Oh my goodness! You guys are so much fun! I’m having so much fun reading your comments, and posts!
For today’s forum discussion, I thought we could talk all about lesson planning, and scheduling! So let’s head over to the COAH Community and talk all about our favorite planning tips and tricks!
I personally like to plan out our entire year, even though there’s a possibility something will change. It’s been my experience that having my year completely planned out makes my year go more smoothly and reduces my amount of stress during the year as well. Changing just one thing is quite easily done.
Some people prefer to schedule only a few weeks or months in advance since things might change. Homeschooling schedules can be very flexible based on your own needs, so again, do what works best for the needs of your family.
I like planning ahead because it frees up my nights and weekends since all of my scheduling is already complete. All you have to do each Friday afternoon is make sure to have things ready for the upcoming week and then you have the rest of the weekend free to enjoy time with your family.
Since we all need pretty planners in our lives, today in the forum I’m giving away a free planner (winner’s choice)!
Enter to win a FREE planner (download):
I’ll be picking 2 winners from the replies in that post using rafflecopter, so make sure to reply and then click the rafflecopter noting that you’ve replied!
Details: Winners will be announced on above rafflecopter on Sunday, March 1, 2015!
Come chat with us!
I like to write out our school year our the summer in a year planner. Even though some of the curriculum writes out a schedule for me I like to have it all together so I can see what our day looks like and when our school year will end. It helps me stay accountable and on track. If we fall behind because I didn’t get around to something then I have to see we are behind or go thru and rewrite everything, either of which I do not want to do. I used COAH arrows planner this year, very helpful. I like the things to fill in such as goals and curriculum list as well as the large spaces for scheduling each day!
I do week to week right now. BUT to lesson stress I need to do Month to Month. I struggled last year with pushing too much. The evaluator told me I can relax. But I so badly wanted to just make sure I was doing enough for my dyslexic daughter who was struggling. This year she is progressing but I wonder if I am doing enough. I find you showing your work boxes to be helpful 🙂
I usually sit down and plan out our schedule once a week, that way if we need to review anything from the prior week I can add that in.
Jennifer
Hi everyone,
Make sure you leave this comment in the forum post to be entered into the giveaway!
https://community.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/t/how-do-you-plan-for-your-school-year/35
I made my own planner last year using free printables and then had it bound at office max. That way it’s exactly what I need. I started by doing 6 weeks at a time but now am doing 3 weeks at a time since I’m having to try some new things midyear.
I do my planning weekly. 🙂
Over the years, I’ve changed the way I do my lesson planning. I used to become frustrated when something came up that wasn’t originally incorporated into my lesson plans (ie cool field trip opportunity, unexpected company, etc.) and before long my plans were all messed up. We were doing the math lesson from three days ago, the English lesson from yesterday, science from five days ago, etc. Now, using an Excel spreadsheet, I make a list of each subject area on the left side of my horizontal paper. The days of the week are across the top. In the column next to each subject area, I list how much needs to be done each day. For example, I list “Math,” then in the next column (same row) “1 lesson.” So that my child knows what days of the week to work on a subject (for instance, if we only do science 3 days a week), I put a star symbol in the box that corresponds to the appropriate days (moving horizontal across that row). Ok, if you followed me thus far, my child then writes in specifically what he worked on that day. For example, using math as the subject, he would find the row marked “Math,” follow that row to the right, see that he needs to do one lesson, follow the row to the right, and assuming we do math 5 times a week, he would write his current lesson number that he just completed in the appropriate spot (Monday – “lesson 52,” Tuesday – “lesson 53,” etc. My son is writing this in AFTER he completes that day’s lesson)
By spending time at the beginning of the year figuring out how much work needs to be completed each week to finish the book (or complete as much of the book as desired), I then break it down into how much needs done each day – similar to traditional lesson planning. The difference is if something comes up and we don’t complete school as planned, I’m not “behind” in my lesson book, thus feeling the stress and anxiety of playing catch-up. Hope all that makes sense and is helpful to someone 🙂
I like this idea. It seems simple enough to follow as well. Thank you.
I plan on a weekly basis, we’re very flexible.
I can’t wait until my kids are old enough so I can plan a week ahead (at minimum). My kids are 2 (almost three) and 1 1/2, and though I try and at least have a general weekly plan, it never comes close.