Thursday, April 30, 2015

Using Checklists for School Assignments


In the past, I used an itemized checklist (a separate list for each day) for our eldest's schoolwork. However, with his increasing workload, my attempts to continue with that model this year produced a huge and lengthy document that wasn't too practical.

Thus, this year I am going to try the chart method. The concept is the same, but the tightened format allows me to use only one sheet per week. 

I know that I will spend the first few weeks (months?) making tiny changes to this sheet as we find out how best to make it work. But here's how it looks as we prepare to start our school year:




Here are a few quick notes:

* For English and math, I will write the lesson number in the day's box so that the 8yo will know specifically which lesson to do each day. Other items will just be checked off as completed.

* I've decided to try Erika's Character First curriculum plan. We'll do it weekly on Wednesdays. I'll let you know how it goes!

* For Bible and handwriting, I've decided to use timed assignments ("work for 10 minutes") rather than discrete assignments ("read one chapter" or "do one page") in an attempt to work toward quality rather than work done sloppily to get through faster. (Not that I know any children who would do that.)

* Some things are still undecided, like history. Details to come.

* The "Working for God" section is an idea that I got from a sweet Catholic mama who was a speaker at a homeschool seminar I attended several years ago. It's just a simple way to get children thinking outside of themselves and practicing positive character. Again, I'll let you know how that goes.

* The 8yo already reads a minimum of 30-60 minutes per day automatically, so I'm not sure if I should include that on his checklist or not. Another thing to decide.

* I also just learned that our English curriculum (Christian Light) includes a modest amount of penmanship. I'm not sure if we need additional penmanship curriculum or not - another "to be decided" item.

I know that this year is going to have a steep learning curve, and it will be a challenge. All the same, I'm looking forward to it!

Feel free to leave questions!



2 comments:

  1. That's a really nice checklist. I think that "Working for God" section is absolutely inspired. What a wonderful idea!!!

    (And I vote you dump the extra penmanship lessons if you've already got that covered in another plan. :) )

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anne! You're too kind!

      And that's so funny, because we did decide to dump the penmanship lessons - but I had written this post last week and didn't want to go to the extra work of updating the picture before posting. But it's been removed from our latest version - hurray, one less thing to worry about!! :)

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