Lesson Planning...

[Lanette]

Our family is very new to homeschooling and I need some advice on lesson planning. I am trying to figure out a method for creating a basic plan for the year of what we're going to cover. However, I don't want to be TOO scheduled. I have a first and third grader (both boys) and I know the lessons could change from day to day so I don't exactly want to pull out a nice new shiny notebook and write out the day's plan for every single day of the year. :) Lol That would be a waste of time and paper... 

[maize]

Look up the Simply Charlotte Mason Bookfinder and Organizer. s

Sorry I don't know how to link from my phone, but it's a great way to create a plan that is flexible enough to allow for daily variations.

[TracyP]

When I was starting out, Donna Young's site was a huge help.

 

I also like the CM planner.

 

I have a word document that reminds me where I want to be by the end of the year and how much we have to do either daily or weekly (depending on the subject) to get there. My oldest two kids have a lesson planner that I fill in as we go. I highlight the assignments that they are expected to do independently. I assign math weekly; most other subjects can be written 6 weeks out. I have a simple lesson planner printed out from Donna Young in my binder for my K'er. I plan about 6 weeks out for him, but I do so in pencil and make changes often.

[My3girls]

If you have access to one note, it is very helpful. You can add spreadsheets, documents, web links, etc... I have a page for each term then a weekly schedule for each child as a subpage. Super easy to change as you go. I also use homeschoolminder.com. It allows you to enter lesson plans, assignments, grades, booklists, standardized testing scores, chores, appointment, practices... just about everything, and run reports. You can drag and drop lessons and events on the calendar for when things shift. I use the One Note for general overall planning then the Homeschoolminder for once things are nailed down and to print daily schedules for my girls. I can include chores, meetings, and practices, too, so they have a complete view of their day.

 

One Note comes with Microsoft Office 2007 and up, and Homeschoolminder.com is a $5 a month subscription.

[*Lulu*]

I print some of Donna Young's blank planning pages and use those for almost everything. (The "perfect" page has changed some from year to year for me but her site has so many I have always been able to find what I needed there.)

 

We school year round, so I look at the year in two semesters. I write out broad goals for the first half of the year; skill subjects get very loose goals, (more of a curriculum list really), content subjects get more concrete plans. (I do this twice a year and spend about an hour per student.)

 

I break up each semester into 5 smaller planning periods. I make notations for skill subjects like "20 math sessions" and "complete book ABC"; for content subjects I make more detailed plans like "week one read pages .... in XYZ, watch Brain Pop video, complete Venn diagram". (I do this once every 5 weeks and spend about 15-20 minutes per student and 15-45 minutes per content subject. It really depends on if the curriculum is purchased or if I am cobbling something together myself.)

 

Every week I write down assignments for each child and check them off as we complete them throughout the week. This is my most detailed planning. Even still, I often push assignments if I see we need more time on something. My goal for Sister is 3 math lessons each week, but some weeks we only do two because it is obvious she needed more time on one. (This planning takes less than 30 minutes per student, but I complete it in the 5-10 minute intervals when I am sitting waiting for independent assignments to be completed during school time. I need to be present, but not available and having my head in the planner keeps the kids from thinking I'm "not busy". :) )

[mrs.m]

Just a small tip: I plan 6 weeks at a time. Week 7 is for make up or larger projects if we stayed on schedule. I use an online homeschool planner that has the ability to shift assignments.

[jmomma1203]

I've been using a plain notebook and a pen to write down goals, ideas, and general info about my curriculum plans. Then, I plug stuff into My Simple Plan by Mardel. It's a free online planner, so it's easy to change things. :)

[Walking-Iris]

I use Donna Young printables to make a list of all the curricula, books, websites, etc that we will be using. Then I decide what I want done daily and weekly. I make a master list of those weekly goals and a separate checklist for my kids and then we just pick up where we left off each day. 

 

After a bit we get into a routine and the daily stuff happens, then I look ahead to any activities and projects and make sure I have materials and then write in what afternoon we will do that activity.

 

Friday is always set aside for Freewrites, art and nature study, and games. 

[Murrayshire]

I LOVE SCHOLARIC!!  I've used others and nothing else compares IMO!  It's fast, easy to use, great communication with the creator, bump days earlier & later, schedule as you go.....very simplistic. It counts attendence & grades.  (I know this doesn't pertain to you but he is working on transcripts now)  If you have an ipad, you could just view & edit the schedule from there instead of printing out schedules for your dc or yourself!  They have a free trial so it's worth a shot!  

[Lanette]

Thank you all for your help!!! :) I'm probably going to take bits and pieces of everything that everyone said. It's going to take me probably through the first year to figure out how I will plan for lessons long term. I need to figure out what "works" for me, and right now I don't know what that is. Lol So for the time being, I'm taking your advice you all so generously provided. :) Thanks! 

[Cheriwe]

I used Donna Young printables as well.  Her website has a ton of stuff and you can pick and choose what works for you. 

 

My plan is to do one week at a time at first to see if we stay on track or not.  I cannot see planning out 6 weeks in advance because if we get off the schedule a bit, I know that I would want to go and re-do the whole schedule. 

[*Lulu*]

Thank you all for your help!!! :) I'm probably going to take bits and pieces of everything that everyone said. It's going to take me probably through the first year to figure out how I will plan for lessons long term. I need to figure out what "works" for me, and right now I don't know what that is. Lol So for the time being, I'm taking your advice you all so generously provided. :) Thanks!

And, just when you figure out what works perfectly for you, the kids will enter a new stage in thier educational journey and you'll feel like you've moved back to square one in knowing what works for....well almost everything!

 

Homeschooling is a great deal like most life journeys, change is the only constant.

[Lanette]

I actually found Donna Young's site last night by accident (before I posted my question on here). I am liking the idea of storing everything on the computer, but I also don't want to have to carry my computer with me all of the time. So we'll see. And I think I'm going to plan out a month ahead just for the first month because we'll still be reviewing. But afterwards, I think I'm going to only go a week out. But I'm going to figure out something else for doing a yearly plan as kind of an estimate to see when we should finish certain subjects. We're planning on doing a unit study after we finish science so that's one of the main reasons why I'm wanting to look at the whole year.