The Plan

Yes! I now have a plan - wooohooo!

I have spent the greater part of this weekend coming up with a plan for this upcoming school year.  Last year being our first full year on our own taught me quite a bit.  I learned mostly, what doesn't work for me vs what works well.

What didn't work for me/us:

• Trying to plan out more than a week at a time, inevitably this was a waste of time and ink.  Something always comes up in our lives that would cause us to have to derail from the schedule.
• Using an online record keeping program that requires daily login and input of activities.  I am on the computer constantly for work and ministry and yet I found it extremely difficult to login and enter the daily activities.  I would end up spending a whole day inputting assignments for a month - not working!
• Allowing electives to slip - this was one of my biggest failures I think this year.  I was so unorganized that when it came down to it, the extra stuff got pushed by the wayside.  I do believe that these are just as important as the core subjects. 
• Not following a set daily schedule, even though everyday is different.  I didn't have set times for younger daughter and she was able to "disappear" when I got caught up in something else way to often.

So what are the changes:

• I am only going to plan out one week at a time.  I have a start date but no ending date or days off planned.  I am praying about trying the Sabbath Schedule which consists of 6 weeks on and the 7th week off. But we will see how the school year starts.
• I am switching from the online record keeping program to a simple spreadsheet that I downloaded from http://fivejs.com/homeschool-gradebook-free-download/  it is awesome and so much easier for me.  I am able to put in the information that is required vs putting in everyday activities whether they are graded or not.  It has everything I need - Thank you FiveJs! I will keep track of the daily activities in my planner that I use for work/ministry.
• I am going to be very strict about the electives this year.  To do this I will make it clear to the girls that school work is not done until EVERYTHING on the list is finished.
• Even though everyday is different around here our weeks tend to be the same ie: Home on Mondays, work on Tuesdays, half day of work on Wednesdays, errands/meetings/appointments on Thursdays, home on Fridays.  So I can set up a daily schedule for each day and what works for that day - and stick to it.

I am so excited to have a plan now.  I have also figured out the curriculum for each girl which I will post about later.

I love it when a plan comes together - (sorry, my A-Team secret is now out)