Teach Yourself to Plan in 180 Easy Lessons
Presented by Liz Forstmeier at the North Central Pennsylvania Homeschoolers’
Convention 2002
Introduction
- How many of you hear this
every morning during your school year? "Mom, what are we doing
today?" You scramble; you search
for books behind the microwave. You throw the math books at them and quickly
read ahead in the language arts teacher’s manual! Let’s be honest, you don’t
know what you’re doing that day or the next day for that matter.
- I call what I created my
Daily Log/Planner. This is a tool that
has greatly improved our homeschool.
- It is a 5-day list made on a
word processor repeated 36 times (weeks of school) to achieve 180 school days.
- I got tired of writing out
my log at the end of the school day. I
simply wanted a list that we could just check off each day and it made sense to
prepare the whole year.
- I went through all of my
subjects and texts, my goals and planned projects and put them all together for
each day for the entire year.
- Although it is computer
generated, I consider it a work in progress.
You check things off, strike-through subjects not completed, draw arrows
to show a subject moved to another day, scribble extra activities off to the
side. The computer type is what is
planned and your hand markings (check-offs, deletes, add-ons) are what you
actually did. Will it save you time and
hassle? Yes!
Note: As I show you my Log/Planner
you will see my curriculum choices. (4th grade) Please don’t be
distracted by this. I freak out
whenever I hear what other mom’s are doing.
“I’m not doing enough.” If you
happen to get some ideas, great. And
you may be pleasantly surprised that you are doing much more than I am!
Let's build a year
step-by-step. Things to consider before you get started:
- Get a list of your subjects
and how many lessons are in each one. (get out each book individually)
- This will help you figure
out what subjects need to be covered everyday and what ones can be spread out
(i.e. If there are 140 lessons in math, it will take 28 weeks 5 days a week or
if you want to do math 4 days a week, it will take 35 weeks. In the same way, if there are 30 lessons in
your Geography workbook, then you can do one lesson a week.)
- Or will you 'block' some
subjects? Science for half a year and
History the other half - not taught simultaneously.
- As some subjects finish up
quicker than others, stick in Civics, Fire Safety requirements.
- How will some of your
subjects be taught?
- Reading - 2 days outloud,
2 silent, 1 comprehension workbook
-Geography -
3 days memory, 1 day workbook
First, we build a template
for one week.
I
use Microsoft Word. I am not a word
processing whiz. Eventually, you will
copy this blank template to make 36 individual pages. Not continuous, but hard page breaks. This way when you make changes to one page it will not affect the
others.
Building the Template (the first ‘day’ or page of your document)
1. First, write out 5 Day/Date
entries. Leave the week # blank - you
fill that in each week. I like to see 5
'days' or at least a week at a time (which could be just a three day week if
that’s all you planned to do that week).
I do not label them M-F.
Name Daily
Planner/Log Week
Day ________ Date ________________
Day ________ Date ________________
Day ________ Date ________________
Day ________ Date ________________
Day ________ Date ________________
2. Next you add the subjects
that are done everyday. Put in the text
used, but not the lesson # (remember, this is just your template). Copy and paste in these subjects five times
under each Day/Date.
Name Daily
Planner/Log Week
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
Writing:
Reading:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
Writing:
Reading:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
Writing:
Reading:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
Writing:
Reading:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
Writing:
Reading:
3. Next add subjects that are on
certain 'days' (see Piano 'lesson' on Tues., Gym is Tae Kwon Do on Tues. and
Thurs., also I put in our plan for Reading and Writing)
Name Daily
Planner/Log Week
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
lesson
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading:
Comprehension Workbook pp.
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
4. Next add subjects only done
once or twice a week (see Geography - 4 days with Fridays off, Latin - 4 days
with Friday off, Science - 2 days, History - 3 days)
Name Daily
Planner/Log Week
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
lesson
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading:
Comprehension Workbook pp.
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
Science:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Science:
5. Look at how the week is
shaping up. Wednesday was a good
'extra' seatwork day. We were not going
anywhere – usually. I added Health/Safety,
Geography would be the workbook day (states and capitals memory work on the
other days) as well as Reading. (a comprehension wkbk). Decided to delete Wednesday journal - too
much writing in one day. Also added
Logic and Art on Friday (later as other subjects winded down, I added more days
of Logic).
Note: Sorry,
this template is carrying over to the next page due my added notes. Your template should fit on one page.
Name Daily
Planner/Log Week
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
lesson
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal paragraph
Reading:
Comprehension Workbook pp.
Geography: Maps,
Charts, and Graphs Lesson #
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
History:
Health/Safety:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography:
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson #
Science:
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson /List #
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Science:
Logic: Building
Thinking Skills Book 2, pp.
Art:
6. Now you've got your
Template! Copy this 36 times ( a usual
5-day/week year) onto separate pages (not continuous).
See the next page for making your
first ‘real’ week.
Making the first 'Real week'
1. Go back to page 1 and start
putting in lesson numbers, book titles and projects
2. Print out only this page
(one week at a time)
3. Sunday evenings (or sometime
on weekend) revisit Log and with completed week on hand to check lesson #'s
etc., you create your next week of work in the same way.
John Daily
Planner/Log Week
1
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson 1
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson 1 / List # 1
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud –
History lesson
Geography: Learn
10 States and Caps. flashcards
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson # 1
History: Pioneers
and Patriots begin reading Chapter 1
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson 2
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson 2 / List # 1
Music: Piano
lesson
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Aloud –
History lesson
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography: Review
same States and Caps.
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson # 1
History: Pioneers
and Patriots reading Chapter 1
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson 3
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson 3 / List # 1
Music: Piano
practice
Reading: Comprehension
Workbook pp. 1-4
Geography: Maps,
Charts, and Graphs Lesson # 1
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson # 1, Activities A & B
History: Begin
reading Leif the Lucky
Health/Safety: A
Beka, read pp. 1-6, Eating good foods
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson 4
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson 4 / List # 1
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Gym: Tae Kwon Do
Geography: Review
same States and Caps.
Latin: Latina
Christiana Lesson # 1, Test orally
Science: Begin
reading Science with Plants
Day ________ Date ________________
Math: Saxon 54
Lesson 5
Lang Arts/Spelling:
A Beka Lesson 5 / Test List # 1
Music: Piano
practice
Writing: Journal
paragraph
Reading: Silent
Science: Activity
#1 in Science with Plants (soil erosion)
Logic: Building
Thinking Skills Book 2, pp. 1-6
Art: Pressing
flowers – gather flowers and fill press – set aside
Exceptions
Sick day - Cross off entire day and
change other lessons by hand for the rest of the week
Partial week – Just add shortened week
as a page-break
Fieldtrip day – Simply write in
“Fieldtrip” with a description for that day and continue filling in the other
days as planned for that week.
Half-days/ Weekend work - You can do this before or
after the week (as a page break) Just
combine all the things you did over a couple of days and write them under one
Day/Date.
You are doubtful
- Sounds like 'dinner's in the
freezer' - too much work - not enough time
- Great idea for some other
very organized homeschool mom
- I'm not organized enough,
planning ahead is not my forte
- I won't sick with it
- Too restrictive
- What if the law changes and
paperwork is unnecessary?
Legitimate concerns - But there are Benefits
1. All of your major work is
done ahead. Yes, you are putting a lot
of work up front in the summer (and weekly printing out the new week). But the time saved in not hand writing log
entries is tremendous.
2. You and your kids know
what's happening everyday
3. Your child can get started
by himself, he can check off his work, he can see his progress as the finished
lesson pages stack up and the number of days left goes down!
4. Less last minute running
around gathering books and supplies.
(you can even write in reminders to yourself a few weeks ahead to pick
up clay or plaster of paris, a certain book at the library, etc)
5. It becomes an enforcer. You are more likely to do what is on the
list.
6. Big picture - As you fill in
your lesson plans, you begin to see your whole year - all the subjects at once
- working together (or not)
- This is great for preparing
unit studies or at least tying subjects together that otherwise would have gone
unnoticed
- For instance you may see
while you are reading Charlotte's Web for a book report, you can study spiders
for 3 weeks in science, you can look for webs on your Friday nature walk and
make those cool spider gloves you saw years ago in Ranger Rick
7. You can also see holes, or
gaps in your curriculum and correct them ahead
- So often, the year seems
disjointed, some subjects seem like they are being covered more in depth and
others forgotten until the end of the year scramble
8. This is also great for
working in all those requirements - and making sure you do! - like fire safety,
civics, PA history, etc
9. You’re log is done! And it is done contemporaneously with
school. You don’t spend 10 mins. everyday writing what you did. And let’s face it, most of us write them 3
days after the fact.
10. You become familiar with your texts.
Keys to success
1. Sunday
nights - keeping this date! Don't wait
until Monday morning or you haven't really solved your problem
2. Knowing your children and
what they can accomplish in one day/year
-
Better to underestimate - handwritten additions are better than a bunch
of cross-offs.
Good luck!