Archive for August 2011

As I was creating my units I needed a place to keep track of all of the extras that I planned to supplement the lessons with. I created a tab in OneNote for this called Media list. Then I created a page for each unit that would give me an inventory of what I needed at-a-glance.

I made three tables. Here is the downloadable Word Template. This is what it looks like.

The first was titled Books and had 5 columns. For Title, Author, Subject, Location and Read. With the way I set up my unit study, I had science, math and other books all relating back to Ancient Civilizations. I needed to know what subject a book was for. The location would tell me whether it was at L (library) or BS (bookshelf) or A (need to purchase at Amazon ). The final column would keep track of what was read.

The second table was Videos. It had 4 columns titled Title, Subject, Location and Watched. It worked the same as the books. I just had abbreviations for Netflix, History Channel, DVR, Science Channel, Library and so on.

The third list was Online. It kept track of any interactives, online quizzes, flashcards, whatever I came across that I thought may be helpful for that unit. This was really nice when I had planned in advance and had a place to put links for later use. I could make sure they actually get found and used in time for the unit and not forgotten or lost.

A list like this can be a big help if you have a lot of media you plan to use. You can add additional tables for board games, puzzles, worksheets, anything you think you might want to use during a unit.

Update: My link is fixed! You should be able to download it as a Word document and edit all you want.

My absolute favorite unit planning template comes from Microsoft Office Templates. You can find it here. It looks like this:

You can add or change around the table in Word once you download it. One of the major benefits of OneNote is I can make my table as large as I want.

How I changed it to work for me:
I took the Materials Needed section and created an entirely separate table that was dedicated to projects/activities. I created a column for the subject the project is for, what the project objective is and a list of materials needed. That way when I'm ready to start that unit I have a handy shopping list ready.
I took some ideas from another form and changed the column titles.Instead of Teacher/Student Guide I made columns for Objectives, Curriculum Used, Other Resources (which for me means web links), Reading Materials and Verification (how to test knowledge when unit is complete).
On the same sheet I created a Vocabulary List for the entire unit.

You've chosen your curriculum, you know your goals and your ready to start homeschooling. So where do you start? A good plan can make a huge difference between a smooth successful start and a panicked morning of gathering materials and printing assignments.
You'll first need to decide what kind of planner system do you need? Online? Printed? What do you want to include? Web links? Do you like to do it all at once or little by little?

You can use a planner program or create your own. You have a few options.

Download a planner form or template.
Create your own in Word or Excel.
Use a computer program.
Workbox System
Fly by the seat of your pants and hope you don't get a burned bottom. :)

Downloadable Planner Forms
Donna Young

Her site may be a bit complicated, but so worth it! She has so many templates and forms in different fonts, you're sure to find something to fit your needs. Most of them are in Excel or Word format.

Ultimate Free Homeschool Deals has a bunch of links to downloadable/printable forms and planners. They have lots of cute styles to choose from.

Oklahoma Homeschool
Check out her Schedule PDF's at the bottom of the page

Notebooking Pages: Free Printables, Charts & Organizational Tools
Some simple and usable charts & printables

Microsoft Office Templates
Ready made lesson plans, charts and more that can be downloaded directly into your Office program.

I especially like this Project-Based Lesson Plan Template.
This weekly lesson plan is colorful and simple.

Computer Programs
SkedTrack

FREE online lesson planner, scheduler, and tracking system. The system has an automatic scheduler so you don't have to do a thing if an activity/lesson is missed.

Scholaric - Small monthly fee
Homeschool Tracker

Regular version downloadable & FREE.
Plus version has a one time fee and includes enough extra flexibility through grading, tracking and sharing capabilities to make it worth checking out.
Try the free version or 30-day free plus trial

Workbox Systems
Once you've planned out your lessons. Look into an easy way to implement them. A popular way is the Workbox System. There's a bunch of information our there about this system. If your looking for inspiration, just Google Workbox System and look at all the beautiful organization.....sigh.

Sue Patrick's Workbox System
The Originator of the this system. She has a downloadable eBook to guide you through the process.

Working the Workboxes
A Squidoo article that explains it simply and with pictures.

Confessions of a Homeschooler
Example of her setup with printables and how-to's.

Sweet Phenomena
Beautiful Setup of the Workbox System using Ikea Storage.

The Easiest Lesson Plan

I'm not the most organized person, so I needed a system that would allow me to do most of the work upfront, but give me some flexibility in case we got behind in one subject. First I started with an overview of the plan for the year. I made an outline of what topics I planned to cover each month to make sure I didn't over or under schedule. I took a look at the curriculum and counted the number of chapters or pages and divided by 36 to get an idea of what would be required every week.

After a lot of trial and error, I finally found the simplest method was the one that would work for us. A basic table allows us to quickly view what is scheduled for the day with more of a do-the-next-thing type of planning. The subject tabs up top have more information than the general schedule. Many didn't need anything more than the table of contents to be copied and pasted and then have checkboxes next to each line. Some subjects required more thought and planning, using the side tabs for chapters or weeks.

I made these tables in OneNote so I can easily share the whole lesson plan with him on his laptop. In OneNote, I could make the table as large as I needed without being forced to stay at 8.5 x 11, giving me the flexibility I needed. I really think OneNote is an easy and flexible way to plan. You can enter videos, audio, pictures, and links directly into the page. By sharing your notebook through the web or network, everything that is updated on one notebook is instantly updated on the other. This helps your student gain some independence and still allowing you to monitor from a distance.