my no-more-planning-every-single-page homeschooling--what?!

Earlier this month I eluded to some new strategies we are using in our schooling.

We use the literature-based, Charlotte Mason approach in our home. In the past I made detailed weekly schedules for each child mapping out the books they were to read, the day they were to read the book, and the number of pages they were to read. Seriously. Every single book, every single page, every single day, for every single child.

Exhausting!

And then there was the re-figuring everything when (not if) we got off schedule. 

We became slaves to those pieces of paper. And if we got "behind" because one child needed extra time on a math concept, or another child developed a passion for a particular book and read more than scheduled in one subject and read less in another, or someone got sick, than I felt terrible.

Last month I got this crazy idea from a Charlotte Mason seminar I took. What if--now stick with me here, this is groundbreaking--what if I didn't plan the schedule out beforehand to mark off the tasks as they were completed? What if I only recorded what we actually did?!


My husband laughed at me when I shared this idea with him.You may be laughing too (especially if you are a seasoned homeschooler) or you may be horrified. It's hard to tell from here. So, mock (or scoff) if you must, but it's working!!!


My new method....


1. I pick the books for the year which might look something like the list below, depending on the age and proficiency of the child. I often give the child choices between several books in a particular area. You would decide for your family how many books in which subjects.

Literature
3 literature books
Pilgrim's Progress
1 Shakespeare play (read aloud as a family)
1 poetry anthology (read aloud as a family)


History
A core history book for the time period selected (read aloud as a family)
2-3 additional history book

Three biographies

Science/Natural History
A core science book (we use apologia)
A literature-based science book (Burgess books, Jim Herriot's books, etc.)


Math
A math curriculum, we use Math-U-See 

2. I make a master list of the books and chapters I expect to be covered in one year. This is the first page of Makenna's book list. As the items are completed I mark them off the list. The kids read from 3-4 different history books so I have the chapters listed in chronological order so we know from which book to read next.

3. I put the books on their personal school shelf (which you can see here).

4. I give the older child a blank planning sheet for the week with the subjects I expect them to cover in the first column and a column for each day of the week. This is a snapshot of a few days for my six-year-old, I fill his out as we work together.

5. After we study the Bible as a family at breakfast, we all do math, each child covering the next lesson in his/her book. I write down what they actually did on the planning sheet (the older children can do this themselves).

6. Next, each child tends to their personal reading, choosing from a selection for each subject everyday. It gets recorded on the planning sheet. If it looks like a child is moving too slowly through a book I investigate to determine why. Are they being slack in their work? Is the book too challenging? Maybe we need to read it together for awhile. Maybe they need some encouragement to push themselves. And we adjust as needed.

It's so simple. I have in mind a sufficient number of books of acceptable quality for each child to cover for a year. I put them on the shelf. We read through one per subject each day. They narrate. We record what we cover. We periodically re-evaluate our progress and adjust as needed.

For Charlie, my 6-year-old I walk him through all of this. When it's time to read history, we stand at his shelf and I let him pick the history book or the biography. His choice. We pick up the book where we left off. We read as much as we like, being careful not to stretch him past his full attention. It is my goal to stop at a point where he is left wanting to read more. He tells me about what we read (narration). I write down what we read and mark the books off his master list as we finish them. Sometimes I record his narrations and add them to the planner. That's it.

For the books we read aloud as a family I put them on a shelf in the kitchen and we read through them at dinner (it used to be lunch until we went back to second shift). I just choose the one we feel like reading from that day, picking up where we left off, and record the pages we read when we are finished. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

No more "getting behind". No more feeling like a failure because we didn't check off all our boxes for the day. No more extended planning days every 4-6 weeks! No more re-planning when things don't go according to the schedule.

Simple. Relaxed. Efficient. Effective. Love it!