School planning: 102

For the previous post, School planning: 101, click HERE.

--

Now that you've prayed, evaluated your previous school year, and figured out with a calendar when you're starting (and ending school), you're ready to get down to the nitty-gritty of what you'll be actually DOING during those school hours!

Some of these steps obviously overlap.  (I keep praying throughout the whole planning process school year.)

This next step is something I start at the end of our current school year and keep on going until all the pieces are in place for the new school year.
 

4.  Make a TO-DO list.

My current "Homeschool Planning TO DO list"

I keep a clipboard with blank pieces of paper handy, and as I evaluate our previous year, or read a book (several of my first notations came from my reading of this book at the end of May), or if I remember an idea or think of a book or see something that still needs to be done--- it all goes on this list.  I'll list some items* you don't see in the above photo, just to give you an idea of the variety:

• choose read-alouds
• schedule- make
• new chore assignments
• make chore charts
• choose memory work
• math lesson plan
• what are we doing for science this year?
• what can be independent work?
• purchase blank index cards

*to name just a few

This list is simply a running list of all my school-related thoughts.  There are obviously things on the list that must be accomplished: history lesson plans and math lesson plans, for instance.  And there are other items that never get checked off- because they were ideas that were meant to be just that, an idea.  And that's okay.

When I'm making my to-do list, I keep our general schedule in mind at all times.  I know we start the day with Bible time, narrations and memory work at the breakfast table.  So then, on my list are things like:

• Bible time (ie: I need to figure out what we'll be reading from or what my goal is for that time) 
• choose memory work

and so on.  I know the things we need to update or refresh for the school year, so I operate from that general knowledge.

The stage I'm at right now is that I'm consulting that list every day and researching items or working on them to get ready for our school year.  I have determined the new chore assignments (with Mark's  help), but have yet to make a new chore chart [if you click on each of those 3 links you'll see our three previous chore charts], so that's still something "to do".  I know that the kids are doing copywork, but I don't know yet what they'll be copying.  That sort of thing.

It's all coming together, and I'm excited about some of the things we already have planned, so I'll share them as I go.