Wishin' and Hopin' and Thinkin' and Prayin', Plannin' and Dreamin'...

Ok, I am probably making this WAY harder than it really is or needs to be, but I gotta have a plan or else all chaos breaks loose with four boys. It is kind of like how dogs can smell fear, little boys can tell when you are unprepared and then take advantage of it.

'Oh look, Mom doesn't have anything planned for me to do! While she is working with my brother...I think I'll see if that hanging light over the dinning room can hold my weight.'

I need to have at least a brief outline of what and who I am teaching each day ahead of time. I can always alter it later depending on what we ACTUALLY get done. I've learned over the last 6 years homeschooling-what we plan to do that day and what we actually get done and two different things. Thank you dear Lord, for erasers. I'm excited that using the CM methods will reduce the actual 'teaching' time and save me possibly hours a day,but I still gotta have a plan.  After all ....“To be prepared is half the victory.”~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

I'm including these first drafts of my planning and planner pages in hopes that they may help or inspire others. I am so grateful to all the homeschool mom's who have put up samples of their planers and schedules. It is always nice to have something to look at and get ideas from.

Chart with CM Subjects listed
Includes categorizing them by disciplinary or inspirational,Subjects done together or individually, how often they should be taught, if they need moms help or can work independently on that subject, ages to start, if they need narrated, and curriculum source.
I tried to stick closely to CM recommendations. I used the book When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy for Today
and the AO website to help me.

• Spreadsheet form that can be downloaded and saved as an Excel file.

Weekly School Planner Pages:
Includes 2 individual planning pages that I'll fill in per child per week and will put on clipboards on each boys shelf with books. And also a page for subjects and things we do together that I will keep on a shelf with the materials and books needed for me.

•  PDF Version
• Microsoft Publisher Version as a Download for you to customize for personal use.

CM Subjects

I'll be teaching 4 children next year and I like to be organized and prepared. Some people can wing it and be calm, cool and collected. Not me. I need some kind of order just to function properly. I need it all to make sense before I can begin.

I wanted to have pretty detailed plans so that our days run smoothly and easy. I have been going through the subjects taught so I can get all the materials organized. It has been more daunting than I thought. So far I have the following subjects down as suggested to be taught. I'm sure this list will be edited many times over, but for now it helps me to see it all typed out.

• Scriptures
• Geography
• History
• History Biographies
• Science
• Science Biographies
• Natural History
• Nature Study
• Outdoor Nature Walks
• Language Arts
• Poetry
• Literature
• Free Reading Time
• Grammar
• Phonics
• Handwriting-Copywork
• Spelling-Dictation
• Narrations-oral and written
• Languages-Latin and other
• Math
• Art
• Art Lessons
• Artist Study
• Music
• Composer Study
• Instruments and Music Theory
• Hymns
• Folksongs
• Handicrafts
• Memory Work
• Shakespeare
• Plutarch
• Family Read Aloud
• Life Skills
• Unstructured Play time- outdoors and indoors
• Fitness, Health, and Safety

Planning and Learning

 
“A truly good book teaches me better than to read it.
I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint.
What I began by reading, I must finish by acting. ”
Henry David Thoreau

I am planning to use mostly an Ambleside Online curriculum next year. The benefits are it is largely planned out for me already. I simply need to make sense of it all for myself, create a doable schedule, gather materials and stick with it. Simple. Right?

I am also new to CM methods and I hear that's the key to making a reading list into an education.

I've got all my CM books out and am reading a bit from that one and a bit from this one. I'm soaking up the inspiration and trying to get a feel for how to do it.


Habit Revisited by Mary Woodis- This is a very inspirational book with many scriptural references. We are working on her first habit suggestion right now-OBEDIENCE. Who couldn't use some help in that department?

Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner - This is a quick read, but gives a great overview and some practical ideas.

Charlotte Mason Companion- A truly thoughtful book that I am soaking in bit by bit.

The library just called and said Home Education by Charlotte Mason is waiting for me on hold.  I tried reading online but I wanted the book so I could read while the boys had their outdoor time each day. I plan on doing my own written narrations on the book.

Homeschool Lesson Planning Resources

“It pays to plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.”

Depending on the sort of homeschooling method you use, most of us need to plan...at least a little. Planning often makes our job easier as homeschooling parents. We can use planning processes to determine; what we want to teach, when we want to teach it, for how long, on what days, and what materials we will need to gather ahead of time.

Probably, the single most common tool for planning for your homeschool would have to be the Teachers Lesson Planner. If you haven't looked at Lesson Planners in a while, I suggest you take a new look. They have come along way! There are of course the traditional paper planners, then the printable versions from online, internet based planning programs and also software based planners. Below are my favorites in each category. I was not paid to endorse any of the products below. I have done my own research over the last 5 years, in search of the perfect planner.


Paper Based Lesson Planner: 

This is by far my favorite paper based planner. Click here to view sample pages.   This handy and sturdy spiral bound planner has amazing versatility and is easily customized to your needs. It includes yearly and monthly calenders. The weekly planning pages cover a two page spread with enough pages to make 40 weeks of plans. The columns are easily customized. The pages are large and lined so you can easily and neatly add plans. This planner is prices at around $15. There are cheaper planners out there, but I ranked this one as my favorite based on customization and sturdiness.
The Ultimate Teacher's Plan Book



Printable Lesson Planner:

Donna Young has the best printable homeschool planning pages on the net. Her site ranks highest because of the ease of use, variety, and customization. She's got a forms any homeschool can use.
Check out her great printable planning pages here:

Internet-based Lesson Planner:

There are a few of these on the net now. These are great because of there extreme accessibility. You can access them from the internet wherever you may be. Great for families that travel, are on the go, or so you can share what your doing with other family members. My favorite is the Homeschool Skedtrack, because it's free, easy to use, and created by a homeschool family. It's simple, but extremely flexible. Changes are as simple as typing into a form box. Assignments not completed are automatically bumped up to the next day.   They even have video tutorials to help you learn how to use it! Its an amazing value for....FREE!
Homeschool Skedtrack


Lesson Planning Software:

Lesson planning software varies in price, versatility, and ease of use. A majority of the lesson planning software available are specifically designed to meet the needs of classroom teachers, so adapting them to meet the needs of your homeschool can be tricky. There are a handful that ARE specifically designed (or adapted) to meet the needs of homeschoolers. After downloading and trying out many trial versions, my favorite was Homeschool Tracker. Although none of the programs tried were easy to use, Homeschool Tracker had the best tech support for learning the program. It came in at a great value also, Free for the Basic Version and $50 for the Plus Edition, with free lifetime updates. After learning how the software works and how to input the data you want, it can be customized to meet your needs in a variety of ways. If the $50 cost is too much for your wallet, try out the free version, you can aways upgrade without losing all your information.  Homeschool Tracker

 

I hope you found this post helpful. 

Got a favorite Lesson Planning resource? Share it in the comments!

Happy Planning!