Somebody give me permission not to plan out first grade

[Smithie]

Here's the situation: it's our first year independently homeschooling (we did K12 last year, plus Prehistory notebooking). I have the books: SOTW with lots of literature tie-ins, Singapore Math, Song School Latin, FLL, HWT, Spelling Workout, Usborne and Kingfisher encycloopedias, etc. I have a file box for completed worksheets and tests. I have a planner to record lessons completed each day. I have enrolled ds in a full-day co-op on Monday that includes arts/crafts time, and I am getting him enrolled in a half-day science co-op.

 

Tell me I don't have to make a detailed plan of what lessons we are doing on which days in 2010-11. Tell me I can just work through the texts, read the tie-ins, assign notebooking as appropriate, and be happy. Tell me it's OK to spend this time making an awesome customized copybook that ties in all his subjects instead of writing out a year's worth of lesson plans for a six-year-old.

 

Or if this is a really bad idea - tell me that. I don't want to be wailing and gnashing my teeth in February.

[Smithie]

(doublepost)

[Chris in VA]

:001_smile:

A lot of what you have chosen is "do the next thing" anyway. Nope, I don't think you have to plan anything out. But...

The only advice I'd give is to take a few moments on Fridays or before your shopping day (if you have a weekly grocery shopping day), and look over the activity you want to do the next week in SOTW AG. Get the ingredients for the cooking, or whatever you will need. Also make copies ahead of time for the game sheets. And if you are going to do a science project, the same thing applies--sometime before you start working on it, gather the stuff and be ready to go when you present the lesson.

And that's only because you will find your child may lose interest if you are not prepared to dive into the activites you have chosen and have to "lose momentum" while you look around for stuff. You can do more on the fly when they are older (they can help you look for things then), but with small attention spans, I think it's good to be able to start the activity right off.

 

Other than that, I think you are fine.

[Miss Peregrine]

Not only do I give you permission, I forbid you! :lol:

[lynn]

You don't have to plan an entire year at one time. Work on planning week 1, move on to week 2, etc. Make sure to write it in pencil and be prepared to change things up as you need to. I had yearly goals of what needed to be accomplished but only planned 1 week at a time and sometimes when things got tough I'd plan the next day the day before.

[Doodle]

Most everything I have for 1st grade is "do the next thing" so I have not made a plan other than which 4 subjects I want to cover for that day.

[Dmmetler]

My DD kind of forced the issue-she wanted to start the day after she finished ps K-which kind of put the brakes on my going through all those nice new books and planning over the summer.

 

My planning for each day therefore consists of filling DD's workboxes the night before. I do record what we did in an excel Spreadsheet.

 

Good thing, too-We lasted less than a week before we were off the IG for every single curriculum that had one. If I'd planned it out, I'd be going crazy. As it stands now, I'm using the Sonlight binder mostly to tell me what reader/readaloud comes next, and am thanking my lucky stars that they're not coordinated with the history in core 1, because we're about 3 weeks apart between readers and history right now based on their schedule.

[Wheres Toto]

We had a lot of time last year when I just wasn't ready to do things when my son really wanted to do some school, so I am setting up the file box system that has such long threads on the curriculum board. But, I'm not numbering or dating the weeks, only putting a light 4 days worth for each week's folder and if we skip a day or week, I'm not worrying about it.

 

How much planning you do may depend on what you are required to do for your state. I don't have to do anything so I'm very comfortable with very loose plans (plus my ds is still young).

[Sahamamama]

Tell me I don't have to make a detailed plan of what lessons we are doing on which days in 2010-11. Tell me I can just work through the texts, read the tie-ins, assign notebooking as appropriate, and be happy. Tell me it's OK to spend this time making an awesome customized copybook that ties in all his subjects instead of writing out a year's worth of lesson plans for a six-year-old.

 

I've been wondering this, too! My K'er will be starting 1st in January 2011. She'll be just turning six years old, and I have our "stuff" lined up (not all purchased yet). Do we just "do the next thing?" I'm not sure that would be enough structure for me. I need to see what my goals were... when I had energy and clear thoughts and motivation.... because, some mornings, I don't have any of these things! :glare:

 

To tell the truth, it would drive me CRAZY, not to make the day-by-day plan, but to follow it. This year, for K & Pre-K, I just had a list of goals for each month. Like this:

 

2010 July

 

S's Math:

Math Lessons ___ to ___

Math Fact Drill (addition, subtraction, mixed)

Math Fact Songs

 

S's English:

Phonics Lessons ___ to ___

Early Readers ____________________ (short list)

Copywork/Handwriting

Spelling

Narration/Grammar Lessons ____ to ____

Poetry Memory Work

 

H & M's Preschool:

Sort, count, pattern

Conversation, storytelling

Games & puzzles

Play-do, paint, crafts

Phonics Lessons ____ to ____

 

Bible/Doctrine:

Complete this month's memory work

Complete this months' badge work

 

Science (Animals):

Read Animal Encyclopedia -- Bird pages

Read Animal Devotions -- Bird pages

Read library books -- Bird books

Activities, DVDs, CDs -- Birds

 

Other Read Alouds:

Picture Books (I have a list of good picture books for this year, divided by 12 months)

Chapter Books (I picked out four for this year, one per quarter)

 

And that was enough to create some structure, some accountability (to myself), and some momentum. We didn't get stuck on any one thing for too long. If we didn't read EVERY book about elephants and ungulates, well, we read enough, and the elephant books could go back to the library. It was nice to be able to see "progress" -- Hey, look! We finished our Primates unit! -- and good to feel free to move on. And take those monkey books back to the library! :D

 

Only you know what prompts/reminders/motivators you will need next year to trigger your memory about your goals for each area of study. I couldn't function if I didn't write something down. :lol: I feel like I had to re-plan all year, and that would waste a lot of time and mental energy, KWIM? Would you benefit from having a Monthly Checklist or Monthly Goals sheet? HTH.

[Mommamia]

Not only do I give you permission, I forbid you! :lol:

 

:iagree:

 

Wish I could go back and have a "do over". I'd be way more relaxed about first grade.

[lionfamily1999]

Here's the situation: it's our first year independently homeschooling (we did K12 last year, plus Prehistory notebooking). I have the books: SOTW with lots of literature tie-ins, Singapore Math, Song School Latin, FLL, HWT, Spelling Workout, Usborne and Kingfisher encycloopedias, etc. I have a file box for completed worksheets and tests. I have a planner to record lessons completed each day. I have enrolled ds in a full-day co-op on Monday that includes arts/crafts time, and I am getting him enrolled in a half-day science co-op.

 

Tell me I don't have to make a detailed plan of what lessons we are doing on which days in 2010-11. Tell me I can just work through the texts, read the tie-ins, assign notebooking as appropriate, and be happy. Tell me it's OK to spend this time making an awesome customized copybook that ties in all his subjects instead of writing out a year's worth of lesson plans for a six-year-old.

 

Or if this is a really bad idea - tell me that. I don't want to be wailing and gnashing my teeth in February.

It depends, are you capable of flying by the seat of your pants? If you're someone that HAS to have structure and every step planned then plan away. If you're like me and did the math, figured out how many lessons needed to be completed per week (or month) and can just use that, then do that. If you're able to just go with the flow, THEN KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!!!! I wish I had that level of confidence ;)

 

It doesn't sound like a bad idea (sounds like paradise to me), just make sure it suits who YOU are :D

[Mad Jenny Flint]

Yes, ma'am, if I could do it differently, my kids would have had a whole different experience in K thru 2nd. Particularly my oldest, poor little guinea pig. Just do the next thing, and on occasional days, just skip the next thing.

[EKS]

What you don't want, or at least what *I* don't want, is to get halfway through the year and realize that we need to go much faster if we are to finish by the end of the year. So, a good balance is to figure out how much needs to be done each week to stay on track. This doesn't mean that you need to laboriously schedule each lesson, but a little planning can really help.

 

What I would do (and did) would be to look at each resource and see how much of it I would need to get done each week in order to finish in a year and then write that down on a master list (for example, HWT: 1 page/day or whatever).

 

Also, for SOTW I would (and did) make a list of the sections (just label them 1-1, etc, instead of using the names) and indicate which supplemental reading goes where. I've found that the time I spend doing this to be well worth it.

 

Some of what you have is already planned to fit into a school year (Singapore math, if you have the HIG, SWO), so you probably don't need to do anything with that. If you have a copy machine you can copy the schedule or TOC to keep everything together with your other lists if you like.

 

All of this should take no more than an hour or two. Then you will feel organized, but not over organized. And you will have time to make the copybook.

[gingersmom]

Let your child enjoy being 6. There is plenty of time for schedules,workbooks,etc.

 

Head outside and have science class with nature as your teacher. Visit the library often. Let your childs imagination run free and learn about anything and everything.

 

Most importantly......have fun!!!!

[Ellie]

You don't have to make a detailed plan of what lessons you are doing on which days in 2010-11. You can just work through the texts, read the tie-ins, assign notebooking as appropriate, and be happy. It's OK to spend this time making an awesome customized copybook that ties in all his subjects instead of writing out a year's worth of lesson plans for a six-year-old.

 

Furthermore, if you do too much planning, I'm going to have come over there and put my finger in your face and tell you to knock it off.

 

:D

[emubird]

I've found planning in detail to be a complete waste of time for us. In recent years, our "planning" has consisted of: it would be nice to get through these books this year. And then we don't get through them anyway, we end up doing something else.

 

And the kids learn just fine. They also do fine on standardized tests. And my older one has done fine in college.

 

I probably do have an "overall" plan, and maybe a transcript in the back of my head (for the high school years), but I've never written it down.

 

For first grade, though, think about what kids really need to know and just work toward that. "Need to know" are things like reading, writing and rithmetic. And that's about it. Everything else gets covered just because it's interesting.

[Sahamamama]

What you don't want, or at least what *I* don't want, is to get halfway through the year and realize that we need to go much faster if we are to finish by the end of the year. So, a good balance is to figure out how much needs to be done each week to stay on track. This doesn't mean that you need to laboriously schedule each lesson, but a little planning can really help.

 

What I would do (and did) would be to look at each resource and see how much of it I would need to get done each week in order to finish in a year and then write that down on a master list (for example, HWT: 1 page/day or whatever).

 

 

 

:iagree:This is what I was trying to say, but Kai did it so much better! IMO, some system of keeping "on track" is worth the effort.

 

For me, it's a matter of "survival" to know what to do next just by glancing at a list, a paper clip, or a post-it note. For example, we have a list for our Read Alouds (a big component for us), and I just go by the list -- what to bring home from the library, what we're reading this week, what we're reading next week.

 

Another example: I didn't plan out my daughter's handwriting workbook (e.g., do pages 112-113 on Date X), but counted the pages, divided by months (12 for us) and put paper clips on the sections. That way, when we begin a month, I know how many pages to have her do for that month, and I roughly divide by three (we do 3 weeks/month) and pull the pages for the week. The paper clips tell me what to do! :D

 

Finally, I use a lot of post-it notes around here. ;) When my husband came in with another stack yesterday, he said, "Look, Honey, I got you some more brain cells." :glare: Anyway, I went through the children's Bible and roughly counted the pages, divided by 12, and put post-it notes on the section start pages. Same with the phonics primer -- no daily or weekly planning, just the post-it notes. They stay put and tell me what to do!

 

See? I could never take orders from an instructor's guide, but I obey lists, paper clips, and post-it notes! :lol:

Edited July 22, 2010 by Sahamamama