For those of you who plan your own lessons....

[MommyInTraining]

What is your favorite resource for planning?

 

Do you have a favorite planning book that you use?

 

I think I would prefer something on paper vs. computer.

 

I think part of the reason I don't like open and go curriculums is because they are "open and go". I don't know what is coming next unless I sit down and read through it myself before doing it with the children. Thus, partly defeating the "open and go" of it :).

 

Does that make sense to anyone???

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Closeacademy]

Sometimes, I use notebook paper and sometimes I use forms from this site: http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/planners/planner.htm

 

When I use the notebook paper, I usually write the dates across the top and the subjects down the side. A lot of the time, I put two weeks on one side of a page so I usually use this when the child is younger and we are only concerned about math and phonics.

 

With Donna Young, I have used the 5 Columns/8 rows Edwardian planner and I put the subjects at the top and the dates down the side. Again, I had enough room for two week's worth of work.

 

Good luck.:001_smile:

[Peela]

I do my own planning but I still find that many subjects don't involve much planning. Most of my planning involves coordinating history and literature, and writing assignments related to them. Other than that, its just fitting it all together into some sort of schedule and timetable.

I sit down during holidays with all the books around me and line up pages and topics etc and write it all down on paper, then transfer it into a page in Word on the computer.

[Ellie]

What is your favorite resource for planning?

 

Do you have a favorite planning book that you use?

 

I think I would prefer something on paper vs. computer.

 

I think part of the reason I don't like open and go curriculums is because they are "open and go". I don't know what is coming next unless I sit down and read through it myself before doing it with the children. Thus, partly defeating the "open and go" of it :).

 

Does that make sense to anyone???

Most of the things I used really were open-and-go. I don't understand what difference there might be in reading through something before doing it and doing lesson plans.:confused: It took just a few minutes to look ahead and see what the dc were doing, which, really, you'd have to do if you were planning lessons.

 

The only time I ever needed to actually plan ahead was the two years I was doing KONOS, and then I used Gregg Harris's organizer, which is no longer being published. Otherwise I left a bookmark in where we stopped in a book and started there the next time.

[momee]

I completely understand. For years I've been doing online forms for my kids and this summer I decided to pretend to be a teacher. I bought a paper lesson plan book from a local teacher store. It was $11 but they had others for $5. In fact for my high schooler I bought the one for $5.

 

Mine ($11 one) has two pages that I can use for two different students.

 

I've taken my TOG curricula, one unit at a time and planned out what we're doing for the subjects we're using TOG for. I feel like I now know what's coming, what we need from the library and my kids can have a copy and not be overwhelmed with choices of colums to look at.

 

Press on, it's been great for me.

[swellmomma]

I am a pen and paper kinda gal. EVen though I am using sonlight next year I am changing it so even their schedule isn't going to do me tons of good :) sometimes I use teacher plan books that I buy, sometimes I print forms off the internet to use. Most of my planning is from figuring out history and science with supplemental reading, videos, projects etc. Much of our other work is technically open and go, but I prefer to schedule set pages to accomplish each week so make sure we are progressing steadily. Also I am of the personality that if it is not written on the planner I forget all about it and it never gets done. This has happened once before with math and once before with spelling. Forgot to write them on the planner and we never did them, I just have so much going on at once I never even thought about them until I was tidying up desks and found the workbooks. So now EVERY subject is written out.

[sagira]

I use Tanglewood's Create your Own Curriculum feature, which means I click on each subject matter right on the front page and plan my year as I go along.

 

I use Tanglewood's corebook as well, which I've printed up and pencil in everything I need. It's so easy. She explains it all in the corebook how to do it. Best of all, the corebook only costs $5.25 (I seriously need to apply to work for these people :D).

 

Other valuable resources/books:

 

The Well Trained Mind (got my new edition yesterday for Mother's Day -- yes!)

Teaching Children by Diane Lopez

When Children Love to Learn edited by Elaine Cooper

[Samiam]

Hmmm, I have to agree with the PP...if you plan to "plan" the lessons, you have to go through and read ahead to see what you will be working on in order to put in the lesson plan......add to that, you want to do it on paper, which means if there are ANY changes, you are crossing out/whiting out/redoing that day/week etc.

 

Sounds like extra work for you, especially if you already made an effort to get "open and go" curriculum.

 

Honestly, I would think that regardless of your students age, and how independently they are working, you would still need to look at what is upcoming for them in their work to make sure they are doing it, understanding it, etc.

 

For me, the computer lesson plans work best, just cuz I can rearrange at will, with little effort.

[ariasmommy]

Hey, I got WTM for Mother's Day, too! :) And I'm also looking at the Tanglewood Core book for next year. I'm using Sonlight, but thinking of printing out the Core book schedules and using them instead of writing in my SL IG. I like the space for habits and other CM ideas, too. :)

[MicheleinMN]

My absolute favorite teacher planner is the one produced by Rod & Staff. It is an old-fashioned lesson plan book like the ones p.s. teachers use: 5 days per week, 7 'blocks' per day with space for notes and comments. And it is cheap -- only $3.60 each.

 

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/65680/

 

:iagree:

 

I used this one last year (one for each of my students and one for me). When I asked my dc if they wanted to try a different planner or use the same ones we did this year, they all picked to keep using this one.

 

HTH

[MommyInTraining]

Thanks so much!

 

I love the different ideas!

[iwka]

I've never put my planes on paper before (although I love planning), until last year, when I started to homeschool my third child. I just had to see who, what, when, where etc. plus I am teaching my older ones (11 dd and 9ds) to value planning, goal setting, organizational skills.

 

For the time organizer for the whole family I use Google Calendar, and I absolutely love it:

 

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=cl&passive=true&nui=1&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcalendar%2Frender&followup=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fcalendar%2Frender&ltmpl=suggest

 

For assignments I use Google Docs spreadsheets:

http://www.google.com/google-d-s/intl/en/tour1.html

 

and this is one of the weeks for one child:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pkx6AQoazFyd0BzyPJJotYA

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Recently I've been using the table feature in MSWord. I have weeks down the side and subjects across the top. I put in lessons and can color code the blocks for group or individual work.

[sagira]

Hey, I got WTM for Mother's Day, too! :) And I'm also looking at the Tanglewood Core book for next year. I'm using Sonlight, but thinking of printing out the Core book schedules and using them instead of writing in my SL IG. I like the space for habits and other CM ideas, too. :)

 

Cool! :) I like to see at a glance whether dc have had enough unstructured play time outdoors and indoors, and space for art and music.. I love it. It's also really easy and flexible to work with. And I can print it out every year. At $5.25 for a one-time downloading fee it can't be beat ;)

[pereztribe]

Sometimes, I use notebook paper and sometimes I use forms from this site: http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/planners/planner.htm

 

When I use the notebook paper, I usually write the dates across the top and the subjects down the side. A lot of the time, I put two weeks on one side of a page so I usually use this when the child is younger and we are only concerned about math and phonics.

 

With Donna Young, I have used the 5 Columns/8 rows Edwardian planner and I put the subjects at the top and the dates down the side. Again, I had enough room for two week's worth of work.

 

Good luck.:001_smile:

 

I use the same website!! Donna Young rocks!!:iagree:

[pixeldog]

I use Donna Young's site, as well, and I really like her Quarter Planner. I'm a big-picture gal and I like to plan out each subject for the year, make a copy for my 10-year old to check off as he works and I have mine to double check with. I prefer to use pencil and keep it brief in case I need to tweak...I don't like to tweak on the computer for some reason.... Anyway, I like to be able to see the year at a glance for each subject. If I need to start fresh, I just download another *free* form and say a prayer of thankfulness for Donna! There's soooo much on her website. I don't use much of it, but I get lots of ideas and admire her for sharing her hard work for free. Quite a ministry...

[mom4him]

My absolute favorite teacher planner is the one produced by Rod & Staff. It is an old-fashioned lesson plan book like the ones p.s. teachers use: 5 days per week, 7 'blocks' per day with space for notes and comments. And it is cheap -- only $3.60 each.

 

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/65680/

:iagree::iagree::iagree:Before this year I had used my own design done on the computer and then printed out. I used this book this last year and have loved it. It takes less time, I can plan out 1 week or carry it through to several to see where we will be with something. If I need to adjust it is simple as I do it in pencil. I really do love it, have mine ordered for this next year.

[mlbuchina]

I tried to use the lesson plan sheet that the school gave us, but it just didn't work for me. I took their idea and tweaked it to my style. I have seen some other posters that have done like me: days across the top, subjects down the side. I am going to check out Donna's site, though, and see if I like her forms better!:001_smile:

[Mom2boys]

I usually do my planning in an excel spreadsheet, and then print it out and put it in a binder so we can check off assignments as we go. But I have also used forms from Donna Young, and the Tanglewood Core book. I like Tanglewood better for younger children, and Donna Young for older kids.