Since we have officially finished our first year of homeschooling, I can now look back and reflect on what worked well for us and which areas we need to change.
I've already posted about our curriculum choices for 2011-2012 and you can see we made some changes in that area.
The one area that needs the most revision is organization of our schedule. This year we will school 4 days a week. This is a must in order for us to finish our curriculum by next June and still be able to take a few breaks. Since we usually can't have school 4 consecutive days because of my work schedule, it's important that we stick to schedule on my days off. I've decided that I will have our entire first grade year planned out before our official first day, which is scheduled for July 11th. At first this task seemed huge, but I've been working on lesson plans for about 3 weeks and currently I have every subject except one planned. I've just worked on it a few minutes here and there and it has come together quite nicely.
These next two weeks will involve getting the last subject planned out, making lots of copies, and getting the girls' binders together. I let Shaylie and Nevaeh pick out their own binders for the year (they will be able to design their own covers- will post pics!) Inside, there are tab dividers for each subject. I will fill their binders with 6 weeks worth of lessons. Once we complete those 6 weeks, I will refill with the next 6 weeks. This is a brand new system for us and I'm hoping it will lead to a more organized approach than we had this past year.
How do you organize your year, your week, your day?
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I love planning :-) Sounds like you're going to have a great year! Love the new font, header, background too.
ReplyDeleteThis year I'm planning out about 6-9 weeks ahead of time. Anymore than that and I'll get frustrated if we get off track! We're schooling almost year round, aiming for 4.5 days a week (Mondays are our errand/library/fun stuff day). We do three weeks on, one week off which helps me keep my sanity (I use the week off to do projects around the house and to plan the next few week's lessons).
ReplyDeleteJamerril- I love planning too. My husband says I need a planner to keep up with all of my planners! :)
ReplyDeleteLaura- I really like that 3 weeks on, one week off concept. When does that put you finishing the year? I've planned out weeks, but not specific days yet (other than Day 1, Day 2, etc. of each week) because I usually have my work schedule 6 weeks in advance. But now you've got me thinking..hmm..love that 3 on, 1 off.