Why use a Home School Scheduler – let me count the ways
Note: My wife will occasionally guest post (hopefully frequently as she has a great perspective on homeschooling.) This is her first post.
Why do we use a schedule? For myself and all three kids the answer is different.
For me, I find that if I don’t write down on paper the things that I want to do, they just spin in my head (I’m sure no other moms have this problem). I don’t want to forget anything, so I keep thinking about it. If I write it down, I don’t have to spend energy thinking about it and I remember what it was that I wanted to do. Sometimes I have a great idea about something that I want to try but the kids, the laundry or dinner interrupt my thoughts. Then later I remember that I forgot to do my "great" idea.
Our oldest son is able to work independently on most of his homeschooling. He loves to read and takes everything in best when left to do it himself. If I give him a schedule, he knows what he needs to do and together we can plan how he spends his time. A schedule also prevents him from "forgetting" and running out of time for the subjects that are not his favorites (but that I think are important!).
Son number two likes to know exactly what is going to happen during the day. Even during summer, he asks what our schedule is. He wants to know what work he has to do and where we are going a week at a time. He desires a sense of "order". He definitely feels a sense of accomplishment when he is able to check things off as done. He is more focused when he has a schedule to guide him.
Our youngest (daughter) likes to know what she is going to do each day, but she gets easily overwhelmed if it looks like too much. She would prefer to know only what is happening today and not what is happening all week. Her personality is much more relaxed and she focuses on what she wants to do. A schedule helps her remember that she has to do math even if she doesn’t really like it.
We use a schedule for each child, but for different reasons. I like to be able to customize our schedule to each child based upon their personality.
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The “great idea” aspect really resonates with me. Even though it is considered a 4-letter word among homeschoolers, I do worry about “gaps”. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and think, “Oh no! We haven’t covered Geography AT ALL” and then want to somehow fold it into our curriculum. Thanks for a very interesting post and perspective.
Scheduling is key to success for me, and of course, my success is key to my children’s.
I created a “daily schedule” template that includes a block for each subject. Each weekend, I plan the week’s lessons, noting worksheets, page numbers, etc, in the appropriate blocks. Then I staple the sheets together for my weekly plan.
This works beautifully for moving through the planned material. It keeps me on track and allows my children a look ahead. Each day, I mark off what we have completed, circle anything that we could not get to, and make notes about what needs further attention. At week’s end, I have all my notes at hand for the following week’s planning. And because I’ve made a habit of this, I am now able to put together each week, including researching materials and producing worksheets in about one hour.
At week’s end, I place the schedule in a notebook with the week’s written work behind it. At anytime throughout the schoolyear, I can easily locate items for recordkeeping, review, etc. and, best of all, my children are able to see their own progress as the notebook grows thicker.