Do you use a planner and actually PLAN your school year?

[ciskegal]

I have a sort of "schedule" in my home. We stop schooling in May, in June my kids sign up for everything they can fit in in our community and play all kinds of sports (kinda like mini-camps for all ages... SO GREAT for a small town!!). So in June we go from one sport to another, with some picnics and naps built in. Then in July I obsess over curriculum buying cheap and waiting for books to arrive on my doorstep! By the end of July I am already filling in my planner subject by subject, student by student. Then in August we start working on routines, gradually getting up earlier, going to bed earlier, and slowing down our extracurriculars. And I start organizing my school shelves and figuring out what kind of supplies we need... 

But... I DO plan out at least the first semester of school (Until Christmas break). The planner is written in, highlighted, and detailed. Recently I met with our co-op board to finalize our co-op plans so we could get it out to the parents and we had to suddenly switch our meeting days. But my planner was already filled out!!! (No problem, I had to use white out on the dates, but I did manage... even if my planner isn't quite as nice looking as before). 

 

So I thought I'd ask the question... Are there really people out there that do not plan in advance? And what is your "Advanced". I don't judge, I mean, I love my non-planning friends... And they still manage to get through life... I just can't imagine! So, how do you do it? 

[HomeAgain]

I flexible plan. :lol: Ds jumps and we need a little grace for normal life, so after I get books I plug in lessons to Skedtrack.  All of them. Along with inputting all the book details.  I attach the book list to our ed plan to turn in to the school district, and use the plugged in lessons to see how long our days are so I know we're meeting hours.  As we go along I can merge groups of lessons together, delete, or insert other things we do that day, but I have a base to fall back on.

 

Last year I created my own lesson plans by dividing the year into history units and building around them so all the subjects were integrated.  We had more flexibility, but it was more work for me.

[Penelope]

Yes, I do. But in pencil.

 

I think some people like electronic planners for the reason you mentioned. Easier to adjust without whiting out or erasing and moving things around. I just haven't seen a system that I think I'd like better than my paper system.

[Arcadia]

I don't plan. However my kids are in outsourced classes in most of their subjects. So I have their schedules for classes and activities keyed into my phone's calendar app to prevent clash in timing. Since they are in outsourced classes, a certain volume of work gets done.

[PeterPan]

LOL, best I've EVER done successfully is overall year spreadsheets. To put something in pen, even in pencil, isn't really workable with my kids. My dd had unmedicated ADHD, and she would just have a lot of Mary Poppins days, where the wind would blow and she was GONE. My ds has autism, and we roll with him.

 

We get an incredible amount done, but we tend to pick things that are idiot-proof, do the next thing, that kind of set-up. 

 

And it really is my kids, not me, lol. Now I have in-home workers who work with ds, and same gig. They plan out a session, see how it goes, and plan the next session. There's a continuity to it, but you can only do what you can do. And now I tell them I have their backs, and if he doesn't do it with them he does it with me, yes. But things happen. I had pneumonia and then bronchitis, back to back, this past school year. Life happens! But we've never failed to get through less than 1 1/2 years of math with either kid. Even ds, with all his SLDs, blows through massive amounts of material.

[matrips]

When I do plan, we get things done. Our first semester goes better than our second when things start sliding. So I always start with a plan. :)

[KrissiK]

I do. I make up schedules on a Word document and only print up one per week. So, if we get behind it's easy to change.

[theelfqueen]

I plan in excel and copy into my planner ... I have had yo make that kind of switches... annoying

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[ikslo]

Yes. In Excel. Easily rearranged.

 

I can't fathom doing it on paper in pen.

[2_girls_mommy]

I very rarely planned in advance until the last year or so. I mean we had textbooks we just worked our way through. I would try to have an idea of how many lessons a month we needed to do in order to finish a text by the end of the year, but mostly we played it by ear. Kids have always done fine! 

 

As my oldest got into high school last year, I found for certain subjects I needed her to know exactly what lesson numbers she should be working on each week so that we could switch classes at the semester break, to keep her on schedule for that. 

 

I always have a plan for the days. I have a set schedule for what we will work on for each hour of every week day. But I don't really know what we will accomplish in math during that hour or if during the grammar hour we will work from our English textbook or a story assignment from our co-op instead as our English for a day. So I have always used our planner more as a journal to record what we did. We work in every subject every day that we are home and on the hours planned.  I do fill in my calendar for the year with scout activity and meeting dates, co-op dates and field trips and such. So usually at the beginning of each week I can see and plan a general course of study for the week. I can say we should be able to get 3 math lessons done this week and 4 next week or something. But in general I am not a super detail planner. I am doing it for a few subjects again this year for my high schooler: math for sure. Plus she gets a syllabus for science from co-op that she follows. But for say English at home, she will just pick up the book and read the next lesson. Same for latin. Latin translations can be pretty tough. So it may take her several days to get through one, but the next week she whizzes through another. And she always does great on the National Latin Exams (2 gold medals so far,) so this works for us.

Edited July 29, 2017 by 2_girls_mommy

[HS Mom in NC]

There was a time when do the next thing worked well for us, but then it didn't anymore, so we adapted as needed. We plan by the week not by the day because days can vary too much.

I do the 36 week hanging file folder system where the whole year is planned and prepped before the first day of school for each kid.  (I had 3 homeschooling at the same time for a while. The older two re 7 and 9 years older than youngest.)  I also have a simple matrix chart with each subject's assignments for the week in each file and in my lesson plan notebook. It's the week's checklist.  I have a long term lesson plan that I do in pencil, based on where I think we'll be through the end of high school.  Assigned reading is on a shelf in order with the week number labeled on the spine. I've been doing it for about 7 or 8 years now and LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  There are old threads on how to do it. We get about 95% of it done.

  I don't plan or prep on evenings, weekends or breaks. When school's done for the day, I only have to check the work as needed.

[8filltheheart]

I write out plans for my kids in individual planners. I only write out about 6 wks' worth at a time.(and I write in pencil.) Bc I write out directions and all kinds of notes to myself, an electronic planner does not work. I have tried in the past. I like to add chicken scratch thoughts as I flip back and forth, forward and backward in my plans. They are my thought processes on our plans as much as a way of staying on track.

[mamaraby]

I plan ahead, but do so digitally so that adjustments are easy to make.

[Chelli]

I plan the entire year out by subject so that we can move as slowly or as quickly as we wish through our material and it doesn't mess up my planning.

 

You could do it by hand, but I create my own tables in Word to do it so I only have to print and bind with my proclick and we're ready to go.

[SebastianCat]

I have used Homeschool Planet for a couple of years now and absolutely love it.   When I plan the entire year out in advance, we actually finish curricula.  Things don't get forgotten.   My kids know exactly what they need to do, and can work ahead if they have a busy week.   On the rare occasions where we've been sick or had major "life" events (like when my MIL passed away two years ago), Homeschool Planet is SO easy to just shift assignments out.   No white out, no erasing, no fuss.   

 

*Oh, and an extra bonus....this year my DD will be doing some of the same curricula (history, vocabulary, Latin, grammar) that my DS did two years ago.   Since we used Homeschool Planet (I think that was the first year we used it), I was able to COPY the entire "class" from DS's 2015-2016 school year to DD's 2017-2018 school year.   Then I just edited for the handful of adjustments in reading assignments.   This saved me a huge amount of time and made the cost of HSP totally worth it to me.

[Garga]

I use OneNote and Excel for all kinds of notes/plans.  I have an over-arching plan in place by the start of the year, but I plan the nitty-gritty (exact page numbers) each weekend for the coming week.

 

I can't function without some sort of plan in place.  I spend too much brain space without a plan.  With a written plan, I think about it once, and then just follow whatever I wrote down without having to rethink about it every morning.

 

I prefer electronic means of planning above paper, so that I can easily change dates and cut and paste things if something changes in our plans.  

 

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Garga

[Garga]

 

 

*Oh, and an extra bonus....this year my DD will be doing some of the same curricula (history, vocabulary, Latin, grammar) that my DS did two years ago.   Since we used Homeschool Planet (I think that was the first year we used it), I was able to COPY the entire "class" from DS's 2015-2016 school year to DD's 2017-2018 school year.   Then I just edited for the handful of adjustments in reading assignments.   This saved me a huge amount of time and made the cost of HSP totally worth it to me.

 

 

I will be able to do that with my OneNote soon, when my youngest catches up to where my oldest was when we started using it.  It's a great feature of electronic planning.

[lots of little ducklings]

I list out overall goals and plans for our winter term and our summer term (what curriculum/ which child/ when we will complete it), but I don't pre-plan anything weekly or (gasp!) daily.  There isn't enough white-out in Staples for that.

 

I do track our daily accomplishments after the fact, and I track them in detail (page numbers, etc).   

[abacus2]

I have planned in pencil and with Homeschool Planet.  Planning in pen would be a disaster. This is the first week of school and I've already made changes to the first and second week's plan. Homeschool Planet makes it really easy. Last year I got behind with planning and never could catch up. We hobbled through doing the next thing. But this year I input a basic plan for the entire year before we started and am feeling great about this year's plan.

[desertstrawberry5]

I need a paper planner. I need the physical act of writing. I have a huge wall calendar and a paper book. Doctor's appointments, classes, community events, therapy sessions, etc go on the calendar. What Subjects To Study When With What Materials Goes In My Planner.

 

Anything I Pay For In Advance, Or Appointments That Must Be Kept Are In Pen. anything Free Or Unnecessary Is In Pencil.

[happypamama]

I plan to do the next thing in a subject. If it doesn't come that way already, I make it that way. Then we just do the next thing on the next school day, whether that's the next day or a couple of days.

 

For stuff like projects, I look at each week and see what day is going to be good for projects.

 

It's all in OneNote. If someone doesn't finish a lesson one day, or maybe a math lesson is easy so we fly through two in a day, no big deal.

Edited July 29, 2017 by happypamama

[Wheres Toto]

We've almost always had do-the-next-thing stuff, where I could print things out and stick them in a folder or binder for them to work on it.  Then the kids got older and I wanted to plan farther ahead, so I tried various planners/planning systems.  We've done paper, the folder system, Excel, Word, all kinds of things.   We're now at the point where the kids have more stuff where I can't just pull the page out and stick it in a folder for them to do.  We have textbooks and online stuff and projects.  They need a check-list, I need an easily adjusted list of what's coming up.  Last year I felt like we were scrambling the entire year.

 

I signed up for Homeschool Planet and I think this is going to work well.  I may have the kids access it on their tablets and check off as they finish things, rather than print them out.  I added chores, and outside activities.  I like how easy it is to adjust.

[Ellie]

I have a sort of "schedule" in my home. We stop schooling in May, in June my kids sign up for everything they can fit in in our community and play all kinds of sports (kinda like mini-camps for all ages... SO GREAT for a small town!!). So in June we go from one sport to another, with some picnics and naps built in. Then in July I obsess over curriculum buying cheap and waiting for books to arrive on my doorstep! By the end of July I am already filling in my planner subject by subject, student by student. Then in August we start working on routines, gradually getting up earlier, going to bed earlier, and slowing down our extracurriculars. And I start organizing my school shelves and figuring out what kind of supplies we need... 

 

But... I DO plan out at least the first semester of school (Until Christmas break). The planner is written in, highlighted, and detailed. Recently I met with our co-op board to finalize our co-op plans so we could get it out to the parents and we had to suddenly switch our meeting days. But my planner was already filled out!!! (No problem, I had to use white out on the dates, but I did manage... even if my planner isn't quite as nice looking as before). 

 

So I thought I'd ask the question... Are there really people out there that do not plan in advance? And what is your "Advanced". I don't judge, I mean, I love my non-planning friends... And they still manage to get through life... I just can't imagine! So, how do you do it? 

 

The only time I felt the need to do that was the two years we did KONOS. Otherwise, no. But then I had rules: Monday and Tuesday: stay home; Wednesday, library; Thursday, field trip; Friday, clean house/monthly park day. No outside activities before 3 or 4 in the afternoon. No field trips on any day except Thursday (unless the field trip was astronomically awesome and I couldn't do it with just myself and the dc). Just those two rules alone kept things sane, as well as having my weekly routine.

 

ETA: No field trips *with other homeschoolers" on any day except Thursday, as in support group field trips.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Ellie

[mytwomonkeys]

I plan quarterly, so we are ready for the first nine weeks. I'll adapt as needed and plan the second quarter based on any changes (and if there are none it will be extra easy).

[JenneinCA]

I did when the kids were little and I was trying to coordinate library books. I needed to plan ahead enough to get the correct books in the house at the right time. Since I am not depending on the library any more I don't plan.

[thessa516]

There was a time when do the next thing worked well for us, but then it didn't anymore, so we adapted as needed. We plan by the week not by the day because days can vary too much.

 

I do the 36 week hanging file folder system where the whole year is planned and prepped before the first day of school for each kid.  (I had 3 homeschooling at the same time for a while. The older two re 7 and 9 years older than youngest.)  I also have a simple matrix chart with each subject's assignments for the week in each file and in my lesson plan notebook. It's the week's checklist.  I have a long term lesson plan that I do in pencil, based on where I think we'll be through the end of high school.  Assigned reading is on a shelf in order with the week number labeled on the spine. I've been doing it for about 7 or 8 years now and LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  There are old threads on how to do it. We get about 95% of it done.

 

  I don't plan or prep on evenings, weekends or breaks. When school's done for the day, I only have to check the work as needed.

 

 

This is almost exactly how I plan. Started off doing the next thing and over time I've needed more advanced planning. I do two sets of 18 week hanging file folders. I have a written-in-pencil long term plan for high school. We also have a shelf of books for assigned reading. At this point in my life, I can't imagine NOT planning.

[caedmyn]

I plan out what we'll use for the year and then schedule a 12-week term at a time. I don't use a planner though, just a word document--each day's schedule stays the same for that 12 weeks. Which isn't to say I don't tweak things periodically as we go along...

[CadenceSophia]

You all make me feel like such a slacker. I don't think I could ever stick to a detailed written plan. My kids would chew it up and spit it out at their current ages -- one would do a month's worth of work in a subject in an afternoon, and another would find something far more difficult than I anticipated and we'd spend half the school year on what I though would take a few weeks. 

 

We just go by time. I have a schedule, not lesson plans. I decide what a reasonable amount of each subject is on a daily basis if it is something like math, where working really hard on one problem for a full hour would be fine, but finishing two lessons in 15 minutes would not be. In general, we just shoot for what fits in the time slot and do the next thing. I want to start aiming for 8Fill's style writing this year but I was hoping to decide on the writing assignment... like.. Sunday night before that week starts. I teach math on the white board and I did make up a box of note cards for material to cover for each kid by subject (Numeracy, Pre-A, Geometry, etc), but that is more like inspiration because I usually just get really excited about something and we work on that for a while until something inspires me to throw out another thread (this is not the children's main lessons, but I tie in review and pre-learning in 5-15 minutes/day). I choose read aloud and history/science reading monthly based on our moods, what is working, and what areas we might need more in. 

 

I know my kids are little. I seriously hope this method never stops working lol. 

[Melissa in Australia]

I just make a list for each child with a header of each subject and what curriculum we are using to cover it. I also write out the reading list they will do. Then I tuck it into my copy of TWTM and that is it until next year.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Melissa in Australia

[fralala]

So, what would a "detailed" plan look like, say, if I were to open your planner and check out what is planned for a day in December?

 

I love planning in advance, and detailed planning, but as some others have mentioned, I can't necessarily do both together. So I can pencil in that we are going to use certain resources and curricula, I can pencil in unit studies and subjects by day and week and month, but I really don't fill in the details more than 2 weeks in advance unless I'm in one of my "I'd rather plan homeschool than vacuum the cobwebs" moods.

 

But we also don't participate in a co-op or outsidel classes at the moment; reading Ellie's comment above, I realized there might indeed be a connection between needing to have more of a "scope and sequence" and knowing you will be out of the house a certain number of days and thus really must have a plan to accomplish certain things on the days when you are at home? It is good to see how others do it as I can imagine looking back at this comment in a few years and thinking "Oh, that's not the way I do it anymore." Happens all the time!

[Critterfixer]

I have a legal pad. Sometimes I use blank white paper instead. I take the calendar and figure out five weeks at a time. I'm always happy when we've got about three days where there isn't subject material planned. That's good catch-up or sick days if they are needed. If I'm feeling bold, I'll jot down some alternate plans in case we need them at the bottom of each page.

Then I stuff those in a folder and stick it in my notebook. I won't set down each week in granite (type it up) until the Sunday before the school week. 

 

I do keep all my old "schedules". This helps in future planning. I tend to jot down things at the bottom of my weekly lists that need doing the next week. These form a basis for how I decide what we can get done per day and still be in a good mood at the end of it. 

 

[Liza Q]

First I plan on paper and I like to use a spiral notebook to keep it all together. When I am ready, I make a 36 week table on Word for each subject. Then I make a master table, with all the work I want to assign organized by week. Certain subjects have primary work and secondary, if we have enough time, work. I put in the weeks we will be off and just leave them empty. It's a lot easier now that I use some online classes, since I will just use their syllabus and fill in whatever they assign.

 

For example, I just looked at the week of November 13-17.

Math, Chemistry, Research Paper: online classes.

Government: Read Chapter 15. Do review. Discuss with Mom. Choose one prompt for a timed essay and write it. Read Article of the Week (I will email these to him but I haven't chosen them yet - I want it to be current). Discuss with Mom. We would drop the current events if we needed to drop something. (This will be the same all semester - we just do the next chapter)

Reading: Moby Dick Ch 78-89. Discuss with Mom (I'll be reading along).

Music: Guitar lesson. xxx pages in Music History book. xxx for Music Theory (I'm still planning this class!!) This can also be dropped during a busy week - well, not the lessons, as it is a .5 credit course and I'm spreading it out over the year.

Career Planning/Life Skills: Assigned reading. Discuss with Mom (another one that I'm planning right now and will spread out over the year)

Other: Yoga.

 

At some time on the weekend before, I will take that information and use it to give him a Weekly Checklist. Since he is a senior this year, I will be expecting him to manage his time pretty independently, so I won't be telling him what to do each day. In the past I would break it down by day for him.

 

When I was planning for 4, it was a lot harder lol. But I did it the same way. Nothing was written in pen or printed out until right before we started the week. But the whole year was planned. And we've always worked a bit over the summer in order to have a cushion during the school year.

 

 

[Vida Winter]

Every time my detailed weekly plans change and get scrapped. This year instead of plans we will have a 1-page syllabus for each course and highlight it as items are completed.

[Jess4879]

For subjects that are already broken in to lessons, we just open and go - like TT and BJU math.  For subjects like history, I make up lesson plans, numbered as days 1-5, and list what we are reading/doing in each lesson.  I also take the number of lessons in a subject and divide by our expected number of teaching days that year to figure out approximately what pace we need to keep to complete that subject. 

 

Last year I planned right down to the date, with the expectation that things could be moved...but the upkeep to change the schedule to reflect the actual lesson we were on was too much and quickly got tossed.  It was also a pain when I changed or added curriculum.

 

For day-to-day record keeping, I have a blank planner page that I fill in as we complete work, so that I know what we did on any given day. 

[Elizabeth86]

No but I only have 1 school age kid in first grade, so no big deal. A lesson a day type thing. Not much to plan.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We are entering 5th grade and I am doing detail-planning for the first time ever.  Prior to this...  nope.  Whatever struck my fancy for the day/week is what we did, but we had a guiding rhythm of doing math and LA daily.  

[Soror]

I always start with pencil on paper and a calendar, jotting down ideas and thoughts. Next, I move on to spreadsheets to help organize those thoughts. Lastly, I enter it into Scholaric a session at a time. I like the idea of using a paper planner but at this point this has worked for me.

[nixpix5]

I use a physical planner and use color coded pens (different color for each child) to plan out all work for the first 6 weeks but have a general trajectory overall that I am heading in. I use erasable frixion pens so I can make changes and leave some catch up/wiggle room in for impromptu stuff. If things are rolling along ok then I plan out the next 6 weeks or I make any changes I need to and then plan. For me if it is written I will make sure it gets done. If it isn't I find it harder to stay on schedule. We rabbit trail...hence the erasable pens but for the most part are able to get back on the path.

Edited July 30, 2017 by nixpix5

[3 ladybugs]

I just started using Homeschool Tracker. I really like it so far. I am only doing about 2 weeks in advance though. Too much can happen that throws everything out of whack so I prefer to plan about 2 weeks out so I have a plan, but I don't over plan. I have tried to do what I thought was best for a year and it was a complete disaster! Online is for me!

[MotherGoose]

For do the next thing subjects, like math, i periodically see if the number of lessons left matches up with the number of days left. Otherwise, I will write out a day by day plan, then make sure it corresponds with the number of days of school. As for writing out a detailed day by day plan at the beginning I hope to stick to for the rest of the year, no. It's a week by week thing. I was just doing plane for this coming week and found out the library is having a birds of prey exhibit with live birds. We can't miss that, so I adjusted things.

[YodaGirl]

I use this one from Mardel:

 

 

(It's religious-based, although that wasn't the reason we bought it.)

 

It's amazing! I'm actually a huge planner. With all the activities I lead during the school year, i like to have everything planned before it starts.

 

I pace out all the subjects into the yearly overview section, then I go back and fill in the daily assignments, 1 subject at a time, until the entire planner is full.

 

I don't mind erasing and changing if necessary.

 

When it comes to following the dates, I'm pretty loose. Our school year technically was going to start tomorrow, but we ended up starting early with half days here and there. I just check off subjects as we complete them. We're currently 6 days into our year.

 

Having it all written down lets me know if we're on track, we need to speed up, or we have time to slow down. It also keeps me from having to write out plans during the year.

 

I've tried it various ways (notebooks, regular school planners, excel planners, etc), but this has been the best so far.

 

There's a section in the back for attendance (state requirement) and future planning.

[Frosch]

Anther Excel planner.  I have a spread sheet for each subject/course that has an assignment, materials needed, and numbered days of study so I can make sure we don't get off track.

I paste those into a Excel planner for each kid with the actual dates that the work is to be done and then print that planner out weekly.

Right now, I'm finishing planning a new book we are using and making the kids' individual planners with co-op and vacation dates.  Then I'll plug in a few weeks of work and print off as needed.

 

For years, I did a written planner.  It was my holdover from my classroom days.

I switched to excel-only a couple years ago and it saves me a ton of time and paper.

[YodaGirl]

So, what would a "detailed" plan look like, say, if I were to open your planner and check out what is planned for a day in December?

 

I love planning in advance, and detailed planning, but as some others have mentioned, I can't necessarily do both together. So I can pencil in that we are going to use certain resources and curricula, I can pencil in unit studies and subjects by day and week and month, but I really don't fill in the details more than 2 weeks in advance unless I'm in one of my "I'd rather plan homeschool than vacuum the cobwebs" moods.

 

But we also don't participate in a co-op or outsidel classes at the moment; reading Ellie's comment above, I realized there might indeed be a connection between needing to have more of a "scope and sequence" and knowing you will be out of the house a certain number of days and thus really must have a plan to accomplish certain things on the days when you are at home? It is good to see how others do it as I can imagine looking back at this comment in a few years and thinking "Oh, that's not the way I do it anymore." Happens all the time!

Here's an example from mine under the heading "Reading & Spelling" (I have them separated with DD's first & DS's 2nd. There's a circle next to each item to check off when completed, and I have their initials in each circle):

 

(DD) TE Ch2 & Vocab

(DD) PZ B

(DD) K12

 

(DS) P&R L8 p29-32

(DS) S&V L6 p13-15

 

Translated, it means:

 

(DD) Tuck Everlasting Chapter 2 & Vocabulary (She has the novel study guide in her ELA notebook - I print off everything during the summer.)

(DD) Phonetic Zoo B (Due to the nature of the program, I don't have the lesson numbers written down, but it serves as a reminder that she needs to do it.)

(DD) K12Reader.com worksheet (Again, she has a section for them in her ELA binder. She does one reading comp page on Friday and one of her choice on Monday.)

 

(DS) Phonics & Reading Lesson 8 p29-32

(DS) Spelling & Vocabulary Lesson 6 p13-15

[MeaganS]

Not a bit. I tend to use "do the next thing" curricula though, or I've figured out how to make it work that way. We school year round and take off whenever we feel like it. So far it has worked, but my kids are still elementary level, so that may change over time. For now, this works for our family.

[thessa516]

So, what would a "detailed" plan look like, say, if I were to open your planner and check out what is planned for a day in December?

 

 

 

Here's a sample of what I have for my older children. :)

 

------

 

Week 6, Day 1 <---- Note that it is planned by the week and day, not by a particular date.

 

Math: Lesson #21 (we use Saxon)

Math: Go to enter website and play around with the Sieve of Eratosthenes

 

History: Read History book p. xx - xx

History: Add this figure to your timeline book

History: Color and label this map about the Roman Empire

 

Literature: Read this book with Mom, ch. 8

Literature: Review these vocabulary words and be prepared to define them to Mom

Literature: Here I have a series of questions to check for understanding. I have them written down in my planbook.

 

Read: On your own, read this book, ch. 7

 

Writing: Complete Week 6, Day 1 lesson (we use WWS)

 

Memory Work: Memorize The Brook by Lord Alfred Tennyson

 

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On most days our science and history alternate, as does art and poetry. I mostly plan by the week for a total of 36 weeks of school. I have written down what dates I want to do each week, but life happens. Last year we ended up taking a week-long vacation only six weeks into school. It didn't mess up hardly any of my plans. I switched the dates I had written down, but since everything else is planned by the week, it didn't throw anything else off. (I hope that makes sense... lol!)

 

Someone said that her children would chew up and spit out any plans she made. Hilarious!!! That was definitely true for me when my children were younger. I'd be hesitant to do this level of planning with my younger kids. You just never know when you'll need to spend a lot of extra time on learning math facts or basic reading skills.

[Porridge]

Int he past, we always just did the next thing. However, that felt increasingly chaotic and I found myself stressing about whether we were "on track."  PLanning by week was also difficult for us. I work, and sometimes we have a 4 day week, sometimes only a 3 day week - it changes month to month.  This year, I decided to go crazy detailed and plan by day. Yes, by DAY! It sounds crazy, but it is working beautifully for us. I plan for three 12 week terms. Each term I plan for 48 days (4 day school week, if you think about it terms of weeks). I print it all out in daily checklist form - 6 weeks per page. Somehow it is easier for me to see the big picture. If we get behind on a day or subject, it's easy to see the unchecked box and find time to fill it in later. Honestly, at my children's age, it probably doesn't matter whether we complete everything. I'm type A enough that we would be tracking fine even if we missed a day here and there. However, as crazy-obsessive as this sounds, this actually helps me to reign in my Type A tendencies for the rest of the year. Seeing the big picture and knowing there is a plan keeps me from trying to do more, or stress about not doing enough. :) :laugh:

[ciskegal]

Yes, I do. But in pencil.

 

I think some people like electronic planners for the reason you mentioned. Easier to adjust without whiting out or erasing and moving things around. I just haven't seen a system that I think I'd like better than my paper system.

YES! everything in pencil! I HAVE to be able to erase and move around... I plan, but I know that if I can't be flexible, no plan will work!!!

[ciskegal]

I do. I make up schedules on a Word document and only print up one per week. So, if we get behind it's easy to change.

This is a GREAT idea!!! And my be my way of doing things next year! Especially for the kids who need to start planning on their own. 

[ExcitedMama]

Nope, not a lick of scheduling anything out here! For the most part it's just winging it everyday. I have an idea of what I want to get done everyday and then I see how it's going that day and go by that. Some days DS is doing great and flying through things and other days he's a cranky mess and dragging his feet. I have a minimum I like to get to and then more on days that he's up for it and we have the time. Each lesson is also unpredictable in how long it will take. He usually whizzes through ELTL but then there are the write yourself exercises which take a lot longer, which would be really hard to plan out in advance without paging through it all. Sometimes I think a lesson looks complicated,Iike for math, but then he does it quickly, and sometimes it's the opposite. Then there is illness which would just mess everything up and of course you can't plan for. You also can't plan for a child needing more. In some subjects he is now asking to do more than the usual one lesson a day. For those reasons scheduling wouldn't work for us. I like being able to tailor everyday to his needs and abilities. I just plan out the subjects and go from there.

[8filltheheart]

Fwiw, I never plan before 3rd grade bc my kids' learning up to that pt has been so uneven. But, by the time they are in 3rd, it becomes more predictable and I can more easily evaluate what is appropriate for them individually.

 

Another fwiw, not a single one of my kids have overlapped another's schedule or plan from previous yrs. I have never been able to reuse anything and completely individualize every child's plans. My older kids also need to be able to work independently. They need plans that guide out where they are going.

 

Overall, plans keep us accountable and make sure we progress to where I want us to end up.