Lesson Plans

When I taught high school in both public and Christian schools, I was expected to keep detailed lesson plans with goals and objectives.   I know of home school umbrella schools which require them as well.  I think this is for several good reasons.  Lesson plans help me stay on track and accomplish more of my goals,  stay organized, maintain structure through the day,  and the make difficult days easier by helping me stay focused when my mind is weighed down by other concerns.

I have been using Homeschooling Tracker Plus for lesson plans and other record keeping for years, and it has served me well. Once I figured out the system,  it really made lesson planning an easy-to-do task.

For homeschooling,  my lesson plans are a simple skeleton listing classes in order with some basic notes on the side.  Homeschooling Tracker allows for levels of complexity.  I like to keep my plans simple, then add comments as we go along during the week about topics which need extra work or ideas I have during the day which may be helpful through the week.

High School - Course Descriptions and Codes

 This year, since Michael is finishing 8th grade, we have to decide whether we want to enroll him in an umbrella school or simply continue enrolled as homeschoolers with the county.  If we chose to do it ourselves without the help of an umbrella school, there will be a transcript to work on and a list of high school requirements to fullfill for college admissions.

I think at this point, I'm leaning to just going forward as we did with Gabi.  The cost for the umbrella school (~$800/year) and the inconvenience of all the paperwork they require, plus the travel back and forth to Orlando, are the main reasons.

In order to put together a transcript to use for college applications, one of the most important things I need to do is record the Florida high school course codes for the classes he'll be taking in the next four years.  The course descriptions will help me pick which courses match the objectives of the courses we have chosen. 

For example, Michael will be taking an art class this summer which focuses on drawing.  Under Visual Arts, I found Drawing I.  The course description for Drawing I includes most of the topics that will be covered in our art class, but I notice a few that aren't.  I will print out the description and go through it, making the few additions to our class topics.  This course description will go along with all the work he does for the class in his high school portfolio.