Homeschooling and Lists

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How do you organize your homeschool journey? Do you use planners? Are they print or digital? What about creating lists to help you organize the tasks in your homeschool days? From writing down the materials we will be using daily to writing down the tasks that need to be completed on specific days of the week, I find lists very helpful in organizing my homeschool day. 

In addition to using the planner from SchoolhouseTeachers.com to help organize our homeschool, I rely upon lists to help me. In fact, I have multiple lists to organize my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks for work, my blog, and our homeschool lessons. Another way I create lists is through the use of post-it notes. I love being able to throw away the post-it note when I have accomplished the task. 

Homeschool Daily Lists 

For our younger son, I create lists within a daily planner. Each day of the week lists out the material that I would like him to complete Monday through Friday. While most of his homeschool assignments are listed for specific days of the week, I do keep a running list of items he can complete on any day - even over the weekend. This list usually contains books to read both offline and online or his online assignments on EdAlive, I Know It, or Reading Eggs. (links) 

Our daughter has her daily homeschool assignments organized using the My Father's World curriculum. Everything is laid out very neatly in the Teacher's Manual. I merely have to get the materials together and follow the plan. I do occasionally add in other homeschool work, but they don't get listed out unless I want her to complete it independently. 

On those occasions when I am sick or need to be in a meeting while they complete some of their homeschooling tasks, I write out lists on either a whiteboard or on sticky notes for them. I write down two or three things they can complete on their own, and off they go. 

Our son's list usually consists of completing a CTCMath lesson on his brother's computer, reading a chapter in the latest book that is part of our history curriculum, practicing his cursive, and sometimes working on his science (Memoria Press Mammals Set). For our daughter, her list consists of working on a page in a social studies workbook, practicing handwriting, and maybe having a math worksheet.

These smaller lists ensure that our children complete some of their homeschool tasks independently. They are working their way to being self-sufficient little by little as they grow older. And I know that by completing the items on these homeschool lists, they are still learning even when I am busy or sick. 

Work Lists 

How do I organize my own lists? I purchased a small version of the same planner our son uses. In it, I write down the times of meetings, specific tasks that I want to accomplish each day, and general blogging notes for this blog. 

I also find that I work really well with keeping things organized using spreadsheets. For work, I have several spreadsheets where I track what needs to be shared on specific days. As I go through and share those links, graphics, and copies, I shade in the box on the spreadsheet. I love seeing the spreadsheet change color from white to purple. It leads to a sort of accomplishment and lets me (and anyone else who may fill in for me) know what is completed.

Household Lists 

For the entire family, we have a few lists on our large whiteboard in our kitchen. We list out a weekly schedule so my husband and I can write down the times of our meetings as we both work from home. I also write down a list of leftovers in the fridge, short lists of things we need to remember to do (like unusual cleaning tasks or shopping trips we need to make), and a list of things for our oldest son to accomplish, too.

What About Your Lists? 

How would you organize your homeschool? Do you use lists, a specific planner or calendar, or something else? One of the most wonderful things about homeschooling is that it allows us to find the method that works best for our organization and use it (or change it when it no longer works).