So far we have covered in Part 1 how to set up your schedule for the year, in Part 2 how to schedule the Morning Time Learning, and in Part 3 how to plan out your Together Time learning.
Now in Part 4 we are going to look at how I plan out our Table Time studies.
Decide What Subjects to Cover & Gather Curriculum
Table Time is the time set aside for individual work, such as math, writing, penmanship, spelling, grammar, etc. When children are younger it will involve more on mom’s part to teach. But the goal is as they get older, making Table Time more independent.
So before we decide on curriculum, figure out what subjects you want to cover during this time. In our homeschool we mostly cover math and language arts.
Some of the things I will be using this year with the kids are:
- Teaching Textbooks
- Plain and Not So Plain Math Courses
- Simply Cursive
- SpellQuizzer
- Plain and Not So Plain Grammar Courses
Once you have the subjects you want to cover decided on, then see what curriculum you need for those subjects and get anything ordered that you don’t have.
Decide on a Schedule for Each Subject
There is nothing set in stone that you have to do every subject every day. Maybe you do math every day, but do spelling two days and grammar two days. You decide!
But look over the curriculum you will be using and see if there is a way you can schedule it that would make it easier for your kids. Depending on their age, it may work better to short lessons from each subject every day. Older kids may work better focusing on a couple a day for a longer period of time.
Once you have decided how many days a week you will be covering each subject, it is time to figure out how much you need to cover each day.
Figure Out How Much To Cover Each Day
Now that you have a plan for what subjects you will cover each day, it’s time to figure out how many lessons or pages need to be done each day.
For example, if you have a math curriculum that has 130 lessons, and you have planned doing math every day, then you know that you will have plenty of time to complete all the lessons if you do one lesson per day.
I am having a couple of my kids doing cursive this year, but since there are only about 80 lessons, I plan on having them do cursive every day for the first half of the year. The second half of the year they are going to do typing lessons.
Do you see how that works? Once you have figured out how much needs to be covered in each subject every day (that you are doing that subject), make note of it so that you have that information when you plan out the lessons.
Plan Out the First Interval
You have all the hard work done, now it is time to plan out your first interval. I did this yesterday for my kids. I sat down and wrote out in their Intentional Weekly Planner exactly what they needed to do each day. That way they can check it off as they complete it.
I also use Evernote to keep track of what they have completed in each subject. I make a chart and then check off as they complete lessons. This will go into my homeschool records that I put together at the end of the year.
I love using Evernote because it keeps all my records in one place so I can easily save it and print it out at the end of the year. I also use Evernote to record books the kids have read during the year.
Before I close, I do want to bring another point to your attention. Notice that I did not plan out the kids’ work for the whole year. I only wrote in their planners the work for the first interval (about 7 weeks) of our school year.
Want to know why? Because this allows me to adjust if needed, without having to totally redo the whole year. I simply take one interval at a time and then use the break week in between intervals to plot out the next interval’s work.
Resources I Used For This Step
- Evernote
- Intentional Weekly Planner (2018-2019 edition coming soon!)
I hope you have enjoyed taking a peek into my homeschool planning this year. Maybe there is something I shared that you can use in your own homeschool planning. I hope so!
We have a couple more weeks before we start our new homeschool year. I have everything all planned out, notebooks ready, books on the shelf ready to be read. I can spend time just relaxing now, knowing that we can start the new school year off right!
Read The Whole Series
- Planning Our New Homeschool Year (Part 1 of 4)
- Planning Our New Homeschool Year (Part 2 of 4)
- Planning Our New Homeschool Year (Part 3 of 4)
- Planning Our New Homeschool Year (Part 4 of 4)
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