What's the point of planning?

[Blessed5x]

I feel really dumb asking this. This is my 2nd year homeschooling. I always hear about people planning their lessons.
What is the point of this? How does it work? For example, my kids do Saxon math. Would I grab a calendar/agenda and everyday write in what lesson they should be working on? What if something happens where they're unable to do math for 1-3 days? Then I have to go and erase and change all the upcoming lessons that I had written in....?
 

So far I haven't "planned" anything. Everyday we just do the next lesson in the book. And we finish, when we finish. 

Am I missing something. Am I supposed to "plan"? Will writing all their lessons down help in some way?

 

Please forgive me for my ignorance...still new to all this...or at least it still feels new... :/

 

Thanks!!

[Chrysalis Academy]

Some of us can't help ourselves.   :huh:  If you aren't so afflicted, and what you are doing is working for you, don't worry about it!!

 

I think it's partly a style thing. Like cooking.  Some people plan out their menu a month in advance, some people walk into the kitchen at dinner time, open the fridge, and think, Hmm, what shall we eat tonight?  And everything in between.

 

Some of the reasons a person might plan, (besides being neurotic!  :laugh: ) is that they need to order books to have on hand when needed, either from the library or to purchase.  Or maybe they are on a budget and have to make all their homeschool purchases once a year, when the tax return comes, or something.  I'm sure there are other reasons!

 

But some of us plan just because we think it's fun.  ;)  :D

[Tawlas]

If I don't roughly plan out how much we should have done by a certain time, I find I end up thinking "You know what? They're playing so well right now. I'll let them keep it up for a bit before we do any school" just a little bit too often lol. I end up being behind and we don't get done at a decent time in the summer. If I have the "finish chapter X by the last week in January" or whatever looming, I'm more likely to just buckle down and get it done :) PLus I have a step daughter whom I home school and I like to plan time off when she's visiting her other parent's home.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't plan. The only exception is making sure I have needed materials for any hands on stuff.  Generally I just open the book where we left off and we work until we've had enough.  Although going on year 8 now and I have started making what are sort of assignment sheets.  Usually I write them out the morning of.  This really is just a general list of the subjects I want to cover that day.  They like the heads up and I like being reminded of what I wanted to get through.  But, again, no real planning involved.

 

 

[The Girls' Mom]

Planning looks different for different folks.  No one method is right.  

For me, I have a need to plan out the year to fit within a certain number of days.  I adjust lessons accordingly, and try to make sure things like big essays from English and a huge paper from science do not overlap.  I don't put them in my planner..rather I put the lessons in a spreadsheet that is numbered.  Each week I pull a weeks worth of lessons off my spreadsheets and put them in my planner.  Keeps us on track without having to rearrange the whole planner if we get sick or something.

 

[FairProspects]

We don't get things accomplished if I don't have a plan. The correct pages won't be printed out to be completed, I won't have the materials for the project in the house, and the correct library books won't be checked out if I haven't requested them. I will also completely forget about that cool webquest that fits perfectly with our study of the Constitution if I don't have it written down.

 

I plan to keep us on track with the best supplemental materials and projects. I also design a lot of our work based on interests and skills. When I have kids running in different directions with interests, that ends up being a lot of different topics and I plan to keep them all straight.

[clementine]

I am a planner.  I love to fill out our calendar with a schedule.  BUT...I only fill out a week in advance.  

 

That way, if a math lesson doesn't get done or if remedial work needs to take place before another lesson should be done, I can add that in.  So, if I have math pg 75 to be completed on Thursday, but it doesn't get done, I put a red arrow from it to Friday or to the following week.  I then write in all of our lessons for the following week.  

 

My kids were always able to look in the plan book to see what is scheduled - in case I was on the phone or starting a load of laundry.  

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

I've only got one so most of my planning looks like stacks of books balancing in a specific order. I have a list for history so I remember what supplemental reading or Horrible History watching I meant to do. Plenty of lists for religion too, since I'm compiling my own program. That's about it.

[Barb_]

I've been at this since 1994 and I've never planned in advance. I prefer to pull resources on the fly and do the next thing. I'm good at remembering to pull supplemental books and videos ahead of time, but I don't plan how I'll use them. I don't plan meals either, as chrysalis mentioned upthread. How in the world will I know what I want to eat next Thursday?? Lol, I'm more of a follow your bliss type. I get up in the morning and think, "What do I feel like doing today?" For my personality type, that's the main benefit of homeschooling. There is room enough for all flavors of homeschooling mom

[Hunter]

I'm a little OCD, from my PTSD and repeated episodes of malnutrition. The brain is an organ made mostly of fat. It's a little raw, now. Oh, well.

 

I need to see things broken up into charts. I never really follow the charts, I just need to SEE them. Once everything is all organized into a chart of ONE way that is POSSIBLE, my brain is able to quiet down and go do something else. My brain seems to turn everything into a puzzle to be solved. Curriculum is just one thing that I unnecessarily turn into a puzzle.

[ErinE]

I feel really dumb asking this. This is my 2nd year homeschooling. I always hear about people planning their lessons.

What is the point of this? How does it work? For example, my kids do Saxon math. Would I grab a calendar/agenda and everyday write in what lesson they should be working on? What if something happens where they're unable to do math for 1-3 days? Then I have to go and erase and change all the upcoming lessons that I had written in....?

 

So far I haven't "planned" anything. Everyday we just do the next lesson in the book. And we finish, when we finish. 

 

Am I missing something. Am I supposed to "plan"? Will writing all their lessons down help in some way?

 

Please forgive me for my ignorance...still new to all this...or at least it still feels new... :/

 

Thanks!!

 

This is my fourth year.  :scared:

 

I've done many variations.

 

One year, I planned 180 days, across all subjects. That plan flew out the window when my kids went really fast some weeks. and slowed down on others.

 

I quickly realized that planning the skill subjects, reading, writing, and math, was not possible. If my child needed more time or accelerated, I needed to meet his or her needs, not my schedule.  Reading, writing, and math are done almost every weekday so they don't get behind.

 

Another year, I planned 36 weeks, printed out all the paper, located all the materials, and filed them away. This worked better, but I found it very exhausting printing and sorting everything.

 

This year (and last), I minimized our loose paper use. Most subjects are done in composition notebooks or notebooks I've bound. For content subjects (like science, history, literature, grammar), I have a list of books I want the kids to read, but I don't plan out the year. I fill out their assignment books weekly. I don't write assignments down any further out because something may come up like a field trip, family visit, or medical situation. At 6-8 weeks, I'll do a major review of the kids' progress to be sure we're on track to finish. If we're behind on content subjects, I pick one subject to double up on until we're caught up.

[IsabelC]

As others have pointed out, planning is a tool, not an obligation. How much planning you do, and how you do it, is an individual choice. If you are already happy with how things are going, and you and the children are getting what you want out of your home education, then there is absolutely no need to change how you do it.

 

It could be, of course, that you do already plan, but just don't do it in a written or formal way. Perhaps you looked at your Saxon math when you first bought it and estimated that you wanted to cover x pages per day or per week, then you mentally rounded up so as to allow for sick or busy days or occasional breaks from math? That's still planning.

[kirstenhill]

For me the biggest reasons to "plan" is to figure out how many lessons per week I would need to do to finish a curriculum in a particular school year of X number of weeks. We don't do history or science every day. But do we need to read three or four lessons per week to finish in 34 weeks?

 

I also might want to plan out what library books to request when so that we have some lit that matches up with our history. I attempt to "plan" my science lessons at least a week in advance, so we have fewer days where we go to do a science experiment and discover we can't do it because we happen to be out of Hydrogen Peroxide or whatever.

 

I wanted DD to have a lighter year for math this year so I tried to figure out if it would work to have some weeks of only doing 4 days of math and still finish the book. On the other hand my DS7 is over a year "ahead" in math and loves to do as much as he can each day, so I don't plan at all - he just does as much as he likes each day and I order a new book when he has a few pages left.

[hornblower]

There's a difference between planning & scheduling, kwim?  I need to plan otherwise stuff doesn't get done at all. Not even fun stuff.

So I make plans & then I transfer plans to schedules (yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily)

Transferring plans to schedules is more of an art than a science though for me. It requires flexibility and ability to go with the flow while keeping the big picture of the plan in mind.

[Artichoke]

There's a difference between planning & scheduling, kwim? I need to plan otherwise stuff doesn't get done at all. Not even fun stuff.

 

So I make plans & then I transfer plans to schedules (yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily)

 

Transferring plans to schedules is more of an art than a science though for me. It requires flexibility and ability to go with the flow while keeping the big picture of the plan in mind.

This is what we do as well.

 

With a high schooler who debates, has online classes, and various volunteer projects; planning and then scheduling is essential for us. We do most of our planning together in the summer. Then each week we schedule the work that needs to be done along with other activities. We always do this together with dd taking taking the lead. I'm hoping it's a skill that she'll continue to use through college and beyond.

 

This weekly schedule has been even more important since she's the only child left at home. It's too easy for the two of us to head off somewhere fun or out to lunch and not complete work during the day.

[Seasider]

In the early days of using only WTM (the book, when SOTW 1 first came out) with 3 young kids, I needed to plan because lessons weren't clearly laid out and I felt I needed a timeframe to work with.

 

Now that I am down to one at home and so many things I use are divided into actual lessons, "planning" translates to looking a few days ahead to make sure I have the proper supplies on hand for science experiments, history & art projects. Other than that we are pretty much do the next thing.

 

Oh, I do look ahead to request library books.

[Dory]

I plan it out so that I know how much needs to be done daily/weekly/monthly.Otherwise I either push the kids too hard or nothing at all gets done. I get look at my schedule at the end of the week and know how far off track we are and what needs to be done in the next week.

 

When I plan I also am better able to give myself breaks because I know we have the room for them. I'm not just guessing that we can, or just grabbing the breaks when we absolutely need them (although we have had a couple of those too). We have break times and space allowance for extras that might come up. I love how much more flexible I feel when I have put the effort into planning my year.

[Crimson Wife]

Some programs like Saxon and Horizons have daily lessons and others like Singapore don't. So I have to assign pages so that my kids know what to do.

[73349]

If what you're doing works, that's what you should do. :)

 

I mostly plan for the sake of things that aren't just Do The Next Lesson. E.g., for next year, we're going to Logic of English Essentials; as long as we do a lesson every week, the book will get done. On the other hand, I am going to do DIY science, and I need to think ahead to find library books, activities, field trips, etc. Otherwise, I'll be like, "Um... oh, we should do some science. What was I meaning to do? Oh, I don't have the stuff for that. Okay, we'll do science next week...."

 

Also, for those elementary math books that are meant to be done in a quarter or semester, I don't want to suddenly run out of pages just because DS had a couple of math-happy weeks.

[lea_lpz]

It's about striking a balance. I just started using The Ultimate Homeschool Planner. It has year planning- which is just figuring out when can't you do school ie, vacations, holidays, family visiting, co-op's etc. and to list family goals, academic and charter goals for each student. That gives some clarity about what needs to be done. Then monthly planning- look at a monthly calendar, pencil in appts, extra curriculars, social events, etc to realistically plan your month. Review last month- did you work towards the academic, character, family goals? Evaluate. Think about supplies you need for the next month. Library books? Any special craft supplies? That sort if thing. Weekly planning is planning the nitty gritty about your week- such as math, Lang, hist, etc but I even pencil that in since it can change. If you don't want to get that specific you could just write some thing like 20 min of math every day. Then set the timer and where they are done they are and you just pencil it in how many pgs they actually did later. I basically do that for reading, spelling, phonics, math, and grammar.

[Jackie]

I don't plan things like RightStart, in which you just do the next thing in the book.

 

I do make some plans for things that aren't scheduled, like how much of Grammar Islamd I might want to cover in one sitting. Other subjects I pull together myself from a larger variety of resources, and those I plan out to have an order to things and not completely forget resources I would love to include. I'm fantastic at having a million things on the shelves and using none of them; planning ensures I remember to use the resources at my fingertips.

[rocassie]

I write down what subjects on which days and the specific lesson from the book we are doing on a weekly worksheet that I print out.  Say Rightstart Level C, Lesson 90. (I have different kids at different levels so it helps me writing down each specific lesson)

I read over said lessons(kind of skim), make any copies or printoffs required.  Basically have any necessary materials ready.

 

I also do Five In A Row so I jot down notes of what I will focus on each day.  It's not super detailed just a gist. I gather necessary books and write down any videos/internet sites to visit.

[Rebecca in KY]

Most of our curricula is open-and-go. I do have a weekly spreadsheet that shows which subjects we do on which days; I aim for an even spread of time requirement and mental exertion. For example, right now we alternate days for math drill and copywork, because both of those require lots of mental effort; I don't want DS having to do both the same day. I've made several adjustments to the spreadsheet as we've gone through the school year because needs and abilities change. I like having a visual checklist that I created, that I know my son can handle, and that tells me, "you've done enough today."

[AMJ]

Some of my curricula require a little teacher prep, and others don't.  Some topics I have no curriculum for, and those I plan as I can or just wing it as we go.  Every day I write down what we do in a weekly planner, as a form of keeping track.  This gives us something to go back to if we get knocked off track or take a holiday break, and gives me an idea if something has been allowed to slide for too long.

 

One big reason, though, for having things planned out to some degree is the growing independence of my kids.  If I don't have things planned out and written they can't just start working and have to wait on me to be ready to tell them what comes next.  By having things lined out (either as part of the curricula, such as their science has, or planned by me ahead of time) my kids can get working while I fix breakfast, and can pick something up and keep working if I get called away from "class" time.  I also have started assigning "homework", which is nothing more than the work I want them to finish which doesn't require my direct involvement.  They can come to me with questions or if they have trouble, but usually they work quite happily on their own (without Mom's penchant for lengthy lectures on every detail).

 

I do schedule things a bit, but there is room for flexibility in the schedule.  Math I want done first thing in the morning, since I have found that that time is the best for my kids.  They simply don't do as well on Math when they do it later in the day.  Once I am done in the kitchen it is "class" time, in which we gather around the table and take care of topics that need me to instruct or lead the studies.  Interruptions to this occur as necessary for our scheduled personal training or needed housework, but we have usually finished "class" time by lunch or soon after, and the rest of the day is "homework" (independent work time).

 

Planning, for me, is familiarizing myself in advance with the requirements for the materials coming up in the next week or month.  Rigid schedules always fall apart on us, but not having an idea what to do next cripples us for longer than it takes to figure out what comes next (it stops the momentum and causes doldrums).

 

You will figure out what works for you and your kid(s) as you go.  Don't stress it.  But I do recommend keeping a record of what you do get covered on each day.  That doesn't have to take long, and it can save your sanity later.

 

[Justified]

I sort of plan out what texts I want to cover so I can make sure I have them on hand. Lately, my son drives me crazy because he wants to know what's next and generally I am just winging it. Since math takes forever due to distraction and general wiggles, I make him switch to another subject every six to ten math problem. I just write it in the margin what to switch to next. He loves this.

 

One thing that public schools (around here )do well at is teaching children to use planners. I am not sure if we will homeschool high school for athletic reasons (hubby's reason) so I would like my children to be prepared to manage a schedule on their own. There is a great two app system. One app is for teachers to set up a class schedule with assignments and the other app is for the student who can add the teacher's class schedule into their calendar. Student knows what's due and when, helpful websites to complete assignments, class times and other planning tools. I played around with it and it really is a smart idea with lots of helpful features like color coding. I am thinking about it seriously in the coming years.

[EndOfOrdinary]

My son makes my head spin. If I do not plan, I can easily become overwhelmed by all that he has going on, how large his goals are, and how very unprepared I feel. By setting it all out, I can tell myself, "see, it works." That is rather soothing when it feels like everyday is the last three months of Junior year.

 

As much as part of me knows that my job is just to have a happy, healthy, citizen by the time he is 17, at this point Ds wants to have saved the world, empowered a generation, and have a fairly large scholarship to a fancy school at 17. A plan helps me merge those two things and still laugh at the fact he got his hand stuck in the honey jar this morning while still in his underwear and managing to get half his head sticky but thought I would not notice. I can be fun mom, he can be awkward, silly kid and we can still get chemistry done by June.

[MotherGoose]

I don't plan math on paper, although I will periodically count the chapters to see if we are "on track" to finish. If we aren't, there's not much I can do about it, as long as our being behind is due to dd needing more time to get a concept and not due to my slackness. I also don't plan teaching a child to read, because again it's a skill that takes more or less time. I do plan history, science, spelling, etc. It keeps me on track. I'm using the 36 week file folder system though. I don't write it down on paper, in general. I don't put down dates, just weeks.

[Tanikit]

I have mostly open and go curricula and as I reach the end of a book I will consider what to use next - we do have shipping issues here but I adjust for that by being adaptable and knowing how to fill the time with other resources. Maybe that is why I have about 3 Math curricula running concurrently - then if one book is finished and I have to wait either to order or for delivery then I have something else I can use in the meantime.

 

I bought the entire SOTW curriculum so that when we are done with one book we can move to the next and it will only be when we are coming to the end of book 4 that I will consider where to go after that. We use a lot of literature and I do have to make sure I have books for science topics too, but I do not look for specific books because our libraries are terrible - I just make do with what is available when I need it.

[....]

I don't really plan much, either.  Twice a year, I get an idea of what we want to read, how much math we should get through, etc.  I have a big binder with a calendar and worksheets that I print from the Donna Young website.  As we go through the year, I record (in the binder) what books each kid reads, read-alouds, documentaries, science experiments, field trips, projects and any curriculum that they complete.  At the end of the calendar year, I make a spreadsheet on Excel showing what each kid did that year.  I print one copy out for my records and save them on the computer (you know, in case something happened...at least there is a paper trail).

[RootAnn]

I don't schedule out math since it is a do-the-next-thing and we can be just about anywhere in our math books at any time of year (just finishing, just starting).

 

But some of our stuff is not as clear-cut. Like some of the PP, I need to know how much we need to do each week to 'get done' in a school year or how much we have left to get done.

I never plan for 5 days a week, 36 weeks. That doesn't allow for field trips, days off, sick days, etc. 

 

I also put each subject on its own page(s). Then, I just cross off (or date) when we get it done. I can tell in a glance what to do next and I don't get freaked out if we are 10 weeks, 3 days into the school year and only on Week 8, Day 5. Once I have the plan, I can figure out how many days a week to do a subject or if I need to add it to our "half week" lesson plans.

[Jaybee]

I buy a planner for each child. I use them for two purposes: 1. To keep a record of resources used, number of days school gets done, books read, to plan out each week. This is both for personal records as well as for cover schools when we are in the U.S.  2. As a 'list' for my kids to know what they need to do each day. 

 

But I do not fill it out any further than 1-2 weeks ahead, due to the fact that things end up being switched up too much. It would be very frustrating to have a perfect year's plan worked out, and then to live life the way it actually works out. There would be too many arrows drawn, lines marked out, new items pencilled in, etc. Having the planners helps keep us feeling organized and knowing what is ahead for the day/week, as well as being able to look back and see what I used and when. It also provides a sense of satisfaction when I see what we have accomplished. For each day's assignments, I do not detail--I mainly put lesson numbers or page numbers that are to be done that day.

[Jyhwkmama]

Here is a great past thread on planning. What I took away most from it is the concept of staying on a general schedule so that you finish your curriculum by the end of your school year.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/189482-does-anyone-incorporate-a-filing-system-for-lesson-plans/

[Desert Strawberry]

I didn't plan for the first few years. As we've added more subjects, i'm pulling a lot more stuff together myself, I have more kids, and life is generally more complicated, I need to write stuff down so that we aren't missing things. 

 

I have a yearly plan with subjects assigned by month so that I can see what we can fit in during the year. I have a daily/weekly plan that I fill in on Monday (ish). We check things off as we go. It helps me not have to rack my brain when the kids say, "I'm done!". Did you do your handwriting? Grammar? Reading? and so on. I write everything in pencil, and write as little as possible, not too far in advance. We can just change it if needed. 

When we just used workbooks, I counted off the number of pages we needed to do each day to finish in the allotted time. if I wanted to finish in 6 months, we had to do 2 pages a day. I marked off the pages, and we were done. When we used scripted lessons, we followed the plan in the book. 

 

Now, I mostly make all my own lessons. I need to know who is progressing through what and how fast. When will I need to print more pages, order more books, change up the subject, check out more library books? Did this kid or that one do his memory work this week? Have I checked his writing lately? When was the last time we had art or phonics?

[mom31257]

I plan because we take a lot of breaks to coincide with my dh's school breaks (6 full weeks off during the school year). I will double up and hold off here and there so they aren't mid-chapter or near a test when we break.

 

Some of my curricula isn't full year and plan it periodically depending on the other workload as well.

[hepatica]

 

One big reason, though, for having things planned out to some degree is the growing independence of my kids.  If I don't have things planned out and written they can't just start working and have to wait on me to be ready to tell them what comes next.  By having things lined out (either as part of the curricula, such as their science has, or planned by me ahead of time) my kids can get working while I fix breakfast, and can pick something up and keep working if I get called away from "class" time.  I also have started assigning "homework", which is nothing more than the work I want them to finish which doesn't require my direct involvement.  They can come to me with questions or if they have trouble, but usually they work quite happily on their own (without Mom's penchant for lengthy lectures on every detail).

 

 

 

This!

 

 

I am homeschooling three kids, one each in high school, middle school and elementary school.  Planning allows us all to know  who is doing what when and with whom. We have our lessons in skedtrack, so each child can immediately see what they are doing for the day (or week, as is the case for the 9th grader) and get to work independently. This allows me to run, shower, make breakfast and not go completely wacky. And, they know when they are done, so less whining.

[Korrale]

I write out what lessons we are doing for the day in a teeny notebook. Then my son goes through his list. There is a sense of accomplishment when he crosses everything off each day. It is for him. Not me.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Well, not everyone is using materials with well defined lessons where you just do the next one. ;)

 

I don't plan math, it is just do the next thing.  I do look at the number of lessons and look at the calendar to see what pace I might want to go at.  But I'm not insistent upon finishing the book by a certain date, so there's that. 

 

Everything else requires a different degree of planning depending upon how close to open and ago it is.  So, FIAR would require me to preorder books from the library, any necessary go-alongs, and plan on possible activities.  Many of these plans are in my head and not actually on paper anywhere so there is no erasing (but I'm weird about wanting to keep 20 dozen mental balls up in the air at the same time).

 

But my two older kids have lots of independent things---it is easier on me and them if I have a plan for that so I can give them assignments each week.  DD10's history is just deciding how many pages to read at a time (dividing them into the right size chunks) and typing them into a spreadsheet so I can just say "do the next reading," because that is easier than having her ask me when I am teaching the 5-year-old to read.

 

But if I had a curriculum that was all laid out for me and very open and go, or if I only had 1 or 2 kids, there would be no need to do that much planning.

 

ETA:  Sorry that's so disjointed, apparently I have too many mental balls in the air.

 

 

[TheAttachedMama]

I don't plan things like math, reading, or spelling.   For those types of subjects, we follow the "do the next thing" approach until the book is finished. 

 

However, I do lay out a school year plan for things like SOTW or RSO science.   

 

For RSO science, I plan two days worth of reading that matches up with our RSO labs.  I do this so that I can be sure to have 36 weeks worth of material for us to do.  That way I don't try to plan too much or too little in science. 

 

For SOTW, I lay out a plan that matches up our "Write from History" readings with the SOTW chapter.  I also plan two days worth of history per week.  

 

I also plan 36 weeks worth of read alouds that tie in with certain history topics or science topics....then we just have 'for fun' Sonight read alouds thrown in too.   

 

I could get by without all of this planning.   BUT, I like to do it.   :)  That is the key. 

[HS Mom in NC]

It depends on what your long term goals are.

If you want your kids to take an SAT, PSAT, ACT type test before college and especially if you want to use those scores to help with scholarships or getting into a selective college,  then I suggest some sort of long term planning and regular evaluations of what skill sets and content your child has mastered and what he or she needs to do in each core subject before hmeschool high school graduation. What do you want your child's transcript to look like when he or she applies to a selective college? That requires planning and diligent follow through in a fairly systematic way most of the time for most people. 

If you care about NeoClassical Trivium Education like TWTM recommends, then you need to get certain things done in a certain span of time with a specific focus on Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric stages.  We're planning 3 rotations of a 4 year history cycle, which means we have to cover a certain amount of history by the end of each year. If you don't care about that kind of thing, then it doesn't matter.

 

If you want your child to read something at the high school level in the original foreign language or if you want a child to master a foreign language for education opportunities abroad, you better get to early so they're fluent by high school.

If you want your child to go to a community college instead of homeschooling through all or part of high school, they need to be ready for college level material.  That means finishing high school level content and mastering all high school skill sets by the time they start. Some community colleges have high school level classes, but most are college level classes.

 

Once my kids are schooling full time (age 6 or 7 depending on the kid) we don't skip days.  We do school during school days and during school hours because school is our number one priority M-F, 9 months a year.  There are rarely things of more value to me than school that I would sacrifice school time on task for.  I take time off for surgery, illness, family vacations, major holidays, helping care for someone in hospice and such.  If we lose school time because the specialist (neurologist, immunologist, etc.)  can only see us in a timely way if we schedule an appointment  during school hours, we make up that time. If a very worthwhile enrichment activity comes along, we'll take school off for it, but those are few and far between.

 

Here are detailed descriptions of how people plan with the file folder system:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/517577-planning-full-year-with-filing-system/?hl=%2Bplanning+%2Byear+%2Bwith+%2Bfiling+%2Bsystem&do=findComment&comment=5731699

[Lolly]

I've been at this for....16 years!?! I am far enough in that I can reasonably say it has been done successfully. I don't plan. My only planning is in what curriculum to use. I make sure it is something we can fly with on a day to day without thought. Science, that means lab material must all come with needed supplies. (On the plus side of this, dd20b was able to come home from college and use my biology supplies to prep for her lab practicum and prepare her notebook to be turned in. She decided what we had was superior to her lab at school...)I purchase all needed books/outside source material and have it on hand. Then, during the year, we just proceed from one day to the next, or not if we don't feel like it. Even the pre-year planning doesn't take much that much time. (I will admit that Ivy League colleges were not a goal here. I actually advised mine against them and would have been disappointed had they decided to apply. So, no tiger-mom here.)

 

Quite interestingly, I do not plan meals either...How am I supposed to know what we will feel like eating days in advance?

 

[happypamama]

I haven't read all the replies, but OP, this is not a dumb question. The answer is: it looks different for everyone.

 

My goal with planning is to get everything to the "do the next thing" level. Some things, like DD's Saxon math, are naturally that way, and I know that as we do math four days a week (with extremely rare exceptions that I can't even think of), we will finish the book before the end of the year. Easy! Writing is the next lesson, but that's as far as I plan, because especially with DD and Writing With Skill, a lesson can take two days if it's long.

 

For other things, like Mr. Q science, the next thing is easy to see, but I needed to plan ahead so I could match Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia readings for DD with the Mr. Q chapters for DS1. I also need to look ahead to see what projects I want to do. But I don't necessarily have a specific day planned for each chapter; it's more like, "okay, for our science today [and we do science several days a week, but it's also the first to go if there are really busy days -- it's my least favorite subject, but my kids' natural curiosity has them asking and exploring on their own a lot too, so lack of formal science isn't a huge deal to me as of yet], read these pages/we will do this project.

 

We are using A Child's Geography this year, and I needed to go through it to see what I felt would be an appropriate day's worth of work. So on my OneNote task list, it says "Geography," and when we do that, I'll just go to the separate OneNote list where I have the breakdown of pages and projects, and we will do the next thing on the list. And if we don't get to Geography, I just remove it, and we will do the next thing next time. For their history, which is very independent, I went through and marked what I consider to be an appropriate amount of work for one day, and they see "History" on their task list and know to do the next marked-out chunk. Where I thought a history writing assignment would take multiple days, I indicated that, and how many I expect it to take.

 

Other things I plan much less. I don't necessarily have a set goal with spelling, for instance, because I don't know if they'll hit a wall and need more time for a set of words. Or DD might have a very easy day with Latin and fly through four pages, or she might just do one hefty translation page (the general goal is about two pages -- one review and one new concept, but it varies). And some things are good and beneficial, but not essential, so if we don't finish them, that's okay too. Or I might intend to do something once a week, but then it's so much fun that we will do it several days in a row until done (which is what is happening with DD and Fallacy Detective).

 

I have a subject called General Skills, and adding that has been a fantastic thing for my homeschool. That's where I put logic, spelling, poetry study, preparing their speeches for co-op (monthly), thank you notes they need to write, math or geography drill if needed, and any catch-up worksheets needed for the portfolio. I love this because it gives me a place to stick these subjects without piling too many things on my poor kids. For instance, a friend gave them tickets to an event, so last week, they had notes to write one day, but no spelling. This week, Monday, DS1 did spelling, and DD and I worked through a section of Fallacy Detective. Tuesday we were out most of the day, so regular work was suspended in favor of Art, Geography, Music Study, Picture Study, and Cultural Literacy. Yesterday, both kids worked on their speeches for upcoming co-op (although DD needs to finish hers). Today, DS1 and I will read and discuss a poetry page from R is for Rhyme; we do this most Thursdays, and every other one, he composes a poem in the style discussed. (I highly recommend this for elementary; it is hysterical the subjects they choose!). DD and I will likely do more Fallacy Detective. Getting all the little things without putting too much on us!

[Lori D.]

Hmmm… I see "planning" and "scheduling" as two different things.

 

*Scheduling* is what the original poster is describing -- laying out in advance what will be covered for each subject from each program, book, or resource for each day or each week. Scheduling can also be more general -- a list of materials and projects for the year, in the order to be covered.

 

Some materials, such as boxed curriculum like Sonlight, or some specific curriculum such as Saxon, are pretty much scheduled for you already, so they are just "do the next thing". In those cases, people who do better with checklists and "to do" lists may collate all of those items into one daily or weekly schedule because it helps them see how they are doing in getting through the day, or the week, or the semester, or the overall school year.

 

For people who like to create their own courses using a wide variety of materials that are not "open and go", creating a schedule can be very helpful, so as to not be trying to do too much or too little each day or week. Scheduling can be help in knowing when to put books on hold at the library, so as to have them available right when needed. Scheduling helps order and arrange materials to line up with one another to create small "units" that build on one another (for example, if making a DIY science).

 

Daily or weekly schedules are very helpful for transitioning students into independent working -- they can look at what needs to happen for the day and check it off as they go: lesson XX in Saxon, read pages X-XX in this book for History; do experiment X for science; etc.

 

Scheduling can also be important for families who are doing a lot of outside activities or sports -- a daily or weekly schedule of pages and lessons all laid out in time frames interspersed with the time frames of the outside activities can help both parents AND students juggle a lot of things and get it all done.

 

 

I see *planning* as a different concept -- one that every homeschooler does. Planning involves research and looking ahead -- to next year, or two years to ten years down the line.

 

Planning is the big picture, the looking ahead for several years to decide what order to do science or history to best fit your family's needs/wants, and will help you cover the topics you want to make sure to cover by the time the student reaches middle school or high school.

 

Planning is the advance research, previewing and comparing of curricula and resources to decide what best fits the student's needs and your goals. That includes the planning required for picking specific curricula for each subject, but also researching options to know if you should be planning to make use of local educational options at some point in your homeschooling journey -- whether that is a tutor, a local co-op, a class at the local school, or dual enrollment in high school.

 

Planning is looking ahead at what extracurriculars and outside activities your student(s) will be participating in and what time commitments those will require, so you can make an overall plan for your year of how to work those things in along with your academics. 

 

Planning is looking far ahead to what your student's career and life goals might include, and then researching/incorporating what is needed to help your student get there -- for example, the math progression needed in high school for a STEM degree in college.

 

 

BEST of luck in your planning AND scheduling! ;) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[My3girls]

I tried the planning it all out, and it didn't work for me.  I plan out the big picture like this year we're studying ancients and the human body and then I chose all the books that we will use, which is the hard part.  That's it.  Once I have all the books, we just go from one thing to the next.  I did cut the spines off any workbooks and sort them into 36 week folders so that I have a visual of where we are and where we need to be.  Plus it makes it easier to take school with us as they each have a folder instead of multiple books to lug around.  I have a planner to write things down as we do them so I can look back and see what we did and when for record keeping pruposes.  Today is half full and tomorrow on is empty.  :)  This way saves me a lot of time and keeps me in the moment instead of always looking ahead.  I like it!

[EmseB]

I planned this year in Homeschool Planet's online planner.  If we get behind, the program just shifts everything forward for me if I want, or it will just move the one lesson to the next day and leave the rest alone.

 

I do it because I need the boxes to check.

[MerryAtHope]

I don't plan things like that (other than to say to myself, how much do we need to do per day to finish a level this year?) I know some people don't worry about finishing levels in a year though!

 

The time I spend planning is for things like:

 

what readers and read-alouds do I want to use alongside history? What books do I need to read in advance? I come up with a yearly, rather than a daily plan--and I check things off as I go. I do have a guestimate on how long I think it will take us to do certain books, so that I know I've planned enough to not run out (and maybe have a few optional things available). 

 

How will I teach this literature course--do I want to do discussions, have them answer questions independently...? Or, what books do I want to use a literature  guide for? What guides will I use?

 

A lot of what I use is open and go,  but sometimes there is a small amount of materials set-up, becoming familiar with it etc... to do at the beginning. When I used Sonlight, which plans everything for you, I took a weekend to organize the guide and read certain parts--whatever it takes to not be "surprised" during the year.

 

I also think through what our yearly calendar will look like--not so that it's inflexible, or that curriculum is written in on certain dates--but so that I can see about when we'll finish our year. We start mid-July and end the end of May, and generally school 4.5 day weeks. So, I want to make sure we don't take too much time off and end up not finishing or not getting in enough days--and that the pace will be good for us. 

 

On a daily basis, I mainly write down what we did--not what to do! 

 

I do find that each year, the pacing changes  a bit--what worked well one year doesn't necessarily work the next. Which kid needs me for which subject and what's the other one doing during that time--and so on.

 

Here's a series of posts I did on my blog:

 

Priorities and Passions

Creating a Workable Routine

Implementing a New Routine

Creating Your Teacher Binder

Transcripts, Grades, Record-Keeping

Planning Language Arts Simplified

 

[FloridaLisa]

I'm not a huge planner anymore either. I used to uber-plan for history, pulling together all kinds of material, read alouds, library books, books at different reading levels for my kids, hands-on projects, etc. But the more we've homeschooled, the more I've chosen curriculum that doesn't need much of a plan.  Right now, I'm only really planning history for an older and science for my youngers. 

 

Lisa