Assignment organization - planners vs lists

[Kanin]

The kids at my school all use planners, with a page for each day that has a space for each subject. They write down Monday's assignments on the Monday page, and so on.

I guess I don't really understand this system. Once Monday is over, they turn the page and it's like Monday never existed. For any assignment that's due later than the next day, how does this system help them remember? If the lab report was assigned on Monday and due on Thursday, how does the planner help them remember it? Nobody seems to write anything on a monthly planner or anything long range. 

I prefer to just have a simple list of things to do (these days on Google Docs), with due dates noted beside them. That way I can see everything that's due. In addition to the master list, I put each of the items on a different document with categories of of Do Today, Do This Week, and Do This Month. It works pretty well. 

Anyway, no real point to this except to say that I think the daily planners are not super user-friendly for kids, but that's the type of student planner I see in every store. 

[Katy]

I agree, they have to be taught to move a to-do list, or better yet use your system to print a date-ordered list. 

[Clarita]

FWIW I decided this year to move to a composition book for my homeschool planner for the same reasons. Each week I just put a little chart of what events and activities we have going on this week. The underneath that is a checklist of what we are doing next, when those are checked off then I prepare more. I never could keep up with the planners with days on them or I never understood how to use them. 

[stephanier.1765]

They need to be taught put due dates on the day assignments are due but to also put what they need to do to accomplish that goal on the leading up days.

So if they are assigned a lab on Monday but the due date is on Thursday, they put that assignment on their Thursday page "as due" but they also (if it is a one evening worth of work) put it on a day where they have a time to work on it, such as Wednesday. Have practice Wednesday? Put it on Tuesday's.

Edited August 12, 2022 by stephanier.1765

[regentrude]

When I was in school, we had weekly  planners with space for each day and each period of that day, but you were supposed to write the assignment into the date where it's *due*. Very simple.

[Arcadia]

My kids love that the community college they attend use Canvas. It has both the calendar view which shows class time as well as assignment due dates, as well as List view .

[KungFuPanda]

I need things written down, but it doesn’t matter if it’s on a list or a calendar. Turning back a page is no big deal and there are only so many lessons one kid can have. My personal trick for anything handwritten is to draw a box next to anything that needs to be done. Once it’s finished I tick the box. This way nothing gets forgotten on a list, calendar, or messy scribbled paper. You just scan for empty boxes. 

[Ausmumof3]

If you use a planner you need to write the assignment on the due date. If you have EF issues you may want to break it down and write smaller milestones as well.

I do better with bullet journal lists though. Although I’m in love with my new planner app 😆

[katilac]

4 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

They need to be taught put due dates on the day assignments are due but to also put what they need to do to accomplish that goal on the leading up days.

So if they are assigned a lab on Monday but the due date is on Thursday, they put that assignment on their Thursday page "as due" but they also (if it is a one evening worth of work) put it on a day where they have a time to work on it, such as Wednesday. Have practice Wednesday? Put it on Tuesday's.

This right here. 

There's nothing wrong with the planners, they just aren't using them correctly. It's even fine to write them all down on Monday, bc that may be all you have time for if they're given at the end of class, but then you add the other references/dates later. 

[vonfirmath]

6 hours ago, Kanin said:

The kids at my school all use planners, with a page for each day that has a space for each subject. They write down Monday's assignments on the Monday page, and so on.

I guess I don't really understand this system. Once Monday is over, they turn the page and it's like Monday never existed. For any assignment that's due later than the next day, how does this system help them remember? If the lab report was assigned on Monday and due on Thursday, how does the planner help them remember it? Nobody seems to write anything on a monthly planner or anything long range. 

I prefer to just have a simple list of things to do (these days on Google Docs), with due dates noted beside them. That way I can see everything that's due. In addition to the master list, I put each of the items on a different document with categories of of Do Today, Do This Week, and Do This Month. It works pretty well. 

Anyway, no real point to this except to say that I think the daily planners are not super user-friendly for kids, but that's the type of student planner I see in every store. 

The planner they have handed out at the kids' schools in the past is weekly -- two pages per week. 

 

The planner my son created for himself is daily -- to give himself lots of room to write.  Even with only going to 4 classes a day. We will see how it goes.

What I did growing up and still do to a large extent -- is the running list you mention with a square next to things to do. 

[Carrie12345]

Just thinking back to all the threads here, no system is right for everyone and some people need systems that make no sense to me, lol.

When ds was in school, I don’t remember there being any specific instructions for how he should use the school provided planners. And, of course, school planners weren’t even a thing when I was in school; you were just expected to do whatever you needed to do to remember assignments.

For me, not even in school, lol, I need my “official” planner with a monthly and weekly view, and then my to-do notebook with the nitty gritty daily list. That list gets undated or future to-dos listed to the bottom right which, along with anything that didn’t get finished, gets carried over to the next day’s plan. If I could only choose one view, I’d be sunk.

That said, not one of my kids thus far has been able to adopt any aspect of my system.  They just go about their lives like wild animals!

[barnwife]

10 hours ago, regentrude said:

When I was in school, we had weekly  planners with space for each day and each period of that day, but you were supposed to write the assignment into the date where it's *due*. Very simple.

Oh, how this makes my head hurt. (And it's not just this particular poster pointing this out...It was just a short post for quoting).

I get that this works for some people. But...if assigned something on Monday that's not due until Friday and the student is on top of things and writes it on Friday...they don't see it again until Friday (or if you are lucky, for students on top of things, on Thursday. Because on top of it students would look at the next day under this system to see what's due then) which is too late! So are they really supposed to write it every day until it's due? Or just supposed to remember everything? That's...not simple. How does it help you know what to do each day? Do you have to flip through the whole thing?

I'm with OP. Use a list. Write it once. Add the date due. Cross off when done.

I know we were given planners back when I was in school, but I remember no instruction in how to use them. I certainly wasn't taught to put things on the date they were due. My brain would have rebelled at that even back then. It's not intuitive/makes no sense for my brain. That being said, I don't remember using planners in high school, just elementary. In high school I just...remembered everything. Oh, to be able to that now!
 

[Kanin]

7 hours ago, katilac said:

This right here. 

There's nothing wrong with the planners, they just aren't using them correctly. It's even fine to write them all down on Monday, bc that may be all you have time for if they're given at the end of class, but then you add the other references/dates later. 

Yes...I think they're missing the crucial step. 

[regentrude]

51 minutes ago, barnwife said:

I get that this works for some people. But...if assigned something on Monday that's not due until Friday and the student is on top of things and writes it on Friday...they don't see it again until Friday (or if you are lucky, for students on top of things, on Thursday. Because on top of it students would look at the next day under this system to see what's due then) which is too late! So are they really supposed to write it every day until it's due? Or just supposed to remember everything? That's...not simple. How does it help you know what to do each day? Do you have to flip through the whole thing?

If the entire week is on a double-spread page, with sections for each day, you see everything that happens during that week at one glance. And if you get in the habit of occasionally flipping to the next week, you see what's coming up. Really simple. 
This is what our planners in school in my home country look like. Worked just fine,

[regentrude]

55 minutes ago, barnwife said:

 I certainly wasn't taught to put things on the date they were due. My brain would have rebelled at that even back then. It's not intuitive/makes no sense for my brain.

But you do this for everything else, don't you? Doctors appointments, birthdays, the plumber coming, the kid's camp dates - people put all of those on the day they will happen. And somehow manage to buy the present and pack the suitcase in preparation.

[marbel]

My ADHD kid noted the assignment in the calendar on the day it was due, but also noted steps to be accomplished in the days/weeks before. 

For a paper assigned on September 1 but due on October 1, there would be a notation on Oct 1, paper due at 9am. But starting on September 1 there would be notations (weekly, most likely but also maybe more often) in the calendar reminding that the paper is due/what tasks should be done beforehand. That's how we managed our homeschool scheduling too.  

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by marbel

[domestic_engineer]

19 minutes ago, regentrude said:

If the entire week is on a double-spread page, with sections for each day, you see everything that happens during that week at one glance. And if you get in the habit of occasionally flipping to the next week, you see what's coming up. Really simple. 
This is what our planners in school in my home country look like. Worked just fine,

I used this style all through high school and college (but not for our homeschool).  It’s not bad when you teach yourself to add in intermediate steps. So for a paper due in 4 weeks. I would put the actual deadline on the calendar immediately and then for tonight’s assignment I’d write “plan for paper due in 4 weeks.”  Part of “planning” would be making entries in my planner for my internal deadlines or reminders that it’s T-10 days, T-5 days etc. 
 

As regentrude stated, we utilize this method often as adults for less regular occurrences of events:   Library books due, Credit card bills, taxes

[barnwife]

@regentrude

The ones we used in school were a single day per half page. So at any given time, you were looking at 2 days. 

Yes, we do use your method for less regular occurences, but most (for me?) don't need much preparation. So looking at it the night before works for me. 

And, if you are adding preparation steps to other days, you are in essence turning your planner into a to-do list. And looking at a weekly set of to-do lists would be completely overwhelming to many people. 

I get that it works for many people. I'll just never be one of them.

[katilac]

12 minutes ago, barnwife said:

The ones we used in school were a single day per half page. So at any given time, you were looking at 2 days. 
 

Wouldn't two days per page mean you were looking at four days at a time? 

[heartlikealion]

I mean they could just be flipping through their books at home? If it was me, I'd flip through my week. If the assignment was due like 2 weeks out, I'd write it down the second week (or both). 

Dd's teacher asked the kids to get a small planner where the kids will eventually write down their own homework (though I think the homework will still be available on an app for the parents to see). Currently the homework is posted in her take home folder but I'm not sure if they will wean off of that? Anyway, she described what the planner on the school supply list meant. Xh had already bought one but when I looked at it, it didn't look like it left much room for writing (given that dd is in second grade I like to think she may need extra space). So I bought her a smaller one with lots of blank lines. I told her just use whatever you want/need. 

When I was homeschooling I had a planner with days as well as a monthly spread and I had major things on the monthly spread so I could see at a glance. 

[heartlikealion]

33 minutes ago, katilac said:

Wouldn't two days per page mean you were looking at four days at a time? 

I wonder if she meant half the spread? One day on the left of the binding and one on the right? 

[heartlikealion]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

But you do this for everything else, don't you? Doctors appointments, birthdays, the plumber coming, the kid's camp dates - people put all of those on the day they will happen. And somehow manage to buy the present and pack the suitcase in preparation.

I can't speak for her, but for me if it's a homework task, I'd probably write the task down on the day it was assigned like "start working on ABC project" and then again "ABC project due" and maybe another time like, "finish ABC project." But with a birthday party I would have the party on the day of the party and might have a reminder a day or two out like, "buy present." Lol. 

[barnwife]

55 minutes ago, katilac said:

Wouldn't two days per page mean you were looking at four days at a time? 

Nope, because it was one day on the left side, and another on the right. 

[vonfirmath]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

But you do this for everything else, don't you? Doctors appointments, birthdays, the plumber coming, the kid's camp dates - people put all of those on the day they will happen. And somehow manage to buy the present and pack the suitcase in preparation.

For some of those only because they send reminders or are BIG things. Birthdays I often miss sending a card too because it does not show up until the day of.

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by vonfirmath

[theelfqueen]

With my homeschoolers I prepared daily to do lists for a long time then I switched to making a list for the week and having them transport that to a week-calendar planners.

So my list might say read chapter 3 in textbook and kid might write page 22--44 on one day and 45-60  on another. Teaching them to break a bigger task into smaller parts and put them into the planner  (Might say "finish sonnet paper" on my weekly list- kid would figure out that they needed to break that into proofread, polish, finish bibliography.) This was a big transition but it served them well. 

[barnwife]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

But you do this for everything else, don't you? Doctors appointments, birthdays, the plumber coming, the kid's camp dates - people put all of those on the day they will happen. And somehow manage to buy the present and pack the suitcase in preparation.

Well, yes, because I put "buy present" on the date I am going to do that. That is a separate item (to my brain). Yes, it's an item connected to something else, but does that matter? 

IOW, if I didn't write that down on the planner when that part of it needs to happen, there is a good chance it won't. (Disclaimer: If I ever have the chance to go on an around-the-world trip, I will be so excited I won't need to write "pack" on my to-do list. But I probably would anyway.)

And if you are doing that, your planner is really just an overly complicated to-do list.

[heartlikealion]

2 hours ago, barnwife said:

Well, yes, because I put "buy present" on the date I am going to do that. That is a separate item (to my brain). Yes, it's an item connected to something else, but does that matter? 

IOW, if I didn't write that down on the planner when that part of it needs to happen, there is a good chance it won't. (Disclaimer: If I ever have the chance to go on an around-the-world trip, I will be so excited I won't need to write "pack" on my to-do list. But I probably would anyway.)

And if you are doing that, your planner is really just an overly complicated to-do list.

Yeah I’d have a deadline for buying a present (I do not buy presents the day of the event. I find that way too stressful). If I didn’t put buy present on the calendar I’d at least have emailed myself a reminder or maybe have stuff sitting in an online shopping cart. 

I often print out a packing list or email myself a packing list prior to the trip. 

[carriede]

My kids just started at the middle school and had to purchase the school's agenda. It has a monthly spread for and a two-page weekly spread, so you can see the entire week at one time.

All the teachers use this structure in the class room and have a spot on the board where they write the homework that the students are to copy into their agenda. Sometimes they'll finish it in class, so they check it off immediately. As parents, we're told to look at the student's agenda daily to help them stay on top of things. We have yet to have any long term projects to plan out, but that's where the monthly spread will come in handy.

I myself am a "planner girl" and use one daily. My Google Cal is my main catch-all for events, birthdays, holidays, and reminders like return library books. I review 3-4 weeks at a time, weekly, then put that into a weekly spread that includes any appointments or things I need to do for future events - like I'll look at my Google Cal, see my sister's birthday is in 3 weeks, then make a to-do on my weekly spread that says "gift for Sister".

For larger projects, I have a notebook where I break it down into steps. I review those monthly, and put any to-dos from those into a to-do list for the month... but I look at that list weekly and either add things to a general weekly to-do list or I'll write it in on specific days depending on what else is going on.

It all seems complicated writing it out, but it helps me keep focused and to not become overwhelmed by all the things.