Now that the new  homeschooling year is upon us, I thought I would share the type of lesson plans we are going to.

First, a bit of history (of my quest for the perfect lesson plan, that is)...

When we first started homeschooling, I used a print out (I believe it was from abcteach), that had boxes you filled in by subject by week.  I was thorough...and ambitious...a little too ambitious.  I NEVER seemed to accomplish what I set out to do each week and often finished the week frustrated w/ myself.

After discussing this w/ a veteran homeschool mom, she led me to journaling.  It eased the pressure I was feeling to live up to The Schedule.  At the end of the homeschool day (or as we were working through the lessons), I would journal what each child was doing.  This worked really well for a couple of years, but by the end of last year, I noticed I was not keeping track as well as I should (my own fault, not the journal's), and decided I needed a little more accountability.  I did not want to go back to the days of a full-blown schedule that I could never live up to, but I needed the structure that type of schedule provided.

I ran across an idea from another veteran homeschool mom online that I believe will be the right fit for us.  I've heard it called a dateless planner, but what I am doing really looks more like a dateless assignment sheet.  It is simple and easy, gives the child ownership of their assigmenhts, and provides the record I need and a structure that will keep us running smoothly.

Here is a sample of what it looks like:

Math

Son-Saxon 65-07/08

DATE     LESSON #     COMPLETE     CHECKED     REDO     NOTES

______    Lesson 1          _______        _______      ____       _____

______    Lesson 2          _______        _______      ____       _____

______    Lesson 3         _______        _______      ____       _____

Only the lesson # is plugged in ahead of time.  The date the lesson is first done is written in under date w/ a checkmark under complete.  When I check the lesson, I mark the checked line.  When the child re-works the missed problems, he/she checks the redo line.  If I have any comments to add, I put it in the notes section--this helps me to track just how well they are doing in the area covered by the lesson.  The subjects we have that do not require a reworking of problems don't have the redo line, and there will be some lessons in some subjects that will still require more of a journaling approach.

This year our school schedule involves Bible (using the one and only true Living Word of God--the Holy Scriptures), Prayer/Geography (using Window on the World), History (using Tapestry of Grace  as well as books suggested by All Through the Ages--we are currently at the Constitution of the U.S.), Science (using the God's Design series), Typing for my oldest (using Typing Instructor for Kids), Home Ec for my oldest daughter (using a series from the Pearables), Grammar for my oldest (using Primary Language Lessons), Foreign Language for my oldest using a free Rosetta Stone online introduction from the Kansas City library, Handwriting for my oldest daughter (using A Reason for Handwriting), and Math for both (my son is using Saxon and my daughter is using Horizons)

We are officially starting school on Monday, Aug 27th.  I am excited for what this new year and new schedule will bring!