photo by Amir K.
Sunday nights for the past year have been my designated planning period time. I figure if the public school teachers get one, so should I!
I began doing this in response to a blog post I read from a homeschooling mama who took a couple of hours every Sunday evening at a local coffee shop to plan her week. This concept sounded like something that would be ever so helpful, but alas, where would I find the time to sit at a coffee shop and organize my life?
That’s when I decided I could have my planning period at home. On Sunday nights, my wonderful husband herds all the children downstairs to watch a Western and I gather up a mountain of books, some notebook paper, and a cup of coffee (so I can pretend I really am at a coffee shop!)
During this planning period I am planning much more than just my school week. Because of this, I have 5 separate divisions for my plans: Meals, School, Homekeeping, Activities, and Miscellaneous.
I take a piece of scratch paper and I write down every single thing I want to accomplish in the coming week. I write down people I need to email, websites I need to visit, all I want to accomplish school-wise, and places we have to be and people who are coming to visit. Both the fronts and backs of my notebook pages end up covered in frantic scribbles. It is wonderful to see my week pouring out in front of me!
Next, I transfer everything into their correct sections. Lest you think I have some fancy scheduling template, let me reassure you, my pages are simple notebook paper–nothing fancy there!
On the Meals page, I write out only a couple of days worth of meals since life is rather unpredictable here. I fill in the rest as I go.
For School, I write down all the things I want to accomplish each day. In this section I also list books I’d like to buy, books I’d like to sell, and projects I’ve been meaning to have the children work on.
On the Homekeeping page, I write down our daily cleaning routine and add things to be decluttered and reorganized.
On the Activities page, I write a day-by-day listing of any places we have to be or things we will be doing.
The Miscellaneous page, I leave for those to-do’s that don’t ‘t fit anywhere else. This includes things to blog about, thank yous to write, people to call, etc.
In the mornings, I open my planning notebook on the counter with these pages laid out where I can readily reference them throughout the day. Everything is right there and I can add or subtract from them as I please. It makes for a much smoother flowing day!
How do you handle your planning? Do you have a special routine you follow?
Amy can be found writing at Raising Arrows.
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I do this too! Or at least I try to do this each week. Sometimes it doesn’t though. Mondays are so much easier to jump into when I have done my planning.
I agree, we need planning time too! Mine is Saturday or Sunday evening. I love being able to get everything ready for the week, as well as being able to make adjustments when something from the week before came up that needs attention.
I also try to start my time with prayer and reading a few verses of scripture to relax and get in a better frame of mind.
I needed this reminder this week! I wish I did this more regularly than I do; my week is ALWAYS better for it. Planning is mid-week for me, though. Our grocery shopping day is Friday, so on Wednesdays I clean/organize the fridge/pantry so that on Thursday(planning day) I know what to put on the grocery list, and what meals to plan, to best use up what we have. Another thing I don’t schedule as much as I should: Exercise/Momma-time. Definitely something that needs to be scheduled to actually happen around here!
I really need to get into more of a routine :) I have notebooks with ideas, but I tend to just know what basics we have to cover and then I fill in the rest with what will work that day. I try to jot down ‘ideas for the week’ but it doesn’t always happen.
.-= TaderDoodles (Lisa Baldwin)´s last blog ..WFMW-Jan 20- Better late then never! =-.
’bout the same for me. I just do mine in a planner and then transfer each individual child’s week into Homeschool Tracker Plus so that they have sheets to check off too. This helps, because I’ll sometimes hear, “hey, when are we going to do science, mom?” The x-tra accountability keeps me on my toes instead of just postponing it. ; )
.-= Brenda´s last blog ..Excited About Moving =-.
This is a great idea. If more moms, not just those who homeschool, did this, we’d have much happier homes. Thanks for the reminder and description of your system.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..PW, eat your heart out. =-.
This is flippin’ awesome! I always plan to plan, but rarely actually take that time away. I couldn’t possibly do it at a cafe, I’d need at least three tables! But I love this, and since my husband and kids love to play video games, this scenario could work out well for all of us. And I KNOW that I feel so much better when I do.
.-= Angela @ Homegrown Mom´s last blog ..Ad Space Giveaway! =-.
Planning. That would be a good thing to do ;) Right now, with a 3 year-old and a 1 year-old, my days aren’t super structured. However, this week I’ll be trying out a new weekly schedule with a song, scripture, and poem for the week that we’ll review and learn at Calendar Time each morning. I also have a book of the week. This week’s book: Harold and the Purple Crayon. I’ve planned out a different activity for each weekday that go along with the book (lots of purple!). Thanks for sharing what works for you! I’ll have to give it a try.
.-= Raven´s last blog ..Hopscotch Joy =-.
Oh, I so needed this post this week. I worked Saturday. Sunday, we took our boys to a last minute musical production that ended up taking most of the day. I missed my chance to plan, and I’ve felt out of sync all week. Thanks for the reminder.
By the way, I’ve been homeschooling for several years now and have yet to come up with an “ideal” system for planning, but I do know without fail that a simple piece of binder paper with some basic lists is a huge step in the right direction.
I love this idea! I think it’s a great way to regroup for the week ahead. I start homeschooling in the fall…this will be part of my plan.
.-= Annie Gebel´s last blog ..Give Away…Don’t Enter ;-) =-.
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