I've enjoyed giving you just a simple glimpse into my methods of madness, but please remember that they are just THAT....my methods. Your schedule or lack thereof might look MUCH different from mine. That's great! Because in truth, that is the intrinsic nature of homeschooling...there is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
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You might see this method and think to yourself..."Ummm...no-brainer!" And while that might be the case for many, that's not always the case for all. As this is a series designed to inspire the newbie homeschool mom, I am choosing to begin at the beginning, assuming that there are moms who might need this gentle approach.
For the purpose of this video, I use the words traditional curriculum to mean curriculum that comes with a lesson plan guide or a teacher's guide. For the words non-traditional curriculum, I mean books/workbooks that would be considered traditional "curriculum" but DO NOT come with any sort of plan of action or teacher's guide.
If you are unable to view this video, please click here.
In case you are curious, I DO use a traditional curriculum for certain subjects. As I have mentioned, I am an eclectic homeschooler and choose my homeschooling methods and my curriculum in an a la carte kind of style. That being said, while I do use workbooks in our homeschooling, I use them as a compliment to the rest of the lesson...not as the actual lesson itself.
I shared on the video that each one of my children has his/her own SEPARATE first day of school. Feel free to take a peek at the HOWs and WHYs behind that.
Also, you may have noticed that I wrote with two different colored ink pens in the videos. It's no secret that I color code my homeschool. But, when it comes to my Brave Homeschool Planner, color coding brings the added benefit of space-saving. With only one line per child per subject with which to write each lesson plan, I need to save all the space I can. By using specific colors, I don't have to use space to write five different names. Also, the varied colors make it much easier to see everyone's tasks at a glance.
Day 1: WHY I Schedule My Entire Year?
Day 2: Creating a Year-Long Homeschool Calendar
Day 3: Scheduling Traditional Curriculum
Day 4: Scheduling Non-Traditional Curriculum
Day 5: FAQs of Scheduling
If you're still in need of help for putting a plan into place, here's how you can put your entire homeschool day on autopilot>>>
Once again, thank you so much for this post and videos! This series is very helpful to me! Looking forward to tomorrow's post. :D
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad! You've been so encouraging through the process. Glad you're here.
DeleteThis is helpful even though I've been homeschooling for 8 years now! I too color-code my children. I was wondering, though, how do you handle your planner when something comes up and you miss a day? This would drive me nuts looking at my beautiful planner knowing that we were behind. Curious to hear your thoughts. Stephanie
ReplyDeleteGreat question! and one I hear often. I do have a few thoughts, but I'd like to reserve them for Friday when I will be answering some FAQs to scheduling the entire year.
DeleteI have always referred to myself as an eclectic homeschooler, but I like the term 'hybrid' homeschooler better! We use a variety of types of curriculum. I will have 9 students this year. I want to encourage you in your homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteHybrid...I like that! What a great way to describe it.
DeleteI'm loving the simple but effective planning strategies you are sharing. I do have the same question as ananoymous above how do you handle a missed day or two? From sickness or just something unforceable that happens?
ReplyDeleteYep...those days ALWAYS come. I hope to answer this and other questions this Friday. Hope you'll come back by to read my answers.
DeleteThis is so helpful. Thank you for taking a step by step approach. I am sure there are always exceptions to the plan as ladies have mentioned above, but you must start somewhere. I got the traditional vs. non-traditional connection today. I to use a mix of resources and the set planned one usually gets the most attention, while the supplemental items get forgotten. I like the idea of planning the year, as week by week depends on what kind of week I am having. I am eager to see tomorrows video as we are switching from Sonlight to FIAR with read-alouds of our own choosing and I will not have the instructor guide done for me. Hoping to find ideas for how to structure my own. Again very practical, and helpful thanks.
ReplyDeleteThese videos are sooooo helpful, just what I needed and timely too! I'm planning my year next week! Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI love this series! I have tried doing a week before planning and never seem to be able to stay doing it continually. These ideas have been great. I'm just waiting for my Well-Planned Day planner to get here!
ReplyDeleteWhat pens are you using that you are able to erase the page numbers with?
Ooops, Kim. I realize that I must have said "erase" in the video. I don't use erasable pens...haven't found any that are made in multiple colors yet. I have a white-out pen that I use for any changes. Sorry about that goof!
DeleteNo problem! I have found a set of pens called Frixion pens that I got from Amazon that do come in a variety of colors. It's the green pen that always gets me. I'd like a darker green so it's more visible. Thank you so much for this series! It is giving me such an excitement to plan out our year and get started back in again.
DeleteThanks for the videos. As a major visual learning I absolutely love when people post videos, even if somethings seem like no brainers to most it is a refresher for us visual learners to help wrap our brains around things.
ReplyDeleteAnother great video, Jamie! It seems we were all thinking the same thing: what do you do when everything *doesn't* fit neatly into the lesson plans?! My initial reaction was "She's very brave to fill it out with PEN all the way to June!" Can't wait to see how you address this!
ReplyDeleteThis was our first year homeschooling and things would have been so much better if I had planned our year out. Thank you for putting this together, I am definitely planning our year this time. How do you use the color-coding in your planner. Do you just assign a color to each child or do you assign them by type of activity? I am just curious because beyond our daily lessons I will add in our field trips and extracurricular activities that they kids have.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is assigned by color. I use a black pen for any activity/lesson that the majority will be doing together. Even my husband and I have colors. Just makes it soooooo much easier.
DeleteBuying the planner right now!!! Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDelete*wink* Hope you like it as much as I do.
DeleteI am just loving this series -thank you! I do have a question-what happens if you miss a day/week etc. due to illness or some other reason? Or what about if your child just can't achieve what you were hoping in the day? I am gleaning lots from you wisdom!
ReplyDeleteBlessings
Renata:)
Thank you so much for presenting this information!
ReplyDeleteI especially appreciate your comments that, a goal is just that, a goal. We shouldn't be married to that goal! Ahhhh...a breath of fresh air those words. :)
Here is a question for you - how do you schedule in your blog posts?!
Thank you again!
Lori S.
I typically blog three times a week late at night after my kids are in bed and my housework is done. I keep a running calendar of possible posts/dates, but it's only written in pencil so that I can feel free to change direction if I need to.
DeleteI really enjoyed these videos and they are very helpful. Maybe I missed it but how do you schedule for several children at once in the Well Planned Day planner? The slots don't see very large and how do you indicate that it is for a separate child. I might have missed that...
ReplyDelete