Planning

I am a planner. I love planning and organizing and reaping the benefits of planning (you know, keeping my sanity). 

I have started thinking ahead and planning for the 2018-2019 school year. I have ordered all of our curriculum, resources, materials, art supplies and science kits. 

Now that it is all here, I have started going through the books and jotting down ideas that I will later use for lesson plans.

I went through the science and art curricula when I got them so that I would know what to order for science labs and art projects. I think next year is going to be a lot of fun!

I also made planners and book report journals for the kids. I have noticed over the last several weeks that my kids are kind of......scattered. They have spent the last several years attending school online, where everything they needed was in one spot- a "landing page" in their virtual classroom. I have seen them struggle a little with paper assignments and knowing what they need to do next, so I created a planner for each of them to use next school year. I worked on these for a few weeks. First, I researched the uses and benefits of student planners. I also watched several YouTube videos from other homeschooling mamas to see the set-up of their student planners.

Then, I decided what would work best for us, tweaked things to our needs, and got to work. I found the covers as free printables online and customized them for each child.

After I finished them, I took them to Staples to have them spiral bound. I admit, after working on these things for so long, it felt a little weird walking out of the store without them. 24 hours seemed a little long to wait. 🤣

When I picked them up the next day, I was SO happy with how they turned out!!

These planners are pretty hefty!

Every month starts with a quote, then a calendar for the month, and a reading log.

After the reading log, there is a week-at-a-glance where the kids can write in special things for the week like field trips, library day, speech therapy appointments, etc.

Next is the weekly assignments page. In the "To-Do" column they will write their subjects (Writing, Grammar, Science, Health, Math, etc) and I will fill in their daily assignments as I complete the lesson plan every week. There is even a spot for their weekly bible verse!

At the back of the weekly assignments section, there is a "Week in Review". I did this to keep a record of what the kids liked or didn't like, what worked or didn't work. I also want them to start setting goals for themselves and I think breaking it down into simple goals each week will prove to be beneficial. I am really hoping the planners work well for the kids and that it teaches them organization, accountability, responsibility, and even aids in time management.

I also created a book report journal for each of the kids. This will be used as part of our reading curriculum.

They will need to fill one of these out every week. If they are reading a chapter book during the week and don't finish it, then they will write a report based on the chapters they have read, and write the chapter numbers in the bottom right corner. I really wish I had made a space for the week number on each report. I will just have to have them label it themselves.

As for my planner, I ordered a homeschool planner from Plum Paper. It just had everything I really wanted and got great ratings for being sturdy and well made. It should be arriving any day now, and I seriously can not wait! I feel like a kid waiting on Christmas.

I feel like I still have a lot to do to get ready for next school year. It will be nice once we are on summer break and I have more time to devote to my planning. I plan on spacing the work out so that I get a little done every week but still enjoy the summer break with my kiddos. I want to make this coming school year amazing for my kids!

~Heather