What about a planner like this?

[stm4him]

I have tried all kinds of planners, including one I recently made myself, but I never follow through with using them very long. I really like to have an idea of where we are in the year and what we have left to do, and am constantly counting how many more days/weeks we have left in different books. I was thinking of creating some sort of document with the assignments already laid out so we can just highlight them when we are done with them. This would not be dated but perhaps I would have a space to write a date or at least the start of each week or something. I realize this would be cumbersome b/c you would need one for each book. I did this once when we were using CLP workbooks and I just stapled them inside each book and checked off as we went. I did that one quarter per sheet. Some of our books now wouldn't work to have something stapled inside so I might just make one folder per kiddo with these in them. Anyone done something like this before? I figure remembering to highlight what we did each week is easier than writing it all in. That way if I forget I can still go back and highlight up to wherever we are, rather than trying to think in my head which days we did what. And I could see at a glance where we are......

 

Thanks!

[GoVanGogh]

I was thinking of creating some sort of document with the assignments already laid out so we can just highlight them when we are done with them. This would not be dated but perhaps I would have a space to write a date or at least the start of each week or something.

I did something similar this term and love it!

I created a chart in Word, then broke down our books into what looked like a fair amount to cover in one day/lesson. I typed the lesson topic and page numbers into the chart and now am checking them off as we go along. I like to see progress and know that we are getting somewhere. :lol:

For some of our smaller books (ex: MLK speech by MCT), I just used large, lined post-it notes and hand wrote the lessons, then affixed the post-it note inside the book cover. Not as nice looking, but good for smaller books.

[stm4him]

Can you tell me (or show me) how you set up your chart?

[GoVanGogh]

I should have used the word "table," instead of "chart."

 

I have a newer version of Word and am not familiar with it to say if older versions have this feature. But - I go to the tool bar and click on "table." There is a drop-down menu and you can select how many columns/rows you want. I just did two columns wide: one for lesson topic and the second for page numbers. You can then type right in the table.

I'm not the most tech person around, so I hope I am explaining it clear enough.

[stm4him]

What about this one I just made? Tell me what you think. Should I add anything?

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rR0YgH7HBjAtRn5QQ9e3Giwy3R9_7dFnM7PzxiuYIc8/edit

[stm4him]

bump

 

Please take a look......:)

[4littleones]

I like it! I like to see how many weeks/days remain! For a geeky person, you could have percentages on the side! :lol:

[desertmum]

Great planner. Much better than we I'm using. I use HST+ for recording work done and field trips and all that, but this paper and pencil planner for plannng is nice.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I usually just write in the table of contents lightly in pencil. I make a small line for the month I hope to finish that chapter/lesson.

 

For example, I make a small light line at chap. 5 and write Jan. A small light line at chap. 10 with Feb. Sometimes, I also jot down how many days or weeks are left in the semester after I write the month.

 

I might also make notes in the margin of the table of contents-- 3 pages a day, 4 lessons a week, etc.

 

I can tell at a glance how we are doing and if I need to adjust anything.

 

I use a small magnetic arrow bookmark on the side of the page in the table of contents to show what page we are currently on to see how we are progressing. I also use one on the top of the actual page.

 

If you need a paper record this wouldn't work, though.

[cjgrubbs]

This is exactly how I use HST+. I put in all my lessons from each curriculum for the whole year. Then each Friday (or Saturday) I sit down and assign the lessons that I created to the days for the next week and print out a report for each kid for us to follow. If we got behind or ahead one week, I adjust appropriately by rescheduling a lesson we didn't do or marking it used and applying the next 5 lessons to the next week. Then with a quick look on my computer I can see for each curriculum or book how many more lessons we have until we are finished.

[mommy5]

I just posted about this http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=343790

 

I'm thinking of dividing up everything into 4 terms/quarters ... create 1 binder per quarter that focuses on what we will do/ all the worksheets/ books would either be included or listed if too thick. I'm thinking of having 1 folder per week for each child with all their written assignments and a list of things to get done.

 

I've decided to try the idea of dividing the "year" into 4 13-week chunks ... only 9 of each 13 week would actually be schooling but we would have the full 13 weeks in case we needed extra time or for sick days and vacation days. I like the idea of having everything for the term in one place so that I don't go around looking for stuff as time goes on.

[stm4him]

I found that I wasn't really writing the next day's assignments down b/c we just always do the next one.....pick up and go. But I like a long term look at where we are as well as being able to see what we can realistically squeeze into one year!