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Is it me or is it because I'm new to using this?
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I’m finding it to be rather time-consuming to use this when I could just pull the books (mind you..I use SCM’s ebooks) and follow them each day. This is actually how I’ve been doing it all along. No real laid-out plans just pull the ebook out and do what it says..and then move to the next subject.
Feedback? What has your experience been? Does anyone else find the organizer to be more time-consuming? Perhaps I should be doing something differently.
Michelle
No, I don’t find it more time consuming. I did have to take the time to add our resources and the specifics, day/chapters, etc., but once it’s done it’s done til you need to add something. I print out 2 of my dc’s schedules (my 5yo doesn’t need it yet, but I have him in the Organizer) then my 2 older kiddos get to work. What I love about it the most is that when they are finished for the day I mark Worked On or Finished, add a note, if necessary, etc. then forget about it. It’s the not having to remember at the end of the day/week to write out what my kids worked on that I love and that saves me time. It also saves me brain space….I don’t have to remember what book they’re reading (although I may not forget anyway, I mean who really forgets, right?), and it helps to not forget anything that I have scheduled, the specifics, I mean. I used to have a master weekly schedule that I printed out and put in a page protector and would use a dry erase pen to mark off each task completed. It worked great, but that still meant that I had to write out “what” they did in any given subject, but it still wasn’t specific enough. Ugh. Now, that was time consuming and I always forgot something.
I’m sure others have had better systems than my old one and the Organizer is better organized than mine was, so that could be it, too:)
There was a recent thread that mentioned paper/planner type organizers, maybe that would help.
Michelle, I’m with you. I’m a die hard paper planner girl. I tried the organizer, and I like it, but it’s just not for me (however, we have dial-up, so it is pretty slow). It did, however, help me change the way I use my paper planner, and that has been a good thing. I don’t buy one, I just make my own checklists with divisions, the same way they would be divided on the organizer.
Gaeleen
I think it depends on the person. I agree with you, but I’m not extremely planned out myself. I found the organizer to be more work than I was already doing. Also, I hate the computer, so I think that made a difference. I can see why people really love it though, if that’s what you love.
If I just make a list of all assignments in a subject on one sheet (or several), then mark them off as we do them, no matter when than is, that’s easier for us. On my freezer, I have magnets that say each subject and we can move them around (on a 1 week calendar that I have taped up there) to suit what we need to do that week.
I simply cannot make certain assignments hard and fast for specific days. It just doesn’t work at my house. So if our magnet list says History, we just do the next thing on the list. It simplifies it for me.
So you’re not doing it wrong; you’re just being yourself!
If I just make a list of all assignments in a subject on one sheet (or several), then mark them off as we do them, no matter when than is, that’s easier for us.
This is exactly what we did this year, and life has been so much easier. I made assignment sheets for each child. No dates, just entries with a day’s assignment along with book and page numbers. If we miss a few days of school, they pickk up where they left off. I also then have a record of what they completed for the year. I do have to go behind our younger son to be sure he marks his completed work, but oldest son always puts that check on the paper.
I have not tired the on-line organizer though, so I can’t compare to that.
Since our paper system has worked so well and we use the same things in some areas (Apologia for science), I will cut and past for next year.
I am also admittedly a check it off the list kind of person, so I like having those blanks to check off!
Thanks for the responses. I’m still giving it a whirl to see how it goes. But the way I have been doing it is this way:
I have a master schedule (because I am a single, work-at-home business owner) in my binder which lays out what subjects for each day of the week. I have hundreds of books but I keep the books for “this term” out of the bookcase in a crate. Each day we sit down..and just go through the subjects as listed on the schedule by using the SCM books to get “today’s lesson” in that subject.
I have no legal requirements to keep track of what has been done or is being done. I do write a curriculum at the beginning of each year listing my resources, etc but I am not required to do so. That’s just for my personal record. Perhaps if I had to account to some entity or institution, I may be doing it differently. But since I don’t…
Michelle
Michelle, I admire you for homeschooling as a single, work at home mom. You certainly know how vital it is to organize your homeschool in the way that is best for you and your family.
I, too, am a single mom homeschooler, and I do work from home (very part time & not nearly lucrative enough), and I’m curious as to what you do and how you balance your business and homeschooling and family life. If you’d care to share anything about that in “Mom’s Chat,” I would love to hear about it.
Sue
Holisticschool & Others –
I urge you to keep records of your schooling not just for posterity, but you never know when you may be questioned about what you are doing. I serve on the board of Florida Parent-Educators Association and we urge all families to keep accurate records, even those using umbrella schools that don’t require them. I call it homeschooling with integrity. We need always be prepared to give an account of what we’re doing. There are accounts in FL and I’m sure other places, too, where parents have been arrested for something like educational neglect when it may not have happened had they been prepared. Of course states vary, but FL is quite homeschool friendly. Know your requirements and at the least, keep a log of activities, materials used, book list, and the like.
Blessings,
Christie
I tried hard for most of this school year to have a documented list prepared for each day. I’d plan out a week in my organizer (just my own printed sheets – not SCM organizer), and by the end of the week, only half the stuff would be checked off. It just wasn’t working. So then I got “lazy” and just set the books I wanted to do the next day out on my school desk. And we just go through them in whatever order we feel like doing them (we do start with all the family subjects – Bible, poetry, art, etc). We have gotten done in under 3 hours nearly every time since then. We finally found what worked for us. The only thing I “keep track of” now is the list of books we read for that school year. In the end, it all gets checked off that main list.
Christie, I just wanted to mention, in MN here (and WI where we used to live), the burden of proof that we are educating our children according to state law is on the state. If someone brings something up against us, they have to prove that we’re not doing something right – not us – whether we’ve been keeping our own “notes” or not (though it’s helpful, it’s not needed by any means – in MN we do have to test every year, but even that is not set in stone at what time of year we need to do it – in WI we never had to test). It is very difficult to prove that a homeschooler is not truly homeschooling. I’m not sure how often it is attempted, but it’s certainly not often. To everyone, check your own state’s laws to see where the burden of proof lies, even if they don’t require you to keep a portfolio/grades/whatever. If the burden of proof is on you, then definitely be keeping those records.
Gaeleen & LDIMOM,
I’d love to hear how you’re making your own paper checklists. I’ve happily used the CMO for a couple of years, but am trying to limit my computer time a good bit and help my kids manage their workload. They like the list from the CMO, so I’m trying to find a method I like. Do either of you have a snapshot you could share or could you elaborate more fully?
I’m thinking I’d have family, dd10 and dd7 checklists and each one would have a variety of subject checklists. For example…
Sample for Family History – Ideally, we’d get through 5 per week, but by going in order, if we only do 3 one week and 6 the next, we’d be covering it all, right?
Thanks,
Christie
Hi, Christie.
I like using the SCM online organizer so much. It makes really detailed records. Because I have limited internet access and only use the SCM organizer at the end of our week, I needed to make weekly subject goals for the children since the planner is very daily focused. So, this is what we have been doing:
I use a postcard mailing label Microsoft Works template (which divides a page horizontally into quarters) and print on colored cardstock to make weekly subject assignment cards after using my papercutter. I color-coded each subject, and each card holds only one subject with a week’s worth of assignments. Some of the cards are just preprinted blank outlines with checkboxes to fill in tasks as completed. And some of them are pre-planned checklists copied and pasted from my SCM organizer. I prefer to number assignments instead of using weekdays to allow flexibility throughout the week. We use the date as our checkmark for ease of use at the end of the week when I gather the cards to be recorded into the SCM organizer. Each child has a paperclip color assigned to them and keep their current week’s cards clipped together in a pencil pouch with a clear front (along with their pen, pencil, and eraser of course). At the end of the week, I gather the stacks of cards with paperclips, click off what was accomplished on the SCM organizer, drop them into a card file box behind a numbered tab with the paperclips still attached, enter any new resources into the planner, and make new cards for the following week.
After establishing subject templates, this really doesn’t take as much time as internet surfing during prime-time school-time…or this SCM discussion forum post. This works so well because our subjects remain separate from one another which prevents frustration with a paper planner that can get muddled due to different pacing of subjects. It could replace the SCM organizer if I didn’t have so many books and other resources to keep track of. I find that the SCM organizer minimizes my planning time and is well worth the price. I have only used it six months and already wish there was a lifetime membership plan.
BTW, I have a stack of cards to represent every “student” on my SCM organizer…family, Daddy time, older children grouped together, younger children grouped, and individual children…oh, and I have cards for my personal reading, Bible study, exercise etc.
Janell
Janell,
That is brilliant. I too spend too much time on the forum while doing school
, etc…and wanted to try a papr system. But I have tried and tried them…very irritating…love the Organizer. My kids like check off lists and I like the convenience of them too. I printed this and am going to try it. Thanks. =)Janell,
This sounds very interesting and I’m doing my best to visualize. Let me see if I get it. You use the CMO weekly, but also make weekly assignment cards per subject?
GREEN CARD – History for DD10
Date Assignment Method
9/12 13C p. 1-10 read & narrate
___ 13C p. 11-20 read & narrate
___ UC p. 1-7 read & narrate
Map Drill
___ 13C p. 20-29 read & narrate
___ BOC entry
Let’s say you plan for this card to take 1 week, but for whatever reason it takes 2-3 weeks. You keep it out?
Thanks,
Christie
Thanks, Sheraz, I don’t always feel brillant. But He is always bright and I’ll give Him the glory for the big things and these little things. I overcomplicate things so don’t be discouraged if this is not a good fit for you. Before using the SCM organizer, I made one subject checklists exactly as some of ladies who posted above. Since the organizer is like making one subject checklists anyway, I might as well use it as a tool to plan and save resource checklists for future use. (especially since I have already entered our 366 Bible Reading entries, several math texts, etc) I just needed to visit the SCM organizer once a week or so. I already had reams of card stock in ten different colors in a filing cabinet drawer, and one night I thought, what am I going to do with 2500 sheets of card stock? Ta Da…and now I own 2500 paper clips too.
Wow, Christie, that is it. I mostly copy and paste from the organizer like that, but we do have those activities that need to be documented “in the moment” like nature study for which I make the cards more fill in. Things can be changed easily around to suit the week.
If a card is incomplete by the end of the week due to unrealistic goals, uncontrollable events, family spontaneity, I put a line through the unfinished tasks and add those items to the new week’s card. If the cause was dawdling, the tasks are completed during free time. I prefer to have fresh cards every week for the children, but many cards are reused like our picture study card with six prints scheduled for the current artist.
Also, my children are very involved in this process and really tell me their weekly goals.
Again, this may seem complicated and double the duty, but it keeps me offline during the week and still able to utilize the SCM organizer. Since I keep our records in a binder, I may discard these cards or throw them in a manilla envelop when I need the paper clips and file box again. Oh, a 250 sheet pack of card stock costs about $15.00…6 cents a sheet…1.5 cents a card…about the price of index cards.
Janell
I just wanted to mention that the only reason I don’t just print the SCM organizer daily pages for the children to check off throughout the day is because I don’t have internet access during the week. My husband has a little internet connection that he uses for work that is plugged into my home computer when he is home during the weekend. I definitely think the easiest thing is to print daily SCM organizer sheets up the night before and to keep the computer off during the day…unless of course you use it for school. I think that the daily journal feature for each student is really great. Anyway, I thought I would clarify to you why I use both weekly cards and the SCM organizer. The original question was about the SCM organizer being too time consuming. I think paper planners can be just as time consuming. I agree with Sue’s post on page three of this thread about planners: http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/charlotte-mason-friendly-paper-organizer/page/3#post-49553.
Janell
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