| Author | |
Mrs. A
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 19 2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: May 01 2014 at 2:01pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
How do you do it? Do you write them out for things like history and lit our for anything that's not necessarily open and go? If you write them out where do you keep them? Do you keep them with your weekly plans?
Until now I've been using the homeschoolers journal and I like it very much for the weekly layout, but there's really no space to write many notes to myself about specific lessons. I would like to keep all my notes together, but I'd also like to keep my weekly plans in the same place. Is there a planner you use that serves both purposes?
__________________
~ Lisa
Orthodox Christian mom to 5
My blog:Through the Mind to the Heart
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Becky Parker
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 23 2005
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2582
|
| Posted: May 02 2014 at 7:46am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Lisa,
I just ordered a planner from Michelle Quigley. It's a daily planner, but you can order lesson planning pages that are added to it. I added one, not for the purpose of daily lesson planning but you could use it for that, as most people probably do. If there isn't enough space, you could order it binder style and just insert extra pages for notes.
Over the years I have changed the way I plan my lessons so often! I always used a lesson planning book from Staples, which was exactly like my lesson planner from when I was a classroom teacher. Now, I do things a little differently. I type everything out syllabus style and keep it on my computer, then my children have plan books that I use to write down the daily assignments they are supposed to do. I really like these Ny Student Logbooks for that purpose. They don't have a lot of room for notes, but all of my notes are on the computer for reference. I've also printed these syllabi off and kept them in a binder where I occasionally scribble notes in the borders. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of paper around here though!
__________________
Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
pumpkinmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1028
|
| Posted: May 02 2014 at 3:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mrs. A wrote:
I would like to keep all my notes together, but I'd also like to keep my weekly plans in the same place. Is there a planner you use that serves both purposes?
|
|
|
I have yet to find this unless you make a binder up yourself with printed out forms. The closest I have found is a planner from Mardel and this is a really nice planner!
I don't have time now, but I will come back and let you know what I use.
__________________
Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mrs. A
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 19 2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: May 02 2014 at 9:48pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you for the suggestions so far. I feel like looking at different kinds of planners helps me figure out what I am and am not looking for, so looking at what you both linked had been really helpful.
I think I might have to try those student notebooks that you linked, Becky. I've been trying to help ds and dd1 take a little more ownership of their lessons and I think having a daily checklist like that might be really helpful.
__________________
~ Lisa
Orthodox Christian mom to 5
My blog:Through the Mind to the Heart
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: May 03 2014 at 6:16am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I do like Becky except I print out daily Checklists and bind them in a notebook with daily papers like cooywork, math worksheets, Latin worksheets, etc... Paper clutter makes me crazy, and this has been a wonderful system. Dh has had a busy work week and couldn't bind my most recent set, and I have been finding checklksts and sheets all over the place  .
I also have started this Fall's plans using Google Sheets and Pages.There is a new app  for accessing your Google Docs directly on your mobile devices, and I will be able to reference and edit documents on my iPad and iPhone or a second computer instead of needing to be on the one computer. I use a spreadsheet for planning out the year by week and then the the term by day.
What kind of notes do you want to make about history plans? I do plan it out just as I do open and go, just with assigned readings/chapters per week, so it all goes into the spreadsheet mostly as a list of books. You can insert notes into spreadsheets as well, which will come up when you hover over a cell.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mrs. A
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 19 2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: May 03 2014 at 7:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
CrunchyMom wrote:
What kind of notes do you want to make about history plans? I do plan it out just as I do open and go, just with assigned readings/chapters per week, so it all goes into the spreadsheet mostly as a list of books. You can insert notes into spreadsheets as well, which will come up when you hover over a cell. |
|
|
I'm thinking notes like words to define before we begin reading, reminder to look at a map, discussion points I'd like to cover if they don't come up automatically... things like that.
I'm definitely a pencil/paper kind of planner, so I don't think I'll end up using a spreadsheet. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier to use typed notes and plans, but I just don't seem to work that way. 
__________________
~ Lisa
Orthodox Christian mom to 5
My blog:Through the Mind to the Heart
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: May 05 2014 at 5:43am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I could not go completely paperless either.
I would probably try to build my own planner using the pieces you already like and having them bound or trying a discbound option. Knowing you love to use paper, it could be a worthwhile investment to get either a binding system like Pro-click or a discbound system like Levenger or one of the generic options now available. Staples carries a lot of options, but I am not sure if they carry a punch for making your own. Staples will also coil bind notebooks, too.
Buy paper that is better than copypaper specifically for this and it will feel like a higher quality planner.
You could scan and print the pages from the planner you like. You could probably also cutt them our with a utility knife, but the margin might be too small. Then you could insert your own lined pages or customized pages to fit your needs either at the end or build it so that there is a page for history and literature notes on the back of each week's assignment list spread so your book would alternate a two page outline then two pages of notes.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MarilynW
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4275
|
| Posted: May 05 2014 at 8:55am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have organized my lesson plans in various ways, but the way that has been best for us has been the following:
1. Firstly I look at the whole year and write down what we will accomplish in that year - an overview of goals, booklists, materials etc
2. Then I break down books and pages and material by quarter.
3. Then I break them down into weekly checklists/plans
4. I bind myself a notebook(or use a binder) with all the plans. The children get a notebook/binder/purchased planner with daily plans.
5. I do the above before the start of the school year - though once a week I go through and add post-its to myself or notes for the following week. I also update the kids' planners.
I use Word mainly and sometimes Excel.
I have used Homeschool Tracker and it produces lovely reports with places for notes etc. I keep wanting to go back to it - but I think my Word schedule are simpler, and I am all about simple right now....
__________________
Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: May 05 2014 at 9:49am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Maarilyn's post reminded me of the Tanglewood Corebook. If you wanted to build your own planner that kept your handwritten plans self contained, it is an affordable option for printing.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: May 05 2014 at 10:31am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I do very much what Marilyn does. In the past I've done weekly block schedules (just do the next thing in the math program, do the copywork, read the next chapter in this set of books daily). This year I am actually breaking mine down into daily checklists. My rising 11th grader needs that level of accountability not to fall behind (sigh), and one of my objectives for the coming year is to habituate my rising 5th and 6th graders to following a syllabus independently.
So I'm in the middle of making all these plans now, but basically I
1. Made up my booklists
2. Broke the year down into three 10-week terms, with two "open" weeks at the end of each for catch-up purposes or just time off.
3. Determined what books I wanted to use on what days of the week. For example, for my rising 6th grader:
*Monday (short day because we do a Gym & Swim class at the Y)
__copywork
__ math (next page in the book)
__picture study
Read:
__YouCat (whatever section I've assigned for that day)
__Harp & Laurel Wreath (choose one poem)
__The World's Story (assigned pages)
Tuesday
__copywork
__ math
__KISS grammar (assigned page)
__Visual Latin (assigned lesson)
Read:
__Little Catechism of the Eucharist (religion)
__D'Aulaires' Norse Myths (literature)
__The World's Story (history)
__M.B. Synge's Book of Marvels (geography)
__Trees, Stars, & Birds (science/nature)
__Life of Fred (math literature)
__Plutarch (whatever Life we're doing that term)
And so on. I am assigning specific pages/sections for each reading, though if we're in the ballpark, that will be fine with me.
Once I'm really sure I'm finished, I'll print out each child's lessons and either put them in a binder or have my husband spiral-bind them. My copies will be on my laptop, where I can amend things if necessary. I'll just hand-write any changes onto the kids' as we go.
(for those interested in my high-school plans, by the way, I hope to do my Western Civ 2 plans more on this model than I did the Western Civ 1 plans. But oh, my gosh! I just got my laptop back from the shop, and I'm drowning in lesson planning!)
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mrs. A
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 19 2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: May 06 2014 at 7:58pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you all for all the helpful replies. I am getting a better idea of how I might like to work this out.... the wheels are turning in my head. I was really drawing a blank before!
__________________
~ Lisa
Orthodox Christian mom to 5
My blog:Through the Mind to the Heart
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: organizing lesson plans
