Miss Marple Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 In an effort to try to get organized in a fashion that works with all the new hats I have been wearing recently, I have concluded that I need to change the way I'm doing it now. Currently I'm using the online homeschoolskedtrack.com system. I spent an enormous amount of time putting in data and devising a schedule for each course/student. The boys can print out a daily schedule to see what they need to accomplish. Unfortunately, we are getting behind in some subjects because I'm just not as available as I need to be. Nan mentioned "chunking" at one time, and I'm trying to put together something like that. I would like to give the boys a set of assignments (large chunks) that must be done by a certain deadline. Nan mentioned something about using note cards. How does one actually implement this method (or something similar)? How do you "check up" on the work? What drawbacks do you see? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Mine isn't high tech. I sit down with a legal pad. This is what I wrote for this week: History TOG questions due Thursday afternoon, discussion Friday Church history- Discuss Screwtape letters today and start your 3 week study on Bonhoffer (sp?) English/Literature Discuss Animal Farm today and take online test. Start Gatsby, needs to be finished by next Friday, so a chapter a day. Spanish 4 days on SOS this week Science Brian Finish reading module 5 by Friday, do module 4 labs with dad Jonathan- module summary done for 4 on Tuesday, test Friday English/Writing Outline for writing class by Wednesday, rough draft by Friday to send in Grammar/Vocab Brian- PSAT prep Jonathan- ch 2 Vocaburock, 3 days of Editor n chief Math Brian- after PSAT go back to Alg. II Jonathan- 3.6 and3.7 need to be finished by Friday Driver's Ed- 4 days this week Then I also have a weekly schedule I put out: Monday- mom has youth search committee meeting at 6:30 Tuesday- nothing Wednesday- am- Brian PSAT, JOn and MEgan have science co-op PM- No piano this week- Mrs. Woodruff in Europe 4:30-9 Church activities Thursday- pm violin lesson and Sharon coming over for the afternoon for Megan Friday- DATE NIGHT Saturday- No flag football this week. Sleep in! I hope that helps. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) Now, for my oldest I really don't need to do this as I have a syllabus for each week and he is just so self motivated and organized. Even when I try to give him some slack, he will tell me no. I need to get it done. With my middle one, I must check twice or three times a day to see if he has filled out his planner. Typically he does things he likes first like reading all of Great Gatsby by tomorrow and frantically trying to finish a lesson and a half of math in one day because he didn't work on it as diligently as he should... I keep hoping he'll learn. He actually does pretty well with science. Also, I have printed out monthly planners for me where I pencil in subjects in different colors: red/math 3.1, 3/2, 3.3, 3.4, etc and module 1 or TOG week 2. I plan out the whole year lightly in pencil. Every couple of weeks, I pull it out and mark off what we have done to see if we are ahead or behind in particular subjects. That way I know that oh, he's ahead in math so we have a busy doctor appt. day, he doesn't need to do it OR he is behind, he must do that subject EVERY day NO MATTER WHAT!!! Oh, and I also check off each thing on Friday afternoon as they show it to me. They have to have that approved and get the housecleaning done before they can play a video game ( They get 2 hours each weekend..no more than an hour at a time) So I will guarantee you that my middle son will be frantically writing his paper, finishing his math and being more productive at 3pm on Friday than he has been the entire week!! My other boy is Mr. slow and steady wins the race. Christine Edited October 12, 2010 by choirfarm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsnwings Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I bought DS a planner and write all his assignments in there, in 3 week "chunks". I do write them as daily assignments but he is welcome to work ahead after each day's work has been completed, if he so chooses. He checks off the assignments as they're completed & I go back and put a red line through the assignment after I've graded it. It helps both of us keep track with what we need to do (him, the assignments & me, grade papers). I've started doing it in 3wk chunks so he can work ahead if he wants, but our yearly schedule won't get TOO messed up if we get behind--I can just insert a make-up day at the beginning of the next chunk of work. HTH! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I get the cheap spiral notebook (for each kid). I put each subject in the left margin with a line or two gap. Then Monday thru Friday's dates across the top. Either I write in what is done or dd does. Most of the time I break it down, but sometimes it is like above, "get such and such read by Friday" written across the whole week. She has been doing it this year, and a week ago, cried uncle that it was too much figuring it out all on her own. So I am involved again (and am welcome!). I let correcting dd's work and seeing how it was running go longer than I had ever in my homeschooling career. We spent all of last weekend cleaning up the mess it has made! Hopefully, never again. I prefer quickly looking at everything every day, which allows me to correct and then quickly write in the next day's assignments as we go, and it only takes a few minutes. Much better than doing a whole week (or more) at once. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 (edited) In an effort to try to get organized in a fashion that works with all the new hats I have been wearing recently, I have concluded that I need to change the way I'm doing it now. Currently I'm using the online homeschoolskedtrack.com system. I spent an enormous amount of time putting in data and devising a schedule for each course/student. The boys can print out a daily schedule to see what they need to accomplish. Unfortunately, we are getting behind in some subjects because I'm just not as available as I need to be. Nan mentioned "chunking" at one time, and I'm trying to put together something like that. I would like to give the boys a set of assignments (large chunks) that must be done by a certain deadline. Nan mentioned something about using note cards. How does one actually implement this method (or something similar)? How do you "check up" on the work? What drawbacks do you see? Thank you for asking this. I am tired of complicated schedules that I have spent valuable time making only to have a kid say, "Now what do I do next?" I am anxious to hear about Nan's method and the note cards too. I've been thinking of you, Cynthia. Hope all is going well, besides the scheduling.:tongue_smilie: Edited October 13, 2010 by swimmermom3 Brain blip...it happens often these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 (edited) Thank you for asking this. I am tired of complicated schedules that I have spent valuable making only to have a kid say, "Now what do I do next?" I am anxious to hear about Nan's method and the note cards too. I've been thinking of you, Cynthia. Hope all is going well, besides the scheduling.:tongue_smilie: It's still going...I have yet to conclude it's going well :tongue_smilie: But the boys and I had a good, serious conversation about how they tend take advantage of the fact that I'm otherwise occupied at times. I have decided that I can give them the hours up until 12:00, then I have to do other things. That means that they will have to work on their own in the afternoon - they are no longer allowed to say that they didn't know what they should be doing and I wasn't available to ask :glare:. I have enrolled each of them in an online course through the Univ. of OK online high school. The courses are semester courses and can be done at the boys' own pace. If this goes smoothly, I'll probably add another course or two. I have determined that I cannot do all coursework to the level I had hoped. So I'm choosing to do math, MCT Language Arts, and Chemistry this year. They will work on the other courses on their own in the afternoons and we will re-group periodically during the week to see that it is all going well. I'm hoping this helps them get in a full day of school :D I appreciate your thoughts and concern. Edited October 13, 2010 by CynthiaOK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 I've always split the day this way: working with them in the morning and having them work on their own in the afternoon. They have something they do independently that they like first thing while I get a load of laundry in, then we do the things we have to do together, then we discuss what they are going to do the rest of the day, then they go and do it. Another way of looking at this schedule is by how chunked the subject is: If it gets done daily with me, it gets done first. When my children were younger, they had some daily things that they did by themselves and if I had to go hang laundry or deal with the dog or wanted a cup of tea, they did one of those things. This year, I am down to one child who doesn't want anything to do with me, so I try to do everything he needs to do with me first thing so he can have the rest of the day to himself. He is working hard on his own, so I just need to figure out how to steer him unobtrusively, without taking away the satisfaction that comes with doing something oneself. I need to go work with him now, but I will get back to you about the rest of the details. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Mine isn't high tech. I sit down with a legal pad. This is what I wrote for this week: History TOG questions due Thursday afternoon, discussion Friday Church history- Discuss Screwtape letters today and start your 3 week study on Bonhoffer (sp?) English/Literature Discuss Animal Farm today and take online test. Start Gatsby, needs to be finished by next Friday, so a chapter a day. Spanish 4 days on SOS this week Science Brian Finish reading module 5 by Friday, do module 4 labs with dad Jonathan- module summary done for 4 on Tuesday, test Friday English/Writing Outline for writing class by Wednesday, rough draft by Friday to send in Grammar/Vocab Brian- PSAT prep Jonathan- ch 2 Vocaburock, 3 days of Editor n chief Math Brian- after PSAT go back to Alg. II Jonathan- 3.6 and3.7 need to be finished by Friday Driver's Ed- 4 days this week Then I also have a weekly schedule I put out: Monday- mom has youth search committee meeting at 6:30 Tuesday- nothing Wednesday- am- Brian PSAT, JOn and MEgan have science co-op PM- No piano this week- Mrs. Woodruff in Europe 4:30-9 Church activities Thursday- pm violin lesson and Sharon coming over for the afternoon for Megan Friday- DATE NIGHT Saturday- No flag football this week. Sleep in! I hope that helps. Christine I think this is similar to what I have envisioned. Instead of everything being microscheduled (page numbers of each subject each day), I want to give chunks of work to be done. And, honestly, I don't care when they do it as long as it gets done. Except, of course, those courses I am focusing on this year (math, grammar, chemistry). I think I will need to schedule those courses daily - but even chemistry can be chunked, I think, because they read on their own then we do the questions together and labs. About labs: Someone mentioned previously about doing labs in bunches (Nan?). I think that might actually work better because it decreases the amount of time the kitchen is occupied by chemistry stuff. Of course this would only work for short, uncomplicated labs. Any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 I let correcting dd's work and seeing how it was running go longer than I had ever in my homeschooling career. We spent all of last weekend cleaning up the mess it has made! Hopefully, never again. I prefer quickly looking at everything every day, which allows me to correct and then quickly write in the next day's assignments as we go, and it only takes a few minutes. Much better than doing a whole week (or more) at once. HTH This is what I'm worried about. I can see that I might fall behind in keeping them accountable. They are good kids, but they do tend to take advantage of my lack of attention. I had this happen once with my oldest :tongue_smilie: At their ages, though, these fellas should be responsible enough to work through a weeks worth of assignments (in the elective courses) without me looking over their shoulders every day - that's my goal anyways :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 (edited) We use the planners from URTheMom.com. The planner has a two-page spread for the week (Mom can write in schedule or student can do it.), a space for weekly notes (I use this for appointments, lessons, etc.) and a space for books read. The planner is set up in nine-week quarters with a goal sheet and envelope for important papers; i.e. tests and essays. At the end of the nine-week quarter, there is a place to record grades. At the end of the year, the student has a organized, portfolio with grades, papers, tests, etc. Also, there are sheets in the back of the planner for places visited and textbooks/courses completed. We've tried many planners and approaches throughout the years, and Joanne's planners have worked the best. No lost papers. No scrambling for grades at the end. Everything in one place. Edited October 13, 2010 by 1Togo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 I have a calender on the wall and everybody's everything else is written on that calender. I am working towards getting my son to put all his things into his assignment book, but he still baulks at the whole idea of an assignment book, so this is a work in progress. We have two big problems with this system. My husband has trouble syncing his own planner. He uses a large paper one as a basis and then tries to sync that with his outlook stuff for work and the family calender. Our biggest problem is that I forget to look at the calender to see what we have coming up. I'm surprised the orthodontist will still talk to me. My husband, knowing that time and I are not miscible, suggested the index-card system. It keeps me from being mired down in endless lists. He uses it at work. I took the various lists of books to be read and projects to be done and things to cover, printed them out if they weren't already handwritten, snipped them up, and glued them onto coloured index cards. I coordinated the colours with my philosophy of education, so history/geography/politics/government/economics/anthropology/moderns is one colour, science is another, literature is another, etc. A different person might have the history in with literature or math in with science or whatever. The trick is to think about how your daily/weekly schedule is going to work and make sure that if you think you want to both science and math every week, you make them different colours. Then I took all the cards, which represent everything I might ever want to cover for high school LOL, and put them in order of importance. At which point, of course, I realized that I probably should have done the colours a bit differently but that can be fixed with rubber bands. Then I pulled out the first card from each educational strand; and put a rubber band around the rest and put them in a shoe box. Then I decide how to do the cards that are out. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but you get the idea. It is a bit more complicated than this because some subjects have several strands that need to be worked simultaneously, and some subjects (like my academic skills bundle) need to be done through the medium of another subject, but for me, anyway, having bundles of cards forces me to make deliberate choices about those strands and helps keep me from overwhelming or overscheduling my son by making him do too many things at once. It also helps keep me from worrying that I am fogetting something and keeps me from forcing my son to do too many things at once because I am afraid that I will forget to have him do it if I don't give it to him to do immediately. Whenever I hear of a new resource or get a new idea for how to cover something or realize suddenly that we need to cover something, I write it (by hand) on a card and add it to the appropriate bundle. Could I do it with lists instead of cards? I suppose so, since I have a word processor, but the cards let me lay a season or a year out at once and look at it and rearrange it. My husband uses this method to plan complicated projects. Then he puts whatever he has plan he has devised into his computer using one of the project-planning programs and maintains it throughout the rest of its life using that. Now I know why he gets mad when we borrow his big paper shears GRIN. I always wondered why he needed scissors. I don't maintain our project using planning software. I use paper. Once I have decided what we are going to do in the next few months, I make a list of what I want us to cover this week. Some things have no deadlines, like sight singing and Latin reading. We do those for a small amount of time a few times a week and we get through whatever we get through. This is not a very efficient or effective way to learn something, but it is pretty painless. Textbooks that are meant to be covered in a year I divide up. I keep track of what we do daily in an excel spreadsheet that has the date down the side and the strands along the top. When I've divided up a textbook, I write the pages or sections in the strand. Then, as we go along, I replace that with what we actually did. I only do this for the whole year for things that really have to be finished in one year, like math, otherwise I would wind up retyping the target sections. We do get off, but I don't retype because ultimately, I need us to get back on that schedule. Everything else just gets written in as we do it. Occasionally, I do some dividing up by putting in a target page number at weekly or monthly intervals. I leave the child to do the dividing within those guidelines. That way, they can adjust when they only read 20 pages this week instead of 40. Before 16yo, we have hours to our school day and I just tell my children what to do next (except the crunch time just before travelling when they get a list and work every minute they aren't packing). After 16, they pretty much work until they can't, then take a break, then work again, so at that point, they get a list of what needs to be accomplished next. This is the first year I have tried to combine those two approaches with a weekly to-do list and we are still working out the bugs. Weekly lists require that I be good at estimating how long something will take to do and how much time my son will have to spend on schoolwork this week, neither of which I am good at sigh. He has been reluctant to split things up and write them in his assignment book, but that is the goal. We have compromised by having a list of what he needs to do every week that looks like: math math math math math math paper Latin Latin Latin Science reading Experiment Science article etc. Except that things like experiment and paper are broken into smaller steps, the idea being that eventually it can be written as "experiment" and he will do all the steps himself. I tell him daily what I want him to do for math and Latin just gets done for 10 or 15 minutes. We are working towards a list that has large chunks on it that he breaks up himself and writes in his assignment book. At that point, he will have to deal with the rescheduling-when-you-don't-get-to-something problem himself, probably with a system like mine. So far this year, he has gotten to the point where he schedules the larger weekly things like paper himself. I worked out an hourly weekly schedule at the beginning to make sure everything fit and that we could deal with things like having my baby nephew one morning, but he isn't obliged to stick with that; it just helped to get some of the bugs out of the system beforehand and kept him from wasting weeks figuring out that he can't do his experiment early in the week and then try to do our together things later in the week when I am unavailable. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Our biggest problem is that I forget to look at the calender to see what we have coming up. I'm surprised the orthodontist will still talk to me.-Nan LOL! This is exactly my problem! I write it on the calendar and forget to look. I often tell the boys to remind me to check the calendar :D I wish someone would devise a large bathroom mirror that has a calendar superimposed on it. I could then write on it and would have to look at it as I brush my teeth in the morning :001_smile: Thanks for the detailed note-card idea. I think I can do something similar and make it work. I'm very visual and being able to arrange the cards is something that appeals to me (as well as ds#3). I think I need to take a weekend and head over to my sister's house (it's for sale and they aren't living there) and get organized. I can spread out without one of the kids offering to help :tongue_smilie: and I just might get it accomplished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 That is what I did - went to a big empty room and spread everything out. If you are gluing, I find that elmers is less frustrating than a glue stick. I put a dab on the strip of paper, spread it out thin with a sliver of index card, and stick it down. If it is spread thin, it dries so fast that it is the same as gluestick. TWTM describes a way to use cards to organize on a weekly/daily basis, not just in chunks. Maybe I should put the calender on the bathroom door... -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 (edited) I made up a table for the whole school year. I have on one page (landscape format) 7 rows, and 9 columns (# of subjects plus one). Top row is labled with subjects for columns 2-8. Left column is Week 1 (and dates), Week 2, Week 3, etc starting at 2nd row. I go to 44th week. This includes holiday breaks and goes into summer since we school year round. Our summer goes from July to mid August. There are 6 weeks listed for each page. From there I just list what is to be completed for each subject for that week. I will try to copy/paste a sample: don't know if this will show up correctly after I post it. Didn't work..... I print this out one page at a time. This way, I can easily make changes as needed if the schedule needs to be revamped without wasting a lot of ink and paper. In their binder I have a syllabus made up with exactly what they are to complete for that chapter, explains the assignments, etc. In general it is the "same" for each chapter, etc. They read the chapter, do homework assignment (kept in their learning journal), take quizzes (most are on-line at publishers website), write chapter or unit essay (typed), do lab/lab report for science, take chapter exams. I keep it very simple (I hope-LOL). Edited October 17, 2010 by AnitaMcC table chart didn't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 LOL! This is exactly my problem! I write it on the calendar and forget to look. I often tell the boys to remind me to check the calendar :D I wish someone would devise a large bathroom mirror that has a calendar superimposed on it. I could then write on it and would have to look at it as I brush my teeth in the morning :001_smile: It's next to the mirror, but I do look at it as I brush my teeth in the morning! LOL (And again when I'm brushing my teeth at night of course!) If it weren't there I wouldn't manage to show up to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 I made up a table for the whole school year. From there I just list what is to be completed for each subject for that week. I will try to copy/paste a sample: don't know if this will show up correctly after I post it. Didn't work..... . Can you email this out to those of us that want to see what it looks like? Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Post It notes, economy pack, don't get the off brand ones, they don't stick..... I found one in the sink with a message to call someone (ds copied me and put the message on the kitchen cabinet door, it fell off, stuck to a glass, ended up in the sink!). They are everywhere, I tease they are my brain. Funny, now dc make them and put them on their bathroom mirrors when they need to remember something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 It's next to the mirror, but I do look at it as I brush my teeth in the morning! LOL (And again when I'm brushing my teeth at night of course!) If it weren't there I wouldn't manage to show up to anything. I may have to experiment with dry erase markers on my large bathroom mirror :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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