Scheduling

I finally got my scheduling for the year finished. I knew WHAT I was going to use for school this year, but I hadn't figured out the details of how or when.

People have all kinds of ways to "schedule" their year/week/day, but this is how I do it.

First, I make a list of all the "subjects" I want to teach. I make a separate list for each child, because then I write next to each subject, the way I plan to teach it.

Like this...

It looks like alot, but some of the "subjects" only take 5-10 minutes, and some aren't done everyday. Then I make another list of how many times per week each subject needs to be assigned in order to achieve my objectives for them. For example, math is assigned 5 days per week, but logic only 3 days per week.

Next, I look at our calendar and assign the subjects a "day". Notice in the picture below Tuesdays seem to be lighter while Wednesdays are heavier. That's because we have two "extras" (piano lessons and art) on Tuesday afternoons, but Wednesdays we're home all day. Each child gets her own because their schedules are a little different and they are in different grades, so the amount of work required is a little different. This schedule is flexible depending on our actual week, but I try to follow this guideline as best I can.

Next, I move to planning a specifc week. I only do one week at a time -usually on Sunday afternoon - so that I can make adjustments as needed depending on our schedule. Below is a picture of the sheet I use. I just made it on Exel. Each child gets her own up on the fridge Sunday night. I make a copy of each one and put it in a binder for my own reference, because they mark theirs up pretty heavily. If you're wondering what "couch" is, that's our reading time that we do together in the morning. "Extras" are any appointments/lessons we have.

When it's filled out it looks like this...

The "x's" in a box means that subject is not assigned on that day.

We've used this little "grid" assignment sheet for years. When they were very young, I didn't post it on the fridge. They didn't really know I had a plan. We just moved from one fun learning activity to another. When they got a little older they got one of their own every day, but with far fewer subjects than I've listed here. About 2 years ago, they got one for the whole week. Each year it changes a little, but the overall concept stays the same. I tried to change the layout of this little assignment sheet this year, but it made me confused, so I went back to the old standby.

Do you have any scheduling tips?