The Method to My Madness

The last few days around here have been full of planning school for next year. This is the second year we have started school the week after July 4th. Last year, I started early, because I knew there was a strong possibility that I would get overwhelmed frequently with a toddler at home, and having to teach both of my older kids for the first time, which would cause me to need frequent breaks.

This year we are starting early in order to have plenty recovery time after the baby is born. I have planned for 2 weeks off after the baby, but I assume we may not be quite ready at that point, and I want lots of wiggle room.

This year Monkey (7) will be using Five in a Row as his main curriculum for the last year. He will move on to FIAR Vol. 4 next year for half the year, then move into Beyond Five in a Row the second half. Mouse (9) will use Beyond Five in a Row and a few Volume 4 titles as a break in between Beyond titles. Puppy (2 almost 3) will be doing some light activities from Before FIAR.

This is the way I plan:

First, I sit down and write down all of my fabulous ideas for the year. Like, things I want to improve upon, and things that I think need special attention. This year those areas are writing, and spelling. We will also work on calendaring. That idea has not cemented in Monkey's brain yet.

I also write down all of the curriculum we will be using for the year. This year looks like this:

FIAR Vol 1-3

BYFIAR - Vol 1-3

Sequential Spelling

Growing with Grammar

Horizons Mathematics

Handwriting from LightHome Publications

Story of the World - 2 days a week

Piano - 1 day a week (practice each day)

Then I make a general outline of how I want the day to go. Just to get an idea of what I am in for. Hee hee.

Next, I make a year long calendar on my favorite publishing program, Microsoft Publisher. I print it out with 2 months on a page. I print out the list of books used in FIAR, and all plannig wisdoms I have gathered from the authors of FIAR. Then I find a good pencil and an eraser and all of my FIAR volumes and a comfy place to sit. Currently, my bed.

I go through and check all of the books that we have already done off the book list. I also mark off all the days we will not do school on the calendar. I find that it helps me decide what kind of unit, or which unit we will do that week, if I know in advance it will be a short week.

Now I am ready to fill in my weeks with books we haven't yet rowed. I try to group them seasonally, so they will be relevant to the time of year we are in. Doing Cranberry Thanksgiving in March, just isn't going to work!

Normally there are 36 weeks in a standard 180 day school year. So that is 36 titles...or what I did this year was 33 FIAR titles and one Vol. 4 that takes 2 weeks, and one review week. This will have us finish school the last day of April, because we will take several breaks.

After I have assigned a book per week, the really hard part comes. I sit down with the manual, and look at each title in detail. I choose which activities/subjects we will cover for each book based on what the child needs to focus on, what we have already learned, or what his interest is. I will ask my child frequently which he would prefer to study. I want him to feel like he can direct some of his learning. Also, at times, I cannot decide, and can't figure out what he would like best, so asking him seems to be the best way to relieve the pressure from my brain! I write all these things down on the calendar. Then I put them back into my calendar on Publisher. I know I could skip this step by just typing straight into Publisher, but I like the feel of a pen and paper sometimes.

Then, when I do all that, I go post on the FIAR boards about how much I rock!

Here is a sample of one month of planning. I think you may be able to click on the pic and make it bigger. I hope so.