Are lesson plans necessary?

[luv4bugs]

I am starting my first year of HSing with a first grader. I have researched and researched different ways to 'lesson plan' the subjects.

One thought is to write it out as a teacher would in a calendar book. Another thought is doing a checklist but still planning out the year. Another is an online system/software.

So here comes my question... this will show my experience with HS.... why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

[lllll]

why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

 

That's what I always did (youngest is 16). Works great ... unless you're intent on having them finished with high school at a certain age - something we never worried about. But you probably don't have to think about that for quite a while, do you?

[KAM]

I think you certainly can do it that way. For me, not all of the subjects break up that easy- we use SOTW for example and there are 42 chapters but I only plan a 36 week year- so I might look ahead and see which ones would combine. For science I need to plan ahead because I don't use one book that is broken up into lessons. For math, grammar, spelling etc. I do just do the next one.

 

I don't really plan out the whole year at all, but I do like to plan roughly 6-8 weeks ahead and have daily or weekly plans written down. I write these plans down in more detail at the beginning of each week. Why? Because I feel more organized and since there are so many distractions (and children!) in our house-if I have a list I can be more on autopilot. I don't have to think too much about what needs to be done next because it is all laid out for me. So if I spend a little time setting it up, it pays off all week.

[Peggy in Va]

...why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

You can. No where is it written that you have to make lesson plans.:) There are plenty of people who just open and go, and move on.

 

However, if you're like me, and find planning in general a cathartic experience (o.k. maybe not cathartic, but I'm a bit of a control freak) it can be helpful. On the other hand, being a control freak, if I have a plan and then fall behind I tend to get stressed.:confused:

 

Seriously, for me it was nice to have a plan, because back then we were running all over the place. Some subjects were more planned out than others but they were still planned. That way, say if we were on week 16 and it was April, I could quickly figure out just how far behind we were; and then decide whether or not it was necessary to cover everything we hadn't done yet.

 

Like you said, there are a number of ways to do this. I don't think that there is a right or wrong way. It's totally a personal preference. For me, I just wrote up a master plan on the computer (week **, day **, Chapter **) and then transferred it over to a regular old fashioned teachers planner and wrote things in in pencil. But never more than a week or two at a time. That way, if things really did get crazy, I wasn't having to erase a ton of stuff.

 

Again, totally up to you.:)

 

HTH

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I am starting my first year of HSing with a first grader. I have researched and researched different ways to 'lesson plan' the subjects.

One thought is to write it out as a teacher would in a calendar book. Another thought is doing a checklist but still planning out the year. Another is an online system/software.

So here comes my question... this will show my experience with HS.... why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

 

I think whether or not you need lesson plans for a subject depends on the curriculum. For Singapore, I need lesson plans to coordinate between the textbook, workbook, and IP. For history, I have lesson plans so that I can prepared mapwork and timeline figures ahead of time. I also need a list of library books to put on hold each week. For me, it's much easier to figure these out ahead of time.

 

Lesson plans also help me keep pace in most subjects so that we finish by mid-May without suddenly realizing in March that I need to double up in a subject to finish on time. Personally, I like the semester planners at donnayoung.org for basic subjects. I have one for math, one for grammar, etc. I wouldn't put them on a calendar because then it would really bother me when we got behind. They give me a quick glance at where we are and what we have left. For history, I make my own planner.

[Targhee]

From the point of view of a former school teacher, a lesson plan isn't just what you're going to do on what day. That would be your scope and sequence for the year. A lesson plan would be how you teach what your lesson is - many HS curricula are scripted so this isn't necessary, and even non-scripted Hs curriculu often have a lesson plan built into the book. And many elementary topics and easy enough to "shoot from the hip" on.

 

But say you want to teach a concept like classification (not some one else's classification scheme, but the idea of classification). You'd need to review terms like "properties", "similarities", and "differences." You'd need to have some items on hand to classify and maybe some signs/baskets/etc for seperating the things you are classifying. You'd need to create some oral comprehension questions or an activity to informally assess whether your student understands the concept. And then you'd want to be able to tie the concept into daily life so it isn't an isolated idea, perhaps making a connection to language arts (classifying parts of speech) or math (geometry) or civics (government structure). So your lesson plan would include the word definitions for review, a list of items you need to have prepared, some comprehension questions or activity written down for reference, and your tie-in. Or whatever else it is you want to do. If you have any sort of accountability requirements to the state these lesson plans would also list the criteria met by completing the lesson.

 

Having said that, I rarely make lesson plans for my kiddos (oldest in 1st). I do like having a scope and sequence listed to help ME have an idea of where we are going. I think lesson plans would become a lot more useful when you are teaching multiple kids, either at the same time or just having a lot of lessons to prepare (say 2 different history lessons, 4 different math lessons, 3 different grammar lessons, etc.)

[Willow]

people plan? ;)

 

Actually I have graduated 2 and still have a ds at home and...I have planned, but I have never actually FOLLOWED the plan. :lol:

 

Planning works great for planners. Its not so good for others of us. Try it. if it works for you, plan. If you hate it, try not planning and see what happens then. Either way you can always change your mind later.

[mamaof2andtwins]

For me, I need them because I have to write quarterly reports. It makes it much easier to figure out what was done at the end of each quarter if I have a lesson plan to look at. Otherwise, I would have to get out every textbook for all four children to figure out where they all began and ended the quarter.

 

I would think you would also want one when you get into high school to keep track of everything in one place for your transcripts. If you are just teaching young children, have straight-forward lessons, and no one else to report to then sure you can do it that way.

 

Jennie

[Homeschooling6]

With my 1st & 2nd grade students I don't use a lesson planner. I did with my first child but I don't have the time anymore:001_huh:

 

Like you mentioned, we do a lesson a day (we use textbooks & workbooks) and move onto the next.

 

Once my dc hit 3rd grade or 4th depending on how well they can read (do work on their own) then I do use a Lesson Planner. It's easier for me to grade their work, for the children to know what to do & keeps us all on track.

 

Blessings,

[MIch elle]

I spend LOTS of time picking curricula but then it's open & go. Pre-reading yes, lesson planning NO.

[Ellie]

Your plan sounds good to me.

 

Writing out lesson plans might be more important in a classroom situation, but when you're hsing, mostly it just isn't important.

 

An exception would be if you were using something like KONOS, where you really do have to plan ahead because you have to make choices ahead of time on what you're going to do.

 

Otherwise, you do lesson 1 today, lesson 2 the next time you do school, and so on.

[Sara in WA]

Your plan to just proceed ahead is exactly what I do. I had spent a lot of time mapping out how to finish X book in X weeks or months. Then, I was gently reminded that finishing a book isn't teaching my children. I might need to slow down or speed up depending on their mastery of subjects. Remember - you own the books or curriculum, the books and curriculum do not own you. No worries if SOTW takes you in to the summer or next fall. Just keep your kids learning and excited about learning.

 

When my oldest was K and 1st grade, I had a simple chart of boxes with subjects or activities written in each box - history (2 times), math (4 times), read aloud, library visit, cooking with Mommy, etc. As my kids get older and I'm teaching more kids, I have started a check off system so that I can make sure we are doing certain subjects. It's nice to look back and see all we accomplished.

[ElizabethB]

Don't plan, just do! It's been working for us.

 

If you're a planner/list maker, you may not be able to help yourself, and that's OK, too. It's OK to plan if you enjoy it. My mom is a compulsive list maker, she makes lists of her lists, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from planning even if she tried! (I am not an planner overall, although I do have a vision of what I what to teach in the long run and how I think we could best get there.)

 

For K, my daughter's math was easy for her, we did 3 pages a day. When it started getting harder, we went to 2 pages a day (MUS at the time.) Now, we're doing Singapore and generally do 2 pages a day. I work out of the IP book. She's going through fine, but I would skip if there was too much of something for her (so far it's been about right) or "supplement" with the regular workbook if she needed more practice in an area.

 

For phonics, we did 10 minutes a day in K. This year we did 10-15 minutes of phonics/spelling at the beginning of the year, then we just did spelling 2X a week, now we're just doing spelling once a week (She's reading and spelling very well, otherwise we'd still be doing it daily.)

 

We don't move on to the next thing until she's mastered what she is learning for phonics and spelling--except for the syllables ca, ce, ci, co, cu, cy and sca, sce, sci, sco, scu, scy. It took her a month to get the first set and 2 or 3 months to get the second, we moved on and reviewed those daily.

 

Basically, I don't plan, I just do the next thing. However, when things aren't going well, I look around for options and try something new. We switched from MUS to Singapore and that's working well for us.

[G5052]

I did in the grammar stage with Tapestry of Grace because we were picking-and-choosing resources and activities, but not with resources where you just do the next lesson.

 

Now that I have two in the logic stage, each has an planning book that I write their assignments for the week in including their chores. They're able to do independent work now and must have me check it before they get computer time. Next year I will meet with the oldest on Friday or Saturday to write out his own assignment sheet.

 

I'll note that I've always sat down at or near the end of month to check also where we are in relation to finishing our heavy school year on June 1st. That allows me to see that I have to catch up if we have a lot of sick days or just plain take off if we're slightly ahead.

 

It's a process!

Edited April 11, 2009 by GVA

[TengoFive]

I have only in the past 2 years started planning for my kids, and that's only because I have 3 needing direction. Even now I don't do more than a week in advance except to try to figure out how to finish things up for the year at about the same time or to try to correlate our studies to an event. For example we have a Revolutionary War reenactment coming up in May. I'd like to be studying the war at about the same time as we go to that, so I've tried to work that out this week. Other than that, we open and go.

[mom4him]

I am starting my first year of HSing with a first grader. I have researched and researched different ways to 'lesson plan' the subjects.

One thought is to write it out as a teacher would in a calendar book. Another thought is doing a checklist but still planning out the year. Another is an online system/software.

So here comes my question... this will show my experience with HS.... why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

 

I do a real basic lesson plan 1-2 wks ahead. It simply helps me keep on track with what we need to accomplish in that time period to be close to finishing for the year.

Also, somewhere on the web site of HSLDA I read that they encourage all homeschoolers to keep an account of what you have completed daily in case there were ever aligations brought against you? If they were to have to defend you they would have a documentation of what you did in that school yr.

I purchase a very simple, inexpensive lesson planner, put my plan in pencil, star it when completed that day or erase and move it forward. If we don't do school on a specific day I put why(to RC for Hutterite order, or Aunt Mary came for an overnight visit etc.)

[Annabel Lee]

I've made lists, check-off charts, etc. that I don't use now. I had to make an MS Word table to figure out what to teach who when - and I'm only hs'ing 2! I'm a visual person and need to see it all laid out like that. What I do still use is a a basic daily schedule, one for ea. day of the week. Once a day is done, it gets recycled to the next week, or if it's too marked up, I print a new one out. It's split into 2 large columns showing what I'll be doing with ea. child at any given time, and what the other can be working on independently. That helped solve alot of problems.

 

Other than that, the only thing I *really* have to plan for is science, b/c I'm not using a curriculum. I have to look at my science studies outline and see what I'll need for what comes next. It doesn't have any dates or deadlines on it, just a list of what I'd like to teach. We're moving on to invertebrates (finally) next week, so I've been gathering books and finding online videos, finding hands-on resources, etc. for our 1st topic in it.

 

For history, the only thing I have to do is open up the SOTW AG and put the recommended books on hold at the library, make sure to add anything (like air-drying clay for ex.) to the shopping list, make copies of the pages, and we're set for the next week.

 

In math my kiddos are on different levels so I've just got a couple of notebook pages I keep stuffed in the TM's w/ my notes for ea. of them. My notes include short things like "focus on fractions and memorizing 3's x table, how to write and add $, decimals" for my older and "place value, memorizing addition facts, marbles for grouping/mult. concept" for my younger. Then I know what I want to focus on in addition to, or in place of, what the TM suggests. I have many math manipulatives and math games on hand (and we use marbles, beans, good 'ol flashcards and other everday things) to implement what I want to teach.

 

The lesson plans I make are not at all elaborate, and learning still happens. I think if you find the need to, simply jotting down a few reminders on paper and keeping in mind your overall direction while knowing your correlating resources, will be enough to pull it all together.

 

The comment about having to defend oneself against any alleagations is a little frightening. Wouldn't the actual work the kids have done suffice? :confused:

It's food for thought, anyhow.

[Lovedtodeath]

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

Nothing. :) When I make detailed plans it is if I have 6 different books to correlate or library books to work in, and even then I usually make a detailed plan for only a couple of weeks and then we are used to for example, grabbing this book and looking up Asia, grab book 2 and look up Asia, grab book 3 and look up Asia, etc. On week 5 we are studying China, so on week for we get books at the library about China, and we glimpse at the activity book to see if we have what we need.... it really isn't all that complicated.

 

Sometimes I like to have all of my materials gathered ahead of time, but as long as all of the materials and books are at my fingertips, the plans are not necessary.

 

I think it also depends on how strict you are on following a schedule and settting time limits, actually finishing everything, and how many children you have.

[Guest]

Mine are on a semi-weekly basis and they change. I keep my final plans, what we actually did, in a file on my computer.

[Christine]

why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

 

There are a few things (major things) that you should consider re: planning.

1. Does your state require it? (a couple of states we've lived in did)

2. What curricula you use

3. What are *you* like? (this is a big one, and it just doesn't pertain to you, but your children as well)

The 1st is a no brainer, if your state requires it, then you must (unless you can get into an umbrella that doesn't require it).

 

The second. . .Well, like many have said this works great for math, and such subjects. However, some curricula you wind up "piecing together"; in which, having a plan is extraordinarily helpful.

 

The third one. . .This one honestly cracks me up. It still amazes me how many adults can't seem to fathom that other people work differently, and what works for you simply may not for them.

 

My best friend is a "proceed to the next thing" kind of person. It works great for her. Even in history, she takes this approach. Which means she is often open to "bunny trails" that she will frequently take. And that's fantastic! It works for her, and her kids are comfortable with it. The one downside that I see at the end of every year, is when she's preparing for her yearly review, she will start "fretting" about how "little" they did. It's not little. . .it's just more in-depth (like the month long unit they just completed on early aviation).

 

I, on the other hand, am a massive scheduler! (Evidenced on my blog.) There's a couple of reasons for this, the first being that I am a box checker. . .and if there is no box to check then, obviously, there is no work to be done. And, it can't be a "mental check", (like, "

I did lesson 16, 'check' and move onto 17"), it has to be a physical check on a piece of paper. (In fact, it's not a "check" at all -- I write down start and end times.) Also, particularly in history, I tend to work it like a unit, and therefore want to have a ready idea of what books I need to use when. It is infuriating when you go to your bookcases and find 3 books that you could have used on WW2 that you didn't even touch because you forgot you had them. . . doesn't happen with a plan.

 

Additionally, I have two teenagers, and two young-uns'. I hand the schedules to my older two and they come to me as they need help. I'm hands on with the little guys until their school day is done. Had I no plan, my older two would happily spend their day watching You-Tube or some such. Oh, and I have a horrible memory, so I couldn't do the mental check thing working on 3 different levels. (Did son 1 finish lesson 31 or 32 in math, and was son 2 on lesson 67 or 68. . . 112?)

 

So, depending on the above questions, and your answers to them, I guess you can determine what, if anything, you may be "missing".

 

HTH,

[Jenny in Florida]

why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

You hereby have my permission to do whatever works best for you and your family.

 

Ta da!

 

As someone else said, not all materials break up into nice, neat packages that way.

 

For example, I don't use a history book with numbered lessons. This year, my son is using portions of a history atlas and A Child's History of the World as "spines," supplemented with 10 non-fiction books, 4 magazines and 22 books of fiction. folk tales and legends. We're also doing 5-7 field trips and watching about 15-20 DVDs from Netflix and the library. So, I spent some hours over the summer looking over all of the materials and figuring out how it all fit togehter. Otherwise, it would be a mess.

 

Math is a bit easier. However, the curriculum my son is using has more chapters that we have weeks in the academic year. So, I had to figure out how many lessons we need to do each week in order to finish on time. My son also has supplemental math reading that had to be spread out over the year and an extra workbook that relates math to history that had to be aligned with his other reading.

 

So, if you use the kind of curriculum that is either "open and go" or already has plans written for you (Songlight, Winter Promise, etc.), then you'll probably never see a reason to write a lesson plan. And, if it works for you, great!

[sunflowerlady]

I am not a planner.:) I tried, but when life happened, and the plans kept having to be redone, I gave up. My state requires a log of what we have done, so I just make brief notes each Friday about what we did that week. So, I have records, but they are after the fact.

 

This coming year, I may need to plan a little more since we will be doing more real books for history and science.:confused: This should be interesting.:tongue_smilie:

[motherdear]

It makes school every easy if you take an advanced look at what you're doing and map out a few weeks worth of work. I used to take an hour or so every Sunday night when my darling sons were younger, now I find taking a chunk of time and mapping out an entire month is very valuable. Sometimes, when you go day by day you end up putting off things because you weren't prepared with material. That kind of messes up the week.

[ClassicMom]

I think it depends on the type of person you are. I also think as other posters have mentioned that you may be thinking scheduling instead of lesson planning.

 

I have found over the years if I didn't make schedules, it didn't get done.

Too much came up and it threw us way off. Personally, I like the Charlotte Mason type planners. I like the way that you can plan for a week and it has places for memorization, nature, artists, composers, etc. That way you get a glimpse of what you want to cover for a week and it's not strictly day by day.

 

This helped us stay on track through the grammar stage.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

For example, I don't use a history book with numbered lessons. This year, my son is using portions of a history atlas and A Child's History of the World as "spines," supplemented with 10 non-fiction books, 4 magazines and 22 books of fiction. folk tales and legends. We're also doing 5-7 field trips and watching about 15-20 DVDs from Netflix and the library.

I saw those plans. And pasted them into Word for later. ;) It sounds great!

[Lovedtodeath]

Aha! Yes, I can see a difference between having a schedule and having a lesson plan. I never, ever, ever, stick to a schedule. But I like having lesson plans... sometimes.

[Tree House Academy]

I schedule one week in advance (making sure that I know how many days "off" we can have before we get "behind" in that subject). For instance, our Science has 34 lessons, but we take, roughly, 2 mos off through the year at different times. Ummm...errrr...that doesn't quite work. So, I schedule to make sure we finish on time. That way, I know if I need to double up one week or what have you. I also schedule so I know what we NEED to finish that week and also, if something is NOT done, I know what to add on to the next week.

 

I do mine in an excel sheet. Most of it is listed like you said...Subject - lesson 1, day 1...lesson 2, day 2, and so on, but it really helps me keep it together.

[FO4UR]

I too have planned and abandoned lesson planning. I plan some things, but I keep it general - so it's really more like scheduling than actually planning.

 

At the ages of mine, it's hard to predict some things. ds6 will do 3 pages in math one day and only 1/2 page the next. I don't want my feelings over a beautiful *lesson plan* to get in his way. Sometimes, I notice as he's working a page that he needs more work on a concept before moving on, and I take note and change pace before coming back to that book. I observe what he's doing and modify daily - and I just printed off a planner page to journal what we do in math. It will take me longer to journal than to actually do much of it:tongue_smilie: I want to keep the record though.

 

I am trying out a weekly checklist after Easter. It's not really a lesson plan, but just accountability for myself to be sure and include everything I want for my dc.

[H.S. Burrow]

I am starting my first year of HSing with a first grader. I have researched and researched different ways to 'lesson plan' the subjects.

One thought is to write it out as a teacher would in a calendar book. Another thought is doing a checklist but still planning out the year. Another is an online system/software.

So here comes my question... this will show my experience with HS.... why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

 

I haven't read all the replies, so please forgive me if I repeat someone else. :)

 

I find that lesson plans are for *ME*. They help me to see what I need to do for the coming week (photocopies or reading ahead that *I* need to do); to keep us on track; and to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" around March of each year. ;)

 

I have a planner that I use - Homeschool Easy Records (HER) - and I can input grades and create progress reports (for the Grandparents!;)) and yearly report cards. As my daughter begins high school this fall, I will use this to create her high school transcript.

 

As far as my lesson plans go, they are usually very brief: Algebra Lesson 1; Algebra Lesson 2; etc... Sometimes, I have taken the time to be more specific and found that the basic "lesson __" is sufficient.

 

We are completing our 3rd year of homeschooling and each year I learn more about what works for us. For instance, it took me 2 years to realize that the lesson plans I spend time creating each summer are for *ME* and me alone. What works for one family, may not work so great for yours. If you live in a state that does not require reporting, then you may want to skip formal lesson plans if you don't need them at this time. On the other hand, you make want to make lesson plans now, so that when your child is beginning 8th grade instead of 1st grade, you'll have a better idea of what you do and don't need to plan.

 

I hope this helps! :)

[mims]

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

 

 

The biggest reason I plan is to teach my kids independence. They see what needs accomplished for the week and they quickly learn that if they work ahead they get more free time at the end of the week. They will note when I give them 5 days for a writing assignment. They learn it is much easier to do a chunk every day rather than wait until Friday. There is a certain enthusiasm in finishing ahead and knowing they are done as compared to Mom saying, "Oh, you're done, let me add some more work on you."

 

This has paid off with my oldest daughter. She finished most of her 'workbooks' for the year already. She is going to be in 9th grade next year and we had a talk about setting her own pace for highschool. If she finishes her 9th grade next March, she can start her 10th grade in April, etc. She and I have come to an agreement on what she needs to accomplish but she can set the pace.

 

You have a while to go before that but the early training of 'this is our list for the week' has really paid off in this household.

[Karen sn]

I am starting my first year of HSing with a first grader. I have researched and researched different ways to 'lesson plan' the subjects.

One thought is to write it out as a teacher would in a calendar book. Another thought is doing a checklist but still planning out the year. Another is an online system/software.

So here comes my question... this will show my experience with HS.... why can't I just look at the table of contents and go lesson by lesson each day we do school? Take math and do lesson one then two... etc. Take History book and start with lesson 1 then 2 ...etc.

 

What am I missing that is important in lesson planning?:confused:

 

I am all :bigear: when it comes to suggestions.

 

That's what we do.

I have a "Weekly View" that I made for myself.

I will plan the day's activity that morning or the night before and write it all down so that DURING the middle of my day I can remember what else I wanted to talk about. If we had a full day and I did not get to something - I white it out and write it in for the next day.

 

We just started Ancient history (5th grade). We go through SOTW at our own pace and read a gazillion books from the library. We also get a ton of DVD's.

 

I can not say to myself, "Chapter one this week, chapter two next week, etc...."

All I can do is set aside time in my day for the SUBJECT of History. We get as far as we get and as deep as we want to go. The next time we do history, we pick up where we left off.

 

I only plan the setting aside of the time and a few basic things I want to cover. I COULD NEVER NEVER NEVER schedule my self and say - "Ok, we're gonna do a chapter a week and be done with this book in X weeks."

I would go insane and feel stressed. I know other people who can ONLY function that way - but I can not.

 

One lesson at a time....

[Laura Corin]

I just do the next thing. At the beginning of the year, I take a quick look to see roughly how much I need to get through each week, then I just carry on.

 

Laura

[luv4bugs]

I can not tell you how surprised I am at seeing all these responses!! I was hoping for a few suggestion and WHOA! 4 pages of them came up. Thank you all.

 

I do see that maybe i am understanding that I need to lesson plan for the subjects that need supplements (history, science). Those are more for me to understand what I need ahead of time.

I am a big list person and visual scheduler!! (ie post-it notes are my favorite gift!) I will find my way and work with it then adjust it then work with it again!!

 

THANK YOU ALL!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D