn't plan, at least nearly as much. If we didn't have outside activities, wouldn't then either. But...I do, so I have to be ready for whatever I can be ready for. At this point, I *know* what we will use and what we won't so I pretty much use every little thing I plan. I'll do most of my planning ow and a bit in December when we take off 2 weeks. The kids will play, play, play and I will plan, plan, plan.

Edited July 13, 2010 by johnandtinagilbert

[Beach Mom]

I have fallen into a habit of spending 2 weeks in July planning for the coming year and it works really well for us. I find everyone who homeschools does things differently, but here is why I stick to it.

 

First, I can really take time to go through the materials and figure out how to best use them with a particular child, or how to use them with with multiple children by supplementing. As a pp notes many subjects are not just do the next lesson. For us literature, science, history are the big ones that require more planning. I end up with more effective plans when I do this planning ahead of time.

 

For me personally, the planning two weeks at a time all year consumed way too much time. I felt like I spent every Sunday and many evenings planning, copying and figuring out where we were. I was always doing school related things and feeling like I missed out on fun family time. I love teaching my kids, but I don't want to spend every evening and weekend on school related activitie.

 

Now, I do all the lesson planning in the summer, I enter the lesson plans into HST+ but don't schedule them. On Friday afternoons I put together the schedules for the next week. This approach allows me to adjust for rabbit trails, lessons taking longer than needed and other things. But all of the lesson creation and copying is done in the summer so the Friday afternoon planning takes only about an hour for 3 kids. I have a list of all of our projects, directions and supplies are already on hand, and it is harder for me to skip the fun activities when they are all prepared and ready to go.

 

The other reason I like to plan this way is that I can quickly assess at any point whether we are on track with a given subject. We work really hard to finish our lessons by Memorial Day so we can go into beach mode. We do light math lessons and reading in the summer, but no other school. With everything planned ahead I can easily see if we are falling behind somewhere and adjust plans or assess why something is taking longer than planned (is a child struggling, are we just not getting to science like we should?)

 

The most recent benefit I have discovered is that by keeping all these lesson plans in HST I can reuse them for subsequent children. As I began my planning last week I discovered that much of what my youngest will do this year was already planned when my middle did it earlier. Those plans can be copied, tweaked and finished really quickly.

 

I guess the bottom line for me is I am a much more relaxed parent/teacher if all of the planning, organizing, copying etc. is done ahead of time. For me, it leads to a happier, less stressed Mom which allows us to have a more relaxed learning environment.

[johnandtinagilbert]

...

 

For me personally, the planning two weeks at a time all year consumed way too much time. I felt like I spent every Sunday and many evenings planning, copying and figuring out where we were. I was always doing school related things and feeling like I missed out on fun family time. I love teaching my kids, but I don't want to spend every evening and weekend on school related activitie.

 

Now, I do all the lesson planning in the summer, I enter the lesson plans into HST+ but don't schedule them. On Friday afternoons I put together the schedules for the next week. This approach allows me to adjust for rabbit trails, lessons taking longer than needed and other things. But all of the lesson creation and copying is done in the summer so the Friday afternoon planning takes only about an hour for 3 kids. I have a list of all of our projects, directions and supplies are already on hand, and it is harder for me to skip the fun activities when they are all prepared and ready to go.

 

The other reason I like to plan this way is that I can quickly assess at any point whether we are on track with a given subject. We work really hard to finish our lessons by Memorial Day so we can go into beach mode. We do light math lessons and reading in the summer, but no other school. With everything planned ahead I can easily see if we are falling behind somewhere and adjust plans or assess why something is taking longer than planned (is a child struggling, are we just not getting to science like we should?)

 

The most recent benefit I have discovered is that by keeping all these lesson plans in HST I can reuse them for subsequent children. As I began my planning last week I discovered that much of what my youngest will do this year was already planned when my middle did it earlier. Those plans can be copied, tweaked and finished really quickly.

 

I guess the bottom line for me is I am a much more relaxed parent/teacher if all of the planning, organizing, copying etc. is done ahead of time. For me, it leads to a happier, less stressed Mom which allows us to have a more relaxed learning environment.

:iagree:

[rafiki]

.

[ummix3]

<<So yeah, I GET some planning, but what I am scratching my head about is the 12 weeks of planning in advance, or even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?>>

 

I am not the most:

 

<<...organized, and even known as "anal about organization" by certain family members.>>

 

I used to be better, but after having 4 kids close together, starting and running a business with my DH and family problems that come and go I don't have the mental capacity to:

 

<<...have alot of plans in my head. For example, I know in my head which subjects we will do every day, and which we will do a few times a week. That gets incorporated into my weekly plan that I input on Sunday nights.>>

 

It's just not happening. When my girls were 6 and under things were different, but now we're doing grades 6, 4 , 3 and 1. So to juggle this for me is a big deal. This past year did not go so well because I insisted I could still keep it all in my head. I love to homeschool and will do so I will be using Calvert this year for the same reason that I need a year to regroup and really get back on track and I need things spoon fed to me I guess. And even though Calvert is already planned out I-am-still-making-folders. Why? Because I think I need that visual system of what needs to be done next right in my face.

 

So those are my reasons. When I read the title of your post I giggled because like you I would wonder why people do things (in any area of life) I've stopped doing this because when I start asking and wonder "why would anyone want/need to do x, y, z" life has a funny way of showing me "why"

 

I hope you can continue with your mental planning and organizing. I give you props...I really do :)

 

 

Michelle

Edited July 13, 2010 by mLeroux
typo

[mama25angels]

I have fallen into a habit of spending 2 weeks in July planning for the coming year and it works really well for us. I find everyone who homeschools does things differently, but here is why I stick to it.

 

First, I can really take time to go through the materials and figure out how to best use them with a particular child, or how to use them with with multiple children by supplementing. As a pp notes many subjects are not just do the next lesson. For us literature, science, history are the big ones that require more planning. I end up with more effective plans when I do this planning ahead of time.

 

For me personally, the planning two weeks at a time all year consumed way too much time. I felt like I spent every Sunday and many evenings planning, copying and figuring out where we were. I was always doing school related things and feeling like I missed out on fun family time. I love teaching my kids, but I don't want to spend every evening and weekend on school related activitie.

 

Now, I do all the lesson planning in the summer, I enter the lesson plans into HST+ but don't schedule them. On Friday afternoons I put together the schedules for the next week. This approach allows me to adjust for rabbit trails, lessons taking longer than needed and other things. But all of the lesson creation and copying is done in the summer so the Friday afternoon planning takes only about an hour for 3 kids. I have a list of all of our projects, directions and supplies are already on hand, and it is harder for me to skip the fun activities when they are all prepared and ready to go.

 

The other reason I like to plan this way is that I can quickly assess at any point whether we are on track with a given subject. We work really hard to finish our lessons by Memorial Day so we can go into beach mode. We do light math lessons and reading in the summer, but no other school. With everything planned ahead I can easily see if we are falling behind somewhere and adjust plans or assess why something is taking longer than planned (is a child struggling, are we just not getting to science like we should?)

 

The most recent benefit I have discovered is that by keeping all these lesson plans in HST I can reuse them for subsequent children. As I began my planning last week I discovered that much of what my youngest will do this year was already planned when my middle did it earlier. Those plans can be copied, tweaked and finished really quickly.

 

I guess the bottom line for me is I am a much more relaxed parent/teacher if all of the planning, organizing, copying etc. is done ahead of time. For me, it leads to a happier, less stressed Mom which allows us to have a more relaxed learning environment.

 

 

 

 

:iagree:

[KJsMom]

My first year HSing I over planned. Last year we tried to *just do the next thing* and that didn't work for us either. There isn't enough accountability for me and no light at the end of the tunnel for my dd. I'm using the filing system this year to plan by weeks rather than days. I'm not tying it to certain dates, but I will have folders for holiday activities and lessons seperate from the basic schedule so I can work them in when we get there. I'm planning now because life is too busy during the school year to find time to write plans.

[elegantlion]

Our subjects fall into a few categories.

 

1. Open and go, like math. Easy to write out the schedule, day 1 lesson 1, etc.

2. A combination of open and go products that I have to figure out how to schedule together, like English. How to rotate grammar and megawords, which writing program?

3. I write the whole course picking out the books, figuring how much we can realistically cover in a year, how to divide the readings, etc. merging them together into some semblance of order. I did that with our Asian History and Earth Science course for next year. After all the research of what books to use I had to skim through them, line them up in order, assess how much we could handle in a day. Find mapwork, experiments, videos, activities.

 

For all subjects I schedule it out by itself for the year. All 36 weeks. But I only create my weekly schedule two weeks at a time. That allows for tweaking. So if we get behind or ahead in a subject the weekly schedule isn't messed up and I can always see how far along we are in a subject.

 

I actually like planning my own courses. I'm very frugal and can never find exactly what I want already available, so I plan my own. It's kind of like a treasure hunt, trying to find the best resources for a good price. We did a US History study in 4th grade. I planned using mostly books I found at thrift stores and garage sales. It was probably our most fun year of history.

[catholicmommy]

I agree with many of the above posters.

 

I was tired of starting the year with vigour and barely crawling across the finish line 2 months after i was supposed to... Completly burned out without joy.

 

I am not the kind of person who remembers, or even wants to enter my week worth of lesson plans on sunday night. Even if i tried to do it that way, there would always be weeks where i didn't get around to it, and we would be slipping farther and farther behind.

 

I plan because i hate having to quickly run and photocopy something in the middle of a lesson only to come back and find the kids have all disappeared.

 

I plan, because it helps me concretly see where we are in the year in a whole package. A global view of how many real weeks of work we have done, and how many work weeks we have left... And i don't feel bad about taking days off.... Because if they are already planned for, then i can truly relax.

 

I also plan because i'm an all-or-nothing kind of mom, and if i don't have everything i need for a lesson, i will wait and wait to do the lesson until it will be perfect. This causes more delays than you can imagine, as i kept not making it to the library in time, or we couldn't find the particular website, or the science lesson needed a balloon, and i didn't have time to get to the store u til the end of the week...

 

Now, that being said... Because of the reasons you listed above, i don't tie my school weeks to real weeks on the calendar. Week 5 is not tied to october 3rd.

 

 

I tired to love the pickup and go by the seat of your pants planning. I wanted to love it.... But i ended up unhappy in the spring every year, only 3/4 done.

[robsiew]

So I have seen the threads here about "done with planning", and similiar threads on other HSing forums I visit. Threads about what planners to buy, where to buy them, etc etc etc.

 

I'm sitting here thinking "What am I missing?!?!:confused:". What are you planning? Why are you doing it for "first semester", etc? Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?

 

I don't normally plan full semesters in advance. Most of my curriculum is open and go. A few things we have done, say Apologia Elementary science books, I did need to count chapters to get a rough idea of how many weeks it would take us if we did one week vs two weeks per chapter...so basic things like that. Or knowing we are going on a vacation in a month or so, so checking to see where we would be in curriculum at that point, so make sure we stop at a good point.

 

I get basic supply planning, like making sure art supplies/science etc are on hand.

 

But what I don't get is the whole "I've planned the first 12 weeks" type statements.

 

Let me say that I am organized, and even known as "anal about organization" by certain family members.

 

I use the basic HST software. But I just sit down each Sunday night and input what we will do that week. Certain things, I might even load in for a couple of weeks at a time if I have to make my own plans, like Apologia (how many pages to read each day, what other activities to add to it). But for the most, it's like, just do the next lesson in the book. By just doing one-two weeks at a time, I can adjust our schedule for last minute field trips, Dr's appts, random days off, whatever life brings. What happens to your 12 week plan when life events throw it off? What happens when your child didn't "get" today's lesson, say Math, and you are going to need to stop and spend an extra day or two on that topic?

 

I have alot of plans in my head. For example, I know in my head which subjects we will do every day, and which we will do a few times a week. That gets incorporated into my weekly plan that I input on Sunday nights.

 

So yeah, I GET some planning, but what I am scratching my head about is the 12 weeks of planning in advance, or even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?

 

I plan exactly like you do. One week at a time mostly. However, for ease for me I do put all the kids work for the next upcoming 6 weeks in a bin of folders I have. So... all the math for the next 6 weeks is in their folders on the correct day.... logic sheets, latin sheets....etc. This prevents me from each week having to pull things... I just need to do it once every 6 weeks. If we don't get to something I just move it to the next folder and any extra sheets at the end of 6 weeks get put into the next round of 6 weeks.

 

My plan book is empty except for the weeks we've done and the week to come. When we finish a lesson in something I write the next lesson in the next day. If we don't finish the lesson I write the same lesson number in the next day. I highlight everything we've completed and circle anything we didn't get to.

 

I began our homeschooling writing out year-long, quarterly and weekly plans and it was just too much for me. We wouldn't get to something and then it would all be messed up. I found I never looked at my quarterly or yearly plans because really... for us it didn't matter what I had "planned". We are where we are each week and that's the reality. The nice thing about hsing is you can do that... you can speed up when you need to and slow down when you need to. You are not tied to any schedule except that which you make up.

 

I wouldn't worry if what you're doing is working. I found this to work best for me. The kids are happy, I'm happy and we get a lot accomplished! :D

[angela in ohio]

For most subject areas, I pull together multiple resoureces or create my own course. So those have to be planned, as I have to be the one creating the day to day plans. Even for the few areas we have that are open-and-go, I add outside resources (books, field trips, etc.,) so I schedule them to keep things straight.

 

Specifically, this week and next my plans include:

Creating schedule for first two semesters (we will have 5 8-wk semesters) of TOG + Omnibus + WTM rhetoric level lit (not all of those completely, but parts of each)

Creating a grammar plan for oldest two using digramming, Latin grammar, and grammar as it applies to excellent writing

Creating a language arts program for ds using spelling program, narration, dictation, copywork, literature, etc.

Creating a writing plan for the year for a small class (including oldest two) on the components of successful expository writing

 

I am done with:

Wheelock's syllabus/ lesson plans

One semester course of Total Health scheduled with extra outside reading

Algebra II for oldest, Algebra I for next dd

Edited July 13, 2010 by angela in ohio

[Renee in NC]

Let's see. This morning I have:

 

Finalized the lit list for my 7th grader.

Scheduled out MegaWords 1, including adding in tests.

Finalized the 1st grader's Langauge Arts choices.

 

I still have a TON to do. I am adding everything to HST so that I can print lists each week with everything spelled out. I will be teaching 5 this year, and I have found that if it isn't planned/scheduled, it doesn't get done.:tongue_smilie: I want to insure that no one gets lost in the shuffle. I will also copy/print the things I need to ahead of time.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Renee in FL

[Nestof3]

Yes, the following are pick up and go. I don't plan them at all.

 

Saxon math

Rod and Staff English

Megawords (for the most part)

 

For the following, I create lists for all of my supplemental literature. I do not use spines alone for science and history. I am missing out on some of the best books for kids by only using a spine.

 

Story of the World (history)

God's Design for Science (earth science and astronomy; science)

Baroque music and composers study

Baroque art and artists study

 

I still need to plan out:

 

my writing plan

 

how I am going to use my Greek and Latin roots materials

 

type up Aesop fable morals in handwriting font for my son's handwriting practice

 

Photocopy worksheets and projects we will use for each chapter in science and history. I put together my own science and history to some extent by using various resources including primary sources. I also take some time to Google the internet for anything I might find useful.

 

I like to have all of this done for the school year, and it takes quite a bit of time. I have never used a pick up and go science or history program. Well, I tried my first year of homeschooling with a history textbook, but we both thought we would die from boredom.

[Medieval Mom]

I am a planner. We set our goals, write a plan to get there, week by week, day by day, to get there. We are ALL happier in our family when we know what to do, when to do it, and when we are done for the day. ;)

 

Looking through all our material at the beginning of the year helps me better able to plan how we will progress through the program, which is not always "do the next thing". Even with R&S English (which is, for the most part, a pick up and go program), I take the last unit (which covers material that I'd like to spread out throughout the year), break it up into weeks, then enter it in at equally spaced intervals in our year. I plan everything out in Excel, because I like to see how our puzzle pieces fit together. It makes me happy :) On the other hand, I do not plan math, since my ds will sometimes cover more than one lesson per day, or have a week when we take a few days to play RS games or Ray's Arithmetic. But I do have little check boxes in my plan for Math five times/week ;) Perhaps having a toddler means that I am more scatterbrained, and simply NEED to see what we have done and what yet needs to be done!

 

I also mix and match programs and books. Planning ahead enables me to see whether my grand plan seems reasonalbe, doable. :)

 

I think it's all in the type of person you are. I've tried planning and not planning. Planning ahead is definitely the right thing for us. ;)

Edited July 13, 2010 by Medieval Mom

[Satori]

I plan ahead almost a half a year at at time. I use Homeschool Skedtrack, which is so flexible. If we go on an unexpected vacation, no problem! The lessons will slide to the next date. I can also move lessons from one semester to the next easily.

 

I love seeing what we'll be studying in a month or two.

[5knights3maidens]

I posted my curriculum "plans", if that is what you call them, on my blog (left side). I am getting all the books, things copied, etc. I do not plan day by day. Some days can be a few hours, some can be all day.

[Doodle]

Last year I spent a lot of time planing out the year. The plan got way off track very quickly which left me feeling frazzled. This year I didn't planned it out quite so much. I'm only working with one child and just about everything I have is 'open and go', 'do the next thing' type of stuff. When I read of all the planning and prep everyone is doing, I feel like and underachiever. I plan to cover 4 subjects each day and I know how many pages/chapter/lessons I want to cover in each subject for the week. I made a year outline based on that, but here I am on week one, day two and already it is messed up. We did handwriting just now. My yearly plan had us finishing HWT2, but we ended up doing a page in HWT3 instead. My science plan had us starting with animal classification, but Doodle is currently interested in rocks, so we started with Geology instead.

[Mommee & Baba]

In the previous years I never planned. I just opened the book and went that morning with the lesson, rushing around trying to gather supplies needed and some projects not even gotten to because I didn't plan ahead and have the supplies on hand...ect.

 

I spent Sunday evenings for about 2 hours prepping for ONE WEEK! That was becoming too much for me and the enjoyment come Monday was gone because of the rush around copy and prep work I had to do on Sunday.

 

So this year I had to fess up to my mishaps last year. We fell off the bandwagon TOO much because there was no real "goals" set for subjects and I hadn't a clue what we'd be studying at the end of March let alone what we'd be studying 2 weeks from then..so this year I wanted things to be different.

 

We are still flexible with some boundaries. We have lightened the load of school work for M-F. We do have some subjects only planned a couple days a week and some subjects we won't do on Friday's. I've also scheduled approx. 3 weeks through-out the school year off. Not counting weekends of course. If we don't get to a certain subject like the planner I have penciled it in..then we'll play catch up on one of our off days or what not.

 

I planned the entire school year and filed it. This will save me HOURS of prep work each week. I will be more likely to go on more field trips, have half school days and do more projects because I know what we need to try and accomplish before we go chasing rabbits too deep. I can spend more time teaching and learning right along with my children. Instead of rushing around printing, copying, researching...ect...

 

I thought at first..wow the joy of homeschooling for us was the freedom we have and the random scheduling we have with it. But realized last year that allowing the kids to schedule their day just wasn't working. This year we'll be getting up earlier and eating a full home cooked breakfast and then beginning our school day BEFORE any tv or activities. Then they will have more time to play and we'll all have more time to get out and play together.

 

Def. personal preference. I think having one child wouldn't cause me to schedule as detailed as I do, but I have 2 in school and a toddler. I need to have it written out for me otherwise it won't happen in a timely fashion at all! And by timely I mean it could take MONTHS to do something that could normally take 2 weeks.

[Night Elf]

I'm sitting here thinking "What am I missing?!?!:confused:". What are you planning? Why are you doing it for "first semester", etc? Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?

 

1st, the biggest part of my planning is the dumb decision on which program to purchase and use. I just spent 2 weeks looking at writing programs alone. The number of choices and types of programs is overwhelming. It hasn't gotten easier after 9 years of homeschooling.

 

2nd, Yes, I buy curriculum that has a Teachers Guide. But the more programs I have, the taller my stack of books to get through. Why thumb through 6 teacher guides when I can have them all together on one sheet?

 

3rd, It sounds like you like to work by the week. I don't want to spend weekend time planning another week of school. Weekends are for my own schoolwork, catching up on house cleaning and much needed leisure time.

 

4th, My children work so much better when they see exactly what is expected of them each day. I have tried 'do the next lesson' but having 'Lesson 5, pages 15 - 17" on their schedule creates a clearer picture of what they are expected to do. The schedules, btw, are theirs, not just mine. When they were younger, the schedule was totally mine. Only I looked at it. But now that they are older, in the transition of getting them to be more independent in their schoolwork, the schedule is for their eyes first. They don't need to spend their time going through lessons and schedules in the teacher manuals.

 

Not all programs are 'do the next thing'. I've had to modify the suggested schedules for Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings and Write Shop I and II to suit my ds14's 9th grade year. I needed to allow time for his way of working and incorporate a few things that are my own idea.

 

Basically, I absolutely hate when my children are sitting at the table, ready to go, and I'm flipping through the books trying to figure out what we're supposed to be doing that day. Inevitably, they get bored and their attention wanders and I get totally frustrated. :)

 

Editing to add: I don't schedule by specific days, like July 12, 13th, etc. I used to do Day 1, Day 2, etc. but now I just leave that all blank. I know to do a row of my planner on each school day. If we cannot do it all in one day, I have an exact starting point of where to pick up the next day. It's sort of like a loop schedule I guess. IOW, today's work doesn't begin until yesterday's work is totally finished. The advanced written out schedule is what keeps our days smooth, especially when something interferes with our regularly scheduled day.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Night Elf

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

In the previous years I never planned. I just opened the book and went that morning with the lesson, rushing around trying to gather supplies needed and some projects not even gotten to because I didn't plan ahead and have the supplies on hand...ect.

So this year I had to fess up to my mishaps last year. We fell off the bandwagon TOO much because there was no real "goals" set for subjects and I hadn't a clue what we'd be studying at the end of March

 

I planned the entire school year and filed it. This will save me HOURS of prep work each week. I will be more likely to go on more field trips, have half school days and do more projects because I know what we need to try and accomplish before we go chasing rabbits too deep. I can spend more time teaching and learning right along with my children. Instead of rushing around printing, copying, researching...ect...

Def. personal preference. I think having one child wouldn't cause me to schedule as detailed as I do, but I have 2 in school and a toddler. I need to have it written out for me otherwise it won't happen in a timely fashion at all! And by timely I mean it could take MONTHS to do something that could normally take 2 weeks.

 

 

:iagree: This is me exactly! This year I wrote out the entire Year's lessons. Even for stuff like Math, I just wrote Lesson1 and then I will refer to the TM for specifics. This will help me stay on track to get done.

 

I also tore off all the bindings on my workbooks and filed all the pages under the week it will be done. I printed out notebooking pages for History, Science, and Music.

I think I will really appreciate all this work in January when we get tired of school.

I also made a supply list and put the supplies I need in baggies with the week # labeled outside. In Week1 bag I have a box of alphabet noodles, modeling clay, different colors construction paper, a deck of cards and a recipe. This way I already have all my supplies and do not need to run to the store at midnight or skip the project all together.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, if I'm using a textbook or workbook for a subject, then it might be as simple as just doing the next thing if I'm just moving straight through the book from front to back. But if I'm rearranging the order of chapters, combining things from multiple sources, etc., then it might get trickier.

 

Also, for many of my subjects, I don't use a pre-made curriculum. I use living books that I combine with worksheets or study guides I find elsewhere; I may have tests I've made that I want to administer, or writing assignments, etc. to add in. It saves a lot of wasted down time during the course of any given day if my stuff is already all together and ready to roll so that my student can just do the next thing and keep moving/working steadily through the day, rather than spinning wheels waiting on me.....

[Night Elf]

I also made a supply list and put the supplies I need in baggies with the week # labeled outside. In Week1 bag I have a box of alphabet noodles, modeling clay, different colors construction paper, a deck of cards and a recipe.

 

Oh my goodness, you have no idea what a thrill I got reading that! :D I absolutely MISS those days!! My youngest is a 7th grader. She doesn't do alphabet noodles and modeling clay anymore. :(

[Ellyndria]

1. If I didn't plan, I would forget to do things.

 

2. If I didn't plan, I would have no hope of remembering to get books from the library or other supplies in time.

 

3. If I didn't plan, I would spend too much time flipping through books to figure out what page we were on, and the thought of having to flip through books every day makes me procrastinate more.

 

4. If I didn't plan a bunch of weeks at once, and tried to do it week by week, I would be okay the first couple of weeks, then I would forget to do it.

 

5. If I didn't plan, I would have nothing to draw a big X through when we finished. I need to draw that big X!

[MorganClassicalPrep]

We aren't using an open and go curriculum. I am planning all of our subjects right now, so I need to plan things out.

 

In the fall, we'll be using some open and go and some self-designed, but I still need to plan. Books to read, activities to do, worksheets to do, pages to do... I'm a full time student myself, so I need to plan our days out and make sure everything gets done.

 

If we don't finish a lesson or don't get to it I just bump it to the next day. My plans are on google documents and written on looseleaf sheets of paper, so it's easier to cross out and move stuff around! :D

[JessReplanted]

. I soon realized that nothing ever went as planned.

 

:iagree:This is me - nothing in our life ever goes the way we plan it. If I ever actually decide on curriculum, maybe I will try to plan goals for the week.. that seems more reasonable.

[JennW in SoCal]

I never planned, except for buying a math curriculum and making a list of books to get to in a year. We just did the next page in math, read the next interesting book and they wrote whatever was asked of them.

 

Then my oldest entered high school.

 

In order for a course to be a high school credit worthy course, it needed to have a focus and a scope and a plan of action for getting through all the planned material. For high school it looks more like a syllabus from a college class, with me filing in details on my student's planner each week.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Oh my goodness, you have no idea what a thrill I got reading that! :D I absolutely MISS those days!! My youngest is a 7th grader. She doesn't do alphabet noodles and modeling clay anymore. :(

 

:lol: That's what I tell friends who don't understand why I homeschool!! They are missing out on all the FUN stuff. You should go buy some for You!

[amyrjoy]

The first two years we homeschooled, I planned out everything. I soon realized that nothing ever went as planned. I would think back on all those hours I spent planning and think about all the things I could have done with that time - like snuggle with my child while reading a book, taking a walk with the family, clean house even!

The past two years, we 'fly by the seat of our pants' and are much happier and more flexible. I never stress about what we don't get done, because I record (and reflect on) what we actually do get done.

So --- I'm not planning anything right now. :D

 

i try to plan but i guess i don't get it, or understand how to keep it in place. i get more stressed trying to keep with my plan rather than doing things more flexible.

[dragons in the flower bed]

even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?

 

I do it so that I don't have to think about it again for the next year, so that if I get sick someone else can take over, so that my kids can see at a glance how much they have done and how much they have to go.

 

ETA: I also plan so I can see how much we can do. We use some living books and do a chapter or section once a week or twice a week. I wouldn't want to get to the end of the year and go, "Oops, no more school year but four more chapters of SOTW!"

Edited July 13, 2010 by dragons in the flower bed

[Samiam]

Wow, lots of interesting responses. I had no idea so many people pulled together their own curriculums. Tweak curriculums, yes, but completely pull it from bare bones, just wow! I can see planning that scenario, far in advance.

 

Yes, I do spend about 1-2 hours Sunday evenings planning for one-two weeks at a time. It's no biggie for me, because DH would be watching football, if it's season, and DS's would be in bed. I kind of enjoy the quiet time. During this time, I do usually look ahead in the curriculum to see what things we will need in the next month or so, so I can get it while out and about. I would have already purchased any "hard to find" things this summer, after previewing the curriculum when it arrived here. So I guess I do a little pre-planning.

 

We use a mixture of curriculum, but I don't think I would ever pull my own together. It would kind of feel like reinventing the wheel, for me, at least.

 

I think the most "textbook-y" curriculum we use is All American History, but even that has other components and literature to add in. But we are quite electic. We will be using WP CATW (DS12), CLE Reading, Videotext, Analytical Grammar, FF Latin, CW Homer, as well as MFW Adventures (DS7), WWE, FLL, CLE Math, HWT...and a few other things I am forgetting at this very moment.

 

I have two doing official school work, DS12 and DS7....DS4 tags along as he wishes.

 

We don't waste any time during our school day, as we use workboxes. So the weekly plan in HST does not get printed out, but I just reference that each night to load the workboxes. Our days run pretty smoothly, as long as everyone is on their game :).

 

I guess someone spending weeks during the summer , or me spending 2 hours each week, it's about what works for you and me.

 

It was certainly interesting reading all of the thoughts and philosophies! And although I don't see myself doing it, I see a bit more clearly now why someone else would spend weeks planning a semester/year in advance :).

[funschooler5]

I plan because i hate having to quickly run and photocopy something in the middle of a lesson only to come back and find the kids have all disappeared.

 

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

This has happened to me SO many times! I could have written your entire post, btw. I have to force myself to be organized.

[2cents]

So yeah, I GET some planning, but what I am scratching my head about is the 12 weeks of planning in advance, or even the WHOLE school year planned. I know PS teachers have to do this.....but why do you do it?

 

I do a rough plan for over a year in advance mostly because I like to see when we're due to start a curriculum and finish it. It gives me time to accumulate things that will go along with or that will add to the curriculum. It can also save money because I have more time to shop Ebay etc. for the things I need. It also ensures that I will use the curriculum that I buy. :)

It is just one less thing I need to worry about on a weekly basis. I check the rough plan-know what we need to do in each area and the daily schedule practically writes itself. It has nothing to do with what the ps teachers do at all. It is just a system I developed after years of homeschooling. It is for my peace of mind.

[momto2Cs]

I plan to plan out one seven week block/term at a time, then we'll be on break for a week and I can plan the next block/term. I'm one of those putting everything together myself. Of all the things we're doing, Saxon Math is the most open-and-go!

 

With planning, I can give my 4th grader a weekly assignment sheet to work from (hoping for more independence here), and use a weekly assignment sheet with my 2nd grader. I can also gather everything I need ahead of time (maybe Sundays?). I can figure out how many pages/chapters need to be read during each week and/or term.

[BatmansWife]

I haven't had time to read all the posts. You said:

 

 

"Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?"

 

 

That's us. And, we've been homeschooling for over 13 years. I never did get all the planning either.

[funschooler5]

My planning mainly consists of:

 

Typing out SOTW and WTM booklists into Google docs (I do this so I can cut and paste titles into my public library's catalog to put holds on them, and also so I can access these files anywhere (at a used bookstore, library, etc).

 

Typing lesson plans HST (which is basically just splitting up the lessons into a full year and typing out which lesson is on each topic.)

 

What I NEED to do is print things out ahead of time. I've been doing it weekly (at best) and a few minutes before each lesson (at my worst).

 

I'm getting a lot of inspiration from this thread. :001_smile:

[Stacy in NJ]

I don't get the excessive "planning" either. If you're making up your own curriculum, I get it. But, if you're using programs like SOTW, R&S, and most math programs, all you need to do is one lessons per day and then move on. :D

 

We do use a check list of subjects weekly to make sure we're getting around to everything we need to.

 

I believe people make things more complicated then they need to frequently.:tongue_smilie:

[Closeacademy]

With math, I set up lesson plans to cover the year. I don't date it but basically write down what in the text goes with the workbook and what manipulatives or books or games we might want to do at that time to reinforce or make the concept more fun.

 

With everything else, I write out dated weekly plans. I have the pages in text, crafts, any sort of extra activities we might want to do, etc.

 

This is the planning I do to set up the year and find out what we should cover that year.

 

:001_smile:

[Stacy in NJ]

The first two years we homeschooled, I planned out everything. I soon realized that nothing ever went as planned. I would think back on all those hours I spent planning and think about all the things I could have done with that time - like snuggle with my child while reading a book, taking a walk with the family, clean house even!

The past two years, we 'fly by the seat of our pants' and are much happier and more flexible. I never stress about what we don't get done, because I record (and reflect on) what we actually do get done.

So --- I'm not planning anything right now. :D

 

:iagree:

 

Very sensible.

[Lightly Salted]

Sonlight does most of my planning for me, but I like to type up a schedule each week. Sometimes I rearrange Sonlight's weekly schedule to suit our needs, and I always add in our non-scheduled subjects (math, LA, spelling and electives) and any extra supplemental stuff I've got planned.

[Renee in NC]

I don't get the excessive "planning" either. If you're making up your own curriculum, I get it. But, if you're using programs like SOTW, R&S, and most math programs, all you need to do is one lessons per day and then move on. :D

 

We do use a check list of subjects weekly to make sure we're getting around to everything we need to.

 

I believe people make things more complicated then they need to frequently.:tongue_smilie:

 

If only life were so easy.:lol: I've got 6 at home, 5 doing school, and 3 of those with varying special needs (some much worse than others.)

 

I don't plan *everything* in advance, but I have staggered my 3 boys for Orton-Gillingham tutoring. I have to plan those lessons week by week, so there is just an O-G topic in HST (3 times per week for each boy.) So, for example, when ds 12 has a teacher directed page in Megawords, I schedule it for one of his O-G times. I also want him to complete one book per quarter and a formal test, so I schedule it out for which pages on which days so we can meet that goal. Some weeks have fewer days, so I schedule what is most important for that week.

 

I need to be able to hand my oldest ds his checklist and have him be able to do his work that he can do without me. His two younger brothers can't read and need the most help (they are 9 and 7.) My 6yo will zip right along with her work as long as I have something ready for her. I am scheduling stuff in for the 4yo because she *loves* to do "schoolwork" and I don't want to leave her behind because I am so busy with the others.

 

I check the library to see which of TWTM recommended books they have. I have to check reading level to see which ones my ds will read on his own and which ones we'll read together (or listen to an audiobook.) I am possible doing a self-designed Earth Science next year for the younger dc, so I will have to plan that out as well (or it just won't get done!)

 

By planning now, I can make sure that we get to the things we need to with the 5 of them.