PBL/Relaxed/Unschooly/Crafts planning from scratch....blogs? Pics?

[Ecclecticmum]

Hi All,

 

My kids are varied learning styles, but we mostly now use hands-on crafts & projects, so not literature based.

 

I've been searching around blogs, wtm, and everywhere else but can't find much.

 

I'm after:

 

* Subject Plans (planning via individual subject, not week)

* How one "makes from scratch" a non-literature based plan (like ideas from pinterest, craft books, videos etc, and makes that into a curriculum, which is a lot harder than lit based (purchase spine, purchase extra books, divide spine, assign reading = done)

* Weekly Guides/Checklists: Either via subject or week. I don't want to daily plan anymore, I want just an overview of what needs to be completed for the "Week" not the "day".

* Natural Learning/Project Based Learning/Relaxed Homeschooling Plans/Checklists/Overviews.

 

If anybody has any links or pics or anything, I would love to see it! :001_smile:

[Ecclecticmum]

:bigear:

[Ecclecticmum]

No-one? :confused:

 

Looks like I will have to make it from my own head then :tongue_smilie:

[Katydid]

Well, I use Ambleside Online readings as a spine, but I came up with my own art and handicraft projects this year. I think it's helpful to have something as a spine (whether it's history, literature, the seasons/holidays, etc.) unless you are going completely child-led. In that case, I would maybe just research different art/craft techniques so that you can suggest ideas for how your child might want to bring his/her project to fruition if they get stumped.

 

I don't know if that's the kind of thing you are looking for, but I hope that helps a little. :001_smile:

[corduroy]

I'm not sure I understand what a non-literature-based system would look like. Could you give an example of the kind of thing you're thinking about?

 

When I think of it, I imagine something like... oh, a large project like "Build a chicken coop". Then you could break down that process into weekly sections, and each section would require a research part (what is the history of raising domesticated animals, what kind of math do you need to calculate the slope of a roof) and practical parts (going to the lumber yard, learning about the different kinds of paint you might use, assembling nest boxes).

 

Or could you do something where the kids each research, write, and assemble their own books on topics of interest to them?

 

Basically, I think it would be easier to have one large project that you break down into weekly and daily segments than to try to have something new every day...?

[fairy4tmama]

:bigear: and bumping for you. I'm looking for the same...we are lit based but my kids really want crafty type activities and I know if I try to tie them to the lit I.WILL.GO.INSANE TRYING TO MAKE EVERYTHING MESH :lol:.

Edited August 2, 2012 by fairy4tmama

[shinyhappypeople]

Hi All,

 

My kids are varied learning styles, but we mostly now use hands-on crafts & projects, so not literature based.

 

I've been searching around blogs, wtm, and everywhere else but can't find much.

 

I'm after:

 

* Subject Plans (planning via individual subject, not week)

* How one "makes from scratch" a non-literature based plan (like ideas from pinterest, craft books, videos etc, and makes that into a curriculum, which is a lot harder than lit based (purchase spine, purchase extra books, divide spine, assign reading = done)

* Weekly Guides/Checklists: Either via subject or week. I don't want to daily plan anymore, I want just an overview of what needs to be completed for the "Week" not the "day".

* Natural Learning/Project Based Learning/Relaxed Homeschooling Plans/Checklists/Overviews.

 

If anybody has any links or pics or anything, I would love to see it! :001_smile:

 

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I'll toss it out there in case it's helpful :)

 

I'm in love my lit-based curricula, but my girls aren't so I want to try a unit studies and lapbooking approach. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start by trying the Crazy Cartoons unit from Unit Studies by Amanda Bennet.

 

I haven't done a unit study yet, but it looks like it takes a topic of interest and relates all the subject areas (except math?) to that topic using crafts, projects, videos, books, etc. Maybe someone with more unit study experience will chime in :)

[MrsBasil]

I don't know if these would be helpful or not, but just in case...

 

Thee blogs have quite a bit in their archives about being hands on ,projects based, and unschooly.

 

 

http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/

 

http://angelaboord.typepad.com/three_plus_two/planning_in_the_homeschool/

 

 

Posting from a tablet so this is the best I can do in terms of linming, sorry it's not more specific!

[MrsBasil]

Maybe these?

 

http://project-based-homeschooling.com/camp-creek-blog/project-based-homeschooling

 

http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/2007/02/04/my-planning-post/

 

http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/2006/08/09/nautical-unit-kindergarten-version/

 

None of these are quite what you asked for, but the top one has a forum and the bottom two at least give a glimpse.

 

Keeping this bumped because I'm curious too!

[Ecclecticmum]

Lol, we do use lit, but can't use a "spine" as this means either chapter book or encyclopedia, which my kids would just walk away trifling on about fairies :tongue_smilie:

 

We're using Winterpromise as a base (so for this year that'll be history, next year will cover science), but what I want is a weekly checklist to tick off as we go, one that has not been separated into days and "scheduled"

 

I have all of these resources here, I know how to do it, I was just hoping for "pretty pictures" to inspire me :tongue_smilie: Me likes the pretty pictures :D

 

Right now, we use the Natural Learning Journal from here: (second one down) http://learning-alongside.com/record-keeping-free-printable

This is to record stuff after we have done it

 

I'm just suprised I can't find some sort of loose weekly schedule, that just gives items to be done for the week. It seems people either have daily scheduling (some even planning down to the minute) or you just don't plan, there seems to be no in between :confused:

 

I had a lovely schedule, but we were just deciding what to do on what day when we got to it, so near the end of the week, stuff from "monday/day1" would be not all be checked, and stuff for "Thursday/day4" would all be checked etc. We would sort of skip around the week at hand. I see no point in making up a daily schedule, when we aren't going to do it that way. I want more of a loose weekly overview.

 

Thank you, I found these pages useful that you linked (for info)

Lapaz Farm - My planning post

3plus2 - Seventh Grade Plans

3plus2 - Where have I been?

 

It really seems you either have the choice of firm scheduling or just recording afterwards. Weird though, you would think relaxed schoolers or PBL would have sort some of overview checklists, rather than schedules, but they probably go into the "no planning" route.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Ecclecticmum
Many many grammatical errors (probably missed more too, haven't slept well)

[MrsBasil]

I think a lot of PBL learners are pretty child directed when it comes to the projects themselves, so it might be hard to schedule those ahead of time?

 

Pretty planning sheets for delight directed studies, but no check lists...

http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/free-tools-for-your-delight-directed-studies-cultivating-curiosity/

[Ecclecticmum]

I think a lot of PBL learners are pretty child directed when it comes to the projects themselves, so it might be hard to schedule those ahead of time?

 

Pretty planning sheets for delight directed studies, but no check lists...

http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/free-tools-for-your-delight-directed-studies-cultivating-curiosity/

 

My children have plenty of input when it comes to what we do, hence my complete break with what we had and a completely new way of doing things lol. They've all chosen what they like, what they want to do....its mum thats not keeping up. Mom unfortunately needs some sort of base plan, and the post-it notes aren't cutting it anymore, because they end up covering my entire journal :lol:

 

I might have a wander around and look at the daily rhythm thing-a-ma-bobs from Montessori/Steiner/whomever :tongue_smilie: So technical, I is today. I seem to be functioning on too little sleep

 

Thank you for the Walking by the Way link! I especially like the Idea map, I might be able to work with something like that...plus its pretty. :D I am so useless at making my own planners/lists/forms. They are all in Word or Excel, and any prettiness is from me highlighting and filling a box lol.

[MrsBasil]

I get it, I think. When I hear someone say that portions of their studies are up in the air, I get hives. I had free time today and your question made me curious and I got to go through my wealth of links.

 

I'm a bit of a control freak(hence the wanting to homeschool) and even if my kid decided he wanted to learn about volcanes, I'd still have to outline some basic information that I thought was important to learn. I don't know, the idea of projects and hands on appeals to me, but putting it all together is daunting.

 

Glad some of the links were helpful!

 

It's Catholic, but the planning forum at the 4Real Learning boards might be a good place to ask questions. Also the homeschool share forums are very lapbook oriented, but there are a lot of people who do unit studies and hands on and they might have some ideas.

[Ecclecticmum]

Yeah. In a few days I might be able to explain better. I've probably had a total of 9 hours sleep in the past 5 days, so I'm running a bit on empty and probably not making much sense. I have a feeling Saturday is going to be a wash-out as I'll probably sleep all day :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm thinking/having ideas about the following:

 

*Main Subjects (maths, LA etc) have separate overviews/pages by week.

* Electives/everything else on one page for the week

* A running list of extra places (brainpop, movies, websites etc) if they want further info.

arrrgghhh must go get the ju-ju :tongue_smilie: be right back....had to get lunch too

*Something similar to a loop schedule (without the loop) to show me the rhythm of the day

* Visual Schedule for the kids

* Morning Circle Time (will be interspersed throughout the morning to make the contractions & expansions of rhythm) will include songs, dances, games, and morning board/calendar)

* Morning time will also have DS's sensory therapy, movement, and Speech skills

* Morning Basket (interspersed between circle time stuff) which will have most of the workbook/reading type stuff

The late mornings/early afternoons are set aside for Winterpromise (Day1-Day4) and Science (Day 5). Winter Promise is Currently Hideaways in History, Science is just Experiments/Overviews/lots of messy goopy fun.

* Afternoons will have items from "fifteen minutes outside" to show the closing of the day

* 3 afternoons a week (before outside time) will be Family time Fitness.

* 1 afternoons a week (before outside time) will be project time (for their own individual projects, not anything scheduled)

* 1 afternoon a week (before outside time) will be Art-time (Atelier or Drawing with children stuff)

* every afternoon, after the required fifteen minutes minimum outside, they have the choice of remaining outside (freeplay - non-structured) until DH arrives home or its dark (whichever comes first) or going back inside and going to the projects room, and playing/completing/starting their non-structured projects. They're allowed to work on their projects during any unstructured/no lessons times, and on weekends, holidays. Right now the project room is the sunroom, which is being used by the dogs. I'm hoping to get a dog run/cage with insulation and coverings (they bark at what they see rofl) for them to go in of a night instead, thus clearing out that room for projects, and meaning there is a supervised/contained area for it, otherwise Chaos(DS) will destroy/drag/explode all :p

* I'm working on learning nooks/centres as well. I'm trying to figure out the way of making portable/contained "centres" as there can't be anything unlocked or Chaos will destroy it forever.

 

So it sounds "scheduled" but thats the "perfect day" plans, and how often do those happen? :D lol. So I just want a basic checklist that shows everything for the entire week (Maths Lessons 1-4 check, WP 1-4 check, 1 science exp check, 5 x outdoor periods check, 3 x FTF lessons check) type thing. As with appointments, rabbit trails etc, we may end up on some days just doing bare minimum (phonics & maths), and otherdays we might do extra math/history/blah blah blah), so I don't want to assign days to everything, just amounts/lessons for the week.

 

Oh and most of the stuff (which is all mainly bits and pieces apart from WinterPromise) was chosen by the kids, except the stuff for Chaos(DS) needs, and stuff they need to do (phonics, maths etc, but I added in supplements to make it more their style)

Edited August 3, 2012 by Ecclecticmum

[jkl]

:bigear:!!!

[Jayne J]

Maybe you could make this Post It note based planner work for you, if Post Its suit your style. A different grid for each subject or area or unit or whatever maybe?

[Ecclecticmum]

Thank you, I have those links.

I think I've figured out what do do (for the "planner" anyway)

 

I'll come back and update, and probably blog when I've done it. Its a bit hard to explain, and since I haven't done it yet, I have to figure out problems as I go :D I'm so excited, I don't know why I haven't seen anybody do this (although someone somewhere in the world probably has)

 

Off to make it :auto:

[Trillian]

Maybe I kind of do what you're talking about; I don't blog except as a learning record/communication to DH so it's very point of fact and locked, so there's nothing to see. I'll try to describe.

 

Everyday we do the three RS and rotate other topics. I look at the calendar over the weekend, note when we have field trips or plans with friends and try to plan subjects based on timing (ie Tues, we're going to be out n the afternoon, x takes less time, so that goes there). Right now we're on a 4 day a week schedule for the summer, so the day which has gotten dropped is the project day. DS works on his project anyway. So, an example schedule, but it changes weekly:

 

Mon: History

Tues:Science

Weds:La/Art/Math game

Thurs: Documentaries

Fri: Project day

 

Each subject has a google doc that I follow for my lesson planning, as far as what to do. It's simple, but works for me and I can include any links I need. The project i don't plan for except for keeping a journal on, looking for museum exhibits, organizational things.

 

I use a morning basket form like is found on Wildflower and Marbles to organize the reading for the day, which cues me in to which subject will be done. It's all I print up for the week and the rest I refer to google docs for. On the documentary day I type those on there too, because I like having them right on the reference sheet.

 

I don't know if that's helpful. I don't think it's as formal a planning system as you're looking for, but I do think I'm probably pretty close to doing what you are asking about.

[mktyler]

I would love to do a planned day but I have 3 kids with ASD and ADHD so that hasn't worked; there are too many long disruptions that have to be dealt with.

 

I've spent the summer reading a zillion education theory and practice books (thank you Google Books!). This is what I've come up with (haven't implemented fully, but all parts have been field tested :) ):

 

Vital Domains of Education:

 

Home care (cleaning, maintaining, organizing, beautifying)

Self Care (hygiene, health, appearance, emotional, physical, safety)

Family Care (current and future)

Math

Cosmic Knowledge (history and sciences, from Montessori)

Real life problem solving (processes to solve different kinds of problems)

Gross and Fine motor skills

Social interactions

Sensorial discrimination (mostly for my little guy)

Language Arts

Vocal Arts (voice control and elocution, singing, recitation)

Fine Arts

Storytelling (listening, structure, types, creating, relating)

Religion (ethics, morals, behavior, values, tenets, world, history, scripture)

 

Minimum each domain 2x per week. Minimum 1 outing per week.

 

Mornings: mom directed cleaning (mom sits and directs and judges assigned work for each child, 1 at a time. Mom does not do work or anything else so child has practice and stays on task. Other children do independent school work or play. No tech. Montessori like activities set up for them)

 

Afternoons: Domain related activities or lessons as I can pull together or that come up spontaneously.

 

I check off what we've done and loosely plan for next day in the evening.

 

I am building a notebook of activities, lessons, curricula, resources, needed knowledge and skills, and a sequence for knowledge and skill development within each domain. Currently I have a few activities for each domain.

 

The cosmic education idea of Maria Montessori really helped because it showed a way to get through all the content areas, but not necessarily at the same time, which relieves some pressure. We use Netflix for most of the content area because my kids will sit through it. The cosmic education plan gives a topical guide (now we watch about astronomy . . .). If I find an activity about astronomy I put it in the book and put together a kit for that activity. On days when I think I can do it, I do.

 

This plan gives me some structure and focus, but doesn't leave me feeling a failure when we don't stay on a preplanned schedule. I can look for projects and lessons in a more focused way, rather than drowning in the Internet ocean of ideas.

 

Melissa

Minnesota