Planning and Plotting

Anonymous asks: How much time do you spend planning at the beginning of a school year, and how much planning to you do each week/month?

Heidi answers: My planning routine is outlined in my post, Homeschool Planning the Heidi Way, but I'll go through some basics and an idea of time spent here in this post. (Keep in mind that times can vary widely (or would that be wildly?) depending on how much one is enjoying herself.)

Yearly: Review educational goals and philosophy. Choose subjects and curriculum. Make resource purchases. Plan basic yearly outline. Decide on weekly goals. Create and print weekly goal sheets for lesson planning notebook. 1 hour daily for a week.

Quarterly (or Every So Often): Make sure that scheduled lessons (grammar, math, history, science, and Latin) are about on target. Re-evaluate if not. Review what is getting done and what is not. Re-evaluate. Reflect on triumphs and struggles. Think about changes that could be made to improve weaknesses. 1 hour.

Monthly: Look through lesson books and make list of books, movies, and craft supplies needed for history, science, geography, art, and music. Purchase or borrow from library. This is my favorite part of planning, so I take my time searching for books online, etc. Maybe a couple hours.

Weekly: Make any copies of maps and coloring pages (etc.) for history, science, and geography. Set out books (and DVDs) to read (or watch) for history, science, art, music, and geography. Make sure that supplies are on hand if planning any activities. Write up 4-5 pages for daily copywork. Make sure that supplies/manipulatives are on hand for math lessons. Quickly scan Latin and grammar lessons. (Look up You Tube clip for music lesson or make sure a CD/DVD is handy.) Double check the calender for any appointments or activities. Make any relevant notes on the weekly goal sheet in the lesson planning notebook. This doesn't take as long as it sounds like it might. Half hour to an hour.