Non-Planners Unite!

[Farrar]

I don't even know what a planner is or what in the world people use Homeschool Tracker for. Come, join me in ignorance and defiance of all these planning threads that have been cropping up recently!

[Parker Martin]

This is me. I just do the next thing.

[raceNzanesmom]

I know what a planner is, and have even looked at some really nice ones. It, however, isn't for me. I'm an open and go, do the next thing kind of girl. Even back when I had to plan history I did it my way.

[Oakblossoms]

Ever time I plan, something comes along to mess it up:lol:

 

I think we might go back to a journal. It fulfills my desire to write important stuff.

[Farrar]

Ever time I plan, something comes along to mess it up:lol:

 

I think we might go back to a journal. It fulfills my desire to write important stuff.

 

Man plans, God laughs. :D

 

I do like journaling afterward... I used to try and do that when I was school teaching. Sometimes I managed to... I do know what a planner is. I just, um, don't quite get it. Why can't I just scratch notes when I need to? Why must I buy some expensive software and spend time doing data entry in the name of homeschooling? I'd much rather waste my time here!

[acablue]

I was that kid in school whose agenda was still blank in June. Somehow, everything got done. I'll just go with that until Molly is old enough to do the planning. :D

[Oakblossoms]

Man plans, God laughs. :D

 

I do like journaling afterward... I used to try and do that when I was school teaching. Sometimes I managed to... I do know what a planner is. I just, um, don't quite get it. Why can't I just scratch notes when I need to? Why must I buy some expensive software and spend time doing data entry in the name of homeschooling? I'd much rather waste my time here!

 

I don't have a lot of extra time. I tried an online planner one year. It was a huge pain to try and get everything in there. Then have to make sure to get to the computer to mark things off. It is so much easier to do a book and when it is finished we buy the next level and dump this one in my proof of homeschooling box.

 

I didn't even plan the two years we used KONOS. I just ordered a bunch of books on the topic and spent a month on it. It was fun.

[Mommyof4ks]

Glad I am not alone. I try to plan and fail miserably every year. This year I am not even trying.

[Sara in AZ]

No planning here! I'm glad I have company.

[dm379]

I can't figure out what everybody is planning. None of that going on here either.

[Hedgehog]

I know what a planner is, and have even looked at some really nice ones. It, however, isn't for me. I'm an open and go, do the next thing kind of girl.

 

:iagree: moi aussi. My brain is not wired for planning everything out week by week, day by day. Also, life seems to throw us so many spin balls that it's honestly easier to "go with the flow" and "do the next thing". I used to try to plan more than I do now, but it wasn't successful long term.

[HSinNH]

Why must I buy some expensive software and spend time doing data entry in the name of homeschooling? I'd much rather waste my time here!

 

:lol::lol::lol: !!

 

Well, I am glad that I am not the only one! I am still fairly new to homeschooling, but I found it just as easy to "to the next lesson." The only thing I "plan" is to look ahead to see what books I need to order from the library.

[mom24cuties]

I try to plan but I never follow through, so now I just make a checklist of what needs to be done. I wish I was the planner type because sometimes I feel so unorganized but this is working for now.

[mama27]

I have tried to be a planner but every time something happens and messes it up. And it's never anything I can control, like kids getting sick, me getting sick, husband leaving town to work out of the state, etc. So forget it.

BUT, I live in SC and they require a log of interaction between educator and student, which is a royal pain in my neck. So, I made copies of all the table of contents of their textbooks (which I recently switched to) and I'm writing the dates they do each lesson. That will have to suffice.

[Stuart]

I can't figure out what everybody is planning. None of that going on here either.

 

I feel the same way?! I keep wondering if I'm missing something.

[nono]

Why can't I just scratch notes when I need to? Why must I buy some expensive software and spend time doing data entry in the name of homeschooling?

 

You don't!

 

But, you might hit an age where it behooves you to do so. (That's where I'm at now!) However, I agree that HST is overkill. I use a spreadsheet, and it took me maybe a day to plan my kids' 12 years. :tongue_smilie: Now if I can just remember where I put that spreadsheet...

 

j/k -- mostly! :lol:

 

Mostly, what I'm doing is coordinating lessons because my children prefer to be taught everything together. So, that's where my "planning" comes in. Otherwise, my spreadsheet is a glorified checklist.

 

I wish I could still be like you ladies, because I used to be able to keep all the balls in the air without a thought!

[Momof3littles]

I have a good friend who plans everything to the last detail. She's a former PS teacher, so I realize that's her normal.

 

I don't plan, but I also kind of feel judged for not planning. It bothers me a tiny bit only because I think she thinks I'm lazy. I deem it a considered and thoughtful approach :D I know I'd be a ball of stress if I got off a planned schedule. My kids are pretty young-8, 5, and 2, so that is a strong likelihood.

 

I just look at our curriculum, get a rough idea of how many days a week we'll be doing each thing, and what we need to cover. If we have a week where not enough gets finished, we pick up the pace or add a little more the following week. We basically do "the next thing" like several PPs here.

Edited July 11, 2012 by Momof3littles

[tabrizia]

Not planning here either. I mean I know what I would like to get through this year, but if it goes faster I'll adjust, if it goes slower I'll adjust. I figure as long as we do some math, some reading and some science and history daily we're set, I really am not picky on how far we get each day and I have no interest in figuring out how many pages we are doing each day, we just go till DS is done.

 

To be fair DS is 5 and recovering from a traumatic brain injury, so in the future I could feel the need for planning more then a basic idea of where we are going, but right now knowing what we are doing now and next is really all I need.

[Mommyfaithe]

I know what a planner is, and have even looked at some really nice ones. It, however, isn't for me. I'm an open and go, do the next thing kind of girl. Even back when I had to plan history I did it my way.

 

Yep...this is me to the hilt. I just do what needs to be done. I have certain goals for each kid....and then find ways to accomplish them.

 

I tried really hard to be a planner extraordinaire....but for me it is a lesson in futility and frustration:glare: if I spend weeks on plans and they go out the window in a day or 2, that feels like a whole lot of wasted time to me....and I get annoyed with my kids....

Instead...I prefer letting them know the big goals...and what I expect them to accomplish....and then finding ways to accomplish those goals.

 

My 14 yo dd is a planner...and prefers a solid plan with assignments. This year I plan to give her the syllabi at the beginning of the year and have her write out her own plans.....I bet she sticks better with them....and I can include it as part of her " life skills" credit:D

[deerforest]

I might need my own support group. I LOVE to plan. Love, love, love it! I currently use Planbook that synchronizes between my Mac and iPad and it brings me such joy as I'm planning our year.

 

Uh, but once I've entered it all, I never look at it again. I just checked the date on the last time I updated my Planbook file ... I created it July 2011 and last used it in September 2011. :tongue_smilie:

 

My life and reality don't seem to appreciate the planning I do. I think it's an exercise for ME to understand what I'd like to do. I will still plan, but I accept that it's never going to be something I actually use.

[craftyerin]

I seem to equate "planning" with "buying" or "organizing". I've been "planning" what we're doing this next year, but really, that means buying and organizing. I use no planner. It's all open and go.

[regentrude]

I carefully research the curriculum I want to use, but then we just... use it. Kids work as long as they want on each subject and resume the next time where they stopped.

I like having a general idea what I want to accomplish - but I find it unrealistic to plan for instance how fast they will understand each concept in math: some are harder and some easier, some problems take longer, some topics require extra practice.... we are done when we are done.

[SorrelZG]

I can't figure out what everybody is planning. None of that going on here either.

 

Also, life seems to throw us so many spin balls that it's honestly easier to "go with the flow" and "do the next thing". I used to try to plan more than I do now, but it wasn't successful long term.

 

I'm not a planner. I once downloaded HS tracker (free version) and I didn't know what to do with it.

 

 

:iagree: this is me.

[TeaCookiesBears]

@ deerforest

 

:iagree: This is me to a T. I love to plan but it never works out the way I want espescially sense my oldest will not follow one.:D

Edited July 11, 2012 by dyana17

[Mom-ninja.]

This is me. I just do the next thing.

 

 

Same here. I might glance at our science to make sure I have things needed, but more often than not I wing it.

 

 

I tried to be one of those planner people. My brain revolted.

[fourisenough]

I buy a cheap student planner for each child to use as a journal. I write in it once a day or so to record what they actually did.

 

We are very much a "Do the next thing" sort of family. I'm always amazed when I look back at what we've done; it appears to be way more of an accomplishment in retrospect than it feels as we complete each day.

 

As we live in a state with no records/testing/portfolio requirements, I keep very little of their completed work (simply based on my space available and intolerance of clutter), but I always keep their planners.

[truebluexf]

Oh, I feel like I can breathe such a sigh of relief reading this!!! I've been at this for 5 years now, and no sort of planning or scheduling out the year has ever worked for me! I even went nuts with file folders one year! What a waste lol. I have downloaded HST and started using Skedtrack too. Yeah, not happening. We're going back to SL for our history core, but I won't follow it to a T. Everything else is just do the next thing type work, and that is perfect for us!!! I know how often a subject needs to be done to finish the book, I don't need to write out which day throughout the year each page is to be done. Seems redundant to me, tbh. My "planning" is making a rough schedule page for the kids that says which subjects need to be done on each day so they can see it and check it off each day....I print it up all pretty and laminate it and they use a wipe-off marker to keep track.

 

We don't need to record keep either, just take the CAT each year. :)

[truebluexf]

I tried to be one of those planner people. My brain revolted.

 

:cheers2:

[RoundAbout]

I have a good friend who plans everything to the last detail. She's a former PS teacher, so I realize that's her normal.

 

I don't plan, but I also kind of feel judged for not planning. It bothers me a tiny bit only because I think she thinks I'm lazy.

 

I have a friend like this too but I suspect I actually spend more time teaching than her. Everytime I think about planning I think "I could be using that time to actually TEACH something."

[Jennay]

I'm a non-planner.

SL History, Lit. & Science - do the next thing on the schedule not necessarily according to the exact day but in the same order. Find some non-fiction books to coordinate and strew around the house. Add in an activity (from a Hands and Hearts kit) or a field trip if it is available & easily implemented. I might print out some maps from National Geographic ahead of time.

FLL, WWE, AAS, Latin, Math - do the next lesson until the book is done.

Art does require advance planning and I tend to not do well in this subject - must do better!

 

The only thing I really must look at ahead of time is finding religious resources (Orthodox) to integrate with our history studies. And finding the time & energy for official art projects.

[Desert Strawberry]

No planning here. We have a daily schedule. They do a predetermined number of pages /lessons /whatevers in each subject. Logging it all out seems like overkill. I keep all their finished Workbooks and worksheets and notebooks. We don't have reporting here. I keep enough that if DHHS shows up at my door, they can see that my kids are neither truant nor neglected.

[...................]

This is me. I just do the next thing.

 

Yep!

[8filltheheart]

I do plan for my older kids, but I also do not use open and go curriculum b/c I design the vast majority of the studies we do. I also have to have a plan b/c mentally outnumbered by who needs to do what. ;) I also don't write out yr long plans. I generate basic goals/lists for the yr, but daily plans are restricted to 6-7 weeks at a time.

 

That said, I do NOT plan for my younger kids. I don't start formally planning until 3rd or 4th grade. Until then, I just go w/their flow.

[Maisy]

We were open-and-go for a long time, but it seems the older they get the more you need to figure out stuff ahead of time, particularly if you are designing your own middle or upper level history, science, or whatnot.

 

That can eat up a lot of time. :tongue_smilie:

[momto2Cs]

Glad I am not alone. I try to plan and fail miserably every year. This year I am not even trying.

 

:iagree: I have tried a couple of years, and failed. We like to switch gears fairly frequently, so planning out even a month at a time often doesn't work. I'm much better at logging what we've done afterward than planning it out beforehand and actually sticking to the plan!

 

My "plan" this year is simply to go along with everything I have picked out, and expand on it where the kids want to expand, etc. For example, if they want two chapters instead of one in history, fine, we'll read 2 chapters. If they want to know more about x, that's what we'll focus on. Math is easy - it is just do the next thing, and for writing, I'm just having them do some copywork, dictation, and writing across the curriculum.

 

Should be relaxed and rigorous at the same time!

[Farrar]

I have a good friend who plans everything to the last detail. She's a former PS teacher, so I realize that's her normal.

 

I'm a former PS and private school teacher and even then I never figured out why it was better (and worth all the extra time) to enter everything into a planner or write up lesson plans with more than a couple of notes jotted on a scrap of paper. :D

 

I seem to equate "planning" with "buying" or "organizing". I've been "planning" what we're doing this next year, but really, that means buying and organizing. I use no planner. It's all open and go.

 

Yeah, I organize. I go make goals. I plan for occasional specific projects and things. I plan units if I'm making it myself. So it depends on your definition. I just have never gotten the whole "planner" educational culture - not in school or homeschool.

[FairProspects]

I'm a former PS and private school teacher and even then I never figured out why it was better (and worth all the extra time) to enter everything into a planner or write up lesson plans with more than a couple of notes jotted on a scrap of paper. :D

 

You must have taught before NCLB.

[Farrar]

You must have taught before NCLB.

 

At the very start. And I did not last. :tongue_smilie: Thus my much longer private school career.

[Parker Martin]

I have a list on a notecard that reads:

 

Memory Work

Math

Penmanship

Spelling

Latin

Read Aloud

Christian Studies [big Thoughts for Little People or similar.]

Science/Art

History [This is very loose.]

Bible [story read at night before bed.]

 

I just look down the list each day to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything.

 

I'm sure when the kids are older, I'll plan more for each, maybe a list of goals for the week. I like 8Fill's way of six or seven weeks at a time. That makes sense.

[momto2Cs]

I have a list on a notecard that reads:

 

Memory Work

Math

Penmanship

Spelling

Latin

Read Aloud

Christian Studies [big Thoughts for Little People or similar.]

Science/Art

History [This is very loose.]

Bible [story read at night before bed.]

 

I just look down the list each day to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything.

 

Similar to my tracking method, which I have here. I luckily do not have to keep records here in CA. This just gives me peace of mind since I can see that we are covering things. I am going to re-work it slightly over the summer, to include at least Sundays, since we end up doing some hs'ing stuff on weekends. I might adjust the subjects a little.

[NancyNellen]

I do plan for my older kids, but I also do not use open and go curriculum b/c I design the vast majority of the studies we do. I also have to have a plan b/c mentally outnumbered by who needs to do what. ;) I also don't write out yr long plans. I generate basic goals/lists for the yr, but daily plans are restricted to 6-7 weeks at a time.

 

That said, I do NOT plan for my younger kids. I don't start formally planning until 3rd or 4th grade. Until then, I just go w/their flow.

 

:iagree: I could have written this exactly!

[Dolphin]

:lol::lol::lol: !!

 

Well, I am glad that I am not the only one! I am still fairly new to homeschooling, but I found it just as easy to "to the next lesson." The only thing I "plan" is to look ahead to see what books I need to order from the library.

 

I have found the past 2 years that we have done very few projects or extras from SOTW, I think that is lack of planning. I am trying to plan 6 weeks out on SOTW this year so that we can do more projects. I have everything ready for cave drawing, and all I need to get for the nile river is grass seed and dirt. I have the rest. If I didn't look ahead we would get to the next thing, and just skip the projects.

 

That is really the only subject that I think suffered over the last 2 years with the just do the next thing mentality.:001_smile:

 

I have a list on a notecard that reads:

 

Memory Work

Math

Penmanship

Spelling

Latin

Read Aloud

Christian Studies [big Thoughts for Little People or similar.]

Science/Art

History [This is very loose.]

Bible [story read at night before bed.]

 

I just look down the list each day to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything.

 

I'm sure when the kids are older, I'll plan more for each, maybe a list of goals for the week. I like 8Fill's way of six or seven weeks at a time. That makes sense.

 

Oh, I like this! I might try those. At the end of the day I am trying to look at our books and see if I missed anything. I forgot math yesterday:ack2:

[dm379]

I have a running list of subjects and how many times a week we do them. We cross them off the list as we go. Our week is over when all the subjects are done and on Monday the list gets printed off again.

[Stratford]

We "do the next thing" with a goal of doing each "thing" x # of times per week. Then I write down what we did.

 

Trying to plan a little more for next year, as I am adding in kid #2 to the HS mix. I might need a little more direction.

[The Crazy 4]

I use the tracker and a teachers plan book. But enter and write down what I do as I do it. and if I can how long each subject took, just to compare or see how long things are taking.

[Tanikit]

The only time I really plan is when I am about to buy something for homeschooling - then I plan to use what I buy however it works for me and in the time I can do it in and then I see what happens after I have bought it. I couldn't use a planner.

[kitten18]

I might need my own support group. I LOVE to plan. Love, love, love it! I currently use Planbook that synchronizes between my Mac and iPad and it brings me such joy as I'm planning our year.

 

Uh, but once I've entered it all, I never look at it again. I just checked the date on the last time I updated my Planbook file ... I created it July 2011 and last used it in September 2011. :tongue_smilie:

 

My life and reality don't seem to appreciate the planning I do. I think it's an exercise for ME to understand what I'd like to do. I will still plan, but I accept that it's never going to be something I actually use.

Your post made that LOL, that is hilarious.:lol:

 

I'm a former PS and private school teacher and even then I never figured out why it was better (and worth all the extra time) to enter everything into a planner or write up lesson plans with more than a couple of notes jotted on a scrap of paper. :D

 

 

 

 

Me too, but the district I taught in required us to turn in a copy of our lesson plans each week.:glare:

 

 

 

I don't lesson plan very much. I usually spend about 30 minutes each Sunday jotting down some notes of what I think we should get done during the coming week. For that I use a free printable journal style planner from Donna Young.

[momaof3]

Glad to see that I am not alone. I am not good at planning but I do need to know how to keep good records. I am unsure if we will put the kids back in school one day but I do want to have good records if we decide to. How do any of you do that?:confused:

[JennyD]

I

 

Yeah, I organize. I go make goals. I plan for occasional specific projects and things. I plan units if I'm making it myself. So it depends on your definition. I just have never gotten the whole "planner" educational culture - not in school or homeschool.

 

See, I saw this thread and wondered, "Why is she talking about not planning? Didn't she design a whole science program?"

 

I do a lot of planning in the organizing/goal setting/designing sense as well. But I don't do much scheduling.

[Momof3littles]

I'm a former PS and private school teacher and even then I never figured out why it was better (and worth all the extra time) to enter everything into a planner or write up lesson plans with more than a couple of notes jotted on a scrap of paper. :D

 

 

 

Yeah, I organize. I go make goals. I plan for occasional specific projects and things. I plan units if I'm making it myself. So it depends on your definition. I just have never gotten the whole "planner" educational culture - not in school or homeschool.

That's me, except I'm not a teacher. I'm the poster who mentioned the friend who is an ex-teacher and a serious planner.

 

I did just do some planning (shocker!) because we're participating in a small co-op this year, and I needed to figure out a starting and stopping point in some of the MCT materials. We'll see how accurately I estimated what we can cover per day...I am probably way off as I'm not accustomed to teaching 6 kids at a time. With their chit chat and questions, I will probably have to rework my entire schedule ;)

 

I feel like it is organized in my head :tongue_smilie: but my friend who is a serious planner and scheduler probably assumes I'm totally disorganized. I guess that bothers me a little bit ;) I don't really want to do what she does, kwim? I love her dearly, we just have different personalities.