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Kathryn
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| Posted: July 23 2012 at 11:03pm | IP Logged
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AGAIN...every year, this always throws me. I've YET to come up with a decent system for not only assigning work but giving the kids something to go by and a decent follow-up. It seems a constant "here do this", "ok, put it on my desk", "ok, do this next", "have you finished such and such"? So much is fly by the seat of our pants and really, it's my fault.   
I'll have the big kids 6th and 8th so this is really for them but I'll be doing more "formal" kindergarten work with DD 5 so I *NEED* more structure in our day. Send me the links or remind me again HOW you organize your child's day...may be I just need a refresher. Do you use work boxes, a daily or weekly schedule where they check off, books on a shelf "do 2 pages a day" mentality?
Hopefully all your replies won't overwhelm me to freeze up and implement nothing.
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 5:02am | IP Logged
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Hi Kathryn,
I use assignment sheets, but what is most effective with my ds (6th) is a modified workbox approach. I don't use workboxes anymore for him, but I do have him put his assignments out, in order of how he wants to do them, each day. This was actually something I remember from a dear teacher of mine, Sister Leuwetta. (Really!  ) At the start of each day she would give us all our assignments for the day and we made a stack of books and papers on the corner of our desk. Then, as we went through them, we put them away.
I do this with my son by giving him a file folder with any papers he needs (math tests, copywork sheets, etc.)and his assignment sheet at the start of the day. He then takes out everything he is going to need that day and stacks it in the order he wants to do it. Some things he already knows he has to do with me and some things I need to tell him to do with me. In those cases he puts a note in his pile - "see mom for grammar", or the like. This works very well for him.
On the other hand, my dd loves a list she can check off. She seems so unorganized. Her books are in drawers or baskets on her desk with no apparent organization. But she just uses the check off list of assignments and gets things done. I write directly on her list what assignments she needs to see me for.
I guess then, you just have to consider the personalities of yourself and your kids. I don't really like having 3-4 different organizational systems going on at once, but if it helps everyone to stay on track with what they are doing, I can live with it.
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drmommy
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 9:08am | IP Logged
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I use a planner (from Seton) to write down my children's assignments (aged 15, 12 and 9) for myself,and highlight them when the children turn their assignments in to me at the end of the day. They also have their own assignment sheets that I make out for them on Sunday evenings for the week. It has the days in big squares, and in the squares are boxes to check off next to lines (the girls check the boxes themselves). If they do not finish, they do not go anywhere or use the computer. It is so easy. I work part time outside of the home, so this method works very well for us. I grade their papers at the end of the week, and we do something fun on Friday and Saturday if they have completed their work.
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jawgee
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 9:53am | IP Logged
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I'm kind-of a minimalist in this area, but what we did last year worked quite well.
I made an Excel spreadsheet with the subjects we would be working on each day and laminated it. My younger son was able to just work through the list, since he had fewer things to do. My older son, though, used a dry-erase marker to cross out items as they were finished, to circle things he needed to spend a few more minutes on, and to write extra things to do at the bottom.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 11:55am | IP Logged
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This is a weekly assignment list I use. For some reason, when I made it an image, it didn't capture the circle bullet marks for the lists, but they are there to make it a true checklist. I just make a new one each week with the correct dates. If he finishes a book, I replace it on the list with the new one, but for the most part, it stays the same each week. Then I can keep the hard copies as a record of what he did.
*Copy date in upper right of pages completed that day
**Log each day’s readings into Reading Log Journal
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 12:11pm | IP Logged
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I do pretty much what Lindsay does. I have an excel spreadsheet that just doesn't change for the first ten weeks or so. It says things like:
History
Read X book- three pages
- Narrate
Math
Math Mammoth
- Do one lesson
Etc. I have it spread out for the whole week so that every subject is covered during that week. I just print one off at the beginning of each week and fill in any necessary information (page numbers, picture book titles, etc) and the week dates. I have little lines or circles next to the assignments so we can check them off as we go.
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SallyT
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
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I'm kind of a minimalist, too, but trying to tweak my system so that the kids can manage themselves more.
9th grader turns in/shows me work on Fridays. He has a weekly assignment sheet (a .doc form from DonnaYoung.org -- it has a big box at the top where I can write journal and other writing assignments for the week), and everything is due at the end of the day on Friday. We talk about work during the week, obviously, and I answer questions and all that, but it keeps things streamlined to have him set his own daily schedule, then just show me at the end of the week what he's accomplished. He will also have work for at least one outside class, which he will need to turn in to that teacher according to the syllabus. He emails me his papers, either as finished products or as drafts, depending on what I've asked for, and I comment on them via the online SkyDrive function in hotmail and zap them back to him. I find that written feedback often goes down a lot better for a high-schooler than face-to-face verbal feedback, funnily enough -- here we are in the same house, emailing each other from different rooms, but whatever works! I try as much as possible to function like the professor with office hours . . .
For my youngers, currently going into 3rd and 4th grades: each of them has a crate to keep both the books they're currently using, workbooks for things like math, grammar, and handwriting, and journals/sketchbooks for copywork, nature study, art, etc. In the past I've just kept a list of what we needed to do, but this year I'm giving each of them a sheet with a grid for the week, with general assignments. I think I'll probably either laminate it or seal it up in a page protector, so that they can cross things out with a dry-erase pen as they do them, then I can wipe the sheet clean for use the next week.
For instance, for a given child's independent work for Monday, I might list copywork, math, handwriting, religion, old-world history, and literature. I put the appropriate books in the box -- the copybook/workbooks are there and fairly self-explanatory; my plan is to label, for example, the living book the child is reading for old-world history and the one for literature. I'd label the Bible, which is generally our Monday/Wednesday religion reading, with the days when it's to be read. So the child can take out the books for the day, work through them (read/narrate, either orally or in written form), and put them back when finished in the same tidy, contained location.
Then when those books are finished, I put the next one in (from my master reading list for that child), with the same labels (old-world, new-world, science, geography, whatever). My aim is for the kids to learn to go to their boxes, get out their work, and work through it without confusion, once we're finished with our Morning Basket time, so that all this becomes their job, not mine. It will take some time to acclimate them to this kind of system, and I'm expecting resistance from my 10yo, because that's what he does, but I'm hoping that ultimately it will run smoothly. I will be present while they're working to check written work as it's done and to hear/read narrations. I find it works far better for me, with the two of them, to follow up as work is done -- otherwise I just don't. Immediate feedback is a valuable teaching tool, so I try to provide it.
Of course, I haven't actually implemented all this yet (well, my high-school MO is pretty firmly established, as I'm now on my second high-schooler). Film at eleven.
Sally
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Kathryn
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
I guess then, you just have to consider the personalities of yourself and your kids. I don't really like having 3-4 different organizational systems going on at once, but if it helps everyone to stay on track with what they are doing, I can live with it. |
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And THERE is probably the crux of the problem.  My 2 big kids are so different in every.single.way. So I guess in my attempt to create something that works, once again, I forget they each need something different. I think I need the checklist for DD and the "do this" page for DS with all his items in an easy spot. I've got a cart that's "like" a workbox where I keep books and worksheets etc. so seems I need to be more diligent in getting their weekly assignments done and following up.
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 5:20pm | IP Logged
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This year I broke all of our subjects down by week and put them on graph paper, so I can see everything that needs to be done. For example [Writing Tales]wk 1, read lesson 1, do pg 7,8,9,10. Or [Rel] wk 1, Faith and Life, read ch 1, questions with mom, do pg 4 in workbook. read ch. 13 catechism. So I'm organizing mainly by week, although some subjects are reading intensive and some weeks won't have new assignments, for instance in our history. Lots of reading there, so I have a text book they are roughly following and living books to go along with the time periods. Those are all listed on the same page.
When it comes down to daily assignments I'll have a checklist where we write what's due that day and include the chores they have to do. Last year I did a computer speadsheet, this year it will be faster to have a basic checklist I add assignments and chores to. I'll be able to check things off when they bring them to me to show or narrate, hopefully that will help us keep track of what is actually getting done. The kids like having a checklist and the pre-planning is great because I can have that done before we actually start start school and it's a bit easier. Saves time, too.
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and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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Erin
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 5:46pm | IP Logged
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We work in terms of ten week duration. I assign a term sheet (excel spreadsheet)broken down into weeks (like Mrs B). the benefit of having weekly boxes is flexibility, ie if something comes up and we take the day off they still have to do the work, creates more a sense of autonomy. it also allows my children to dig deep and perhaps focus most of the day on the one subject, they work better that way than swapping and changing (how it feels for them)
to explain I'll share a part of my grade 7ers sheet:
Faith - 1 book discuss (he knows this means read any book of choice on faith (saints etc) and talk to me about it
Dictation- 2 exercises (Spelling Wisdom)
spelling - 3 lessons (AAS)
maths - 2.5hrs
happy to email you my sheets if you'd like.
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: July 24 2012 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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Also, I should add that I start the planning process by looking at the whole year and deciding where the semesters are, time off is, Christmas and Easter, birthdays and name days and we also follow a 5/6 weeks on and 1 week off rotation. We work until July usually and start with most subjects in August.
From the yearly calender I decide how many weeks we'll be 'doing school' Right now I have 30 weeks for most subjects but some run all the way to 36 weeks...This year will be quite different because I have twins due when we are hitting the 13'th week so I may be taking "winter vacation" for a month or two around Christmas, and we'll pick up when I can. Field trips come when they come but last year we tried to organize them into the week offs and we liked that.
Once the basic lesson plans are written out I decide what is going to be covered on what day, and write a simple daily schedule. I also have a chore list that the kids follow so new chores are assigned sometime in the last part of July... these go on the daily task list that they get and we have Friday chores that are done on Friday and Saturday chores, so some chores are specific to certain days. Every one has a laundry day here and the kids are in charge of their own laundry with a little help from me. One copy of the master chore list is laminated and put on the fridge and one copy goes in each of their lesson plan books. (they can't come and tell me they don't know what chores they have!  )
I also use a catholic daily planner for writing in events, and have a large white board that I write a large calender on.
So that's our system so far. House and school are incorporated together...
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dd-10, ds-8, dd-5, ds-2
and a bunch of rabbits, a pack of dogs, a clowder of cats, and some fish.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 25 2012 at 4:47am | IP Logged
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Mrs. B wrote:
| This year I broke all of our subjects down by week and put them on graph paper, so I can see everything that needs to be done. |
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I do this too Mrs. B. It's mostly for me, so I don't give it to the kids to use. As they bring me an assignment, do a narration, we do a read aloud, or whatever, I can just use a highlighter to cross it off my master list. The benefit for me is that I can see very quickly if we are on track, if I need to move my kiddos along a little more, or if I need to change some expectations.
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Becky
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Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: July 25 2012 at 7:16am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
Mrs. B wrote:
| This year I broke all of our subjects down by week and put them on graph paper, so I can see everything that needs to be done. |
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I do this too Mrs. B. It's mostly for me, so I don't give it to the kids to use. As they bring me an assignment, do a narration, we do a read aloud, or whatever, I can just use a highlighter to cross it off my master list. The benefit for me is that I can see very quickly if we are on track, if I need to move my kiddos along a little more, or if I need to change some expectations. |
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Here is another way to organize a similar system.
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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
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JuliaT
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| Posted: July 26 2012 at 7:36am | IP Logged
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Kathryn, from the posts that I have read of yours through the years maybe your ds would do better with a revised form of workbox. I consider workboxes to be a visual form of a list.
When we did workboxes I purchased a big rubbermaid container (big enough to hold large freezer ziploc bags.) I had a ziploc bag for each item that ds needed to do during our learning time. If there was a workbook or book that fit inside the bag then it would go in there. If not then I would put an index card in the bag telling them what to do next then if a workbook was needed I put it in a pile in close proximity to the workbox. If there was no book, I just put the index card in the bag with instructions on what to do next.
I found that in doing workboxes you also needed a plan for the finished books and papers.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: July 26 2012 at 9:03am | IP Logged
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Here's a nice blog post with pictures of how this mom does it - revised workboxes
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Daily school work list...
