Homeschooling Essentials - Planning
As I said in my previous post about Prayer, I am a planner. Planning in its proper place is important and is an essential tool in my homeschool.
Since I only homeschool one child I do great with an simple teacher's lesson plan book like this inexpensive one from Rod and Staff.
However, if you have many kids in different grades, doing different things in each subject, that probably isn't idea. I know that there are lots of other great homeschool planners out there. Donna Young's website has tons of homeschool forms available for free. Among them are some pretty great planners.
The Old Schoolhouse has a really awesome one. While it isn't free it is worth the money. These are formatted by a typical school year calendar so this one is half over but hey, it's at a really low price now too!
Once I have my planner I start by making a sample lesson plan for the week. I try to follow that as best I can but many times I use it to simply write down what we DID do, rather than writing down before hand what we are SUPPOSED to do. I usually get Monday's lessons laid out, but each day after I pencil in what actually gets done. Having a daughter with special needs, sometimes thing do not go as fast as expected!
Planning is important. Knowing what you plan to do will make your day go more smoothly and having a way to keep those plans together is essential. However, even with all that planning, things won't always go as expected. So while planning is good, you also need to learn to be flexible. We will talk about that tomorrow.
Since I only homeschool one child I do great with an simple teacher's lesson plan book like this inexpensive one from Rod and Staff.
However, if you have many kids in different grades, doing different things in each subject, that probably isn't idea. I know that there are lots of other great homeschool planners out there. Donna Young's website has tons of homeschool forms available for free. Among them are some pretty great planners.
The Old Schoolhouse has a really awesome one. While it isn't free it is worth the money. These are formatted by a typical school year calendar so this one is half over but hey, it's at a really low price now too!
Once I have my planner I start by making a sample lesson plan for the week. I try to follow that as best I can but many times I use it to simply write down what we DID do, rather than writing down before hand what we are SUPPOSED to do. I usually get Monday's lessons laid out, but each day after I pencil in what actually gets done. Having a daughter with special needs, sometimes thing do not go as fast as expected!
Planning is important. Knowing what you plan to do will make your day go more smoothly and having a way to keep those plans together is essential. However, even with all that planning, things won't always go as expected. So while planning is good, you also need to learn to be flexible. We will talk about that tomorrow.
Want to learn more? Check out these other 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials blogs.
Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining
Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
Heather @ Thrift Schooling
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama
Lisa @ Home to 4 Kiddos
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement
Monique @ Living Life and Learning
Jenn @ Fresh Start Academy
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