Our Schedule

So now I have the supplies, it’s time to start planning and gathering everything I want to do. I’m a Type A planner that always feels better with a good plan going in. I’m always up for flexibility and change in the spur of the moment, but I need a plan to reference when things change.

My general approach to the days will be subjects flowing from one to another often integrated into one block. However, it’s always good to start with a basic schedule to map everything out. My first pass at scheduling our day looked like this:

As I started really putting together the curriculum, things didn’t quite work out like the schedule above. I ended up using a variety of items to help me plan each week:

• A Big Planner

• Weekly Pull Lists

• Blank notebook

• Book List Pages

• Unit Study Planning Pages

• Craft Supply List Pages

• A Year Calendar

Let’s start with the planner. I have a personal planner full of house tasks, appointments, meals, and other misc notes to myself. I didn’t want to cram in homeschooling, so I bought a cheaper planner. I sketched out a few different planning styles and ideas and this is where I landed.

First, I went through and mapped out all the big history chapters and unit themes (those are in purple). Some weeks, we won’t have a formalized unit theme, but that’s fine by me. I purposefully left a few weeks open to help me have some wiggle room as it becomes needed. I also notated what I needed to source and when (blue and brown). The orange notes are silly random holidays I found. We might randomly celebrate some of these. We will be having a mini party on Thursday August 13th for Left Hander’s Day. Arthur and I are both lefties! Schedule days off will be notated in pink (none in August of course!).

Then, I started diving into my weeks. There was a bit of writing and erasing until I figured out a system that made sense to me.

I broke down the columns into Podcasts (breakfast or morning basket time), Unit Theme (none extra for W1), Math, Biography (incorporated into one of the other subject blocks), Art/Music, History, Literature/Poetry, Computers/Philosophy, Science, and PE/Cook/Extra. I just started plugging in ideas or plans for the first week. Some come directly from Build Your Library’s lessons and some are just me throwing items on the plan. There’s not a lot of detail, but I can look at this planner and get an overall view of the week. This helps me wrap my brain around all the different subjects without getting overwhelmed in the details.

From there, I started writing a document with more details and notes. The document is a simple Pages document, but helps me flesh out all the stuff. It’s not a formalized lesson plan, but I don’t really need one of those. I just need to be able to check things off or refer to what’s coming next. This document includes links to videos and crafts as well as notes for vocab, supplies, and discussion questions.

From there, I started sourcing extra materials (books, videos, worksheets, etc) for the first two weeks or so. As I sourced, I inevitably ran across things that I can use later in the year. And so the folders on the computer and lists on paper began. I have lists of interesting picture books by broad topic (math, history, etc) and by time of the year. I have bookmarked links and various other resources. I started a weekly book pull list to organize which books I want to check out from the library. If I put them on hold about two weeks before the week I need, most of them should arrive for curbside pickup. I also use a simple blank notebook to make notes and such as I’m working on other things.

It sounds like a lot of planning, but that’s the way I work best. I like having a detailed plan to work from. Plans will change, items will be dropped and/or added, and things will go wrong. But my anxiety is tamed by spending time laying out what I want to happen. Now it’s time to actually get teaching!

We’re officially starting our homeschool adventure today. Next Monday, I’ll post a weekly wrap-up. I hope to do weekly updates highlighting our highs and lows on this journey.

Next up on the TBR pile: