Bookworm and others on planning

Hi, Julie!

You are doing fine.  If there is one thing I would suggest, it is to calm down and not try to do everything at once.  Too many programs/booklists/ideas is just going to be hard to manage for anyone.  Consider prayerfully picking a main focus, be that SCM or whatever.  START there.  Then only add as you really feel a need–for example, if your kids finish the books too quickly, or if you have one or two books that are so good you just HAVE to add them in too, or if you need more suggestions for a given age level.  It doesn’t really  matter which place you pick to be your main focus–all these programs you’ve mentioned have good points.  Just pick a prime focus.  Schedule those books in.  I typically begin with a spine I know and love (perhaps a Guerber book).  I schedule that one closely–I have a target date for getting it done.  We do this one to three days a week.  THEN I plan a hands-on category.  I choose a few things that are hands-on, and simply list them as “do a hands-on activity”  I just check “worked on” when we do it, then when we are done, I list all the projects as a note and click that we finished the resource. 

THEN I have a free-reading or read-aloud category, which I typically schedule as a “Saturday” to keep it separate from the other books.  Again, I don’t really try to schedule these.  I just list them.  When they are completed, I just check them off.  I do preread a lot, but I can do a lot by memory too because I’ve already read the books in the past.    But then, I’ve been homeschooling for ten years and reading children’s books for almost forty.  🙂 If you are really worried about missing that one great book, I often find it useful to ask other moms “What was your FAVORITE book about Egypt?” or something like that.  If I don’t have time to preread, often a quick glance through will let me know about how long it will take us to get through the book or whatever other info I need to know to decide where to put it.

Don’t make this too complicated.  Yes, there are many wonderful looking plans and books out there, just like there are lots of cakes and candies around.  But we can’t eat them all.  🙂  Also, don’t feel that you need to be really obsessive in how you schedule things.  Say you read about Richard the Lionhearted one week in your spine.  Then it turns out that one of the books on your free-reading list is on Richard the Lionhearted, but your child doesn’t read it until later.  That’s OK.  We often tie ourselves in knots trying to make everything “happen” ideally chronologically, and I really don’t think it’s necessary. 

High school science is another topic.  I may not have time today (we are doing our annual ITBS testing this week, and I have kids in all three age groups that ALL need to be tested separately, lol) but there are discussion threads on this very thing in the past.  I can try to find them later if you can’t find them.

Michelle D.