Who else is planning for next year now?

[happypamama]

I think this is how I prevent winter doldrums, by starting on next year's planning. I know it'll take me a while because I do it in bits and bobs, as I have time, but if I plan nothing, nothing will happen, especially not for my little ones, because the library isn't very close.

 

I have the main materials I want for the kids, except for Singapore for my fifth grader. I love watching it all come together!

 

I haven't set up next year's OneNote yet, but I'm looking forward to it being easier, now that I know how I want it to look.

 

I'm starting with meshing two US geography programs together, and I'm pretty excited about how that will, or could, work. Also, I'm working on my animal-based program for my early learners.

 

Anyone else making lists and such now?

[Luckymama]

We started talking about 10th grade yesterday :eek:

[Critterfixer]

I'm thinking about planning for next year. Does that count? :laugh:

[73349]

:seeya: Yup. I'll be buying a couple of things this week, and I have some things laid out already. I like to start early and do it in bits and pieces.

[redsquirrel]

I also pass the winter planning for next year.

 

I'd much rather think about the fresh start of next year instead of the slog of this year.

 

one tip: make your science kit NOW.  This is the time to start gathering all those bit and bobs you will need for next year's science. Imagine how happy you will be next year when you need a ping pong ball and a 3' square mirror and you can say "Oh, I have that right in the box"  It is an amazing feeling!

[Aurelia]

I do the same thing when winter starts to get me down. I started planning last month. We were supposed to start new full-year curricula this month, and I changed history, geography and English at the last second, so now I have to plan for the stuff we will be doing from August forward, instead of next January. 

 

So far I have spelling, a semester's worth of science, and only a vague plan for everything else. I think I know what I want to use, but it depends on how well this semester goes, primarily with history, since this is the first time we're not using a curriculum for it. I'm envisioning either spectacular success or abject failure. It's too early to tell at this point. 

[Critterfixer]

 

one tip: make your science kit NOW.  This is the time to start gathering all those bit and bobs you will need for next year's science. Imagine how happy you will be next year when you need a ping pong ball and a 3' square mirror and you can say "Oh, I have that right in the box"  It is an amazing feeling!

 

Good piece of advice!

[mc26]

Me!  I am excited about planning for next year (which will start whenever we finish this year's stuff).  I feel so much more prepared now that we have a year under our belts.  I have about half of what we need so far, and will order a little bit at a time.

[happypamama]

Me! I am excited about planning for next year (which will start whenever we finish this year's stuff). I feel so much more prepared now that we have a year under our belts. I have about half of what we need so far, and will order a little bit at a time.

Congrats on your first year! That definitely makes approaching the next year easier, since you're a veteran now! I know I was a little nervous the first year I was homeschooling "officially," and by that, I mean the first year I had to make a portfolio and report for my child (which was third grade, because our law here is strange, in that it's oddly restrictive in some ways but doesn't require a thing until age eight, but I think that did help ease me into it, because I didn't completely ignore K, first, and second either).

 

Good point about the science kit! I've failed on that the last couple of years. I always think, "it's expensive to get all the stuff at once (especially for chemistry), so I'll get a few weeks' worth at a time," and then I either don't get to a store that has the right stuff or it doesn't fit into that week's budget well, or something. I think I will just get it all together at once this year.

 

And Luckymama -- tenth grade! Wow! I get you; I'm planning for my last year before high school. I can't believe how the time has flown!

[ondreeuh]

I'm definitely planning ahead. My main funds earmarked for school come in July so I'm trying to save purchases for then, but when I see something really cheap I often buy it so I can start previewing it and making sure it's what I want to use. Next year is 8th grade so I'm looking ahead to high school to make sure I'm on a good path.

 

My 1st grader is wrapping things up in LA and science, but I've already got the new stuff already to go. I shouldn't have to buy new stuff for him for quite a while because I bght so much ahead. 😊

[KarenNC]

I've been laying out the syllabus in One Note for a couple of next year's classes we'll do at home (world history and art history), as well as theoretical schedules and likely testing plans (ACT, SAT subject tests, DE, AP, CLEP) through 12th (currently in 9th). As always, all of this is subject to change, including once we've started the classes, since I'm reworking our current government class to include CLEP prep right now. ;) 

 

For 10th, I've got the majority of the materials for world history (the teacher's guide is en route from Better World Books), know what we'll use for math (continue what we've been doing, but need to get the books), which primary courses we're outsourcing and where (chemistry, Latin 2, AP psych through hybrid online program with local high school), *think* I know what we'll use for art history (and so I *think* I have most of the materials). The biggest variable will be comes on offer from our local co-ops and the Virtual Homeschool Group. I won't know about one co-op until late April, VHG in mid-July, and not sure about the other co-op, as this was the first year so I don't know how quickly info will be established for the fall. We use these primarily for electives or support for another class, but If something really good in core courses becomes available, it may change other plans.

[ScoutTN]

Yes, I am. I want to get some things done now so that I can play outside in the spring!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I have been vigorously resisting the urge to plan anything specific for 8th grade, though I am planning in general terms for the transition to high school.  We'll see how long my resolution to *not* overplan lasts!  ;)   4th grade is pretty much do the next thing/follow the rabbit trails, so not too much to plan, as me planning seems to be the trigger for my younger dd to insist that we change everything.  She is a good antidote to me - I'm gaining both maturity and gray hairs from this child! Thanks, baby. ;)  :D

[PeachyDoodle]

I'm planning for next year... and the next... and the next... and the next...

 

It's my favorite time of year. :D

[silver]

I've got my curriculum picked out, but for the most part it is not ordered. I told my husband I'd wait for the tax return to do my $100+ order from RR.

 

I've got the schedules laid out for what I already own. I have ~200 library books picked out to cover science (sight unseen, so I'd guess at least 1/4 of them will wind up being too high a level and returned without reading), but I still need to figure out what order to request them in. I need to make the printable planner pages for next year in Excel. I need to make a few various notebooking pages. I need to figure out what materials we'll need for various science activities. Once I get the order for new stuff, I'll have to plan out how those books will fit into our year.

 

The only problem with planning this early is it gets me so excited about next year that I just want to cut this year short. :tongue_smilie:

[Hunter]

I never stop planning and tweaking. Educational theory is my hobby. It fascinates me. I also have tutoring students who are all over the place in levels and when they start, stop, and restart. So, there is always someone needing a fresh start that I can try a new book or method on.

 

And I self-educate, and as I said, this THEORY stuff is my hobby, so I'll go ahead and pre-read and make my teacher example book and do lessons myself.

 

Vintage math books and explicit phonics and all sorts of other stuff is my entertainment. That makes me both a good and a bad tutor. I definitely set a good example of self-education, and I have an amazing variety of tricks and tools up my sleeve when a student hits a hurdle, but I can be a bit unfocused.

 

I think the students that best benefit from me are the type that text me after midnight from a bus terminal in another city, with a picture of what they are working on and are stuck on. And I can actually get them unstuck. I just got a very early morning text, not too long ago, of a coloring book page from Frozen and the student wanted to know what color crayons to mix to get a different color for blonde hair than the yellow dress. :lol: I have to leave my phone out of the bedroom when spending the night with my significant other or it beeps at all hours for questions from everything from algebra to science experiments gone bad to coloring pages to videos of oddly acting birds. I need to always be self-educating to keep up with these texts.

[TracyP]

I am in the process of ordering books right now. (Science is the only subject that is still up in the air. My (will be) 6th grader has picked what she wants to study, but I'm not sure how to pull it off... and my (will be) 4th grader isn't ready to decide.) Once I get the books, I can start looking through them and making more solid plans. :hurray: I will plan in fits and starts until summer or through summer, more likely.

 

And yes, I think this helps me get through the February hump. This year just needs to keep plugging along like it is - which is great - but *I* need something new to look forward to.

[Penguin]

I have been hyper-focused on science for next year.  I have my text on order and I am picking out the labs. This is an attempt to subdue panic :)

[serendipitous journey]

me!  Am glad for the reminder to make my science kits.  Art too; I hope to do Art Lab for [Little] Kids next year. 

[lots of little ducklings]

I'm having a lot of fun planning American history right now, because that's a new strand I want to add alongside SOTW.  Other than books for that, and several new MIF workbooks, I don't think I have any additional purchases to make.  This year's choices (mostly non-consumable) worked so well that we are just continuing with them.   :hurray:   (It helps that my kiddos are so close together in age; many subjects they are already doing together, and those that are done separately usually have materials that can be passed down.)

 

But actually printing things off, filing things, and so on? Nope.  I don't think I'll start that until summer, because I want to have a better sense of where everyone is as we finish off this year (and because I really dislike that job so I'm good with putting it off as long as possible).

 

 

[Loesje22000]

If dd passes 3 more exams this schoolyear we will start highschool in september.

So yes, I'm planning.

 

Our sequence is different from the USA one, and we don't have transcripts, just exit exams in grade 12 about grade 11 and 12.

So grade 9 and 10 will have more freedom then grade 7 and 8 had.

 

So I'm thinking about the the things I want to do, but couldn't do the last years.

I want to do them before a new round of exams come.

[purpleowl]

I have a general idea of what we're doing next year; it's much the same as this year.  However, I need to work out the details, and yes, I'm working on them now. :)  I am currently re-reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to decide if it should go on next year's reading list, and I have a stack of other books like that to go through as well.  I'll get to the other subjects later.

[prairiewindmomma]

Me!

[serendipitous journey]

Just wondering: what do y'all find makes the next year go smoothly? 

[My3girls]

Yes, I have started. I think I have my "will be" 8th grader's about done. I just have to buy it. The other 2 will be primarily a continuation so not too much to do there.

[FloridaLisa]

This is the time of year I start thinking about what next year might look like. No real planning but big structural questions like co-op or no co-op? Dual enrollment for ds? If yes, I better get start that now. And just 3 at home?  How did I get to this point?!?  Oh the possibilities.  What will my work look like next year?   Once those big questions get decided, I can start filling in the rest.

 

But not now. No planning when I'm trying to bear down and do well with what we've got!  Summer pool days are for planning. :D

 

Lisa

[guilfordlake]

Kind of.  We school year round so dd is just about finished with her current writing curriculum so I'm deciding what will come next for writing.  But other subjects and stuff for ds, not so much.

[JBJones]

Yes, I've been planning for next year (7th grade) for quite awhile. Actually I'm getting ready to take pictures of a few items and post on ebay to try and sell them for next year's materials.

[KarenNC]

Just wondering: what do y'all find makes the next year go smoothly? 

 

For me, it helps to lay out everything into a "do the next thing" format, but without specific dates or days---just lesson by lesson. I put each subject in a separate table and have a column for notes, where I make notes about any extras that aren't included in the main curriculum/spine. That's where I put things like a movie I want my child to watch, historical fiction that goes along with the lesson, a cool learning game I found online, a field trip I want to be sure to remember, etc. I'm much less likely to forget about that great resource that's on the shelf or place I meant for us to go, and I always have much more than we can realistically get to. This forms my main planning, then I move the week's work for each subject into a weekly plan as we go along. Keeping the subjects separate makes it easier to adjust.

 

Everything is always "in pencil." :)  I will be adding, removing, reorganizing, etc as we go along. Inevitably, I'll read about something on the boards I just *have* to include, run into issues of scheduling, decide a resource is too high or low a level, etc.

 

When I started, I used Word documents for the main planning and a paper Homeschooler's Journal for weekly, but I've since found OneNote to be fabulous, especially once we got my daughter her own laptop in middle school. I can set up all the notes I gathered in one notebook and do my main planning, then do the weekly planning/schedule in another notebook that I share with her. I can adjust the weekly schedule and (theoretically) she can check off things as she does them or set up her weekly work flow. The latter does not regularly happen yet, I'm afraid.

[happypamama]

Just wondering: what do y'all find makes the next year go smoothly?

For me, a LOT of overplanning. Like, I will make really detailed lists and plans, although not assigned to a specific day. I get each subject to a list of "do the next thing." Some things come that way easily (Saxon math); for others, I need to decide what is the amount we want to cover in one day. Once I have that, I will put the plans into individual tabs in OneNote. I know I will not cover everything I've intended to cover, but chances are higher if I preplan a lot. So I also print out all the picture study prints I want to use for the year and the note booking sheets I want to use, and I do best if I also have all the music selections lined up, etc. With a DH who works long hours and several small children, I can't depend on weekends for planning because I never know what will be going on.

 

I also put a calendar for each week of this school year into OneNote. At this time, I also go through each week and remove days that I know are non-school days, like birthdays, breaks, and federal holidays when DH will be home from work. Then under each day, I have a list of subjects for that day.

[happypamama]

KarenNC, that was funny -- I thought I had written your post for a second because the first couple of lines were so similar!

 

I am glad I'm not alone, all of you! I really feel like this year has gone pretty smoothly in terms of what we should be doing each day, not a lot of on-the-fly tweaking, and I largely attribute that to all the preplanning (ha, autocorrect just tried to write that as "preplanning binge," which might be accurate) I did late last winter and spring.

[Hunter]

Just wondering: what do y'all find makes the next year go smoothly?

I tend to overbuy books thnking I'm going to stick with something, but then hopping to something else, before I use the books.

 

If I use this planning method, I can schedule purchases and not feel like I need to buy everything right away.

 

[Stellalarella]

Which do I enjoy more?  Teaching the kiddos, or thinking about what and how I want to teach the kiddos.  :)

 

I love thinking about next year.  So, of course I'm thinking about next year.  :)

 

[FarmingMomma]

Oh yes, I've been planning for couple of months now.  Come spring I'll be too busy with the garden, cows, and hopefully hatching some chicks and ducklings, so I like to get the "planning" part of ALL those activities done before the weather turns nice :)  So, I now have a tentative schedule and a list of curriculum purchases to make, I've purchased seeds for the garden, planned when to (hopefully) breed my milk cows, and I have birds separated into breeding pens.  Now if most of these things would just actually go according to plan!

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

I am, but that's because next year is potentially a very expensive year and I need to get an idea on the cost, so I can start saving now. 

[Sammish]

I'm glad I'm not alone in already thinking about next year! It started last week with thinking about how we're going to do Latin next year, and when that got figured out quickly and easily, I decided to start obsessing about <deep sigh> science. I've got about five different options (which require varying levels of work from me) that I need to compare. 

 

Part of the reason I'm thinking about it is because DS is going to spend a week with my parents in early March, which of course means it's a perfect time to plan next year. A week completely to myself! Think of the homeschool-related research I can do!  :001_rolleyes: 

[texasmama]

I'll see you your planning and raise you ordering materials for next year.  :D 

 

I have most of what we need already and have purchased some online courses at a discount ahead of time.  Summer will be the time for making up syllabi for individual home-taught courses.  I will have two in 9th grade so it feels big deal-ish.

[Jackie]

Maybe I'm strange, but I love planning! I find it soothing.

 

Lately, I've been planning our path through BFSU, figuring out a first grade literature list, and gathering resources to start a study of ancient history. Lists and more lists.

[Mnemosyne]

I just started planning for our 'Pre-K' year. DS is wanting to do more and more 'school', so I've decided to jump in this next year. I've got a bunch of stuff planned, but we'll go at his level - I'm not too concerned about getting to a particular point. Pretty much stuff to prepare him for Kindergarten, some basic letter writing, basic counting, animal studies, etc. Mostly arts and crafts, though.

[RootAnn]

I've purchased some things, scribbled notes for others, and pondering where the time went for still others. Like FloridaLisa, I'm trying to get through the rest of this year with what we have (finish strong). I've started to count down how many days/weeks we have of certain subjects -- looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. When the light still seems too far away, I pick up something that I've ordered for next year & browse through it.

 

I also love going through the magalogs that have arrived lately (Memoria Press & Classical Academic Press). They quell my restiveness.

Like texasmama, summer is for the depth planning. It is nice to have some stuff ordered, though. My RR "wish list" is starting to fill up.

[Mrs. A]

I just finished a big chunk of my planning last night. I just have to shop and then break things down and get them ready for our spring/summer term which will start after Easter. It helps me to stay motivated when we're homebound and getting on each other's nerves! 

[happypamama]

I'll see you your planning and raise you ordering materials for next year. :D

 

I have most of what we need already and have purchased some online courses at a discount ahead of time. Summer will be the time for making up syllabi for individual home-taught courses. I will have two in 9th grade so it feels big deal-ish.

LOL, I have pretty much everything already, thanks to Black Friday sales. The big thing I still need is Singapore for the one son.

 

I realized that another reason I'm planning now is because we have some events for our homeschool support group that will be in the spring and early summer, and two of them are my babies, so they'll take some planning from me, leaving less time for planning schoolwork. I want to start our next year around July 1, and I'd like to be ready to go by the end of May, when we finish this year. Also, the conferences around here are in April and May, so if I have done the planning, I will know if I want to look for any extras or art supplies that are expensive to ship.

[FO4UR]

...ever and always...

 

 

I've been looking at my hopes for high school in order to plan backwards. I'm still in the Big Idea stage of the planning while trying to get going on this winter's work. I'm considering renaming January "The Month of Vomit."  We topped it off with a hospital stay for the 2yo (RSV and Pneumonia b/c she's an over-achiever). Needless to say, we have a long haul ahead of us this winter/spring.

 

 

 

[happypamama]

...ever and always...

 

 

I've been looking at my hopes for high school in order to plan backwards. I'm still in the Big Idea stage of the planning while trying to get going on this winter's work. I'm considering renaming January "The Month of Vomit." We topped it off with a hospital stay for the 2yo (RSV and Pneumonia b/c she's an over-achiever). Needless to say, we have a long haul ahead of us this winter/spring.

Yuck! I hope your spring is much more pleasant!

[foxbridgeacademy]

I just ordered my first book for next year, 9th grade is really starting to scare me.

[MrsWeasley]

Yes and no. We don't have strict beginning and end of the year, and we just keep trucking. I had originally planned to start FLL3 next year, but we've already started it. I had hoped to do SotW3 next year, but I'm pretty sure we won't have finished SotW2 by then at this point. I want to do chemistry and physics together in one year, so I'm starting to think about how we will do that, and if we'll order a curriculum or if I'm going to piece something together.

[HeWillSoar]

I've started planning for next year.  This was our first year, and I'm finding it so much easier now to know what I want to do.  Most will just be a continuation of curriculum we are currently using--just getting the next level.  It's all so overwhelming at first but it gets easier. 

[Saddlemomma]

I'm a real nut-case.  I started planning for next year back in October.  I have most of DD's 7th grade stuff except for science and Fallacy Detectives (we are doing Philosophy Adventures this year).  Since we do TOG, I bought Y4, but I wait to purchase the books until about a week before each unit.  That way I can see what's available in the library and reserve what I need or secure substitutes, or I can purchase what I plan to use. Many of our purchases are Kindle books.

 

Science, for us, for the middle school years, is interest led.  This year has been, in order: Virology, Mammals, Genetics/DNA.  Next year, so far, DD has mentioned that she wants to study herbal/homeopathic medicine.  I told her that will involve a unit on Botany as well.  So I plan to get Ellen McHenry's Botany and beef it up while adding in several herbal medicine/homeopathic books and materials such as:

 

• Herbal Antibiotics: A Beginner's Guide.
• Quark Chronicles-Botany (a read-aloud or alone; haven't decided yet)
• The New American Herbal for projects (if I can afford it)
• Wild Plants of Maine

 

Doing it this way, Botany may take a whole semester. We will also do a portion of the Discovering Intelligent Design curriculum I already have and whatever else she decides to explore.

 

I purchased Horizons Pre-Algebra for Math, but now Dh and I are thinking VT's Algebra: A Complete Complete Course will be better.  We plan to purchase the units separately.  That way, if it's too much or too difficult, we can end the units and switch over to Horizons if necessary.

 

Other than that, we're all set.

 

 

[Kathryn]

I, too, combat the winter slump with planning. I have shipments coming this week and I'm already knee-deep in scheduling and planning. It's what allows me to survive February.

[alisoncooks]

I think this is the first year that I haven't been obsessively planning for the next.

I am pleased with our Reading, LA, and Math...so we'll just keep on keepin' on with those.

I've already bought VP OTAE, so I guess I do need to decide which read-alouds that I want to use with it.

 

Science and art are my "don't have a clue" subjects. But I don't like anything I've seen and I don't know that more planning will help that...