if you do a big block of school planning before your year starts

[razorbackmama]

WHEN DO YOU DO IT?????

 

Do you do it while your kids are around (and if so, how are you able to be interrupted?)? Do you do it in evenings after everyone goes to bed? Do you take a weekend and go to a hotel? Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

Looking for ideas...

 

My current "method" is to do it after everyone goes to bed. But I can only do so much then before my brain turns to jelly since it gets to be so late....

[coffeegal]

I have older and younger children. The older children were assigned to take the littles for 2 30-minutes shifts. That gave me 4 hours of concentrated time a day to focus on planning. I also worked when the children were asleep or watching TV. :001_smile:

 

The biggest issue was actually the printing. The little ones kept 'helping' Mommy and destroying my print job. :tongue_smilie: I spent hours standing guard over the printer. :lol:

[Ellie]

The only thing I ever did which needed extensive planning was KONOS, and I did the initial, year-long planning over a period of several evenings, possibly even a couple of weeks of evenings. After that, I planned each month's acitivities in an hour or so on a Sunday evening.

[CalicoKat]

WHEN DO YOU DO IT?????

 

Do you do it while your kids are around (and if so, how are you able to be interrupted?)? Do you do it in evenings after everyone goes to bed? Do you take a weekend and go to a hotel? Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

Looking for ideas...

 

My current "method" is to do it after everyone goes to bed. But I can only do so much then before my brain turns to jelly since it gets to be so late....

 

Yup, late night to wee early morning hours. It's too distracting any other time.

 

If I'd plan ahead I might hire a sitter to come a couple days in a row so I don't have to be the go-to person for every blessed event in the house or empty tummy.

[heart'sjoy]

When there are under fives:

-Stay up late or early morning let kids sleep in

-everyone exercise/ active immediately after breakfast

-independent work, or independent chores for olders, TV babysit littles

-lots of frozen pizza and sandwiches with a crockpot meal or two

-cancel all outside the house activities

I didn't get everything done but main goals for each kid and books and crafts planned for next 8-10 weeks.

 

A friend packed her car with her supplies and stayed B&B for 2 nights. Hubby was willing. She had 4 five and under.

 

Youngest is now 8:

I can take over the dining table and work for 2 weeks while they work mostly independently at about 1/2 speed.

 

 

 

 

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[lea_lpz]

I have young children, so I do it either when they are napping, in the evenings after they are asleep, or on my husband's days off for a couple hours when he might take them on an outing. I am doing MFW so my planning was not super intensive, but this being my first year of homeschool, I had to make a school calendar, get a big cabinet and organize it with school supplies, read the tm, organize students sheets, binder scrapbook for year, hang up some of the fun extras, like wall calendar, ABC and Numbers posters, art projects from kids,etc, to make my school room feel more inviting. Our school room is the kitchen. We don't have an extra room, but it works, and is kind of cool to have all this school stuff in it, now it's a multipurpose room :). My week to week planning is minimal. I'll review on the weekend what we'll be doing for the upcoming week, check materials list to make sure we have what we need so if I have to I can run to the store or Michael's to get what I need, and schedule in the extras we do, like preschool activities for my youngest and Spanish. I will reserve copies of library books based on book list for 3 weeks at a time, so that I don't have to go to the library for 3 weeks if I don't have extra time about a week before I need the first couple books. I usually end up going to the library once a week anyway, but it's nice to know I have what I need.

[razorbackmama]

so I don't have to be the go-to person for every blessed event in the house or empty tummy.

This is the exact issue here.:glare:

[Kathryn]

Any free moments. These are mostly naptimes and bedtimes.

[JenniferB]

In the summer when responsibilities are relaxed and expectations are much lower. I let the kids play in their rooms, outside, on the computer, etc. and I get all my planning done, which reminds me that I should be doing that right now! :D :auto:

[Jenny in Florida]

Nowadays it's much easier, since my kids are older and perfectly happy to ignore me for long stretches of time. However, when they were younger, the only way I got planning done for the year was to get out of the house.

 

For several years, we allowed each kid to pick one week of day camp each month of the summer. Frequently, the weeks would overlap. When that happened, I would pack up all of the books and materials I needed for one or two subjects, a big pad of paper and all of my notes and several of my preferred pens. I'd drop the kids at their activities and then head to the closest Barnes and Noble and stake out a table in the cafe or another part of the store.

 

I'd sit there with a cup of coffee or glass of iced tea and sketch out an entire year's worth of plans for one subject at a time, as much as I could manage before I had to leave to collect kids.

 

After they went to bed, I'd sit at the computer and type up my notes from that day. Then, I'd go back and do the next thing the following day.

 

If the schedule didn't work out so that I was kid free for a week or two, my husband would stay home with the kids for a couple of evenings a week and let me head to B&N then.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Last year, I sent the kids off to chess day camp for a week and did it then. This year, I can't afford camp, so I'm doing it in bits and pieces when they are either in bed or being bribed with screen time. I prefer the camp method. Let's hope for more money next year!

[gingersmom]

I have dragged books to the skating rink numerous times (2 hours at a time) to get planning done. One Sunday I went in my room and told no one to disturb me for 2 hours......or else.

[ksr5377]

DH has mainly been handling bedtime on his own so I can get this done beginning after dinner. After they're in bed I'm too tired to start this, so I find I work best from 6-9 or so. I have been getting 2-3 evenings the past two weeks to get things done.

[Beth S]

Our first year of homeschooling, I had 3 little ones. I had no idea how to find the time to plan.

 

Then our 6yo dd had an emergency appendectomy, and I was suddenly "stuck" in the hospital with her for a week.

 

What a way to get the "free time" to plan for the year of homeschooling. :tongue_smilie:

[LaxMom]

I did it at work, mostly, after I'd done my actual job besides sitting at the desk and greeting people. :blush: And I did some at home in the afternoon, while they were doing other stuff.

 

I lost 6 hours on Sunday, classifying and spine tagging our non-fiction and literature. I'd like to say I'm done, but I am sooooooo not. Sigh.

 

(My husband, however, has not finished his planning of math and science yet.)

[Swimtaxi234]

My children have a long swim practice every day. For the past few years, I have taken my books to the pool while they swam.

[KrissiK]

I generally do that kind of planning with history only. I do it whenever. I make the kids go outside for an hour or two and do it then.

[nono]

I layout the entire calendar for the next school year, and then schedule the first 6 weeks of school in detail, with general notes of what we'll be using when throughout the year.

 

I do that the first two days after school lets out. My kids veg out with too much screen time. So everything is ready to go. This year, because our weather went south, we decided to start a few days early so we could still get beach time here and there as the weather improved. We made that decision a few minutes before we started. It provided us with great flexibility.

 

I also can completely relax for our 8-10 weeks off, knowing everything for school is "all set."

[*Inna*]

I choose one day to do the big chunk of planning and either trade babysitting with another homeschooling mom, family members or hire a babysitter for the whole day.

 

The rest gets done in the evenings.

[GoVanGogh]

I start our school year in January, so do my planning over the holidays. DS is preoccupied with new stuff and stays far away from me. But I only have one. I can't imagine planning for a large family. :001_huh:

[readinmom]

My best planning time was with a friend. We would swim in the morning, get Starbucks, and sit down at the tables at Barnes and Noble. This was during the summer, though.

 

If you are looking for some stress free ways of planning, do it in chunks. Pick a subject...where are you starting, what is your goal by the end of the school year...

 

Be careful of overplanning! Even the best-laid plans can get sidetracked due to illness, other such things. Make sure your goals are realistic and won't overwhelm you or dc. The beauty of homeschooling is in the flexibility. :D

[Nestof3]

I do it throughout the day before 9 pm. When I'm working, I tell the kids I'm working. I take mini breaks to help with things, but they entertain themselves. I wasn't able to be so flexible when they were babies/toddlers, but by school-age, I have been. If I feel they are interrupting me too much, I remind them that I'm working just like their dad does. I remind them I'll spend time with them at some point in the day.

 

With a small house, I nearly always know what they're up to. Today I researched some more and downloaded images for timelines.

[pehp]

I did a bit here and there during June/July......then my dh took the kids for a day of fun and that is when I worked on finishing all my copying...printing.....scheduling....etc!!!

[redsquirrel]

When I had younger kids I was a fan of "Do the Next Thing" materials. I loved SOTW, FLL, WWE, RSO, HWT, spelling workout, Lively Latin, Singapore math, etc. I didn't actually plan for years and years. I had checklists, not plans. I just had to hit everything 3-4 times in a week, make a weekly library run, and print stuff out. No planning involved.

 

With one in middle school, it isn't that easy anymore. Now I have to plan science and history readings and projects etc etc. I only do about 8 weeks in advance so that I don't get too far behind or can make adjustments etc. I do a bunch in august while the kids are occupied with other stuff. Well, I do get us from September to mid January then. During Christmas break I plan from January to the beginning of March. And prob starting next weekend I will start my planning from March to May.

 

I mostly do it in the evenings and on weekends.

 

Oh, and I keep all my plans for when the younger kid is older. I am only doing this once I tell you! I will, of course have to make some changes, but I will have a foundation to work with.

[mom31257]

Dh (currently laid off) has always been home in the summers because he was a teacher. He would take the kids out for a few hours a few days in a row so that I could be totally focused. I only have 2 kids, though, and they are getting older.