Lesson planning and special needs

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[PeterPan]

Let's just say I KNOW, sigh. I often wonder what I'm doing wrong when I read these posts by people like 8 and Angela (not on this section of the boards obviously!) where they plan so far in advance.

 

One thing I *try* to do is have a checklist. If I were really smart, I'd know how to upload you an image of our one from Dec. It's nothing fancy, just a little red and green on a table. I made some changes to up the EF, and it seemed improve our thought process and *feeling* of organization, if that makes sense. So the columns are:

-subject

-December goal (finish a book, cover this many chapters, whatever)

-weekly target

-5 columns for each day of week

-Hit It? (did you hit your goal?)

 

It has been wearying over the years trying to keep everything going, too many plates spinning. This year we've outsourced some things, and it was a good move. It means a little less planning for me and more just helping her implement what the teacher wants. So that might be a place to put your frustrated energy for next year, to see if you can outsource a few things. A less-than-perfect co-op writing class would do. A few more subjects on the computer would help. (Dd loves the Mark Kistler online drawing lessons and Mavis Beacon typing using the Dvorak keyboard layout.) For that less-than-perfect writing class, you might find it helpful to use some software like Scriver. I wish I had found this earlier, as she's IN LOVE with it. Obviously they need to be old enough to get why, so 6th might be barely there. Definitely by 7th they're ready. If that looks like more than he needs, then look at DraftBuilder http://www.donjohnston.com/products/draft_builder/index.html

 

So I guess you could say I plan for the week by seeing where we're at in relation to the year goals and plowing forward. I think it's normal (common) to have to be flexible like this. Now hurray for those subjects that are going better/faster for you! That sounds like progress and good things to me! Basically, on stuff that is starting to fly like that, I back off and schedule it less. I put my energy into scheduling the things that NEED to be scheduled, not the things she'll make happen on her own if she just has time and energy. That was one of the key things we learned in the np eval btw, not to over schedule the formal stuff so she has energy left for the rest. So if that reading is going well, then trim it from the schedule, make the schedule about the things that don't happen, and he'll have time to keep going.

 

Have you seen the wolf books by Kathryn Lasky? My dd is nuts for them and a new one just came out. Might be a series like that would be just the thing to keep him engrossed so you could drop it from your schedule. :)

[peacefully]

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[Tokyomarie]

We're not homeschooling this year, but in the past, I finally had to just go with the flow. I mostly used curriculum that was relatively "open & go" or "just do the next thing." For each subject I kept in mind how far I hoped to be by the end of a week or the end of a month, so that we wouldn't get too far behind. But I could just never do daily lesson plans for weeks at a time & expect it to work.

 

The downside of this is that documentation of my son's schooling is shabbier than I would like. And his first two years of high school are not documented at all the way they should be. Part of my issue with that is I was just getting too burned out after schooling nearly 20 years to keep up with it. Thus, one reason he is in school this year. However, had I not been so burned out, what I think could have worked would have been to make some loose plans for a week at a time in a diary or on a word document & then document what actually got done in a program such as Homeschool Tracker.

[PeterPan]

Yllek--Michele's romantic baskets are my "pile method" hahaha... Last night I laid out all our options for our Christmas festivities this week (themed spot-the-difference pictures, puzzles, some math, an audiobook, a puzzle, etc.). When she was little it all fit in a dishpan. But yeah, piles... :)

[peacefully]

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[rafiki]

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[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[rafiki]

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[JessicaLady]

I honestly take it one day at a time. I make my copies at night and fill the workboxes while the kids are in bed. I was trying to do something as ambitious as an ENTIRE week ahead and more often than not we didn't complete something or....many somethings. And then I had all these extra things floating around and...it was too much.

 

So, I now make copies and fill workboxes at night, each night, for the next day. I have in my head what books, texts, subject, etc we'll use next but I have nothing written down. It was too overwhelming to look at all this stuff I haven't gotten to yet. Really, I want to be happy with what he HAS done instead.

 

I school year-round so I don't find I have the issue of 'what to do next year'as it's just what is 'next'. It seems a bit less intimidating when worded this way.

 

J

[PeterPan]

Shari, you can still have that. You take your current material and chart it out and check it off as you go through it. I do it a lot with stickies on the books. So I have a sticky on our pre-algebra book where I have written out each chapter and how many lessons I plan to do in that chapter. I don't care how many days those lessons take. I just use it as a way to keep track of where I am relative to my goals.

[rafiki]

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[RamonaQ]

I use a spreadsheet that I complete each Sunday. Along the side of the spreadsheet are the subjects, and I fill in what needs to be done each day. There is plenty of whitespace to write notes.

 

These days I have a pretty good sense what ds can accomplish in a day. However, there are always things that take longer. So those just get moved by arrows on the spreadsheet to the next day, or written notes about what still needs to be done. There is also room on the bottom to create notes. I then adjust the next week to include those.

 

I also have a space called reading...which if ds has finished something/ or I am working with dd he can be reading (usually literature or history). If both those are done, he reads for pleasure (he always has a book going).

 

ETA: This is not perfect and some weeks, like this one-- with two ASL tests and a submission for a team engineering project-- are really throwing it for a loop. But that is what my arrows and re-planning will encompass.

[DandelionMom]

I create a binder with 52 sheets of paper that each feature a weekly chart and the numbered weeks. We school year round so we use 52 weeks. I usually only fill in two weeks at a time because that way I can adjust as I go if something we are using is not a good fit or if we are taking longer than I had planned for a certain topic or project. I also highlight the tasks we complete from the day, and if I miss a few that is OK because I can look back and see all that we actually accomplished. It may not be perfect, but has been working really well for my youngest 2E daughter!

[MamaSheep]

I can SO relate.

 

Um.

 

Yeah.

 

:glare:

 

What has worked best for me is to divide my subjects into "skill" subjects (ex. reading, writing, math) and "content" subjects (ex. science, history).

 

For skill subjects I look for materials that are organized in a very structured "first do lesson 1, then do lesson 2" kind of way, and we just spend however much time it takes to get the concepts down. If you rush through addition and the child doesn't "get" it, it's really hard to teach them subtraction or multiplication. If he can't write a word, he's not going to be able to write a paragraph. So we just take these things at our own pace and make sure the "foundation" is good and stable before trying to erect "walls" on it. For these subjects I schedule "times", not "lessons". When it's "time" to do math, we work on whatever "lesson" we happen to be on in the book. If it's too hard, we'll do it again next time. If it's really easy, we might get two lessons done today. Whatever.

 

For "content" subjects I make a list of topics I want to cover for the year, usually the same number as there are weeks in our school year, but sometimes I have to lump two topics together if I have more than will fit and I'm not willing to cut any. And then I divvy the topics up by week, so I know that this week's science topic is "volcanoes" or whatever. I have several resources that cover the topic, and at the beginning of the week I look at what we're doing in other subjects, and what else is going on in our lives, and who is off their rocker because their medication is being adjusted or whatever, and how much energy I think we'll have, and I make a guess as to how much content on that subject I think we'll be able to cover. Then I pick a "minimum" goal--if nothing else, we WILL read this chapter from that book. And the minimum is usually fairly small--introduce the topic, explain a few key facts, get on with life. Then I decide what other things I think we could reasonably expect to do that week, taking into account all the other factors I know about--stress over doctor appointments, birthday parties, a need for extra time in math, whatever. And I make copies or whatever to meet my best guess. We'll do the bare minimum goal, plus watch this video, read that library book, and try out the activity on page 73. THEN, I make sure I am at least aware of a few other things we could do if the child really catches fire with the subject and zips through what I have planned and wants more. We could look at such and such web site, or visit X museum. And then I play it by ear, but I feel prepared for whatever happens. And the next week we move on to the next topic, even if we didn't cover EVERYTHING we could have done. I think of it as being flexibly structured. And it has saved my sanity on more than one occasion.

Edited December 15, 2011 by MamaSheep

[LaughingCat]

Then I pick a "minimum" goal--if nothing else, we WILL read this chapter from that book. And the minimum is usually fairly small--introduce the topic, explain a few key facts, get on with life. Then I decide what other things I think we could reasonably expect to do that week, taking into account all the other factors I know about--stress over doctor appointments, birthday parties, a need for extra time in math, whatever. And I make copies or whatever to meet my best guess. We'll do the bare minimum goal, plus watch this video, read that library book, and try out the activity on page 73. THEN, I make sure I am at least aware of a few other things we could do if the child really catches fire with the subject and zips through what I have planned and wants more.

 

:thumbup1: I think this is a plan that will resolve my number one issue right now - thanks!

[FairProspects]

What has worked best for me is to divide my subjects into "skill" subjects (ex. reading, writing, math) and "content" subjects (ex. science, history).

 

For skill subjects I look for materials that are organized in a very structured "first do lesson 1, then do lesson 2" kind of way, and we just spend however much time it takes to get the concepts down.

 

For "content" subjects I make a list of topics I want to cover for the year, usually the same number as there are weeks in our school year, but sometimes I have to lump two topics together if I have more than will fit and I'm not willing to cut any. And then I divvy the topics up by week, so I know that this week's science topic is "volcanoes" or whatever. And the next week we move on to the next topic, even if we didn't cover EVERYTHING we could have done. I think of it as being flexibly structured. And it has saved my sanity on more than one occasion.

 

:iagree:This is exactly how I approach it as well.

 

I print out all the content subjects in Excel schedules by week (along with extra resources if we get to them) and take it as we go either cutting out or adding in extra resources. Then I pencil in the skill subjects in a regular planner. Since it is pencil, if ds has difficulty with a concept, I just erase tomorrow's plans and go slower or review.

[MamaSheep]

:thumbup1: I think this is a plan that will resolve my number one issue right now - thanks!

 

You are very welcome, and I hope it helps. It's something I wish I'd caught onto a lot earlier than I did...lol.

 

Last year I made up a file box with one file for each week and some lists and printouts for history and science stuff each week. It worked out really well. I could pull out the file, decide what my minimum was, and have the other stuff on hand as needed. At the end of the week I could toss whatever was left in there with a clear conscience as long as we got that minimum done, and move on to the next folder. It was very freeing. And yet, it still let me get some advance prep done, which was nice.

 

This year...well, dd has gone back to school (for various reasons--she may be back here again in a year or two, we'll see) and I've been trying to do a more traditional approach with biology for ds since he's a 9th grader and I'm intimidated by high school level science...heh... But history we're still doing more or less this way. Except that ds is loving it and keeps reading ahead. But there are worse problems to have. :)

 

Best of luck!