Lesson planning?

[EmilyGF]

If you plan lessons in advance, how do you do it? How do you manage not to get lost in the details?

 

Emily

[Jkacz]

I have a spreadsheet with weeks and number of schooldays for that week. Each subject is in a column along the top. Then I figure out what I want to accomplish for the year and fill in the assignments for each week in the grid. I then pull the materials for the next week every Friday and divide it out by day. I also review the lessons for the week to make sure I'm not missing any supplies or to see if there is anything I need to prep.

[8filltheheart]

I'm not sure what you mean by "get lost in the details."   I have a general idea of what I want my kids to accomplish at the beginning of the school yr.  (very loose idea)  Their daily lesson plan simply expand on the general path that I want to see them forging through and breaks it down into manageable steps.   With the exception of math, young kids are not using any textbooks, so their plans are not simply breaking down pages into x# of pages per day.   I don't give my kids quizzes or tests.   Mostly they are reading, writing, and discussing.   So, it may be as simple as deciding how many days they need to spend reading a book or what research they need to do for a writing assignment or even picking out what books they will be reading, etc.

 

FWIW, I don't write lesson plans for my under grade 3 crowd b/c they seem to learn at too unpredictable of a pace.   My older kids I typically plan between 6-8 weeks at a time.   THat usually is short enough for me to change directions if we need to but long enough that I have a clear vision of what I want accomplished during that span.

[My3girls]

I plan 6 weeks at a time on a spreadsheet in pencil. Lol. I have a general idea what I want to cover in the year and just start. As long as we're making forward progress and everyone is engaged, I call it good. Everything is reading, writing, drawing, and discussing with an occasional activity or experiment thrown in. I like to keep it simple.

[TXMary2]

I typically plan out the whole year in advance.  We school year round, so it is okay if it takes more than 36 weeks to finish the 36 weeks of work.  Keeping my book shelves organized by subject helps to keep the lesson planning running smoothly. I also strike when an idea hits - meaning even if I am working on planning week 10, if I come across something that will work in week 15, I immediately go to week 15 and plug it in. If I don't do that, I will forget by the time I get to week 15.  Since I use TOG and branch out from that plan each week, it is simple for me to do that. If I was planning from scratch I would probably make rows of piles of like topics and go from there.

 

When I buy books etc. I will put flags on pages, or put sticky notes to myself to remind me to use it in the future.  Right now we are doing Modern Times, but I am already on the lookout for Ancients stuff for next school year.  When I peruse my shelves I put the flags and notes on the pages so I don't miss them when I finally sit down to plan.

[ChrissySC]

I am all about the folders.  I plan using 36 folders - one folder for each week.  I stick all papers and activites, as well instruction sets, in the folder for the week.  This allows some freedom to finish all or most of a subject as the child would like.  It helps to teach responsibility.  Their job is school, and as such, they must complete their tasks by the week end.  I use HST to layout lessons and divide pages equally, as well as to keep attendance, mark items completed, as well as journal any other activities.  There are times when we yell "UNSCHOOL" ... and the day is left to exploration and self learning.  I schedule  or plan for these days at least once every week to every other week.  They have interests that I allow them to explore regardless of the subject.  For example, one day was spent with a dead snake found on the road, which lead to the librarian's questioning looks as we asked for books on autopsy and decomp!  Yes, I like to homeschool - if for no other reason, than to get those reactions.

[EmilyGF]

I remember my teacher in 1st grade having folders of all the math we were supposed to do for the year and I loved it and thrived on it. I should do something like that for my kids. Thanks, ChrissySC.

 

Emily

[Coco_Clark]

I'm still a relative newbie, but this is how I've done it last and this year and it's been working great for me.

 

I plan the entire year in a wide scope over the summer, splitting it into three trimesters (we school year round but I leave summers for until studies, following interests, and catch up, so I try to finish our regular curriculum before-hand if I can manage).  Our trimesters are September-November, December-February, and March-May.  So for example, when I saw that Singapore 1 had 50 lessons (I have no idea how many lessons are in Singapore 1 off the top of my head, this is just an example) I knew that I needed to do 17 every trimester.  Or since I decided to study animals all year long for science, I decided to focus on Mammals for the first trimester, reptiles and fish for the second, and birds and insects for the third.  So on and so forth for every subject I made a "trimester goals" list.

 

We take a week off in between each trimester for planning purposes, and this is when I start to plan knitty gritty details.  I will get out a calendar and cross out any days I know that I wont be schooling (vacations, holidays, ect) and then I count how many weeks are left. (I tend to think in weeks during this stage of planning, not days). Then I split up my trimester goals over those weeks.  If we are schooling 11 weeks in a trimester for example, that would mean 1 and a half lessons of Singapore each week and so I'd write week 1- singapore 1-2.5; week 2- singapore 2.5-4. I'd also glance through the lessons and take note of any manipulative I'll need to have collected (a scale for a weights week, or a number line that needs to be printed, ect). So it might say week 1-singapore 1-2.5 (number cards).  Or to use my science example I will choose a specific mammal for each week and get on the library website to see what books are available and add them to my collection list. I also write any activities.  So it might say week 1-Bats (little bat by someone, echolation project) so on and so forth for every subject :)  Now I have a calendar for the next three months with a list of what lessons I want to do that week, and what books and supplies I need.

 

The Wed or Thursday before each week I get out that list and look at what I need to collect, purchase, print, prepare ect for the next week and this is when I write down what we are going to do every single day.  Some weeks we school 5 days so its spread out. Some days we school 3 and it's pretty full.  It depends on our schedule and mood.  Sometimes I'm a bit off from the trimester schedule.  If its week 6 I might be on week 6 for history, and week 5 for math.  Mostly my core subjects are right on target and its the skills that wobble a bit.  I either catch up or sometimes let it go.  We were almost a month behind in history this entire last trimester, because my kid never wanted to move on from archaeology (our first week, which became our first three weeks).  I just shrug.  We started our second trimester today already a month behind.  We may end up finishing the entire year a month behind, or maybe we will skip or blaze through something we find boring.  Or for another example he might take an extra week to get a math concept, but almost always later he will get something really quick and be able to do "extra" thereby catching up to the schedule.  I use my list as a guideline is what I'm saying, not a hard bound rule.

 

 

 

 

[ItoLina]

I tried lots of different things, but this was by far the most helpful method for me:

http://www.theplantedtrees.com/2013/08/how-i-plan-our-homeschool-subjects-part.html

 

I love that it is easy to adjust if we miss a day or want to move ahead a day. I do it 9weeks at a time so that I have a good idea of how far I want to be by a certain month. I have found it to be really flexible, yet detailed enough to save me a lot of time every evening when I am prepping for the next day.

[lea_lpz]

I plan for about 6 weeks in advance but make adjusents as needed

[Chelli]

I tried lots of different things, but this was by far the most helpful method for me:

http://www.theplantedtrees.com/2013/08/how-i-plan-our-homeschool-subjects-part.html

 

I love that it is easy to adjust if we miss a day or want to move ahead a day. I do it 9weeks at a time so that I have a good idea of how far I want to be by a certain month. I have found it to be really flexible, yet detailed enough to save me a lot of time every evening when I am prepping for the next day.

 

That's my blog, so thanks for the link love!

 

Your last sentence is exactly what I was trying to do when I set out on my search for lesson planning. I'm glad it helped you achieve those goals.

[Momling]

I used to make tables and fill in dates, but this year I've used homeschool helper app on my iPad. It's incredibly useful for me. The lessons I input are pretty basic "Read ch. 6 & activities" or "Watch video & work on portfolio". Still, when planning history, I like to find interesting activities or websites or videos or games or recipes or books, so I do keep a table in word where I add in possible activities. I plan about a month out, though have general ideas about aiming to finish a math book by April or to be done with Asian history by the end of the month or whatever.

[elliotterae]

Ok, I am a newbie so forgive my ignorance here, but I have to ask why you would recommend this and what the main benefits of this extra work is? This is our first year home schooling, the first couple months I tried time4learning but found  TWTM quickly when I realized that online schooling by video was not my cup of tea. So we pretty much started all of our curriculum for the year later than I would have planned it. Then I found Singapore to not work for my older DD at all and switched to Saxon. Meaning we pretty much stated this math book in early October.

Anyway, my "plan" is bascialy to do each subject on a schedule for set time and move forward as mastery allows. We somewhat follow the schedule guidelines for time and schedule from TWTM. I don't really see the benefit of going through the Saxon book and assigning pages and lessons to each day and preparing a folder for it in advance when it is so simple for us to just get out the book and do the next lesson. If we feel like it or have extra time we do two.  We work on the next page of spelling and do the next day in WWE, Same way with history. We read the next chapter, do the next set of activity guide pages, etc.

 

I feel like if I were to pre-plan lessons 38-41 for next week Im just taking extra time to fill out a chart and then it becomes obsolete if we need extra time on a subject, breeze through it, or just are super interested in a topic and want to explore it further.

 

Now, please don't think I'm arguing with the way you all are doing things. Like I said I am new to this whole thing and I am sure I have a lot to learn that you have figured out. What I am getting at here, is that I would like you to tell me why I should consider this.  How it help us? Do I need to do it, if what we are doing is working? 

 

I should say that I am not really concerned with finishing a certain book by any special date in May (or whenever) and I am not really concerned with a grade number. I have a 7 yr old doing 3rd grade math and a 10 yr old doing 7th grade vocabulary but both of them are in WWE1  and  ancient history, so being done with "2nd and 5th grade" at a certain date doesnt really matter to me. I just plan to school year round taking short days or vacations when we feel we need it. (2 grandparents have died this fall and we have schooled countless days in hospital waiting rooms already so I keep thinking how if I had spent hours on a lesson plan it would be clear out the window anyway). I am happy with the progress we are making in most subjects. Is this not a good approach?  

 

I do look ahead for science and history to request library books and purchase science kits a week or two ahead of time. This way when we get to Ancient China I already have literature choices and extra reading assignments or when we need owl pellets I have them here and ready.  Honestly I asked DH and we both were at a loss to benefits for this that would outweigh the extra work involved.

[EmilyGF]

Elliott, I asked this question because 8filltheheart has had children who have achieved highly and she said that she does a plan for each child beginning in 3rd grade.

 

I want my children to achieve, and I've seen homeschoolers get side-tracked, and so I decided to look into this.

 

Emily

[WahM]

Ok, I am a newbie so forgive my ignorance here, but I have to ask why you would recommend this and what the main benefits of this extra work is? This is our first year home schooling, the first couple months I tried time4learning but found TWTM quickly when I realized that online schooling by video was not my cup of tea. So we pretty much started all of our curriculum for the year later than I would have planned it. Then I found Singapore to not work for my older DD at all and switched to Saxon. Meaning we pretty much stated this math book in early October.

Anyway, my "plan" is bascialy to do each subject on a schedule for set time and move forward as mastery allows. We somewhat follow the schedule guidelines for time and schedule from TWTM. I don't really see the benefit of going through the Saxon book and assigning pages and lessons to each day and preparing a folder for it in advance when it is so simple for us to just get out the book and do the next lesson. If we feel like it or have extra time we do two. We work on the next page of spelling and do the next day in WWE, Same way with history. We read the next chapter, do the next set of activity guide pages, etc.

 

I feel like if I were to pre-plan lessons 38-41 for next week Im just taking extra time to fill out a chart and then it becomes obsolete if we need extra time on a subject, breeze through it, or just are super interested in a topic and want to explore it further.

 

Now, please don't think I'm arguing with the way you all are doing things. Like I said I am new to this whole thing and I am sure I have a lot to learn that you have figured out. What I am getting at here, is that I would like you to tell me why I should consider this. How it help us? Do I need to do it, if what we are doing is working?

 

I should say that I am not really concerned with finishing a certain book by any special date in May (or whenever) and I am not really concerned with a grade number. I have a 7 yr old doing 3rd grade math and a 10 yr old doing 7th grade vocabulary but both of them are in WWE1 and ancient history, so being done with "2nd and 5th grade" at a certain date doesnt really matter to me. I just plan to school year round taking short days or vacations when we feel we need it. (2 grandparents have died this fall and we have schooled countless days in hospital waiting rooms already so I keep thinking how if I had spent hours on a lesson plan it would be clear out the window anyway). I am happy with the progress we are making in most subjects. Is this not a good approach?

 

I do look ahead for science and history to request library books and purchase science kits a week or two ahead of time. This way when we get to Ancient China I already have literature choices and extra reading assignments or when we need owl pellets I have them here and ready. Honestly I asked DH and we both were at a loss to benefits for this that would outweigh the extra work involved.

For me it makes it easier! Maybe it's because I was a teacher before, so I'm used to it. I plan out a 2-4 weeks at a time, get all work in folders/binder, I have a checklist for me, to make sure we get it done, and in my checklist I have little notes for what books and pages to read, videos to watch, what to review, etc. I like haveing a basic plan for what needs to get done over the course of a school year rather than if we have time we'll do it or doing too many pages with out it really sinking in. I'd rather move through things at a steady pace and know exactly what needs to get reviewed or not. I also have a few curriculums on PDF that I need to print out and I copy pages instead of using the work book (as allowed by company) because I have more than one kid that will need to use it.

 

It's all personal choice and what works best for US.

[FairProspects]

I think it depends on how many programs and subjects you have going too. I still wrote things down when I had younger kids, but it was in pencil and I could mostly keep it straight in my head what we were doing each day without planning ahead. Now however, I've got MCT, Latin, 2 sciences, history, math supplements, etc. and I can not stay ahead of all the materials we need for experiments, books from the library, who is on what page of which book and so on. My planning allows me to look ahead at books needed and materials lists and see when we will move on to new books. It also allows me to save time by going to the right pages and having any work printed out ahead of time.  I have to gear up for the hands-on parts of math and science as we transition into January, for example, since we will finish up our current books.

 

As for actual details of planning, I pick one subject my kids really enjoy and choose to focus on that each year as well as a couple of skills they need to improve. I use a moving ahead in their strengths and shoring up their weaknesses approach. Then I use HST+ to input materials, along with spreadsheets for SOTW. Sometimes I make materials lists if there are a lot of experiments and projects for a certain week otherwise I just double check materials on the weekends. I look ahead at the spreadsheets and order books for SOTW 3-4 chapters in advance.

[8filltheheart]

Ok, I am a newbie so forgive my ignorance here, but I have to ask why you would recommend this and what the main benefits of this extra work is? This is our first year home schooling, the first couple months I tried time4learning but found  TWTM quickly when I realized that online schooling by video was not my cup of tea. So we pretty much started all of our curriculum for the year later than I would have planned it. Then I found Singapore to not work for my older DD at all and switched to Saxon. Meaning we pretty much stated this math book in early October.

Anyway, my "plan" is bascialy to do each subject on a schedule for set time and move forward as mastery allows. We somewhat follow the schedule guidelines for time and schedule from TWTM. I don't really see the benefit of going through the Saxon book and assigning pages and lessons to each day and preparing a folder for it in advance when it is so simple for us to just get out the book and do the next lesson. If we feel like it or have extra time we do two.  We work on the next page of spelling and do the next day in WWE, Same way with history. We read the next chapter, do the next set of activity guide pages, etc.

 

I feel like if I were to pre-plan lessons 38-41 for next week Im just taking extra time to fill out a chart and then it becomes obsolete if we need extra time on a subject, breeze through it, or just are super interested in a topic and want to explore it further.

 

Now, please don't think I'm arguing with the way you all are doing things. Like I said I am new to this whole thing and I am sure I have a lot to learn that you have figured out. What I am getting at here, is that I would like you to tell me why I should consider this.  How it help us? Do I need to do it, if what we are doing is working? 

 

I should say that I am not really concerned with finishing a certain book by any special date in May (or whenever) and I am not really concerned with a grade number. I have a 7 yr old doing 3rd grade math and a 10 yr old doing 7th grade vocabulary but both of them are in WWE1  and  ancient history, so being done with "2nd and 5th grade" at a certain date doesnt really matter to me. I just plan to school year round taking short days or vacations when we feel we need it. (2 grandparents have died this fall and we have schooled countless days in hospital waiting rooms already so I keep thinking how if I had spent hours on a lesson plan it would be clear out the window anyway). I am happy with the progress we are making in most subjects. Is this not a good approach?  

 

I do look ahead for science and history to request library books and purchase science kits a week or two ahead of time. This way when we get to Ancient China I already have literature choices and extra reading assignments or when we need owl pellets I have them here and ready.  Honestly I asked DH and we both were at a loss to benefits for this that would outweigh the extra work involved.

 

There are multiple different issues that require my lesson planning.  First, I do not teach my children together for the most part.   Each one follows their own curriculum.  The only subject I have combined kids in this yr is high school lit analysis and comp.   They do separate literature, but I have them combined for a smaller course I am doing with them focused around poetry and short stories for group discussions and essay writing discussions (though their essays don't necessarily come from this class.....we just use our discussion to discuss types of analytical essays that can be written and how to go about improving essay style).    

 

So....#1--I cannot keep track of where 4 different students are on a daily basis in my head. 

#2--I write their lesson planners to them so they know what is expected from them that day and they can work independently while I work with other children.

 

But, here are the main reasons:

 

I am a better teacher when I have sat down and previewed all the materials I want to cover and I have generated plans that accomplish the specific goals I want to achieve.   This article, The 4 Hallmarks of Jesuit Pedagogy:  Prelection, Reflection, Active Learning, Repetition, has really influenced how I teach.  I have modified how I do prelection to fit our homeschool b/c it is different than a classroom setting.   Prelection for me means preparing myself for the goals/objectives of the lesson so that I can in turn communicate that to my kids.  http://web.archive.org/web/20100414225419/http://school.jhssac.org/faculty/cheneym/documents/Section_13__FOUR_HALLMARKS_OF_JESUIT_EDUCATION.pdf

 

Which leads to---I do not use prefab curriculum.   I design what my kids are doing on a daily basis.   When I have purchased something that came with daily assignment written out, I have been lazy.   I let the plans do the planning and wing it through the plans.   That is definitely not optimal for me.   I need to engage with the material before I expect my kids to b/c it holds me accountable for what is going to take place.     I have to take time to generate assignments, forge a path, and generally know where each child is going via each assignment. 

[Guest]

I cheat and use Memoria Press yearly plans for my younger kids. All done!

 

Seriously, though, I have a table I use of 5 days by 5 subjects. My husband created it for me years ago. www.donnayoung.org has some you can print free.

 

Most books are "Lesson 1, Lesson 2" so are easy to plan out. {We use a LOT of Rod and Staff [math, english, spelling.} The MP Lit is vocab and read on day one, do comp qs on day two, rinse and repeat, maybe add in an activity or 2. Science is read chap on day 1, do lab on day 3, do lapbook review on day 5. {We use Real Science 4 Kids.}

 

Usually, I do one week at a time so I can be flexiable and scribble all over my plan then keep the nice clean copy in my computer. Doing a year at a time is a bit daunting.

 

Many programs have schedules so it is just a case of opening them up and going each day.

 

I do not make plans for my older guys. BJU Distance Learning does that for me. We have also used K12 as Independants. I have learned the very painful hard way that for our family, we NEED pre-made plans or nothing happens. No shame in it.

[Melissa in Australia]

I do a lesson plan for each child at the beginning of the year. it outlines exactly what books they will be doing on which day, and that is it. They then work through the books a lesson a day. I don't find any need for making out extensive lesson plans  in detail per day as a primary school teacher would do.

Teachers mostly need do a lesson plan as they use a combination of books and jump around between them all, skipping and choosing as they go, secondly teachers have to be held accountable for their lesson contents, thirdly teachers have to prove that they are following the state or federal curriculum guidlines. I don’t have to do any of these things. I have found that mostly homeschool curriculum has the lesson planning already done for the user.

[Maela]

I love planning. Especially far in advance. It's like an addiction! But I've (finally) come to realize that all that planning is (for me anyway) a huge waste of time. Things change. I've recently decided that I'm just going to plan a week at a time. Actually just what I think would take about a week. I plan it out and make a check list so dd can see what she is going to do in the next five days or so. How many math pages, ETC pages, what our focus in science will be and what we'll do...etc. She decides what she wants to work on each day. If we don't finish it in a week that's fine (she does have to work for a certain amount of time each day though.). I plan and make a new checklist when that one is done.

Lately, I've been making science and geography more interest-led. So I'm taking notes when either of the kids ask those why?/how? Questions, and then that becomes a large focus for the next week. I really like that about only planning a week at a time. I can take their questions seriously and they're learning things they're truly interested in.

[Maela]

Ok, I am a newbie so forgive my ignorance here, but I have to ask why you would recommend this and what the main benefits of this extra work is? This is our first year home schooling, the first couple months I tried time4learning but found TWTM quickly when I realized that online schooling by video was not my cup of tea. So we pretty much started all of our curriculum for the year later than I would have planned it. Then I found Singapore to not work for my older DD at all and switched to Saxon. Meaning we pretty much stated this math book in early October.

Anyway, my "plan" is bascialy to do each subject on a schedule for set time and move forward as mastery allows. We somewhat follow the schedule guidelines for time and schedule from TWTM. I don't really see the benefit of going through the Saxon book and assigning pages and lessons to each day and preparing a folder for it in advance when it is so simple for us to just get out the book and do the next lesson. If we feel like it or have extra time we do two. We work on the next page of spelling and do the next day in WWE, Same way with history. We read the next chapter, do the next set of activity guide pages, etc.

 

I feel like if I were to pre-plan lessons 38-41 for next week Im just taking extra time to fill out a chart and then it becomes obsolete if we need extra time on a subject, breeze through it, or just are super interested in a topic and want to explore it further.

 

Now, please don't think I'm arguing with the way you all are doing things. Like I said I am new to this whole thing and I am sure I have a lot to learn that you have figured out. What I am getting at here, is that I would like you to tell me why I should consider this. How it help us? Do I need to do it, if what we are doing is working?

 

I should say that I am not really concerned with finishing a certain book by any special date in May (or whenever) and I am not really concerned with a grade number. I have a 7 yr old doing 3rd grade math and a 10 yr old doing 7th grade vocabulary but both of them are in WWE1 and ancient history, so being done with "2nd and 5th grade" at a certain date doesnt really matter to me. I just plan to school year round taking short days or vacations when we feel we need it. (2 grandparents have died this fall and we have schooled countless days in hospital waiting rooms already so I keep thinking how if I had spent hours on a lesson plan it would be clear out the window anyway). I am happy with the progress we are making in most subjects. Is this not a good approach?

 

I do look ahead for science and history to request library books and purchase science kits a week or two ahead of time. This way when we get to Ancient China I already have literature choices and extra reading assignments or when we need owl pellets I have them here and ready. Honestly I asked DH and we both were at a loss to benefits for this that would outweigh the extra work involved.

I think I understand and mostly agree with you. I think it's just a personality thing though.

[sbgrace]

For me lesson planning is about having a pick up and go system. For some subjects, I just do the next thing in the text. If we struggle with concepts or pacing, I add things/modify instruction/repeat, etc. These are subjects like math and most of our language arts subjects. I think this is similar to what you do as well.

 

For other subjects, I want to be able to implement them as easily as I do the above. So I organize those materials and plans in folders. For science, I have actual lesson plans, video links, library books I plan to use, experiments, and copies of all handouts or similar materials.   I grab electricity and go with it when we're ready for that unit. Then I can work through it with a "do the next thing" mentality. History works the same way, except I'm using SOTW. So my folders correspond to the text topics. In each unit type folder, I have the activities I want to do along with any copies or similar things needed, videos or books to add, etc. I did a similar thing for composition this year. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I'm using bits of various things organized into an over-all framework and sequence.

 

I like pulling together details into a well organized whole and I think it's one of my strengths. That's just personality.  One year, because we were moving, I went with all open and go material that didn't need extra planning. I was bored. I found myself adding to the planned history, tweaking the science, etc. Finally the boys asked to do what we were doing before, so I went back to the above. I wasted some money and learned a lesson about myself. I go with my personality. If I hated it, I wouldn't do it.

 

I did a similar type of planning when I taught high school. I hated having to fill in the silly plan books the week ahead. It was a waste of time for me. I imagine, though, some teachers think that way and use their plan books to actually plan.

 

I think this is largely a personality thing and likely driven by the needs of particular kids sometimes too. I can also see a need for daily planning/scheduling increasing as we get older.

[MerryAtHope]

I make yearly plans, rather than daily plans. Daily plans burn me out--both in making them and in trying to keep them! So I make longer-term plans, and write down what we actually do. It works because we meet each morning and go over the previous day's work for 10-30 minutes, so I know what they are doing, if they are keeping up with a diligent pace, and so on.

 

For example, this year my son is doing two semester-long history classes. For government, the plan is for him to read a lesson per day (Notgrass) and to do two short papers (he gets to choose the topic based on options in the book). 

 

For Japanese History & culture (self-designed course--he's also studying Japanese) I chose a spine text I found online and several historical lit. books to read. He'll do one longer history paper. 

 

Time frame for each is an hour per day for the semester he's doing that class.

 

I have some samples and some description of the plans I keep in my blog about my  Teacher Binder.

 

I also have a 4-part series on planning for the year:

 

Priorities and Passions
Creating a Workable Routine
Implementing a New Routine
A Typical Day

 

Happy planning!

[robsiew]

I've chosen curriculum that is pretty much "do the next thing".  So, for those things that have "lessons" to them, I enter all the lessons for each child and subject into HST (Homeschool Tracker) during the summer.  Then, each week I mark completed those we got through and schedule lessons for the next week.  They get a "to do" sheet from a report I can run in the program.   The digital plan has really eased up my planning time.  It takes a chunk of time to enter everything during the summer, but pays off in only 1-2 hours of work per week during the school year.

 

History is a bit different in that we use Truth Quest.  Basically we read books and do a bit of lapbooking for history.  I printed out the lapbooks from TQ at the beginning of the year for each child and we just pick the next one (sometimes we skip some).  We go down the reading list in TQ and about once a month I order the next topics coming up from the library or put on reserve those I can't get.

 

So... I really don't have a planner.... I like to be flexible and not feel "behind" so I don't plan more than a week at a time.  This is fairly simple though because of the curriculum we choose.

 

I have done more robust plans in the past.  I've used a 2 page spread with boxes for each subject for each day of the week and sketched out large goals, then filled in the weeks as we went.  I just found I was consistently just writing in the next lesson and it drove me crazy if we had unscheduled time off (sick kids, someone needs help, etc.) and we got "behind".  Then I'd have to re-write all my plans.  Also, if a child worked slower or faster than I expected once again I had to re-write everything. This way I can schedule by the week.  If we don't get to something one week or a child works slower than expected no problem... just schedule it again this week!