NewbieOrganizer: Scrambled & Pharoah'sofAnc.Egypt type bks.,Lit.orHist.

Have you followed the previous steps of planning on paper? Sonya’s five step process that cover:

The Big Picture

Year Overview

Term Schedule

Weekly Schedule

Daily

before putting into the Organizer. Without these steps being done, I couldn’t imagine using the Organizer efficiently and I’d be overwhelmed, too. I start putting things into the Org. after finshing the Weekly Schedule.

http://simplycharlottemason.com/2008/03/12/new-planning-series/

Scroll down adn you can click on the individual blog segments for each step.

Cyndi,

It does take a long time to put it on paper. I also have two children-12 and 11-and it takes me about 2 weeks to get the paperwork done adn then another few days to get it all entered into the Org.

IMO, you can’t be flecible with your days until you know how many days it takes to get things done. I HS year-round for flexibilty. My husband is disabled and I have some challenges, so I have to work around his doctor’s appts. and unexpected health problems that can happen at anytime. I am so thankful that I do all the work on paper so that I don’t HAVE to think about it during the year. I just plan like normal and then do the best I can, letting the flexibility of the Org. work with my life.

If I didn’t plan ahead, then I’d have to think and adjust way too much during stressful times, which would mean I’d get less done and not be as flexible. Does that make sense, what I’m trying to say? If I don’t schedule ahead, it’s too easy to let things slide. I can adapt as I go, but I ust have that foundational schedule to start (one that’s realistic, might I add, then there’s less adjusting).

I do a BIg Picture every year top write down goals and resources and subjects I want to cover for theri school lives. Also, it helps me to look ahead to see the “big icture” and stay “on track” that way.

I plan yearly for family and each child’s independent work. Then I plan the terms and then the weeks. After that, I just put my stuff in and the days I want them done. I have yet to figure out how to accomplish a successful daily schedule that I’m completely happy with. I just have a general idea of when I do our family subjects and when they need something, they either must wait or do another subject till I’m ready.

The paperwork that is available for planning allows me to go from big to small, very gracefully. It gets you to those small chuncks. If I had to do all of this a week at a time, that’d be overhwhelming and very chaotic. The days aren’t alike because you haven’t planned them to be. You can work around your part time job by planning ahead. Then you’ll find that your days can be as alike or different as you design them to be – school wise that is.

I’d like to add that I schedule different things on different days. Two days of science-Sun. and Mon- and four days of History-Mon thru Thurs. One day Folk Tales, Lit., two days, etc. Everything else, family and independent, gets placed within those days. How many days I do something is based upon the length of my term (13 weeks) and how many chapters there are in the book and whether I want it done in one term or stretched out over two or all three. Then, once I have how many days it’s going to take to finsh an item, I then just choose the days on which to do them.

For ex: Swiss Family Robinson has 44 ch.; I am stretching it out over the 3 terms, so 44 divided by 3. To round evenly- 15 chap. in the first two terms and 14  in the  last. That means in 13 weeks, I should schedule two days a week for Lit. If I finish early, fine; but this allows me some flexiblity. If I miss a day or so during those 13 weeks, then I’m still fine because I have some leeway.

I can give you some more examples on Sun. if you like. I could walk through a couple of your resources you gave using your term and weekly info. so you could see how it works.

My schooling may be organized but my home is a wreck! The part I can’t get a handle on scheduling? My homemaking duties.