More Plannerful Time

Planning for the upcoming school year continues.

I have an old lesson planner from somewhere. I don't actually use lesson planners; they don't work for me in the way that lesson planners are supposed to work. But, I need to use some kind of paper, so I've been using it to jot down notes to myself. The other day I decided to fill in the page for Seating Charts (click to enlarge):

As you can see, I plan to station students around the kitchen table for plenty of reading.  And, if I have to separate anyone for talking (wait -- that would be all of us ... we all discuss as we read) then I'll just send the offenders to the alternate seating chart in the living room. We'll all be separated together.

I love what I have lined up for Anne and Betsy's reading in the area of faith. On the list so far:

The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
By What Authority: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition, Mark Shea
Discovering Mary, David Mills
The Journey, Peter Kreeft
The One-Minute Philosopher, Montague Brown
Making Sense Out of Suffering, Kreeft
Made for More, Curtis Martin
Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know, Diane Moczar
Selected readings from Thomas Merton
Because God is Real, Kreeft
Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots, Scott Hahn
(thanks to Theresa for the idea of using these last two)

More planning posts to come as I progress ....

It's the Most Plannerful Time of the Year!

I love to plan.
And I'm currently planning for the school year to come.
And today I plan to rerun a post from '06 that sums up what goes into my planning.
I'll be back soon with planning updates.
~~~~~~~

Maureen Wittmann pointed me toward Maureen of Trinity Prep School's "Seven Habits" meme. This one's more than fun, though -- it's full of encouragement and ideas from all kinds of homeschoolers.

Trinity-Prep-Maureen used a literature theme for her list, so I decided to go with a fun theme, too -- haiku. If badly written haiku annoys you, just click away right now (or, as my kids love to say: "Don't look at me! I'm hideous!")

Here's my list:


1. Pray

Can't do it alone
Must turn to my God for help
He is always there

2. Look back

Hindsight sure does help
I can see what worked last year
and the failures too

3. Look ahead

Our destination:
Are we just filling a pail?
Or lighting fires?

(with thanks to William Butler Yeats who said, "Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of the fire.")

4. Talk to the kids

What delights my kids?
How can I include passions?
I must know their hearts

5. Find the right books

We so love our books
Books, like friends, enrich our lives
We'll read loads this year

6. School supplies

Supply shopping's fun
No matter where your school is
New stuff still delights

7. First Day
(this one will require two haikus)

We start out with Mass
Then we go out for breakfast
It's a tradition

With God and coffee
Our year starts out perfectly
Who could ask for more?