avazquez24 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 We'll be starting our second year homeschooling,and this year I'll have dd in 1st and ds in kinder. I'm just wondering if most people 'lesson plan' in these early grades? or does it depend on subject? I used to teach first grade, and I'm a major planner. However, our last year didn't go as I would have liked, so I'm trying to make it less stressful, more enjoyable, and keep focus on WHY I'm homeschooling. Also, I find it kind of hard to really plan out ahead? I mean, obviously I'll have a plan as far as trying to get through a certain amt of lessons in a certain amt of time generally speaking. But, with that said, a LOT will depend on dd/ds and that particular lesson. Maybe they will need to spend an extra day on a lesson due to reinforement, or vice versa and they will speed through a lesson faster. So, I planned on a general time frame to try and do as far as lessons goes, but was basically going to move on to the next step/lesson when dd or ds was ready. As far as science and history goes, was going to just see how far we get with it and move at a nice pace that works for us. Below is what we'll be using: Math u See (dd and ds) All About Reading and All About Spelling (dd and ds) Story of the World (dd and ds) Writing with Ease (DD only) First Language Lessons (DD only) A Reason for Handwriting (dd and ds) Read Alouds (currently Magic Tree House series) Science-Magic School Bus DVDs and textbook have here Art- I just have different Ed Emberly books we were going to use for now. I was too scared to over whelm myself this year. So, given the materials we'll be using (it'll be our first year using ALL of these, as last year we used one boxed curriculum), would most people type up and write out actual lesson plans? If so, what would they possibly look like? Thanks so much!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Do I lesson plan? No. I use a lot of Saxon, though, and that stuff is very open-and-go. But in general I'm not a planner. And I was never a teacher, so I wouldn't know what I was doing anyhow :lol: I put into my Google calendar what I intend to do, more or less, and it's all of the "do the next thing" variety -- read the next story, do the next lesson, do the next page. Rising First Grader is in camp right now, so we are somewhat pressed for time. But my schedule today said Elson Primer, Saxon Math, Saxon Phonics, go to Kumon. That worked out as a story called Little Rabbit, lesson 20 of math, and lesson 17 of phonics. And we went to Kumon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I make a loose lesson plan now, but didn't when DD was that age. Most of your curricula are just "do the next thing", so a lot of lesson planning isn't necessary. At most, I'd plan out (some of) the books to read aloud and approximately when - coordinating with history or science or English if they are related to the subject matter being studied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillian Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I don't but what I do is I take a look at what I want to do and have an idea of where I want to go. I "back plan" meaning I open and go and do the next thing and then after the school day I record what we did (because I have a horrible memory) and so I can show the grandparents (my MIL was a public school teacher and still has the mindset PS is the best). Also dd is advanced for her age so I need to keep track so I can know where we have issues or what format worked great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoundAbout Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 No, I don't feel a need to lesson plan for Kindergarten. The only required subjects for my son are reading, writing, and math and we just "do the next thing" for each of these. At this age so much just depends on basic development and maturity so I don't see anyway to "lesson plan" out things like reading progress, fine motor skill, or basic number sense. We just keep moving forward and get where we get. Almost everything else we do is just interest led. I don't want to burn out on my first year homeschooling and want to make sure we have plenty of time for field trips, nature walks, bike riding, art, and lengthy read alouds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I do a lesson plan for everyone from the moment they start schooling in any formal/structured way. However, 95% of what I do for pre-k and k is mom-created curriculum. In 1st it begins to change and I plan the mom-created stuff in detail and know that my do-the-next-thing curriculum will simply be whatever is next. (Although I do have a goal for what I want to accomplish each quarter in the purchased curriculum as well.) No matter what my plan may look like, I move at the pace each child's learning dictates. My approach to planning is to do the minimum needed in order to achieve maximum effectiveness in your instructional time. (AKA- find your groove :D ) It looks different for everyone, so forget about doing it to anyone else's satisfaction and focus on what really works in your homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Yes! I totally lesson plan everything! I plan by the week though. So, I map out a loose plan for each week. My plan includes any lessons we do, books to read, and crafts or art projects to do. So my plan is very flexible and mostly includes lots of reading and project ideas. But I do need some type of plan to keep me focused and to have ideas ready for me when I need a craft idea. If I didn't plan those things out, they would not get done. But I enjoy planning and enjoy having my thoughts organized (at least somewhat organized) :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyOBoy Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I "back plan" meaning I open and go and do the next thing and then after the school day I record what we did (because I have a horrible memory) This is basically what I do too, though I do record ahead of time what math or art we will do, so I know what, if anything, I need to prep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I lesson plan everything. It holds both me and the student accountable for completing a day's work, and should some crazy person (cough: former schoolteacher MIL) call child protective services on me for homeschooling my children, I've got documentation on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguistmama Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I know about where I hope for us to be at certain points throughout the year in our curriculum, but I don't lesson plan. I prefer do the next thing curriculum. Even with BSFU I use a schedule someone else made so I don't have to decide. :tongue_smilie: I think most of your curriculum is do the next thing, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 No. Deciding what to teach when isn't necessarily "lesson planning." It's just scheduling. :-) The only thing I ever felt the need to actually schedule was KONOS. Otherwise, mostly :)I found it sufficient to know what was coming up, and just to do the next thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acablue Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I don't, but we've always used fewer materials than you're planning to use. So, in your case I'd come up with at least a vague plan of how much and what to do each day so that you don't end up trying to do too much. I might have to do that this year for 2nd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefragile7393 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I did, so I could send the plans to the kids' father. So he could see what they are doing in school basically.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest amma Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I was a go to the next page in the book kind of person but I was always underprepared , running trying to gather materials needed to complete the lesson. I would prefer to lesson plan but how does that look? Do I read the lesson first , sigh! and then plan it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 At that age I had more of a checklist. Learning is often a start and stop, leap ahead process with young kids. We might take a week to move through one math lesson, but than move through 8 or 9 the next week. So a checklist showed we were making process and kept me from forgetting things, but didn't depend on particular things happening each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I don't really plan lessons, other than just knowing we'll do the next thing in such and such subject on such and such day. History, science and literature do tend to go better when I do some planning ahead of time, but the other subjects are different. For history, its more just like noting which History Pocket would coincide, or what extra reading I want us to do. Science is similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tress Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 At that age I had more of a checklist. Learning is often a start and stop, leap ahead process with young kids. We might take a week to move through one math lesson, but than move through 8 or 9 the next week. So a checklist showed we were making process and kept me from forgetting things, but didn't depend on particular things happening each day. :iagree:Too many leaps to make a plan work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Below is what we'll be using: Math u See (dd and ds) All About Reading and All About Spelling (dd and ds) Story of the World (dd and ds) Writing with Ease (DD only) First Language Lessons (DD only) A Reason for Handwriting (dd and ds) Read Alouds (currently Magic Tree House series) Science-Magic School Bus DVDs and textbook have here Art- I just have different Ed Emberly books we were going to use for now. I was too scared to over whelm myself this year. Most of your selections are 'do the next thing' or already planned in some way. I honestly (and this is coming from a planning junkie ;) ) don't think you need individual weekly plans. At the absolute MOST, I would suggest the following: - A Laminated chart showing days of the week and what subjects you do on what days - A quick typed up in notepad, list of order for MSB & Textbook (lesson 1 - Moon, Lesson 2, rainbows etc) - If you must, then a SOTW planning sheet. I usually just do a chapter a week, leftovers are for xmas holidays. Based on the above curriculums, I wouldn't see any need to go further than that, and thats if you have mom brain/scatterbrainedness (I am known to have this some of the time :tongue_smilie: ) elsewise you wouldn't really need to do anything but open and go. The only reason I do plans for the younger years is so I the youngers are occupied when I am working with the eldest, and because I like "random-ness' and I also make up from scratch a couple of subjects myself, which requires extra planning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I didn't. 1) I was too new to gauging dream vs. reality 2) kiddo kept changing in abilities. First strong on one thing and weak on another, then flip. 3) I was still learning a lot about curriculi 4) I'd spent 4 years hitting up goodwill, etc and didn't have to get much from the library. I could go to the biology shelf and pull down something interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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