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I Give Up On Planning


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With my older children I planned out everything, it was wonderful. I am a box checker. These little ones don't get that at all. Geez !! They keep figuring out what I want to teach, before I teach it. Or just get it instantly.

 

Yesterday I was introducing Addition with Carrying to my son. I got the base ten blocks out and the Cuisenaire Rods, setting up 284 + 327 ( or whatever the problem was ) and started working the blocks and rods explaining as I went.

 

My son looks at me and says, " Geez mom, you are just moving the ones to the tens, and the tens to the hundreds. I get carrying! Can I just do the workbook now?"

 

He was just so annoyed that I assumed that it needed that much explanation. ;-)

 

A few minutes later I see his little sister watching him intently. She says, "Oh, I get that."

 

Sigh!

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Write out a gorgeous plan that fills a notebook, gaze fondly at it for almost a week, and then chuck it in the recycling bin. :D In a good year I might write out three or four whole plans! LOL

 

I enjoy planning, and I do get something out of having everything listed out in one place (especially deadlines), but we never stick with it in any kind of set-in-stone way. Sometimes I wish we could, but really what we end up doing with the flexibility is much cooler than what I could plan from the outset.

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Totally commiserate here.

I am blessed to have a used curriculum store in my area. I think I have been in there every week in August. Finally seem to have the right level of math. I planned it out in an accelerated plan. But, After 2 days we are a week ahead of my plan. The used curriculum store had the next level, :) , so hopefully we will make it to Thanksgiving.

At least if you need to take a day off to replan they aren't falling behind lol.

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Write out a gorgeous plan that fills a notebook, gaze fondly at it for almost a week, and then chuck it in the recycling bin. :D In a good year I might write out three or four whole plans! LOL

 

I enjoy planning, and I do get something out of having everything listed out in one place (especially deadlines), but we never stick with it in any kind of set-in-stone way. Sometimes I wish we could, but really what we end up doing with the flexibility is much cooler than what I could plan from the outset.

 

:lol::lol:

I bought Homeschool Tracker a few years ago with the idea of beautiful planned sheets all printed out. I printed out a complete year play twice. Then I gave up. Now I just plan and plan, but never print. I have enough in my recycle pile !

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I've made the same decision about pre-buying materials. As soon as I think I've found something that works, and I buy the whole set thinking that I'm good for a year or more, DD pole vaults over it!

 

:lol::lol::lol: Or finishes something that's intended to last a full semester in a week.

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Ha! I was just thinking the same thing earlier this week. I ordered an early elementary astronomy reference book for DS7 to use this semester. He read the entire thing before bed two nights ago!

 

My planning looks like this: have a general plan (in my head) and then just go with the flow!

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I will keep the next thing in stock around here, in things that they will go through anyway. Even if they do 25 pages in a day. LMAO And if one skips some, then maybe the other or one of the 11 grand babies will use it. < Insane Cackle HERE>

 

I wish we could use, used curriculum. My sons severe asthma will not allow much of that. SIGH ! Luckily about 85% of our homeschool materiel is literature for any and all subjects. Not consumable stuff, so they will get read again, and again, and again.

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Ha! I was just thinking the same thing earlier this week. I ordered an early elementary astronomy reference book for DS7 to use this semester. He read the entire thing before bed two nights ago!

 

My planning looks like this: have a general plan (in my head) and then just go with the flow!

 

I have to hide science books, my son will read them in one sitting too.

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It really gets fun when they start "doing" on their own. I opened DD's Prentice Hall World History and discovered that she'd read the next four chapters. Plus, as she informed me, the SOTW ones that went with them. I'm a little scared to look in the SOTW activity book (I really hadn't intended on it becoming a workbook, but it won't surprise me if it has).

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It really gets fun when they start "doing" on their own. I opened DD's Prentice Hall World History and discovered that she'd read the next four chapters. Plus, as she informed me, the SOTW ones that went with them. I'm a little scared to look in the SOTW activity book (I really hadn't intended on it becoming a workbook, but it won't surprise me if it has).

 

LOL :lol: WE have extra sheets printed out of the SOTW activity guides, I thought ahead. I have never been able to mark up a book, and the AG's are more like IG's to me than workbooks !

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I was just looking up some old planning/scheduling threads for inspiration on K-8 board, and none of it was jiving with me. I can't possibly "go thru the curric and divide the number of lessons into the number of days", etc.

 

This is why!!! It was like a lightbulb moment when I read THIS thread! Thanks!

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I was just looking up some old planning/scheduling threads for inspiration on K-8 board, and none of it was jiving with me. I can't possibly "go thru the curric and divide the number of lessons into the number of days", etc.

 

This is why!!! It was like a lightbulb moment when I read THIS thread! Thanks!

 

There is no dividing here either. I have to add to fast to even be able to count pages. hehe I keep 2 or 3 levels above what we are doing at the moment. I rarely skip things, but will condense as to not cause boredom. :lol:

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I still hold the memory of my first year homeschooling, and that wonderful year plan I spent hours and hours planning. :lol: My planning/prep has now become my own education. I don't put any scheduling in place for certain children, especially certain subjects. I just fill in what we did at the end of the day. It's certainly freed up more time on Sunday nights.

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My 3yo is proving that do-the-next-thing is going to be necessary for her. This week she did the entire ETC Book A in 4 days. It's about 80 pages long. She's getting annoyed that I'm trying to stretch out her math by inserting extra practice worksheets in between the lessons in the main workbook. So, yeah, I'm not trying to do much planning for her. (Other than making sure I have enough work for her once she finishes her current stuff!) She LOVES schoolwork, and already plowed through just about everything I had planned for the entire 2012-13 schoolyear. Needless to say, my plans had to be added to very quickly!

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