Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Scheduling: Part 2: My Teacher's Planner

Someone asked at WTM about teacher's planners, and what people include in them so I thought I would post some information on my planner as a part of my posts on scheduling. Now, first let me say it has taken several years to get my planner to where it is now. Second, not everyone needs or wants a planner. If this includes you, you have my permission to ignore this post :) I say that because I think we as homeschoolers get so caught up in things sometimes, and we start looking at what everyone else is doing, and worrying because we may not be doing it too! So if you homeschool without a planner, you will hear no complaints from me. For me, it is a natural tendency to want to have everything all laid out, and I really like checking off my little boxes! I do NOT like feeling behind! That is why programs that come with a weekly schedule turn me off - I know I will not be able to stick to someone else's schedule, and tend to set myself up for failure if I have that expectation for myself. That is part of why I created this planner; it relieves that feeling, and it gives me something to show if others ask what we are doing. It is my map which guides and gives me a sense of progress through the year. I use a 3 ring binder (I think it is a 2" binder?) with the plastic on the front and back so I can personalize the cover and back. Here is the table of contents in my planner:

Table of Contents
Prayers & Inspiration
Morning & Midday Prayers
Daily Schedule & Calendar
Weekly Lesson Plans
Attendance & Assignments Record
Lesson Plans by Subject
Overview for Year
Christian Studies
Icon Study plan
Grandma’s Stories
Greek Myths
Mathematics
World and Modern Studies
Middle Ages plan
Middle Ages Art plan
Explorers Unit Study
Explorers Readings
Colonization Unit Study
Paddle to the Sea & Seabird
CM Geography plan
English Studies
Fifty Famous Stories
Wonderbook & Tanglewood Tales
Classical Writing: Aesop
Grammar Study
Science
Poet Study
Art Study
Composer Study
Spanish
Field Trip Information
Homeschool Information
State Laws
Socialization Articles
Recitation/Memory Work
In the next few posts I will explain what each of these sections are, and give more details on how I use my binder.

1 comment:

Jennifer@DoingTheNextThing said...

Wow - that's a lengthy table of contents! Will you use all of those in one year? I look forward to hearing more...
I'm totally with ya on the weekly schedule/set up for failure thing. I've recently adopted E's approach of recording what we DID instead of what I plan to DO!
Still - I need a better road map for the whole year and better goals. Can't wait to read the rest! Thanks for sharing!