You can see by just one glance at our plans for this school year that there’s quite a bit of creative scheduling required to make it all work (either that or I’d need to add about 10 hours to each of our days).  I really wasn’t sure how it was going to work, but it is working and quite well!  I thought you might like a glimpse of how all of this looks in our day…

(by the way, I’m sorry I can’t share this in PDF files…that has me stumped and I had to choose to either figure out Adobe or sleep…I chose the latter)

First, I needed a plan for each of the boys.  A plan that they could each pick up and get going.  Enter The Daily Grind…a checklist adapted to each individual…work they are expected to do independently is in black; work they are expected to do with my help is in purple.  They may complete their independent work in any order they choose and they know that once that is all checked off, they are free to take a break.  Everything in the checklist must be complete by the end of the day.  I sometimes pencil in major topics or books I don’t want to forget or narration topics at the beginning of the week and after their lessons are through, I might jot down some notes (such as lesson # or topic covered) just for my own future reference.  Gone are the tedious days of planning out each individual subject.  Instead, we pick up where we left off.  So if we did lesson 8 in math today, tomorrow will be lesson 9.  The glory of planning this way is that if we need 2 days to complete lesson 8 (maybe it’s taking longer than expected or maybe it’s just not sinking in the first time through), we can easily adapt to that without feeling like we need to double up on lessons or without the added anxiety of falling behind.

So this was a good start, but I needed more…how was I going to manage the other two boys while working individually with each one?  Here was my solution (By the way: 1. These times are totally approximate. I wanted to leave room in the margin…so far we’ve been finishing up each of our days before noon.  2.  You can’t see the whole thing in one shot…I’m using Jing here and I can only capture so much, so that’s why it’s broken into 2 images.  3.  The things marked in blue are things that the boys are expected to either do together.)

You’re probably wondering what “Together Time” consists of…I needed a bit more detail there, as well.  I pencil in major books or topics to be discussed at the beginning of each week.  So here’s how our time together breaks down…

I know I mentioned that for the most part, our plans simply consist of following along in the book.  Some subjects needed a little more planning (like if I am not using a specified curriculum or combining more than one curriculum).  I’m a pencil and paper kind of gal, so my planning for that isn’t fancy, nor is it very legible for the rest of the world, but I’m going to include a snapshot of it here ( I apologize that it’s not easily readable!).  I plan in 12 week chunks (that way I only have to do major planning 3 times throughout the year) and I simply highlight subjects to be covered, books to be used and any major activities or projects to be completed.

 

I’d love to see how you are planning…feel free to leave a link in a comment!

 

We’ve got such an exciting year ahead…from chemistry to medieval history to eating around the world (yet again)!  Here I share all of our plans!

For Joseph, William & Andrew: Our Morning Time:

For our literature studies, we’re following Wee Folk Art’s plans loosely, focusing on lots of reading, crafts, and field trips plus quilt block making (we’re using Hand Print Quilts, though, instead of Wee Folk Art’s recommendation of batiking).

Faith: A lesson each day from Living in God’s Law plus reading (some of our selected books for the year include Angel Food, Leading the Little Ones to Mary, Chats with God’s Little Ones, Growing Up with a Bucket Full of Happiness, St. Patrick’s Summer, The Mass Explained to Children, Treasure Box books); also, at some point we’ll add back in our Catholic Mosaic reading and our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Songs & Fingerplays: The Complete Book of Songs, Rhymes & Fingerplays alternated with Mother Goose and enhanced with our good ol’ felt board

Memory Work: We’re not using a specific program, but we’re covering Math (using Addition and Subtraction Songs); Science (elements of the periodic table); Grammar (questions from Living Memory, lists as we cover them in grammar); Great Words (poetry and bible verse selections); Spanish and Latin (vocabulary from previous week’s lessons); History and Timeline (using Classical Conversations History sentences and Timeline song); Shakespeare (using Ken Ludwig’s How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare)

Spanish: Teach Them Spanish

Virtue: Laying Down the Rails for Children

Geography: Once Upon a Map; Maps & Globes; The Golden Geography

Poetry: Favorite Poems Old and New

Joseph and William:

Science: Chemistry using Elements: The Ingredients of the Universe along with Super Science Concoctions and Fizz, Bubble & Flash

World History: Beginning with the year 33 AD, using RC History until 500 AD and then switching over to Pandia Press‘ History Odyssey (will definitely still be using selections from RC History’s booklists)

American History:  RC History and Serendipity‘s book lists; Betsy Maestro’s books, Stories of America and How Our Nation Began as our spines

Geography: parts of Expedition Earth; The Science Chef Travels Around the World; Eat Your Way Around the World; map drills

Math Fact Practice: Xtra Math

Fine Art Fridays:

Piano: Lessons from Hoffman Academy

Music Appreciation: Classical Kids

Art: Home Art Studio and See the Light DVDs

Art Appreciation: Spot the Differences, Memoria Press’ art cards, Usborne’s My First Art Coloring Book

Shakespeare: Plans from Serendipity

Nature Study: Simply Charlotte Mason’s The Outdoor Secrets

Joseph:

Math: Saxon 2

Grammar: First Language Lessons Level 3

Spelling: All About Spelling (picking up with Level 5)

Phonics: Little Angel C & D

Critical Thinking: Mind Benders

Latin: Prima Latina

Map Skills

Handwriting: New American Cursive II

Typing: Mavis Beacon

William:

Math: Saxon 1, Hands-On Thinking

Grammar: First Language Lessons Level 1

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 1

Critical Thinking: Mind Benders

Handwriting: Handwriting without Tears K

Map Skills

Phonics: Little Angel A & B

Andrew:

Math: Saxon K

Grammar: Language Lessons for Little Ones

Critical Thinking: Building Thinking Skills

Phonics: Learning/reviewing letter sounds; when he’s ready we’ll start All About Reading Level 1

If you want to see how it all works and fits into our daily schedule, that’s next…