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Sunday, October 24, 2010

Planning around life.

Well, I'm just pulling my plans together for Term 2 (we started the year early and have to continue on - see note below :), and I've come to realize that the sample weekly list I posted a few days ago was REALLY complicated looking!  hahah!

I guess I'd just gotten used to looking at it since I'd been using it for over a year... but today as  I started subbing this term's information into the boxes... whoa!  I could hardly look at it!  With the cute fonts here and there, it was much too busy.  So, I've renovated and made something a LOT more plain... as well as legible. ;)  I thought I'd put it up here in .doc format and that way if there's anyone doing a AOy6 or AOy2, maybe you could even tweak it to work for you?  Well, regardless, I'm putting it here for my own use... I'll always know where I can find it when I need it!  :)  Also, the list shows how I keep track of multiple students using different years.

Here's what the new format looks like...



Click here to download a copy.


Notes about how I organize:
*I am easily overwhelmed with information overload!  To help with this, I categorize the readings by subject and assign each subject a day (for example, Tues=History, Wed=Literature, etc.).  I do this in order to have a daily checklist.

*I've worked out a daily schedule that we follow loosely, this has been essential for maintaining order around here.  Just to get my head around it, several years ago, I used Managers of Their Homes for working through that.  Our schedule undergoes almost constant tweaking.  Regardless of how I plan, our days are rarely regular.  And we're okay with that ;)

*A daily checklist helps me to easily see the things that need to get done.  When something doesn't get done on the assigned day we move it neatly into 'catch-up' day and don't worry about it a bit until then!

*I re-vamp our weekly list often (as you may have noticed) at the beginning of every term.  I sub in all the readings for that term into the list with page numbers and print off copies for my own use as well as for my older boys.

Keeping it real:

This term includes a good amount of disruptions to normal living as there are two more river trips planned before the end of the year, we'll have guests for several weeks and then will be packing up (putting everything in storage) and moving (across the country to Trujillo).  Then crawling on top of each other adjusting to life in a tiny apartment (for a couple of months... yay!) as well as traveling to and around the US (we may be in Term 3 by then...)  ALL while trying to finish the school year.  heheh.  Life has a way of getting kind of complicated sometimes. (My husband wrote a cool article about our life in missions here.)  At the moment I feel kind of overwhelmed about how it will all work out, but I'm sure it will all work out...


The cool thing is, as homeschoolers we are able to roll with the punches!  We can be flexible!  We can work with what we're given.  Isn't that one of the best perks of teaching our own kids at home?    

I will be finishing my Teaching Reading series this coming week (I've been SO enjoying my study of it). I hope you all will continue to comment and add anything I forget!  Also, make sure to link up in the comments if you've blogged any CM reading lessons so that we can all find them and learn from you!

4 comments:

Ms Eva said...

"To help with this, I categorize the readings by subject and assign each subject a day (for example, Tues=History, Wed=Literature, etc.)." I do this too ... my problem is that I don't always follow through with my checklist. Need to get better at that. :D

Unknown said...

I know exactly what you mean about the unpredictable life. We are also missionaries in Peru (San Luis, Ancash). It is difficult to do "school" while having to travel two days to get to Lima for some vehicle inspection or visa thing, driving a day to the town where we can use an ATM, having groups come, and then remembering your purpose for being in Peru in the first place.
I just want to thank you for posting the reading blog series. I am currently teaching my daughter how to read. We have been using Bob Jones...I just wanted something prepackaged for when we first moved to Peru and were settling in. Ella is getting it but not loving it. I want her to love it. I am also getting pressure from educators in my family..."homeschooler are like this (fill in the blank), and I don't want my grandchild to be behind, I want her to be ahead." (Wow, I just unloaded on you.) Thank you for being honest with your struggles and victories in homeschooling. Keep the posts coming.

Kerri said...

Hi! Thanks for stopping by! It will be fun to watch your family's adventures. :)

Wendy Carter Smith said...

I'm new to CM and trying to get a handle on scheduling. Thanks for the series! Question: does each checkbox represent ~20 minutes? Just trying to figure out how to fit all of history in one day for the week & assumed you just double up on it? (& Lit, Geography, etc)

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