4Real Forums: Once in a lifetime planning week!-update

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Planning and Ordering our Days ( Forum Locked)
4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days

Topic: Once in a lifetime planning week!-update

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pumpkinmom
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Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
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Posted: June 22 2012 at 4:12pm \| IP Logged

I some how pulled off a week to myself. I will 20 hours during next week all to myself. I am so excited, yet sad that I will miss my boys. Anyway, I plan to plan most of this time. I have never had a time where I can get all the books out, make a mess, and not have any interruptions. I can also leave everything out since Dh will be gone with one Ds. We cleaned the house today and I will touch it up late tomorrow hoping that I won't get distracted by messes. I will be using the dining room table to make my book and paper mess so that I don't turn the tv on and get distracted. I have my other projects scheduled to do on days when my one Ds will be home. So nothing should get in my way of sitting down and finish planning our school year! Yet, I am worried I won't be able to pull it off! Does anyone have suggestions on how to pull this off? I usually just work on it an hour or two at a time when I have some free time. I spend more time getting stuff out and putting it away than planning.

Update: The week went really well. I got almost everything done, but still have some work to do. I really had to stop because I was just tired of it and needed a break. I did get everything done that I needed to that required making a mess and having books out everywhere. Now if I could just get our school area set up, I would be done and happy.

All the advice was great and very helpful. Love this forum!

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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch

Mackfam
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Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
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Posted: June 22 2012 at 4:40pm \| IP Logged

I'm cheering for you, Cassie! A week full of potential!

Keys to success:

** Stay focused on the job in front of you

** Gather as much as you can to work with (books, laptops, planning tools, books on books, unlimited access to 4Real for searching!

)

** Don't allow perfectionist tendencies to get in the way of practical and workable (it's ok to let plans be good enough and tweak them to practically perfect as you live them!)

** Lots of coffee.

** Easy take-out or simple meals.

** Evening rewards of girly movies and a glass of Chardonnay to give you something to look forward to!

** It's ok if you don't finish everything! Set simple, realistic goals. Make lists of things that you could work on while the kids are around, and lists of things that you'd really like quiet time to work on....and focus on THAT list!

** Whatever is left over at the end of your week is FINE! Be content and grateful for the fantastic gift of quiet time planning you had and keep rolling with the rest!

=============================================

In planning, it's easiest to stay focused if you work your way from

BIG OVERALL VISION OF THE YEAR --> TERM BOOKLIST --> WEEKLY LESSON PLANS --> DAILY ASSIGNMENTS

I really wanted to encourage you with some planning tools, and I have a few I can share that have been helpful to me - Planning Resources.

I sure hope that's a help in your delightful planning basket, Cassie!

Happy planning to you!

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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

pumpkinmom
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Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
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Posted: June 22 2012 at 8:53pm \| IP Logged

Thank you!

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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch

Amber-v
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Joined: Jan 29 2012
Location: California
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Posts: 83

Posted: June 22 2012 at 10:32pm \| IP Logged

Wow, that sounds great! Along with Jen's excellent suggestions, I find it helpful to make a list of what decisions need to be made at each level as you go through the process. This makes me feel more confident as I move from big picture to booklist to weekly lesson and a lot less likely I will need to go back up a step because I forgot something! It also helps me see the progress I am making.

Something else you might want to consider is something my husband recently shared with me - The pomodoro technique While I am certainly not the target market for this technique, I have found his 25 min intense work sessions coupled with the 3-5 min breaks extremely helpful. I recently got back from a trip to my parents' and I had the opportunity to try it during my baby's afternoon nap (and while the older kids were playing with Grandma) and I think it greatly helped me make decisions faster and better. Instead of spinning endlessly on trying to find *every single thing* I could possibly find for a given event it helped to break me away so that I could gain some perspective and just make a decision. This periodic detaching also helped me to come up with some different ideas and tactics that I am not sure would have come to me... Or at least not at such a useful time. And the breaks weren't long enough to get distracted, just long enough to get a drink, stand in the sunshine for a minute or two, stretch a bit, then head back to it. I found that the days where I used this technique I was much more productive than the evening and day when I didn't.

If you are interested in learning more about this technique, I recommend downloading his free ebook. I have to admit I haven't used much of his planning ideas (I haven't wanted to spend the time to wrap my head around it!) but the other examples and discussion were helpful.

Happy planning!!

Amber

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Amber
Mom to dd (born 2002), ds (2005), ds (2008), ds (2011), dd (11/2013)

pumpkinmom
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Joined: March 28 2012
Location: Missouri
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1028

Posted: June 25 2012 at 11:13am \| IP Logged

Planning is going good. I got a few hours in yesterday even with one Ds around. Which is good since allergies are bothering me today and it looks like I will need to take some breaks today because of that. Right now my lap top is over heating, so I moved it to another room and thought I should check email and this forum before getting back to work.

Now, back to work!

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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch

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