I have a guest post today about planning for the school year over at the Waldorf Essentials blog. Please pop over and check it out!
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2015
Guest post at Waldorf Essentials
I have a guest post today about planning for the school year over at the Waldorf Essentials blog. Please pop over and check it out!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Review Rings
We are starting to find a comfortable rhythm for this school year now, so for the next couple of posts I will be sharing some of our strategies and creative lessons that we have planned for the year. I have always incorporated review into our plans, but I can't say that the kids rejoice over worksheets. I wanted to include systematic review this year, since we deal with attention issues around here, but I didn't want it to be cumbersome for me or the kids. The review rings were born.
They are exactly as they sound - review cards on a binder ring. I started out making them from cut up old worksheets and textbook pages, with some flash cards thrown in for good measure. I then added some hand written cards that touched on topics from social studies, science, and the literature we have read. Of course I pulled out my trusty laminator so I could reuse the cards during the year and for the little one in the future.
There are only a few problems per card (sometimes only a single question), so the kids don't find them overwhelming. The wipe off factor seems to help, too. For some reason, using a wipe off pen seems less burdensome to my two students than a pencil. They are part of their daily independent work time. My goal is to create a few more each Sunday, covering what we learned the previous week.
I covered a baby shoebox with scrapbook paper to make a home for the cards. I added dividers by subject, and I simply file the ones they have completed in the back of each section. I don't keep track of which cards they have completed because it is review, after all. If they get the same math card again, that's fine with me. Practice never hurts.
Alex thought those cards were pretty cool, too, so he got his own set. I found some adorable color and number flash cards at Mr. Printables. If you have never been there, you must check out his site. It is fantastic. The Dollar Spot at Target also had some great photo and Dr. Seuss flashcards, so now the baby has more cards than the kids! He very much enjoys dumping all of the out of his box and spreading them around the floor. I wish he also enjoyed picking them back up!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Vacation Planner
Back to the land of the connected! My six year old modem has been on its last leg for at least a year, and while I was hoping it would hold out until Christmas, it decided to take the big digital nap on Sunday, thus delaying this promised post. My apologies.
The vacation planner. While I have never been a spontaneous traveler (one very cold night sleeping in the car because all hotel rooms were booked cured me of that), by reason of necessity, I have become a skilled trip planner. You see, traveling with children who have sensory processing problems, Celiac disease, food allergies, and asthma (not to mention my own food restrictions) is no easy feat. I began planning our recent trip to Disneyland four months ago. I started by creating a travel planner. Last year I used a composition book, but it was larger than my needs required. This year, I made my own from Cosmo Cricket scrapbook paper and my Bind It All machine (you can also have it comb bound at copy shops). I laminated the cover with my Xyron, so I could toss it in a purse or bag and not worry about it.
I also left the cover unadorned, saved for a single sticker, knowing the abuse it would face. As you can see from the bent coils, it endured a few blows.
The first section is for pre-trip planning and packing. It included a calendar, pre-travel to-do's such as mail holds, plans for pets and chores.
Next were packing lists for each family member. The lists are from List Planit, an online organizing site which offers a bazillion lists for all manner of topics, from work to home. I bought a download membership last year and it was worth every penny.
I also left lined paper in the back for food lists (we bring an extra suitcase just for food, so we always have something safe to eat), items to pack in the car, and to-do's for the days before we leave.
The next section is labeled car, and it has maps and written directions. I have a GPS on my phone, but I like to carry a back-up just in case reception is bad.
For the itinerary section, I printed the events listings from the Disney site as well as including a detailed list for each day. I make at least one meal reservation per day, and those are made far in advance and recorded here. I also like to look ahead to parade times and special events and tentatively schedule them as well, knowing that we may ditch those plans when we are actually in the park.
The last section holds hotel reservations and tickets. I included two pockets in this planner, made by simply folding tabbed scrapbooking paper and gluing it, to hold tickets and print-outs made after the book was bound.
As I mentioned before, this book gets tossed in my purse, not the luggage. All the information needed for any aspect of the trip is in one place. I also try to jot down notes in it while we are traveling or soon after we get home, about what places were safe to eat at, who had the best service, if sweaters we needed at night, what hidden gems were found, and any other useful bits for future trips. I used the notes from last year's planner to make this one, in fact.
So there you have it - travel for the anal retentive. Of course not everything goes as planned (like a foot injury that put my six year old in a stroller all week - thank goodness he's small!), but it definitely runs more smoothly!
The vacation planner. While I have never been a spontaneous traveler (one very cold night sleeping in the car because all hotel rooms were booked cured me of that), by reason of necessity, I have become a skilled trip planner. You see, traveling with children who have sensory processing problems, Celiac disease, food allergies, and asthma (not to mention my own food restrictions) is no easy feat. I began planning our recent trip to Disneyland four months ago. I started by creating a travel planner. Last year I used a composition book, but it was larger than my needs required. This year, I made my own from Cosmo Cricket scrapbook paper and my Bind It All machine (you can also have it comb bound at copy shops). I laminated the cover with my Xyron, so I could toss it in a purse or bag and not worry about it.
So there you have it - travel for the anal retentive. Of course not everything goes as planned (like a foot injury that put my six year old in a stroller all week - thank goodness he's small!), but it definitely runs more smoothly!
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