I haven't done this before - i usually have a loose idea in my head of what i want to accomplish that year, and i usually get it done, and i thought i would feel trapped by planning each day out - but i think i need to do this now, just to keep me on track during the day. I need to make a new MOTH schedule, too - i've been waiting till baby came, but i think i will make a loose one (with lots of extra time thrown in there to allow for baby's needs) to take us to the end of the school year, but with time in there for the things that need to be kept up with - recycling, laundry :) - mending, vacuuming - the things that get ignored until i get fed up and just throw it all to the winds and get going...
i didn't do much drill and skill with my littles and now in grades 4 and 6 they are weak on math facts - they rock on operations, but it takes them forever to do it bcz they get hung up on basic facts - the flashmaster is a huge timesaver for me this spring - i'm so glad i finally got it! - it's a little handheld electronic flashcards thing - they can also review specific times tables - it stores their scores, and doesn't take that long... i sit on the couch with each child in turn and the little boys do + and - and the biggies also do multiplication and division - i'm moving them up a level when they get 100% three times in a row for any level of any operation... anyway, it's a little pricey (60$) but i think it's one of those things i wish i had had years ago :)...
i think with seven children, i've been thinking "soon the baby will be on a schedule and we'll go back to normal" but i was wrong - it's not going to go "back to normal" - i need to find the new normal - and i think it is time for me to start planning the week ahead esp as i've finished my LA curriculum and i have some neat ideas to fill the rest of the year - i'm not ready for them to just be done as we've had so much time off, but i found four resources i'd like to use with various littles -
Comprehensive Composition (Kathryn Stout)
The Exciting World of Creative Writing by ( it's put out by Christian Liberty Press - i really like their stuff, but i need a catalog!)
Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola
and
the Grammar of Poetry by Matt Whitling (we just finished his Imitation in Writing - Medieval Legends - and the children really liked it and turned out great writing using it!)
I'm thinking i have about eight more weeks, and if i plan LA lessons for four days a week that's 32 more lessons - i just need to photocopy stuff and put it in a file folder for them... time time time... here i am with my arms free and i'm typing! And it's time for bed...
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• Apr. 23, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Of course, since it is handheld and electronic, they would probably be all over it. I could put time limits on it and they might think it's a treat to play :D