Just to give you an idea what my lesson planning looks like every week, click on the image below.
I use the Bento program w/ my iMac & absolutely love it. I used this template from the Template Exchange and just tweaked it according to my needs.
As you can see, I enter all of the assignments required for the week for each child. The oldest 3 students copy their assignments into their personal assignment pads and devise their own strategies for how they will finish the week's work. No more writing detailed daily plans for 6 children!
On the far right, you will see just a part of the box labeled "goals/what happened this week." At the end of each week, I write a short journal about the highs & lows of the week and what was accomplished. The hope is that I will be able to read through these at the end of each quarter when I'm ready to write up my quarterly reports. I don't know about you, but by the end of 10 weeks of school, I have often forgot what happened the first half of the quarter!
Syncing my desktop program w/ my iPhone is invaluable. Having my schedule in my phone allows me to always have assignments handy to help me figure out what each of the 3 younger students need to accomplish on any given day. When any my kids take a test, I just enter the score into my phone and, when it's convenient, I will sync it w/ my desktop so I can have all the grades in one place for future reference. This convenience is huge for a homeschool mom of more than 1 or 2 children!
I realize many are still Windows users, but in case you've come over to the brighter world of Mac, you might want to try the Bento program for your lesson plans. It's saved me a ton of money on pre-made planning books, it's tailored to my personal needs, and it's been extremely easy to use. I'm all about easy organization and this is it!
1 comment:
We r hoping to get a Mac in the future. Thanks I will look into this program.
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