I flunked planning.....so how do I teach my kids to plan?

[Cynful]

I try to plan. I really do, every single year. And every single time, I never stick to a plan or it gets messed up and I just never fix it, etc. I hate it. I really want my kids to do a better job than me. What do you suggest? Student planners? Online? Doesn't matter?

Edited April 4, 2016 by Lucidity

[Rosie_0801]

Do your responsibilities get mostly done anyway?

[Cynful]

Yes, mostly, but every day is a "what do I do now" kind of thing.  I guess I should say I'd like to be more organized and how do I teach my kids to be more organized.  I don't want them going to college without having that skill at least available to use. 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

This is how I operate too.  If I haven't changed by now, I probably won't. 

 

Embrace the chaos!  LOL

 

[school17777]

How about making a schedule once a week?

 

I used to make a weekly schedule for each child when I was homeschooling them on Sundays so they knew what was going on each day and what lessons I wanted them to do each day, fieldtrips, co-op, appts, practices, etc... It is hard to do this for than a week at a time because things come up and may need to be bumped to the next week.

[lllll]

nm

Edited April 18, 2016 by _kathy_

[Rosie_0801]

My dd is too young for a diary so we begin our day with a "what's the plan" conversation. That should get her into the habit of thinking about it, which is a great foundation for actually doing it. :p It is also practice for keeping the list in her head.

 

For schoolwork, I pile it up the night before and we work through the pile the next day. Low tech planning, that is. :p

 

What methods of organisation do your kids employ already? It's far easier to work with what's there already. People don't necessarily plan all their tasks in the same way either. Like I said, school stuff for tomorrow will be put in a pile after school today. Sometimes, if we're doing something that can't be put in the pile, I'll write it on a scrap of paper for the pile or I'll put it on the blog post (where I keep records) to remind me. For where I have to go and what time I have to get there, I put it all in my diary in my handbag.

 

There's a big difference between forgetting to do something and not bothering because you really don't feel like it. Somehow I remember to buy chocolate even if I don't put it on my shopping list, and I can forget to do the dishes even though they are sitting there in plain sight...

[Cynful]

I can handle the chaos :)  and my kids are used to it by now but I can't help thinking they should learn to be better organized.  My oldest son is possibly worse than me, but much of that comes from his issues.  My daughter is actually pretty good but I still think she could "learn" some more.  My 5 year old tornado is the epitomy of chaos.  I do have the big picture down.  I keep spreadsheets when I'm in a planning mood and see where we are and where we need to go.  I just always feel like I don't know who should be doing what at any given time.  I know it would help them to be better about it, so I thought if I were "teaching" them to be more organized, it might rub off.  ;)

[MerryAtHope]

My plans for many subjects are more time-based than "accomplish this many lessons."

 

I set up workboxes for my kids, and had them either "do the next lesson," "read the next chapter," or "work for 30 minutes/an hour."

 

My planner was basically blank. It listed all the subjects, and each day I wrote down what lesson, what chapter, what pages etc... were done, or that they were studying for a test or working on a paper or other longer project, etc... Or, if we went on a field trip, I drew a line through all the boxes and wrote sideways what the field trip was. 

 

Rather than a strict daily plan, I keep a yearly plan--what book are we going to work through, what math level, what list of books for history, literature, or read-alouds, which science books etc... I put an approximate week number by each one--the week I think we'll get to that book.

 

I check off the books as we do each one. I keep a list of optional books if we get ahead, or I cross off an occasional book if we move at a slower pace--all the while, noting in my daily record what we did. 

 

The yearly plan really freed me up to follow rabbit trails or do other things with my kids, while at the same time making it obvious what was the "next thing" to do.

 

Then in high school, you can give more of this planning over to them. One of my kids learned planning through working on a science fair. We found a 10-week schedule with goals for each week that made prep easy--and she did it so many times, she was soon easily able to set some of her own goals in other things. I also take some courses in high school and make up a syllabus--"here are the test and project dates. You decide how to read the book. When you have your plan, come show it to me." Then they could see how well their plan worked. (A little failure here is okay--they'll learn from that. You can always regroup partway through a semester if they struggle with their plan, and help them come up with a new one.)

 

My oldest was so used to doing daily work, that he found the habit easy to continue in college. That was more block scheduling, so he would read for the classes coming up the next day--so he might work on a subject every other day. He learned to work on papers a bit at a time etc...

 

I think the biggest thing is to help your children discover how they work best, and what kinds of tools help them get their work done. Give yourself and them freedom to explore. Ask them to come up with a plan (especially your 10th and 12th graders), and how you can help them--and then see how they do with their plan. 

[hornblower]

get them to check out the #studyblr tag on Tumblr 

combined with #productivity #planner tags, you get lots of good ideas about how others do it 

things like this: http://girloffthewaywardpath.tumblr.com/post/142200351315/making-a-revision-plan-for-finals

or for way more stuff, check out studyign's master post on time management which includes posts on bullet journaling, making goals, using a planner etc 

http://studyign.com/post/125463345667/soooooo-school-is-starting-in-about-a-month-for-me


One thing I taught my kids to do is to make a 'semester at a glance' single sheet of paper (which you can also scan & keep on phone etc as an image) where you put ALL your assignments, due dates, test dates (which any decent course will list all in the syllabus) - all at the beginning of the semester.  Dd has this stuck right by her workstation and it means that you can visually see what the semester looks like, bottlenecks (weeks where a bunch of things are due at once so you have to start on assignments early etc).  She also uses a weekly planner & some apps on her phone & computer but the semester at a glance is vital to keeping everything balanced. 






 

[Cynful]

Merry, that's how I did it up until now.  More of a journal of what was done each day as we did it.  Now that they are older, they don't want that.  My daughter, in particular, wants to know what is expected for the entire next year and wants to see it all planned out on a calendar so she'll know if she's ahead, on schedule or behind.  She doesn't want to have to work through the summers or year round anymore.  I think I just need to give over more planning to her or we do it together just like you say in your post.  

 

Hornblower, I'm very interested in your semester at a glance.  My daughter would love this and I think my son would too.  So on one page, you put all subjects and their assignments, tests, etc.?  How does that all fit on a page?  Does it go by date?  Any images so I could get a mental picture of how this would work?  

 

Thanks for so many replies and great ideas.  :)

[hornblower]

 

Hornblower, I'm very interested in your semester at a glance.  My daughter would love this and I think my son would too.  So on one page, you put all subjects and their assignments, tests, etc.?  How does that all fit on a page?  Does it go by date?  Any images so I could get a mental picture of how this would work?  

 

I will ask dd later if I can post hers but essentially she goes to this site http://www.pdfcalendar.com/12-weeks/

 

& edits the options. So she enters how many weeks she needs (her semesters are 16 weeks) and the start date & ends up with a grid all on one page. 

 

she fills it by hand, using one color per subject & just writes in "bio midterm" "english paper 2 due" etc. 

 

:) 

[Cynful]

Thanks Hornblower.  So she doesn't put on here daily assignments right?  Like read pg. xx-xxx?  It's just for due dates, tests, etc.?  

[hornblower]

That's right. Daily responsibilities (reading, note making, review, research etc) don't go there; they go in her weekly planner & daily task sheets.

 

The semester at a glance has quizzes (including weekly one), tests, midterms, essays, presentations, and final exams, plus her work schedule because she'd also have to plan around that.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MerryAtHope]

One thing I taught my kids to do is to make a 'semester at a glance' single sheet of paper (which you can also scan & keep on phone etc as an image) where you put ALL your assignments, due dates, test dates (which any decent course will list all in the syllabus) - all at the beginning of the semester.  Dd has this stuck right by her workstation and it means that you can visually see what the semester looks like, bottlenecks (weeks where a bunch of things are due at once so you have to start on assignments early etc).  She also uses a weekly planner & some apps on her phone & computer but the semester at a glance is vital to keeping everything balanced. 

 

That's brilliant! Not sure why I didn't think of that since I like my "year-at-a-glance" and even "month at a glance" things! Will find a form for my son to make one this week!

 

Merry, that's how I did it up until now.  More of a journal of what was done each day as we did it.  Now that they are older, they don't want that.  My daughter, in particular, wants to know what is expected for the entire next year and wants to see it all planned out on a calendar so she'll know if she's ahead, on schedule or behind.  She doesn't want to have to work through the summers or year round anymore.  I think I just need to give over more planning to her or we do it together just like you say in your post.  

 

We don't work through summers either (usually take 6 weeks off then). I do keep track on my yearly guide for a lot of subjects--math is easy to know if it's ahead or behind. Likewise a text book is easy to see if they are on track--I keep track of bench marks of how many chapters by what date etc... and let my kids know periodically if they are ahead or behind that pace, if they need to pick things up etc...

 

Hornblowers "semester at a glance" could probably give your kids some of that info on whether they are on track. 

 

My dd did make her own goals for Spanish this year, so she can finish the level. 

 

Often time is the goal here though. For example, they need 150-180 hours for an English credit, which I measure by them spending 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes writing. (I don't typically add in our discussion times, but we have that time too). So, if they are spending the time, they are on target, whether they get through all the books or not. I've talked through that with them.

 

One thing my son was surprised to learn last fall, in his first year in college--schools don't always finish the book! He got really nervous a couple of weeks before finals because they hadn't done all the scheduled topics/tests, and he thought his instructor would start to cram them all together and they'd have a bunch of tests all at once. I told him, no, if they run out of time they skip things. 

 

Some of his instructors have a very detailed and organized syllabus, and some don't. Some don't give dates ahead of time for tests, just say that they'll have them but announce times later. They may or may not get through everything, and may or may not "keep up" with all of their goals. It's important for your dd to know that the way you do school is not all that unlike how colleges will do things in that regard. The one difference is that when we homeschool, we can choose to finish that book later (summer, next year...), but schools can't choose that. They just have to drop chapters/sections/books. 

 

So, my focus has always been diligent daily work--which has translated for my son to easily keeping up with college reading/studying. But, some kids work in "chunks," and if your kids prefer that, then maybe a weekly assignment sheet of what you would like them to finish would work?

[Penguin]

get them to check out the #studyblr tag on Tumblr

 

combined with #productivity #planner tags, you get lots of good ideas about how others do it

 

things like this: http://girloffthewaywardpath.tumblr.com/post/142200351315/making-a-revision-plan-for-finals

 

or for way more stuff, check out studyign's master post on time management which includes posts on bullet journaling, making goals, using a planner etc

 

http://studyign.com/post/125463345667/soooooo-school-is-starting-in-about-a-month-for-me

 

 

One thing I taught my kids to do is to make a 'semester at a glance' single sheet of paper (which you can also scan & keep on phone etc as an image) where you put ALL your assignments, due dates, test dates (which any decent course will list all in the syllabus) - all at the beginning of the semester. Dd has this stuck right by her workstation and it means that you can visually see what the semester looks like, bottlenecks (weeks where a bunch of things are due at once so you have to start on assignments early etc). She also uses a weekly planner & some apps on her phone & computer but the semester at a glance is vital to keeping everything balanced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the #studyblr. It is kind of addictive looking through these. It seems to be almost exclusively girls doing this, though.

[hornblower]

Thank you for the #studyblr. It is kind of addictive looking through these. It seems to be almost exclusively girls doing this, though.

 

yeah, heavily female dominated but there are some guys on the studyblr tag. 

 

one who posts some tips & 'how to' posts http://nice-minimal-life.tumblr.com/

 

Just A Science Bro tends to do more 'esthetics' posts - just pics  of his desk or lab or what he's up to.  http://justasciencebro.tumblr.com/tagged/me

 

I've seen a few others but they tend to reblog most of the other content on the tag, & that content tends to be developed by women. But they definitely exist..

[PagesandFields]

I used to be a tutor at a college who taught "study skills" to incoming freshman... Most of it was planning... People plan VERY different,y and different methods wok differently... I am a planning junky... This probably sounds strange, but if you are interested in using planners or journals there are loads of videos on YouTube saying how to plan with certain types... Spiral notebook planning, bullet journal planning, journal planning, student planner planning, etc... But I would just encourage them to experiment... There is no one way to plan that works for everyone