prep time weekly?

[jenn in nc]

Hi everyone,

Currently we are running four different HOD guides and getting ready to add a fifth. Sounds like a lot but it is actually going really well. My question is about prep time every week. We just had a baby six weeks ago and I'm finding I don't have the time to prep each week that I had before baby. Previously I was looking through the guides before the week began and trying to do anything ahead of time that I could. This included printing up maps, doing readings to prep for the discussions (for example, reading the selections in the Who Am I? book for MTMM), gathering any materials needed for the various projects, and so on. But now I just am not fitting it all in before our week starts.

I know the younger guides are meant to be "open up and teach". But I am not sure if the older guides are meant to teach this way? What do you guys do before each week? Anything? I'm feeling a little frazzled.

Thanks in advance,
Jenn

[mskogen]

I printed all the forms at the beginning of the year. The other option is having your older students making the copies.

Congratulations on the new baby!

[MomtoJGJE]

For maps and science experiment pages, etc I print all those out at the beginning of the guide. That way they are all there. I print out one books style of science experiment pages for all my kids using them, then when I run out of those I'll copy another guide's style (the ones in the back... they have slightly different pictures or something... I don't know, my kids do ) I generally do about 50 or so copies of those pages at a time... normally I only have to copy once in the middle of the year. I could easily just do a whole years worth, but my kids like having them look different in the middle of the year.

For things needed for experiments or examples or projects... With my younger ones I either make a note of what we don't have when I see it and we will do it later after a store trip, if I have a minute while they are working something I'll page through the next few pages and add anything to the list, or I substitute or do my own thing with what we have. For my older ones (Preparing and up) they are responsible for making a list of things they will need later in the week or maybe even in the next couple of weeks. If they don't put a list on the counter for me to use then I assume we have whatever it is they need... it normally only takes one time of them not being able to do something they see as fun and they get lists to me pronto. I say "they" I've only actually had one doing this so far. My second will start in a few weeks.

Basically once they are in Preparing, I make two school shopping type trips per year where I stock up on paper, construction paper, notebook paper, pencils, colored pencils, etc. and make copies once or twice a year. It is up to them to tell me when they are out and need more stuff OR when they are doing a project that requires specific things... especially food stuff.

[TrueGRIT]

My oldest is only in Preparing, but here is my experience.

I make copies and look ahead about once every 3 months. Then at the end of each week or two I look ahead only that far.
There are a LOT of things most people have on hand that we do not - such as toothpicks, Cheerios, cotton balls, etc.

I don't have to spend a lot of time at this point. I rarely read ahead. If I feel I need to I do it on my night "off".
I don't know how that will work once our new baby gets here in about 6 weeks.

Hope this gives you another idea to ponder.
Congrats On your baby!!

[Molly]

My daughter in RtR prints her own maps as she goes. I will be encouraging her as she moves into RevtoRev to have a flick through the coming week at the end of the week to make sure we have everything available for her. I will do the same with my other blossoms.

Do you think one of your older ones could watch over everyone for half an hour or so each week just so you get the chance to look through the other guides?

I hope you find a solution that works well for you all.

[jenn in nc]

Thanks for all the replies! Every time I run into a problem or have a question, you guys are always so helpful and I really appreciate it.

I like the idea of having the older kids check their upcoming units for things that need to be printed out, and for supplies they need. I tried that for a while at the beginning of the year and it didn't go well; they all kept missing things. But we were new to HOD at that time -- I think it would be much easier for them now that they are used to the way things are laid out every week. So I'll give that idea another try.

I think even my daughter in Bigger could probably do that, she struggled at the beginning of the year but she is sailing through now. That only leaves Little Hearts for me to do and I should be able to manage that. Molly, your idea to enlist the help of one of the olders for this is perfect.

Thanks again ladies, I'll give that a try this coming week.

[MelInKansas]

Congrats on the baby!

I do not even prep for that day. Sometimes that causes frustration, like you would think each week I would know to print out the poem for my DD to do copywork (I enlarge it a little bit to make it easier for her to copy from). For the projects or experiments, if I don't have something I usually can improvise something else. I am creative like that.

I have made a bunch of copies of the science lab sheet for my DD in Preparing and cut up the Timeline cards for her so she knows where to get them. For LHTH there are copies at least 2-3 days a week too, I already have them scanned in so it is a quick print from my computer. Today I printed out one for my DD for tomorrow, and then my oldest spilled a glass of water on it. Whoops. I guess I will be printing that one again.

[jenn in nc]

Congrats on the baby!

Thank you! I'm completely smitten with him.

I have actually thought about planning to NOT do any significant prep at all each week, just doing each thing as it comes up (print this page, listen to that narration, and so on)... in reality that is what I'm doing now, because I have little to no time to prep ahead of time right now. But I'm not doing well with the chaos. Maybe it's my personality? I don't know. It seems like everything happens at once this way. At any given moment I usually have a kid or two waiting for a printout, a kid or two with questions that absolutely MUST be answered before they can move on at all, a kid or two with a narration/discussion box that they need me for, and that's not to mention the younger kids who need reading lessons, math lessons, Bible lessons...

So yesterday I had all the kids who were old enough look ahead at their unit for this week and plan appropriately. We'll see how it goes as the week goes on.

[my3sons]

Most of my prep time for guides takes place at the very beginning of the year. LynnH has a super post with pictures for getting ready for MTMM at this thread...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14024&p=99895#p99895

I shared LynnH's post because at the start of each guide, I do the kinds of things Lynn noted in her post. I read its "Introduction" and jot down any special things needed in the margin (i.e. paint supplies in CTC). I try to print things like Map Trek maps, Science Lab forms, bookmarks, etc. at the very start of the guide for the year if time allows. I put the notebooking pages in 3-ring binders. I stock our art cabinet with the average things needed. I then make a schedule that acts more of a reminder of the flow of MY teaching time than anything. Each of our older dc start with their "I" independent boxes, while I begin my day with the youngest who needs me for almost everything. In CTC and RTR, I gave/give my dc an order to do their boxes in that they are to follow. I printed their own copy of this schedule. Once Wyatt began RevtoRev on up, he could do his "I" boxes in any order he chose. Starting in CTC on up, my dc can do any "I" boxes the night before in their rooms (if they are a night person as my Riley is ), or in the early morning previous to our family talk time at 7:30 AM (if they are a morning person as my Wyatt is ). If they choose to do "I" boxes at night in their rooms for wind down time, they must do the NEXT day's work - in other words, no work from the current day can be saved to be done at night, as if it doesn't get done because something comes up, we are off the next day. Likewise, work in early morning needs to be for that day's work, not for the next day's. My time with my youngest child is pretty scheduled and routine, and I am 100% in charge of the order of it.

My time with my middle and oldest dc generally follows this order...
*check what they have completed and edit/correct as needed (I can easily see what they've done as they are to initial the corner of each box they finish)
*hear any oral narration(s) first, teach dictation, teach grammar/writing, teach math, teach writing/DITHOR, and teach any other "T" noted boxes (note: my oldest sets aside all independent parts to be done later - for example, the 1 section I assign him to write in grammar, the completion of his writing assignment, the independent part of his math - though I am available if he needs help; my middle ds doing RTR needs me to stay by his side for all of his math, 90% of his grammar, and half of his writing/ DITHOR)
*look at the boxes that are left to do, and go through any "S" boxes especially to make sure they understand what to do
*let them finish their work independently, and check in at the end to correct work and answer questions

I don't do any prep for the day, other than the beginning of the year things I mentioned and making a good schedule for me. I just talk about the things needed for "S" assignments during my teaching block time of the day. If we need something special for DITHOR, I get it for the next time. If copies need to be made, I do it right then and show the child how to do it, so next time, he can do it. Starting with RevtoRev, my oldest ds just added any things we may not have at home to our grocery list hanging on the fridge, but this was an unusual occurrence, as 99% of the time, we have the things on hand or can easily substitute something. In a nutshell, here's my teaching time right now...
9 to 10 AM: With Emmett, teaching right side of Beyond Little Hearts
10 to 11 AM: With Riley, half-speed RTR, do noted rotation
11 to 12 PM: With Wyatt, World Geography
12 to 12:30 PM: Float between Riley and Wyatt and help as needed
2:30 to 3:30 PM: With Emmett, teaching left side of Beyond Little Hearts

When it is time for my teaching time, the child I am meeting with must stop whatever they are doing (unless doing a written narration, in which case I give them the first 5-10 minutes of our time as I am looking over independently completed work to finish). We follow the *noted* order above for our time together. This has worked great! Each child knows they are not to interrupt the other child's time, and they also know that before long they will have me all to themselves at the planned time. The above times can vary by about 15 minutes or so, but they are pretty 'on' for the most part. The younger 2 dc have a 30 to 45 minute playtime together. My youngest also has a 30-45 minute independent playtime, and a 30-45 minute video time on his own. I adjust the times based on my teaching needs for the day. This is just one way to do it, but I thought I'd share as we have had a super year doing the high school WG guide, half-speed RTR, and Beyond this way- and with no prep but at the start of the guides! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. ETA - Just remembered - when Riley started RTR half-speed, I didn't get to the prep things like copying all of his Map Trek, Science Lab sheets, etc. until about 6 weeks into the guide (which was really 12 weeks, as we were going half-speed ). I just did each thing as it came up in my teaching block time. So, if you are far into a guide and can do the beginning of the year big prep then instead, it still helps to do it then. Or, you can just take a little more time to do it, or have your child do it if able, as each thing arises in the guide during your teaching block time, but this will take more time in the long run.

[jenn in nc]

This is just one way to do it, but I thought I'd share as we have had a super year doing the high school WG guide, half-speed RTR, and Beyond this way- and with no prep but at the start of the guides! HTH!

Hi Julie,

Thank you for taking the time to explain how you manage things with several levels of HOD. It has been so helpful to me to see how you prep things... and also how you juggle the various subjects and kids each day. Your description of your daily teaching flow was REALLY helpful to me. When I wrote my initial post I had a general feeling that things were just WAY too chaotic and I needed help to figure out what I was doing wrong. You pinpointed several things that could be managed differently for a more successful and pleasant day.

We're on spring break this week and I'm planning to do all the copies for all the levels for the rest of the year while we're off. That's five different levels so it will take quite a chunk of time, but I expect it will pay dividends later. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to do this at the beginning of the year? It seems everyone does this but me. Well, I was pregnant at the time... Next year I'll know to do that bit before we start.

Finding the various web links tends to slow us down in the middle of the school day so my hubby has agreed to look those up and bookmark them for us beforehand.

Most of all, I'm excited because I'm working on a teaching schedule for myself a lot like the one you described - I really think that one thing will help so much. Also, I'm hoping to implement a couple helpful guidelines for the kids, like not interrupting another child's teaching time.

Thank you so much, for helping me to see how this can work. I'll try to check back in a few weeks from now and let you all know how it is going.

[MomtoJGJE]

You could consolidate things a tiny fraction and only make copies of one of the science experiment pages. Just make enough copies for everyone of one of the pages. I generally will do around 50 at a time and then when those are done I'll make 50 of a different one. I'm really not sure what would make it easier other than that Everything else I think is guide specific.

[jenn in nc]

You could consolidate things a tiny fraction and only make copies of one of the science experiment pages.

Ooh good idea! Now if I could just get my printer to cooperate... why do things always break at the worst possible time? Oh well.

[my3sons]

Glad to be of any help and praying that some of these tips help you as they have helped me!!! It is busy being a homeschool mama - no matter what - but I think you are doing a good job with all you have going. Remember, we can be our own toughest critics as homeschool moms. Give yourself some grace... daily! I try to remind myself of this too. God bless!

In Christ,
Julie