More Planning

Awesome History Plan

Not too much blogging lately because my planning brain has come back from vacation . 

I was worried about this when it hadn't turned up in the last week of August, but now that it has been rampaging around my head for 4 straight days, I'm almost ready to send it back to the beach.

Almost.

This semester I am doing the Awesome History co-op, teaching high school Biology, running Adventurers, and teaching Religious Ed (3rd grade). And, you know, home schooling the Zoomlians.

I am not naturally an organized person, but, in self defense, I have gotten more organized every year.


Which means this year is the most organized I have ever been in my life! 

Master Plan to Conquer the World or at Least the Fall Semester

Actually, that's true every year, but you have to realize the first time I made a plan of what to do with my kid (Baby Mxyl) I couldn't do it because I couldn't find the stuff to do it with, or the table to do it on!  

 I started pretty low on the organization continuum.

And now I have lists! And charts! And calendars! And labelled bins!  And color coding! (Color coding, seriously? How did I do that?) And I can (usually) find everything I need when I need it!

If you are a naturally organized person, feel free to roll your eyes. 

If you are not, or are a younger version of me, I'd like to offer you and my younger self this advice:

3rd Grade Religious Ed Plan

1 Start small. I started by finding the table (it was in the dining room).

2. Have a plan, but don't "marry" the plan.  You don't have to follow the plan when something better comes up or your kids need something different, but having one will help.

3. Don't plan too far ahead.  My detailed plans are only for this semester, and they get less detailed as they go on.  My Religious Ed plan is only for the first few classes because I need to see if my plan will work

4. Follow joy.  If you or the kids are consistently unhappy, you need a new plan.

5. Lastly, realize it's a process.  My cabinets and closets are still messy.  I still forget stuff.  I don't floss every day.  But I'm still more organized than I was!