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Angel
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I have decided that this year I need to learn a lot more about how to plan. I'll be adding a third student officially this year, and looking at the twins being "official" the year after next. Life around here is always pretty chaotic -- and I have a baby soon-to-be-toddler who nurses at night like a newborn (actually, he slept better when he was a newborn) -- so I have to learn how to plan through the chaos and acknowledge the fact that I can do nothing with anyone in the afternoons because I spend *all* afternoon with the baby, trying to get him to nap. I've been reading lots of planning blog posts, e-books, etc., but of course none of them really address Montessori. And what I'm running into is that unless I have a time slot scheduled *and* I know what to do with it, things often just don't get done.
Like my 9 yo's math. And geography. And geometry, which I really wanted to include this past year (and didn't.) Or work for my 5 yo and the 2 yo twins. (And they really *neeed* work, let me tell you. One of the twins has been going around lately unscrewing anything he can get his hands on. He dismantled one of our fans the other day. Took it right off the frame.)
So - how do you plan for Montessori? How do you allow your kids to work at their own pace, giving them choice, and also maintain your sanity, deal with family needs, and have new work ready when they're ready for it?
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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Angela,
I didn't plan well enough last year either. In reflecting, planning was THE activity that a smooth running choice time depended on. By the end of the year, I was starting to get in a groove.
I started dividing the year into chunks. I would look at the big picture using Lori's Comprehensive Lists just to give me direction...where we had been, what had been mastered, where we were going. I also took into account studies that were occurring elsewhere - were we delving deeply into Botany studies for science? Period of history covered? That kind of thing. From these reflections I would pull presentations (from the internet and from albums I had) and organize them in a binder for use or make note of them in my planner. We jumped from there.
The older students weren't as difficult to plan for as most of their choice time revolved around an ongoing study. The little guy needed to have plenty available to him to keep his little hands occupied with purposeful work. It was a stretch at times to fill that need. The key was to keep rotating interesting work on and off the shelves for him. I'd like to pick up a few more practical life things for him at the thrift store over the summer. He never got tired of arranging flowers. Puzzles didn't hold nearly as much interest as hammering into cork, writing in cornmeal, sorting wooden marbles. Very tactile work, but I was amazed at how long it captivated him. I'm re-assessing my shelves right now to make sure he has a variety of objects to touch, examine and work with.
I'm really hoping to glean more insight into how the rest of you plan...as I said, last year was challenging for me and I had only JUST started to get into a groove I felt was working well for me and the children. 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Meredith
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Angela, I have also been planning mainly off of Lori's Lists, and also her workplans. But I have been taking Karen Tyler's online class for 3-6 and have gained so much about how to plan presentations and working with a monthly plan, etc. I am in the process right now of setting up a schedule of sorts for my littlest (now 3, sniff) and I'll try and pop in again with more details, then I'll start working on my older ones too.
Blessings,
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Angel
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 8:27am | IP Logged
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I signed up for Karen's class last summer, but what with having a baby and a difficult recovery and then diving right into the thick of homeschooling again... and the baby never getting into a good sleep pattern... I got quite overwhelmed with the level of "stuff". I managed to print out only part of the Practical Life album, which then resided in the bottom of a Rubbermaid bin until just recently. 
Organization is not my strongpoint. I mean, my kids did learn last year -- I think it was a pretty successful year, especially in terms of it being a new baby year -- but I feel like I got through it by the skin of my teeth, limping at the end. And as I said, there were holes.
What sort of information does Karen provide about making a monthly plan and planning presentations? Maybe I could sort everything back out.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Angel
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 8:48am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
I started dividing the year into chunks. I would look at the big picture using Lori's Comprehensive Lists just to give me direction...where we had been, what had been mastered, where we were going. I also took into account studies that were occurring elsewhere - were we delving deeply into Botany studies for science? Period of history covered? That kind of thing. From these reflections I would pull presentations (from the internet and from albums I had) and organize them in a binder for use or make note of them in my planner. We jumped from there.
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Jen,
Can you explain a little more about the binder you made -- how you set it up, how often you maintained it, that kind of thing? (And please don't feel like anything is too basic.  )
Also, when you say your planner -- do you use a traditional lesson planner? How often do you sit down to plan? How far ahead are you planning? Do you make a note of all presentations for everybody? How do you cross-reference your binder?
I'm really just trying to collect as much information as I can right now about planning in general, using different methods. I've started putting together an idea notebook with blog posts about planning, pictures of learning rooms and shelves from across the net (Jen, I've got your room from last year and this year ), and I'm really trying to think hard about the basics.
I'm still in the process of clearing out the old year, so all this stuff is just kind of perking in the background. But I do want to be able to sit down with a plan to plan (so to speak) in the next few weeks.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Meredith
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Angel wrote:
| What sort of information does Karen provide about making a monthly plan and planning presentations? Maybe I could sort everything back out. |
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Well for each Album she is providing "tracking masters" which are very similar to Lori's Comprehensive Lists, just in a different format (Excel, I think) and then she also provides a nice Outline of Presentations for the year like "13 Presentations Per Year-Botany Introduction" which is also very helpful for trying to plan, especially if you want that as a focus, otherwise you can just meander through a few from each section and then revisit them again for the consecutive years until you make it all the way through the Album.
Just over the weekend I laid out a month's worth of presentations for my 3 yo based on her suggestions for a Month's worth of activities (for all the albums I have so far and some of my own compilations) and I am basically beginning at the beginning of the 3-6 albums for him as he just kind of came along for the ride last year. He did do quite a bit and some will be re-introductions, but now his attention span is MUCH longer than it was this time last year so I know he'll totally benefit from some repeats as well as be able to progress with a more linear fashion through the presentations.
I'm really excited and am now working on the 6 yo's month's worth. He really did well last year and so I want to keep the momentum for him and he's on that threshold of being partially done with the 3-6 stage and ready to move into some of the 6-9 activities
I don't know if this is helpful, but I'm happy to share any more nuts and bolts with you. Planning is fun, but can be stressful if you feel like you have too much to work with and no way to put it all together.
Hugs,
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Mackfam
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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Ok - caveat here - last year was a survival year for me! So, I was just getting rolling with something that was working, and am continuing to put thought into it as I set up more of a routine for myself this summer. I can't offer a statement of credibility like, "this has been working well for me for the last 5 years..." So, as long as you understand I'm just as much a work in progress -
Angel wrote:
| Can you explain a little more about the binder you made -- how you set it up, how often you maintained it, that kind of thing? (And please don't feel like anything is too basic. ) |
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Set up...
It's just a three ring binder with three dividers in it - one divider for each child. Right behind each child's divider I have Lori's comprehensive list for that age group (I have one child in each age group. If my kids were closer spaced or I just did blanket presentations..which I might this year..it might look different. For purposes of documentation for me, this is the easiest.) In each section for each child, I gather presentations for each material worked on. I divide the presentations by 3 hole punching a piece of cardstock in some offensively bright color. So, there is a piece of neon pink  cardstock between each presentation. That just provides a visual for me so at a glance I can see definition between each presentation. If I plan on using a presentation from an album, I insert a piece of notebook paper in that place noting the album and page number. I use this paper for notes during and after the presentation.
How often maintained...
Ummm willy-nilly last year. This year, I hope to update, plan, add, subtract on a quarterly basis. I'll assess our plans at the beginning of each quarter using Lori's lists. This might not work either, but since I don't use Montessori work exclusively I think it will. If I were doing more Montessori than anything else, I might assess weekly or bi-weekly. I will perhaps do the latter with JP, my littlest. Anyway, I'll check the Comprehensive lists and pull/print presentations and add them to my binder so I don't have to go hunting for them. I'll also assess my shelves at this time. I don't add until I've presented, but if a material hasn't been worked with for a while, I'll consider putting it away to make room. When I sit down to assess my binder, I make a note of any presentations I need to print or find online. I make a list of them and add them to a notebook page at the very front of my binder so I can spend time searching for presentations in an organized way without wasting my computer time.
Angel wrote:
| Also, when you say your planner -- do you use a traditional lesson planner? How often do you sit down to plan? How far ahead are you planning? Do you make a note of all presentations for everybody? How do you cross-reference your binder? |
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Last year, I used a traditional week at a glance block/subject planner and I hated it. I planned at the beginning of each week. I always felt like I was a gulp away from drowning.
This year I'm merging a combination of planning systems. I spent a lot of time reading Dawn's posts on her file crate system. I think this will work better for me because I will have a way to look ahead weekly without having to write so much on a little square on a planner. I can add liturgical year info by the week and drop it into that week's file, drop presentations in a week's file, have the week's lesson plans in that week's file, etc.
I've also taken a lot of notes from a dear IRL friend Janet (ALMom). She writes all of her plans out on notebook paper for each child at the beginning of the year. I plan on writing (or typing and printing) out my plans (one child, one day, one piece of notebook paper) - not sure what level of detail I'll get yet although I hope to get the whole year mapped out to some extent this summer - and dropping in the pages of plans into each weekly file. I think/hope/pray this method will work better for me and my family and the way we work. I've been excited as I read and plan my way with the CM planning system because it's almost tailor made to work for me and my new system. Again...I think this will work for my family, it may not be the thing that will work for you.
I need something that will help me keep the year organized in a way that allows me to come across something and just drop it in place or in a file to be dealt with later. I need a system that keeps all of my lose ends tied together. And, there's no way that fits into a notebook. So, Dawn's file crate system will be perfect for me. My Montessori notebook (the quarterly plans) will have a place at the front of my file crate.
Ok sorry this is lengthy, but you asked for details Hope this is helpful in some way. Fire away with more questions if I didn't explain something clearly enough.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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Meredith wrote:
Just over the weekend I laid out a month's worth of presentations
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Hmmmm...So you plan monthly, Meredith? Interesting. Taking notes.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Meredith
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Mackfam wrote:
Hmmmm...So you plan monthly, Meredith? Interesting. Taking notes. |
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HA!! I think I was reading you post while you were reading mine
I am setting up a month at a time and then if there is overflow it will be easier to make adjustments and for the 3yo especially I'm not certain how fast he'll move through everything so I'm just working with it as a spring board.
I'm actually going to start with him right away as he really thrives on some structure in his day and I'll be able to set up a nice work time with him while I am not so focused on the bigger kids.
Like you I keep notes on each presentation and tweak as necessary and add in if need be after they have worked with the material on their own a few times! I also really like to have a weekly sheet for each child and I can see where I want to repeat or rabbit trail from their choices
Happy Monday!
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Meredith
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Angel
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| Posted: June 23 2008 at 3:16pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Jennifer and Meredith, for taking the time to help me on this.
I actually did try to use Dawn's system this year, but not with actual lesson plans. It worked great when I was on top of things, but my kids kind of thought it was where they ought to pile their work. So then I got behind. I'm hoping to work out a better place for them to file their own work -- on a wall, I'm thinking, but not sure if I'll go so far as to break it down into folders for them -- so that it will be easier to keep up the crate. It took me some time to figure out where to put it, too, but I think I have a workable place now. So I'm hoping to do just what you said, Jen, and use it for lesson plans. I have a terrible tendency to lose planners.
I'm just a little worried about being too tied to dates. I know our basic rhythm -- July/August starts the year; we're usually sick at the beginning of Sept. so I'm planning a break then and hoping that will catch the school-is-starting viruses -- mid Sept./Oct/mid-Nov., which is when my first quarterly report is due, and a break for Thanksgiving; December is in its own little universe; January/Feb (I'll have a report due in january); March/April (report due in April); May/June -- we're really sliding into a reduced schedule here -- and a report due in June. So those are the divisions I'd like to plan for. I know that if I try to plan the whole year in too detailed a fashion, something will happen to derail my plans. But I'm afraid if I try to make the planning period too short, then I'll be perpetually behind... which is how it's been in the past.
What I've done previously is just to make a list of topics with related presentations and work my way down the list. But I think that this isn't detailed enough.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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Angel wrote:
my kids kind of thought it was where they ought to pile their work. So then I got behind. I'm hoping to work out a better place for them to file their own work |
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Ooh! Thanks for that heads-up. Hadn't thought of that, but I know the kids will be looking for a file as well. I'm going to add files for completed work for them this afternoon. Thanks!
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Jen Mackintosh
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websterm
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| Posted: June 25 2008 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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I can't figure out how to quote....
Angel - I can relate, I signed up for Karen's class and as wonderful as I believe it is, I was so completely overwhelmed! I quit...hate to be a quitter...
Ladies - tips for not feeling overwhelmed with all the great material that comes from karen's class?
My 2yr old would benefit from true Montessori than the stuff I just come up with at times And my daycare kiddos would do great with it! When I have done a presentation, they have done great, but I know I am NOT doing it in a "TRUE" Montessori way...
Marcia
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Meredith
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| Posted: June 25 2008 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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Well for me Marcia, I have been just saving and storing all her albums on my laptop and just recently started printing out the full albums as I need them for presentations. This helped me not to feel too overwhelmed by ALL the great material. Karen is so kind and helpful as well and will always be happy to answer any questions about the presentations or materials that you might have.
In a home setting, Montessori is so different for everyone, so finding a comfort zone for yourself is truly part of the process, at least it was for me
I really think having a list of presentations by order is a must, that way you know how far you have come or at least where you want to start!!
HTH, and blessings,
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Meredith
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Angel
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Meredith wrote:
I also really like to have a weekly sheet for each child and I can see where I want to repeat or rabbit trail from their choices
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Do you mean a weekly sheet of plans or a weekly sheet of notes of what worked and what didn't?
I am very slowly getting things organized, and today I started working on my file crate. I was thinking that I could easily put copies of the presentations I want to do for all the kids each week into the weekly file crate folder. I am thinking about doing this for my 2 month term. Then for each week I can make up a master chart where I see everybody at a glance. And I can put any cards I want to use in the folders as well, as well as basic list of choice time topics (projects, etc) that I'll write on my whiteboard. I can always add and subtract on the fly.
I *think* that this might work, but I haven't gotten that far yet. Jen, how is your file crate coming?
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Meredith
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Angel wrote:
Do you mean a weekly sheet of plans or a weekly sheet of notes of what worked and what didn't?
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It's a weekly sheet of presentations that I want to do for each subject with M-F across the top, I made it on Excel. This way if a presentation can be done with both boys it's right there on each of their sheets and I can plan the ones I need to do separately or that I can have my oldest (dd) present to the littlest as she's really interested in being a Montessori teacher 
I will then have a notes sheet to correspond to what worked or needs re-introduction later.
Does that answer any better, or do you still need more info??
Have fun with your file folders 
Blessings,
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Angel
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That cleared it up, Meredith - thanks.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Angel
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Another question, though -- how much time do you all spend planning?
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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websterm wrote:
I can't figure out how to quote....
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Marcia - There is a tutorial in the technical help forum that will show you how to quote.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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websterm wrote:
Ladies - tips for not feeling overwhelmed with all the great material that comes from karen's class?
My 2yr old would benefit from true Montessori than the stuff I just come up with at times And my daycare kiddos would do great with it! When I have done a presentation, they have done great, but I know I am NOT doing it in a "TRUE" Montessori way... |
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I know what you mean about all.the.stuff! I started printing it all, but then it got to be way too much.
Perhaps spending an evening or two organizing a few files on your hard-drive for all of your Montessori downloads, or even a folder (or two  ) that lives on your desktop.
I invested a good bit of time organizing the files on my computer so that they were easily find-able, but not printed until needed.
If you are trying to present materials in a way that allows for a child-led experience - one in which the child is making those wonderful "connections" I think you are presenting Montessori in the truest sense. I don't diminish the value of the presentations, they do have value, but I am not a slave to them either.
Just my opinion.
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Jen Mackintosh
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AndreaG
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Wow thanks for all these planning thoughts!
I have been looking over Karen Tyler's lists of presentations for each month, and Lori's list and trying to figure out just what system will work for me.
I like the idea of planning monthly.
Meredith, do you plan each week's specific daily presentations at the beginning of the month, or do you start with a general monthly plan and then fill in the weekly sheets...well, weekly?
I'm sorry if you explained it and I missed it, I am organizationally challenged so I need everyone to speak very slowly
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Andrea
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: planning Montessori
