Schedules, Structure, Accountability...

I have been working on a more structured schedule for school next year.  Both Emily and Michelle needed this, and so do I.  Even though Michelle is in 7th grade this year, she still must have a good bit of one-on-one attention - direction, teaching, etc.

I will be using these two schedules for them.  It was useful to get a side-by-side view on Word to make sure there was no overlap.  The underlined subjects are those that I will be teaching and working on with them.  I will be printing one copy for each day, which they will use to write in their assignments and what they need to work on on their own (OYO).

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.