Keeping on Track: What do you use to organize and stick to a schedule?

[Writerdaddy]

Hi there,

 

I have so many things up in the air in life right now, including what I will teach next, and even if my kids will be in PS this fall or not. But for right now, I need something to get a fix on things. Of course, I can do this myself but I bet y'all have some tricks, Parent workbooks, computer programs, etc. that you use to keep on track with what you will teach and when.

 

This is not because I intend to stick directly to a plan or believe that I actually can complete whatever plan I come up with (which will always be too much), but just looking for tricks of the trade to just keep me a little more "honest."

 

Thanks!

[regentrude]

Nothing. Seriously, all I demand is time on task, for example 4 hours in 6th grade, 5 hours in 8th grade.

My kids choose which subject they want to work on and for how long. Next time, they pick up where they stopped the last time.

 

I keep track of what has been accomplished in a excel spreadsheet.

[yvonne]

Regentrude,

 

What age do you start doing this? Do your students have any other constraints on how they spend that four hours/day? Do they have to cover some minimum amount in each subject by the end of every year? Or are there any subjects that they must do at least a small amount of every day? (math? grammar?) Or if there's a subject they're not interested in and never opt to do, do you let that fall off the list? (My daughter, for example, would be happy as a clam to never open a math book. :) )

 

I'd love to try this with my sons. They do tend to be diligent about their work, and I think they'd respond well to this sort of independence. It seems like it would also foster the student's taking ownership of his own education. My boys won't really have the opportunity to try it this year because they'll be taking some outside classes, but I'd love to try it in 8th.

 

Thanks,

yvonne

[regentrude]

Regentrude,

 

What age do you start doing this?

I started homeschooling in 5th/6th grade, and have been doing this since then.

Do your students have any other constraints on how they spend that four hours/day?

 

They have "approved" school related activities and materials they can use during this time. Math book, literature and history readings, science documentaries, foreign language CDs, websites, projects like essays and presentations they are working on... Sometimes they discover new resources on their own and quickly run it by me to see if this "counts for school".

 

Do they have to cover some minimum amount in each subject by the end of every year? Or are there any subjects that they must do at least a small amount of every day? (math? grammar?) Or if there's a subject they're not interested in and never opt to do, do you let that fall off the list?

 

The only subject DS must work on daily is math. I insist on 45-60 minutes. (DD works in larger chunks and will often spend 2-3 horus on mathin a single day; she then does no math on a couple other days).

I keep track of how much work is done in each subject and will periodically remind them of neglected subjects, and eventually nudge that work is done there. My kids prefer to work in binges; when they are engrossed in a history project, they work on it for days and neglect science.

I have some idea of what we want to cover each year, but before high school I do not insist that a certain amount of material is covered in each subject. I do not consider it a problem if they have chosen to spend their time more in one area than in another; it is all education, and high school will be the time to do a systematic study that is more symmetric in all areas.

 

Only once we have actually abandoned a subject: we have dropped Latin, because I personally did not find it important enough to insist. I would not permit my child to drop a subject I consider vital just because they were not interested in it - but I would be happy to modify the content and find ways to make it more interesting.

[yvonne]

Thank you so much, regentrude. I wish I'd taken that approach from the beginning. I'll have to think on it and see if we could do that this year. I'm at the point where I feel (and my children feel) that I'm imposing everything from outside. I think I might be able to attempt this with my daughter this year.

 

Thanks again. Your approach is absolutely brilliant!

yvonne

[mrs.m]

I am fairly relaxed at scheduling. I choose my curriculum to keep it that way. I want open-n-go, yet effective. I learned that planning too far in advanced really made me feel like a slacker because something would happen to throw that 6 weeks off. Planning one week at a time works better for me.

 

On Sunday evening, I fill the boys' workfolders (altered from Chelli's system) with all the work I hope we will accomplish that week. So for WWE, I tear out the worksheets. I photocopied the cover of each book and write down the lessons I want us to get through. That's in each of their work folders. My 9yo checks it off as it is completed. Some weeks are only 4 day and I try to plan around that as well.

 

We do the same subjects everyday. I found alternating makes me forget and 6 weeks go by and I haven't even thought about cracking that science book! I do things like geography, history, and science in the morning and think about what I want to accomplish that week on Sunday night. Again, I put together a folder with worksheets/notebooking pages and a check-list.

 

So, I plan week to week. Carry over anything that didn't get completed. But try to consider other activities that week as well.

Edited August 12, 2012 by jannylynn

[cmp3400]

I make a simple excel spreadsheet with the subject at the top and fill in what they should do each day. I make note of what things will require me to be there for. I try to let them pick the order so it works best for them!!

[5LittleMonkeys]

I don't really use any tricks or special programs either. There are a few things that I make sure I have in place, but for the most part it's more about mentality, discipline (mine and theirs), and attitude.

 

I start the year's planning with a huge sheet of paper, 4 pieces of printer paper taped together, with a grid drawn out on it to accommodate days of the week across the top, the short side, and time in half hour increments across the side. Each cell is then divided further into 1 cell for each child.

 

Next, I get realistic about what programs I want to use for each dc. It's important to me that the programs we use need to be completed within the year we are using them, if that is the way they're designed. So, I pick one main program for each subject, leave the supplementation for later, and start determining how many days a week and time per day each program will take to complete, taking into account breaks, co-op days, extra curricular lessons, etc. I then start plugging subjects into my time slots, making sure that if one child needs one on one with a subject the others have subjects they can do on their own or with a brief explanation. I have a minimum and maximum number of hours I expect for each dc...if their main subjects/programs leave any time for extras I then start plugging in the supplements. Those are the first to fall off the schedule if we get behind or need more time with a certain subject.

 

At this point it looks incredibly overwhelming, but I sit back and admire how everything fits neatly together, like a big jigsaw puzzle. Note: do this in PENCIL...it will get amended if you have more than one dc.

 

Now, comes the part where you have to stick to the schedule. :tongue_smilie: This is where that mentality, discipline and attitude come into play. I turn off the phone, put the iPad and laptop away, put a sign on the door, and forget about the laundry, cleaning, and dishes. I devote my undivided attention to schoolwork. Everyone has a schedule written out just for them AND a master schedule is posted on a whiteboard in the kitchen. We start on time everyday and just move through the schedule until we are done. We do have a few short breaks scheduled in where we rotate laundry, tidy the kitchen, and I'll check e-mail or scan new posts here. I'm not a slave to the schedule, nor am I militant about watching the clock. 5-10 minutes variation isn't a big deal, and sometimes I nix a subject from the schedule completely in order to spend more time on a lesson, or pull in a supplement for something a dc is struggling with.

 

I know everyone has a different outlook on their homeschool and how it fits into their lives, some just have an ebb and flow of learning throughout the day, some may do intense learning for a week and then unschooled the next... I think the key is to find a process that consistently moves your dc forward in skill developement, core knowledge, forming of good habits, and good work ethic. For me, that means treating my role as a job, just as if I were working for an employer who expected a certain amount of time per day from me, and a certain level of devotion to my work.

 

At certain times at the end of last year I would have been fired had I worked for an employer. :tongue_smilie: Excessive Internet use during work hours is usually frowned upon.:glare: This year, since we started July 16th, I have been much more committed to putting school first and it has made our first 4 weeks of school amazingly productive and relaxed. Attitudes have been great, and everyone is focused and motivated. That is worth more than any salary I could make outside of the home!

 

That is probably way more info than you wanted and may not have even been of much help to you, but hopefully it did or will help someone else reading this. Good luck finding what works for your family.:D

 

Edited to add: I don't know how old your dc are, but I'll add this - my two older dc can do their subjects in any order they want as long as they do those subjects they need my help within a certain time slot, and as long as they do each subject in the amount of time I scheduled it for. For example, math must be done in 1 hour, logic in 30 minutes, and so on. Dd13 struggles with math so she must do math at 1:00 so I can sit with her without distractions. My younger dc need to keep to my schedule since they need far more one on one. As they need less help they can get more flexible in subject order.

Edited August 12, 2012 by 5LittleMonkeys

[Woodland Mist Academy]

That is probably way more info than you wanted and may not have even been of much help to you, but hopefully it did or will help someone else reading this. Good luck finding what works for your family.:D

 

 

I'm not the OP, but your post was beneficial to me. Thanks for the detail you included.

[Writerdaddy]

How about planners, programs, etc.? I see people refer to these sometimes but I don't know the Planning 101 on these.

 

I just wing it myself, and it is helpful to hear all the semi-wing it advice and it is probably just what I need, but I am also interested in any tools you find useful or just the names or leads on the tools that others seem to be using, especially if they might help people who are bright-eyed and dream big but who have follow-through issues.

 

thanks again!

 

 

DD 8 years old

DS 8 years old

[Hunter]

Everytime I get too far off track I revisit my mission statement and use this

.

[Cynful]

I've only just started using HomeschoolTracker Plus (and Online - to compare). Before, I would do a little planning but nothing major. Nothing felt like it was ever finished though and I always felt like I was floundering around. Now my oldest is in Highschool - modified, but still highschool - and I feel the need to keep myself, and him, accountable and not feel like we are :willy_nilly: all the time.

 

So far, I'm still entering in my plans, but I love it. I can really see where this will help keep me organized and knowing what needs to be done next. I can also see where we are in the year (ahead, behind, right on schedule). I never used to care before now.

 

I am also terrible at keeping records and this will help. Highschool needs me to be better about this and doing it on the computer is the way for me. I used an excel sheet but I was always too busy "tweaking" it.

 

Anyway, I can see why paper would be nice, but as far as rescheduling goes, a computer planner is great. I also can't write well due to arthritis in my hand so the computer it is.

 

Good luck,

[Dolphin]

I have a list of what curriculum we are using each week up on the bulletin board. I look at it, just to make sure we are covering everything. Over the weekend I look through everything and write out what I expect ds to get done each day over 4 days (That gives us 3 days for catch up) I don't check his spiral until Sunday night.

[yvonne]

I've looked at electronic planners, but don't want to waste time on the learning curve and all the stuff I just don't need. I love to plan. I could spend years of my life mucking around with an electronic planner.

 

Instead, I just make up my own plan at the beginning of the year in Excel. (Att'd a bit of one below.) I lay out the whole year of Math, R&S, etc. in 1 day chunks of work. Subjects across the top, Day 1, 2,... 180 down the side. For example, R&S is easy: Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, .... Test Ch. 1, Lesson 14, Lesson 15.... Final Test, all the way down the R&S column. Can see right off how many days it would realistically take to complete R&S or any text or subject if I do everything I think I want to do. It's a great reality check. I can see how much we'd need to do daily to "finish" each subject by day 180 or whatever my target is.

 

Each weekend, I look at my master Excel schedule and copy the next 5 days worth of work onto a weekly checklist like abbeyej's and hand one checklist to each child on Monday. They cross stuff off as they go.

 

Since the subjects are all listed independently of each other, if we don't get to a certain subject for a certain number of days, I can push that one subject down by however many days without affecting when the other subjects end. When I start slacking & putting something off, I can see just where that puts us to "finish." I've found this to be the single, biggest motivation for me to stay on track and not to keep adding more and more and more... to the schedule! :)

 

But! Now I want to try regentrude's approach, if I can keep from panicking at not getting x done/day!

Gr. 5 Planner.pdf

Gr. 5 Planner.pdf

Edited August 13, 2012 by yvonne

[lovemykids]

Our homeschool is very relaxed in certain subjects, especially when my children are young. I see no point in stressing about certain curriculum being “completed†when they are learning so much on their own, through library books, the internet, etc. So we are fairly relaxed with history, very relaxed with science (much of the science they get comes from real world exploration and various experiments), and we are somewhat relaxed around the edges with a few other things, depending on the child.

 

For the important, “must do†curricula, we stay on track by keeping kid planners, as well as my planner. I do the math initially, although I have taught my children how to do it as well, and we figure out how many times a week we need to do a subject to complete it. Every few weeks we check to see where we actually are, and see if we need to revise our plan. I have tried online planners as well, but I do not really care for them. Basically they work the same way..you enter your subjects, students, etc.. how many times a week you need to do x, y and z…and the software makes a schedule for you…I believe each online planning software comes with their own instructions.

 

All of this works well for us, but as we go into eighth grade with my oldest ADD type dd (I have four children) ..I am perplexed as to how to keep her on track through high school. I am going to see if I can dig up some old threads on motivating teens to stick with the schedule (a completely different ball game).

 

Good luck and have fun!:)

[lovemykids]

. Carry over anything that didn't get completed. But try to consider other activities that week as well.

 

:iagree:

[Amy Jo]

The best thing for me is the File Crate System. Everything that I can manage goes in my files, which are dated one each week. (Others date by week number, but I stick more than school stuff in mine.) I do cut up workbooks but I do not chop any book I will reuse, like a teacher manual. We don't have a lot of workbooks, but the FCS keeps math & Latin done. I'm trying to figure out how to put more stuff in the files actually.

 

But yeah, I've tried a lot of things. (Handwritten plans, software, online planners, Excel, just a schedule, winging it, ... this one works for me.)

 

Oh - the kids have workboxes, which is nice for not losing stuff. Now if I can just figure out how to teach all 3 without the boys nor the 2yo being neglected - I can't seem to split myself in two!

[lovemykids]

The best thing for me is the File Crate System. Everything that I can manage goes in my files, which are dated one each week. (Others date by week number, but I stick more than school stuff in mine.) I do cut up workbooks but I do not chop any book I will reuse, like a teacher manual. We don't have a lot of workbooks, but the FCS keeps math & Latin done. I'm trying to figure out how to put more stuff in the files actually.

 

But yeah, I've tried a lot of things. (Handwritten plans, software, online planners, Excel, just a schedule, winging it, ... this one works for me.)

 

Oh - the kids have workboxes, which is nice for not losing stuff. Now if I can just figure out how to teach all 3 without the boys nor the 2yo being neglected - I can't seem to split myself in two!

 

I hear you, it's very difficult...:lol: Personally, I like to wing most things...it just seems to fit "life" better..so it's loose schedules and relaxed homeschooling for us. :tongue_smilie:

[mamamindy]

I'm not the OP, but your post was beneficial to me. Thanks for the detail you included.

 

ditto :D

[Spryte]

I use Scholaric.com. The best $1 I spend each month. :)

 

This is our second year using it, and it's very simple to use. Plus, I like the look of it. DS likes to have his Daily Lessons printed out each day - so he can tick off the little boxes as he goes.

 

I make a basic schedule, and then tweak it as we go. It's easy to bump lessons in Scholaric, and I much prefer to do it on the computer than with paper/pencil. Just a preference thing.

 

I also like that I can add in "courses" for all of our little extras. For example, we just received our Magic Schoolbus DVD collection, and I quickly went through and figured out which episodes sync with our science lessons. I put in an extra course for that, to remind me to pull those DVDs out at the appropriate time. I have done the same thing with Bill Nye episodes. :)

 

At one point, I was a "file crate system" person, too. I still cut the bindings off of workbooks! I file everything by subject, then just pull out from the front of the stack each week when I fill up DS's weekly binder. The weekly binder is our new system this year. We'll see how that goes. The idea is that DS can see what he has to do for the entire week, so he can work ahead if he chooses. (One can always dream, right?)

 

As for the other stuff - house and life in general - I fly by the seat of my pants. I have the Motivated Moms app on the iPhone, but haven't used it in forever. I'm a flylady drop out from way back when. DH and I use Cozi to coordinate our shopping lists, and iCal to coordinate our calendars. That's about it.

[Pen]

I have a certain length of time per each basic subject per day--these include getting ready and clean up, bathroom breaks etc.--and they have changed depending on what has been needed most each year, what an x-stage child can handle, etc. And the time for each thing, while a bit flexible depending on things that might come up are basically done by when it seems to work out best.

 

I use normal plain paper, and pencil or pen usually.

 

I try to make it simple enough that ds understands it.

 

For example, 9-10 everyday is math. Before that is free-reading, morning chores, breakfast. Afterwards is a short break. Then language arts till lunch.

After lunch are content areas and art. It is all do the next thing based, and the content areas have choice of what to do as does the art.

 

Exception was that last winter when it got dark early, middle of the day was outdoor time, and content areas and language arts were shifted to the evenings. I will probably do that again this next winter.

[PeterPan]

Dishpans. When they're young, dishpans are the ultimate scheduling tool. You develop a morning routine that gets them dressed and fed, maybe even beds made or the dog fed. Then you head to the dishpan and do whatever is in it. Then you take a break and run around the house. Then you do the next dishpan of stuff. Then you eat lunch. Then you do the next dishpan of stuff. Done.

 

When they get older, things no longer fit in the dishpans and you graduate to daily or weekly checklists for each child and a master checklist that shows how their day flows.

 

Wisdom is not trying to put more structure onto yourself than will realistically fit your personalities.

[MerryAtHope]

 

Workboxes. Best tool I ever came across for us!

[OK Family]

I have a soon to be 9 yr old and will also be homeschooling a 5 and 6 yr old. I needed a way for my 9 yr old to be a bit more independent and organized. I created a weekly schedule that we try and stick to. I have the subjects he is doing down the left and day 1- day 5 across the top. I type in all that I expect him to do. I don't have times listed, it's just a basic guide for each day. Last year I decorated the schedule with yoda and this year decided to ninjas. It works great for us. I can email a copy if you are interested!

[kb44]

I'm a relaxed schooler, too. Too many things/life getting in the way. That is why halfway through our first year, I realized piece-mealing was not going to be my thing and bought curriculums for our core subjects (Saxon Math and Phonics) and did a year long plan for our writing/reading. That way, I just look at the next lesson..no matter what day it is, and do that next. The curriculums and my plans rarely need extra materials that we do not always have on hand. With this method and these materials, I know I am meeting the important goals, they are all laid out there for me, but I can add and modify to their learing, as needed. And, I have time to plan more fun activities that involve the arts, science, ss, as well when we have moments. Good luck, there are so many choices and ways!

[Holly]

This year I'm using Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education. I just bought the book and it's full of worksheets to get everything planned (hs goals, materials, schedule, etc.). I've also used donnayoung.org for planning printables in the past.

 

In addition, I usually keep everything in a binder that I can carry around with me. It contains curriculum lists, the pace I want to use the curriculum, daily schedule, a calendar to keep track of hours, calendar for hs coop, ideas for school (anything I print off the internet to use later), a list of e-reader books, preschool ideas, etc.

 

For scheduling, we are required to keep track of hours, so I like to have set school hours. Between the hours of 9-4, we only work on "pre-approved" activities. Basically, no TV or computer during those hours. We do school, chores, art projects/handicrafts, play outside, etc. It's much easier than keeping track of every little thing we've done and trying to figure out whether or not it counts as school.

Edited August 14, 2012 by Holly