Planning -- how and when do you get it done

[momma aimee]

I am struggling with knowing we could do more if i had it better laid out and ready to go.

 

it my day was open and go, I am confident we'd be getting more done with less stress for me, and i think better focus from DS1 also.

 

but i am feeling like i am treading water, barely a day ahead of DS1.

 

How do you do it? each night for the next day? Once a week?

 

talk to me on a very practical level about planning and teacher prep --

 

 

:bigear::bigear::bigear:

[2_girls_mommy]

hmmm, what kind of planning do you mean?

 

I do spend time in the summer researching what we are going to do and breaking up the lessons into month. For instance, I know that we need to do 16-17 lessons of math a month to finish the book in the months I want to do school (Aug-mid June) I write a weekly schedule of which subjects we will do each day.

 

We do the core subjects daily Mon-Thurs. We do Art on Monday afternoons, music on Tues mornings, History on Tues and Thurs, and Science on Fridays.

 

I buy supplies that I will need for the year during the summer and with Christmas break. I try to keep most artsy things stocked, so I only have to think about what I may have run out of. I save things like egg cartons, jars, styrofoam trays, etc. that come up in crafts in a bin next to my recycle bin.

 

I have a detailed time schedule for the day breaking the day up into hour increments showing a perfect day and what all of us should be doing that hour to accomplish what needs to be done.

 

Now, on a week to week basis throughout the year, I don't have to do a lot of planning. I glance over the next week's science experiment while we are doing this week's to make sure I have everything.

 

I read the whole chapter of art and mentally plan the next 2 or 3 projects. (and sometimes we have enough crafts from other places that I don't need to plan a specific one from our curric, so that one chapter may take us through a couple of months.)

 

We go to the library once a week as a family. While the girls are getting their time on the computers playing edu games there I sit with my SOTW A.G. and request books for the next week or two, picking up the ones on reserve that I reserved the last time.

[....]

First, we school year-round and I am very flexible with them. As long as we're finished by bedtime... Also, I try to plan "half" of what I want to do and leave the rest of the room for them to explore...I want time for things like the American Revolution coloring book :tongue_smilie:...I just downloaded Alice Computer Programming (on a whim)...someone keeps pestering me to build a solar car, etc.

 

Every Sunday night, I plan out the entire week. Every morning, I open the planner and I already know who's covering what. A lot of times, I'll take everybody's school books for the day and stack them in the kitchen. When we have some free time, I'll grab someone's math or grammar and we'll knock it out.

 

It's October and I've got a tentative grid for the next school year.

 

I sat down one Saturday and mapped out everything until high school. I know things will change drastically every year, but at least I "knew" there was plenty of time to do all those things I really want to do with the kids (my kids are all under 10). :rolleyes:

[Karen in CO]

This is what I do for my youngest as my older has a completely different day.

Over the summer, I ripped up our workbooks then bought a cute folder for each day of the week. Cute folders are an important part of my plan.

 

Each Sunday night, I sit on the floor with my expando-folder that is filled with my workbook pages and the set of folders. In each folder, I put work that can be done without me on the right (handwriting, phonics maze, coloring page, lollypop logic page, and a math fact page if there is one). I put work that requires me on the left (ETC page, a page from Saxon math, a page from Math in Focus). I also tuck into the Monday folder the reader we are using that week and the Saxon meeting book. I pull out from our library shelf a history picture book, a fairy tale, and a science book and put these in on the shelf with the cute folders and the pencil box. The pencil box contains page markers, pencils, a checking pencil, scissors, and a glue stick.

 

After I setup the folders, I read the teacher's notes for the math assignments for the week and get any manipulatives I need together (from our math box) and put them in a box on the shelf below our weekly shelf. I make sure the crayons and art supplies for the artistic pursuits lesson for the week are also in that box. Then I'm done for the week. The whole week is now setup for do-the-next-thing.

[boscopup]

At the beginning of the year (or when starting a new curriculum or grade level of a curriculum), I enter all of my lesson plans into HST+. These do not have dates attached. I make lists of supplies needed and which lessons need them. I also have library book lists correlated to SOTW, so I can reserve books a couple weeks ahead (the books are entered into HST+ also). Also, I do all of this while on a school break, and I have detailed plans at least 6 weeks ahead, plus copies made.

 

Once a week, I look at my plans and decide which exact lessons I'll do, since my son often doesn't go the pace of the curriculum. I take that into account when planning "6 weeks". ;)

 

We have a checklist each day, and I have a general schedule of what subjects we do which days. Basically, I over-plan. :D

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I've done more than I usually do this year, because my boys were at chess camp in August and were gone for 7 hours a day for a week. I used that time to plan out school from Sept.-Dec.

 

Last year, and for the rest of this year, what I did/will do is take a few hours on a Sunday afternoon and plan out 4 weeks at a time. I made a template with a chart for each day of the week and then fill in the subjects we will work on each day. I go through each subject individually and plan out daily lessons. I then get all paperwork/projects for those 4 weeks and put them in a folder for each week that goes in a binder behind the table of lesson plans that I print out.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Cute folders are an important part of my plan.

 

Your whole post was great but this part was my favorite. DD is also highly inspired by cute folders, kittens preferred. :lol:

[mommyto4]

I planned out the year in August (picked out curriculum, decided on the year's goals, and recorded what should be done weekly to reach these goals, and did some photocopying for WWE, Elemental Science, and math practice sheets). Now, every Saturday night I spend about an hour looking through the subjects and planning the daily lessons for the week and record them on the weekly lesson plan sheet I use. Some of my curriculum is pretty much open-and-go (FLL, WWE, Spelling, Cursive, Phonics...) although I do like to peek at what is coming for the week on Saturday nights. My science, history and math take a little more time, requiring some supply gathering and photocopying. I also put history books on hold at the library a few weeks in advance of needing them for SOTW.

 

The better planned I am, the better the day goes. It also is great to have a weekly lesson plan sheet that I can keep to remind myself all the things the kids have done in a year:001_smile:

[JenC3]

File folders. On Thursday I get the work ready and familarize myself with what's next. I look at the schedule of activities and think about menus. I do everything in small increments so that i don't get overwhelmed on Sunday.

[momma aimee]

thanks everyone

 

I am just going to have to find time to THINK and sit down and PLAN and get it all together -- i have cool stuff we are missing, and I know I am not challenging him enough.

[redsquirrel]

I start for the following year right after christmas. By "start" I mean I start researching what I am going to be using for the following year. Sometimes it is a no-brainer. I use SOTW for grades 1-4, so that is easy peasy. Other times it takes some research such as this year we added Spanish in as a new subject.

 

I try as hard as I can to purchase or acquire all new subjects/publishers/materials in the spring. Then I spend some time reading through and getting a feel for it. I also spend a lot of time on this board and on the web looking at what other people have done and how they have modified etc.

 

If it is a 'do the next thing' type of material, I might even be done at that point. I do make note of any materials I will need to have handy or copies made etc. I make note of what needs a binder.

 

If it is something that requires a bit more prep, like science or SOTW, I make monthly plans. I decide what I will be doing and make lists of all materials needed. I try very, very hard to make sure I have it all in the house by mid-August.

 

In mid-August, I start getting our work area ready. I clean it out, go through old math manipulatives and makes sure something is needed. I clean the bookshelves. I get pencils and dry erase markers and crayons and marker. I make sure I have a place for my rulers and scissors. I make cover sheets for the binders and put everything on the shelves. I get paper for the copier and ink for the printer.

 

We start in September and my goal is to have all school supplies ready to go, things printed out for the first two months, all science materials for the year ready to go, all SOTW craft stuff ready, ink in the printer and plenty of three hole punch paper in the tray. I have a general idea of what the week will look like and how many times per week we will do each subject. I have read through each teacher and student book at least once. Any assigned reading has been scanned.

 

I have also learned that once we start, if I forgot anything it is very unlikely to happen. Yeah, pretty much doomed to not get done.

[momma aimee]

I have a math binder -- i use MEP that is laid out for me.

 

I have decided to try to devote some time to 'creating' a binder for the other subjects i want to cover, to that in effect it is "open and go" for myself -- at least when the school day arrives it is.

 

I have got to find more time to sit and think and plan -- i do not wing it well, but am certainly able to pull it all together it i sit down and do it

[MerryAtHope]

I take time before I start my year to look at each subject area. Some are super easy to plan:

 

Horizons math, 1 lesson or test per day.

All About Spelling, work for 20 minutes (set the timer) and just go as far as we can

Sonlight Core 100, roughly follow their plan, if we get behind I can drop a book here & there--manage on the fly mostly

 

Some take a bit of prep work ahead:

IEW--look ahead each week to the next lesson & make sure I'm ready for it

 

Some take quite a bit of prep:

my dd is doing an eclectic mix of Mystery of History 2 (decide which exercises/tests we want to do) with half of Sonlight 6 and some books from other sources. I had to spend time choosing the books I wanted for readers, literature and history since we're only doing half of a SL core, decide what order they went in and a rough guestimate of how long it would take to read them. I listed them in order & the week I wanted to start each book (also roughly lining them up with MOH), and then I listed optional books at the bottom (good thing because DD has gotten to be a fast reader this year!). I did this work ahead of time so each week I can see what book is next, whether we are on track with my plan and so on--I can open & go.

 

Weekly the main thing I need to do is print out a schedule page on which I mark down what we did each day. I use workboxes so our day is planned and structured easily--history first for my son while I do "time with mom" with my daughter, and so on. I don't reinvent the wheel and do things differently each day, but if one of my kids wants to spend extra time on something, I can easily adjust their requirements for that day without throwing off a bunch of planning. My plans are basic--do what's next, and a rough desire to get certain things done in a day/week/year. But I don't lose it if those plans are changed a bit. If Sonlight schedules too many books for us, or if I do that myself--not a big deal, we just don't read them all. If they don't schedule enough--not a big deal, I have my optional lists right there, ready to go.

 

Some things I plan by time--read for 30 minutes, math is a maximum of an hour, and so on.

 

When you have the curriculum available and an ORDER within that curriculum--then what to do for a day or a week falls into place pretty easily. I usually spend 30 minutes on Friday afternoon or the weekend looking over everything for the coming week.

 

HTH! Merry :-)

[Miss Tick]

I have a weekly schedule on an index card. When we do a lesson, I look ahead at the next lesson to see if there is anything that I should be prepared for. That's when I get out the math worksheets, or prep the copywork. That works for math, WWE, FLL, SOTW, spelling, and art. Spanish is more flexible, I have books, videos, and texts and I choose what fits into each day.

 

On Fridays I spend time reserving books for the next two(ish) weeks in history, science, and the kids' read-alouds.

 

Science sometimes requires more prep, but we only do it twice a week, so even though I'm still just looking ahead to the next lesson, I have a few days to pull it together.

 

Every few months I go through and pick out selections for the next 10 WWE lessons.

 

As far as planning curriculum goes I'm planning to "keep doing the next thing" for the next year at least.

[mcconnellboys]

I start in January and work off and on through the summer to plan the entire next year. In pencil. Changes can and do happen. If I at least have some kind of plan in place for each day, then I can be more free to schedule field trips and outside classes and still feel that we are moving forward with our work at home....

[rieshy]

I've planned different ways over the years.

 

This year is my favorite way. I researched what we would be doing over the summer- but the nitty gritty is that every Saturday morning I get up really, really early, take the littlest boys grocery shopping with me. Drop them (happy and tired) and the groceries off at home with the family and then grab my book bag and go to Starbucks for 3 hours of bliss- ALONE.

 

I look at what we accomplished the week before and write out a check list for the week ahead for each kid- complete with lessons I'm going to teach and assignments. Then I use the remainder of the time to do my own personal studying.

 

Words cannot express how great this has been for me and for my kids. I'm not sure if it is the alone time, the planning time, or the caffeine. I'm home before lunch.

[Hedgehog]

Firstly, I school year round, 6 weeks on and 1-2 weeks off, unless we get sick. It doesn't matter to us if this falls on any kind of holiday or not, since DH does contract work and hardly ever takes any holiday, and the cycle falls differently every year. The only consistent time we have off is the few days around Christmas.

 

I use their weeks off to plan, tweak the schedule, do research in a big way, and order curricula.

 

I created a schedule that I have on Excel, which I then use to make Rabbit and Pooh's weekly check-lists, and keep track of our lives! I use my pocket diary for odd appointments and such like - things that don't happen consistently each week.

 

I use curricula that, for the most part, are open-the-book-and-do-the-next-lesson type and fit into a 36-week school year. I know that if we do the 6wks on 1-2wks off pattern, we'll almost always get a year's program done in a year. I don't plan it any tighter than that.

 

I also try to use curricula, certainly for Rabbit and Pooh, which they can do at least partially independently, if not entirely so. I have Chronic Fatigue and need to know that they can carry on (more or less) without me, at least for a while. That gives me a breather if I need one.

 

HTH!

[momma aimee]

thanks everyone -- i guess i am just going to have to find a process that works for me.

[eewaggie99]

Although I afterschooled for a few years with my eldest, I'm new to HS as well so I'll just pass along a few tips from veteran HSers that I've found work for me.

 

* Make sure the curriculum fits both you and your children. It could be the most perfect fit for your child, but require hours of prep from you. If this is not something that you are able to do, don't use the curriculum.

* Prioritize your subjects. For our family, math, reading, writing and Spanish are the priorities. Our day is not done until all the children have completed these subjects. If we've had a rough time, I may pass on other subjects like history or science.

* I planned the whole school year over the summer using HST+. I can input supplies required, add literature tied to our history study, and keep track of our daily assignments. I didn't use it for several months, but now that I have it, I don't think I'd stay on track without it. By looking at our daily assignments, I know exactly which subjects we've completed and which ones we need to work on. I also request library books a week or two ahead of when we need them.

* If it's not an open and go workbook, I print out all the worksheets at the beginning of the year. In a milk crate, I have a set of manila folders labeled CHILD Week 1 to CHILD Week 36, and everything is filed away right after printing. Each child also has another milk crate where I keep manila folders labeled MONDAY through FRIDAY plus their workbooks, textbooks, pencil boxes, etc. At the end of the week on Friday, I pull out the file folder for the week following and put the sheets in the daily folders. Every night before the school day, the daily assignments are put in the child's plastic folder, one with pockets. Once assignments are completed, they go back into the weekly folder to be filed away.

* For example, ds will be in Week 13 of the school year and his manila folder contains notebook pages for spelling, geography, science, and history plus the week's WWE and FLL pages. I also include any extras, like projects, crafts, or recipes. Math is open-and-go, but if I was using MM, I would print out the pages and file them. This has made my life extremely easy. I use to shuffle among the different workbooks and papers. Now, I look over the week's assignments to plan for any materials needed, and my son can open his daily assignment folder and see how many pages of work he has to do.

 

The only thing I'm changing is adding a weekly assignment planner for my eldest. I want him to start working more independently and he likes to check the box when his work is completed.

 

I hope this helps. There are many threads on the boards about planning and organizing. The above is what I've gleaned and works for me.

[Mrs Twain]

The biggest thing that helped me is to get all of the organizational work done ahead of time for the whole year, or at least for the first semester. This especially includes any photocopying that needs to be done. I put it in binders so that all I have to do is get the books out/pull the next assignment out of the binder.

 

I found that if I needed to do something to organize the lesson on the day of the lesson, I would end up skipping it because I didn't have the time. Putting in the time up front makes your life easier.

[Amanda_Jo]

I do a modified file folder and binder system. My husband's days and hours off are very unpredictable, so it helps me to not set in stone what we are doing too far in advance.

The week before each quarter starts I set up a file folder for each week; inside each folder are 4 more color coded folders (Yellow-group work, lists, and papers I need, Purple-2nd grader, Red-1st grader, Blue-PreK). Before the quarter starts I file all the papers from each subject in the correct folder. I go ahead and make any copies we are going to need during this time and order any books/supplies we are missing. I also have a list sheet in my folder for things that won't file well. I keep notes of art projects, and supplies I need for science, art or other projects. Most of our workbooks I take apart and file for each child, or I put a sticky note on the child's folder with the page numbers that need to be accomplished in text books, reading books, etc.

This part of planning takes me about three days during nap and after bedtime.

Then each weekend I take about an hour to organize our week--I sit down with our calendar, my weekly planning sheet, the kids' binders (each child has a binder with an assignment sheet up front with reading assignments listed and Mon-Fri tabs,) and the upcoming week's file folder(s). I can decide which days we are going to school that week, which days will be light days, which days we will be in the car a lot (I assign extra reading and memory practice those days). All the kids sheets get put in their binders behind the day of the week the assignment needs to be completed, I fill out their assignment sheet with any assignment that isn't in the binder, and put my lesson plans in my binder.

I keep a large crate near our kitchen table, where we school. During the weekend I put the binders, textbooks, reading books, and supplies needed that week in the crate. Then each day is open and go.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Amanda_Jo

[RootAnn]

I have also learned that once we start, if I forgot anything it is very unlikely to happen. Yeah, pretty much doomed to not get done.

 

:iagree: I remember from another thread, momme aimee, that we are very much alike. If it is planned, it gets done. If it is open-and-go, it gets done. If there isn't a plan & you can't just open to the next lesson, kiss that subject goodbye for the day.

 

Some people can have it all planned on the computer. I like the paper-and-pencil way (at least at first).

 

Some people can make/find time to plan on a weekly basis. I can't. I have to use my summers/off-weeks (Christmas??) to plan or it won't get done.

 

Some people only like a 2-6 week plan. I'm a big picture, plan-the-whole-year-but-build-in-flex-time person. I need the whole thing planned out before we start doing it. I will not be able to sit down & "finish" it if we are in the middle of execution. I make sure to build in 'review' days & extra weeks (with nothing on them) so we can catch up if we get behind. If we get ahead, we just finish early. *Whew*

 

I need to plan out SOTW with the activities we are going to do & the movies we are going to watch, and the books we are going to read. I need to plan out what Day 1 looks like for Science & that I need X, Y, & Z for the experiment on Day 2. Some people can do all that on the fly as long as it is spelled out for them. I need a checklist, a form, or a note in my plan with the items highlighted in the original guide.

 

I still haven't figured out if I need to make copies all at the beginning of the year or if I can make them on the fly as needed. Still working on that.

 

Good luck! :grouphug: (Your kids are still young. This is my sixth year homeschooling & I still don't have my stuff all figured out.)

[momma aimee]

i have realized about myself

 

If it is planned, it gets done. If it is open-and-go, it gets done. If there isn't a plan & you can't just open to the next lesson, kiss that subject goodbye for the day

THANKS to RootAnn for the summary that fits so well. :D

 

ok this morning I took a 3 ring binder and labeled it this week

 

I have a tab for each subject, a tabl for Little Brother (who demand real work -- ie books to write in or work sheets), a tab for "etc and challenge, and a tab for momma's notes.

 

For example this week in Science we are studying rulers and measurement. i have several sheets for Big on reading the ruler -- so they went into the Science tab. that way on Tuesday went my planner book sayd "ruler pratice" I go and POOF there they are. :0)

 

So I still have the challenge of the subjects that are not just open and go (our math is, MEP, out Bible is -- now, but history, science, and so on ... NOT and that is my struggle, pulling it all together on my own.)

 

but maybe i'll keep myself on track better with what IS planned....

[go_go_gadget]

I have a weekly lesson schedule here, but beyond that I don't plan ahead much in a day-to-day sense. I do look at the next day's lesson when they're thinking during the current lesson, and I make bi-weekly library trips to collect the next couple of weeks' supplemental history books. Maybe once a month or so I run the numbers to make sure we're on track to finish a program within the time I'd originally estimated. I do, however, spend a lot of time researching and planning/choosing curricula. But I do that when I have time (saddest hobby ever, right?), and I don't when I don't.

[kalanamak]

I am struggling with knowing we could do more if i had it better laid out and ready to go.

 

it my day was open and go, I am confident we'd be getting more done with less stress for me, and i think better focus from DS1 also.

 

but i am feeling like i am treading water, barely a day ahead of DS1.

 

How do you do it? each night for the next day? Once a week?

 

talk to me on a very practical level about planning and teacher prep --

 

 

:bigear::bigear::bigear:

 

I am not a big planner-ahead because kiddo just keeps surprising me with strengths AND weaknesses. I look over a book when I get it (like the new SM for the year). I put a few stickies in it to remind me to churn in an extra resource (like "Do Key to Fractions, book 4 pages 31-35 first"), and generally familiarize myself with what I've got (extras, too). Then I put those pink and green and blue tabs in the books: one color for the reference I flip back to, and one color for where we are to take up next lesson. If it is a book we are working straight through and will discard (workbook) I just cut off the bottom corner to make it easy to flip to where we are.

I also put out a year's plan. X number of SM per month as a goal, e.g., X number of lessons in GWG per month to finish in April, etc. I always plan to finish everything in April or May and spend J/J reviewing or going back over the shakey things, or, if we are dead solid, plowing on to the next level.

 

Then, rather than having a certain lesson I have to get through on Monday the X of Y, I pick up where we left off and do a certain amount of TIME. If he dawdles, I may stretch it some, and some books do well with one lesson per day (like GWG). If we are falling behind our monthly goal, I either put in extra slots, or I rethink my goals.

 

Since we school most days, somewhere around Wed or Thurs I look over the weekend's adventures (science and art projects, or a marathon of music listening or math card gaming). About every month I review where we are in everything.

 

This works for us, as we have to stay a little more nimble than "we will do A on day B, and B on day D", as I work full time and kiddo is very physical and must have 4 hours hard play a day or no school work gets done at all.

[kalanamak]

thanks everyone -- i guess i am just going to have to find a process that works for me.

 

Oh yeah. For you AND your kids. I had one for "me". Hahahahaha.

[laughing lioness]

I overplan in the summer- getting things down to a fine detial and then flow as we go. We drop what isn't working (lit at Tutoring Center for ds 11) and pick up other things that do. You can read about my plans for this year here. I also try to plan the "extras" during the summer- batching field trips and camps- otherwise it's just too easy to over look while we're in the midst of working during the school year.

 

 

I also focus on skill areas in the a.m.-when minds are fresher and content in the afternooon. That helps me to keep focused right there. All math books are kept in a bin that we pick up and bring to the table.

My 17 yo and I talk about what needs done each week and make a check off sheet. He works from that.

[WIS0320]

I planned all last winter and spring for this year. I didn't quite do the filing system but my own version of it. I gathered all my resources and materials and then sorted by units, decided on pacing for quarters and the full year and then I took binders and filed everything I thought I'd need in them. I also set up our daily routine and that has helped me so much more than I thought it would. At this point there are no surprises for my DD, she knows the order we are going in for subjects and transitions are pretty seamless now.

 

I'm doing this again this winter and spring for the 2012/2013 school year. We school year round so I need to be ready to go by the end of June for our new school year. Starting planning in January lets me plan slowly and not get overwhelmed.

 

Each weekend now, I just look at what I've previously planned and figure out how we will use it during the week, collect any supplies I need in addition to what is filed and then we are ready to go without much prep work each day.

 

Here is my system:

 

http://nestlearning.blogspot.com/2011/07/organization.html

[Mrs Twain]

I overplan in the summer- getting things down to a fine detial and then flow as we go. We drop what isn't working (lit at Tutoring Center for ds 11) and pick up other things that do. You can read about my plans for this year here. I also try to plan the "extras" during the summer- batching field trips and camps- otherwise it's just too easy to over look while we're in the midst of working during the school year.

 

 

I also focus on skill areas in the a.m.-when minds are fresher and content in the afternooon. That helps me to keep focused right there. All math books are kept in a bin that we pick up and bring to the table.

 

This is almost exactly what I do. It is working well. Putting the time in during the summer to organize and pre-prepare as much as possible pays off as a lot less stress during the school year.

[kht2006]

My favorite way to plan is to set each subject/activity out on the dining room table at a place setting after DD is in bed. I put out everything she/daddy need for each activity or it doesn't get done. They clean up as they go. I tried workboxes, but out of sight, out of mind. This works and if they don't finish then it's on the table when I get home and I leave it out for the next day. They are both realizing that if they skip it, they'll be seeing it again.

Of course on nights when I don't get this done school doesn't get done. That's the bad part