- Join Stacy at her blog’s meme,”Mondays Homeschool Spotlight” every Monday.
Something I learned VERY quick that a key component of homeschooling,both for the organized, the unorganzied, the schooling or the un-schooler, is that it really does help to have a calendar.
This can be either through Gmail, Outlook, a wall calendar, your cellphone or something you print to but in your planner, but either way, having a calendar really does help you keep track of holidays, gatherings and special events.
Take for instance February; It’s Dental Health Month that flew under the radar for me and had I placed it on a calendar, I think I would have remember it better and then there are the birthdays, the after school events, and the list goes on.
Having a calendar doesn’t mean you become a slave to it or that if it’s not done on 9:00 on a Monday, the rest of your week is gone, but it just provides a helpful guideline of what to expect and help better plan for it.
Oh wait…that reminds, the Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up too! Yikes!
For a beginning homeschooling, this can be a invaluable resource; Don’t even worry about keeping a daily lesson plan; Just use a basic calendar and write down what you are doing everyday there or plan what you want to teach.
A calendar is VERY low key and just helps encourage and motivate and you’ll find that not only can you visually see what is working or not, but it helps you get over that inital learning curve and serves as a personal diary.
There are plenty of resources either at your fingertips or online that you can use and utilizing a planner can also serve as a diary of what you taught or learn as well and helps if you live in a state that requires records, so you can backtrack what you need or missed, or just for general “FYI”, even if you live in a state that doesn’t require records, you can remember where you left off reading, what you need to print for the following week or hey, remember those books you ordered?
You didn’t…yikes…in that case, check out the following resources for some ideas of printable calendars that are out there.
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Lauren
Julie @ Best Homeschool Buys
Tammy
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You are so right. Calendars are a must. I love my calendars. They really help to keep things sane. Our wall calendar actually has a square for each person on each day (up to 5) so we can see who is going where, when. Have you ever seen DonnaYoung.org? I use that for my homeschool calendar printouts. It’s pretty nice.
JM´s last blog post..Funny JM(Quote)
That’s a good site too! Completely forgot about her!
Between printing out calendars and using outlook and even a wall calendar, a calendar, I feel, is a VERY vital tool for every homeschooler and I think helps even a new homeschooler, get a sense of accomplishment.
Even if one is prone to being disorganized…buy or print a pretty calendar and while doing the lessons, write it down as one goes with the grade and then, before they know it, they have a teacher’s lesson plan book (isn’t that really all it is, a calendar book).
I think this helps lessen the struggle and helps one go with the flow much easier and its so so important to remember not to become a “slave” to the calendar and think if it’s not done at a time or day, it’ll never be done.
The beauty of homeschool is that we’re not on a time schedule with an institution or other classes and it’s about the child’s pace. Twinkle Mom(Quote)
I second your suggestion on keeping a calendar. I have one planner in my hs drawer. I have a calendar in the laundry room for any appointments so in case I forget to check the hs planner. I also have a calendar that is our menu plan for the month. They really do keep life more in order and make things less stressful! Stacy(Quote)