In every homeschooling mom's life there is the issue of planning.  This issue may be the absence of planning or it may be the obsession of it.  I know many homeschool moms who are chained to their planners during the months of Sept  to June.  They have everything slotted in its appropriate place.  Some even have their lesson plans, school lists and schedules all organized in their computer.  All they need to do is press a button and the computer spits out everything they need to go on with their week.

    Then there are those homeschooling moms who do not even know what a planning book or program looks like.  They do have knowledge of these things because they do not plan.  They may do some mental planning on the Sunday but usually they just do the 'next thing.'   Their is no stress, no scrabbling around trying to find the time to plan.  They just take life as it comes. 

     I wish that I fit into one of these two categories.  Believe me, I have tried both ways and I am still at a loss as to how to plan my year.  I have come to the conclusion, though, that I defintely do need to plan.  When I try to do the mental planning thing,  nothing happens.  Things do not get done if there is not some form of plan taking place.  The subjects that work well with 'do the next thing'  like math or vocab do get done because you just do, um,  the next thing.  Pretty simple and straightforward.  But when you are doing subjects like dictation, where you need to find a passage from a book then the 'next thing, doesn't always work.  You need time to find the passage and copy it out.  This is where organization and planning does come in handy for me.

     When I do plan our week, though,  I have found that we don't always adhere to that plan.  LIfe happens and pushed those plans out of the window, then I have to re-work the plans because this messes up the next week's plans as well.  So, I see this as a vicious planning cycle.  If I don't plan, nothing gets done.  If I do plan, then not everything gets done and I feel stressed about it all.

    After four years of putting myself through the planning wringer,  I have come to a planning rhythm that (hopefully will work for us.)   I am finding that the things that need to be planned are circles and afternoon subjects.  Now, when I say planned,  I mean that I need to know what I am going to do for that day as far as circle songs or what activity we are going to do in the afternoon.  It is not planned down to the letter, but there is just enough thought given to the order of our day that I don't have to stand around for five minutes after lunch trying to figure out if I have enough supplies for an art lesson or if we have enough ingredients to bake apple bread.  In knowing generally what we will be doing for the week then I will be better prepared.  If I am better prepared, then there is more of a chance that that activitiy will actually take place. 

     I have also learned over the last four years that if something doesn't get done, no big deal.  Either find some time next week or just ditch the whole idea altogether.  I am finding myself to being more flexible and laid back than I used to be.   I don't know whether that comes with experience or old age. 

    This year I have to do a bit more planning as I am writing my own curriculum this year for most of our subjects.  So this will take more time but  I refuse to get uptight about all of this.  Calm and peaceful is my motto for this school year.  This motto will also extend to my planning time as well.  I am very excited about this school year.  For the first time,  I am very confident on what I have planned and I like all the mishing and moshing I have done with all of those educational philosophies.  I feel very good about this year.  We'll see if I still feel the same way in January.  Stay tuned.   

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Posted by Jacqueline