Posted by Karen in CO on 22:09 Mar 2
In Reply to: Do any of you make a weekly checklist of what you want your child to accomplish rather than daily lesson plans? (m) posted by EchoMom
My oldest has been doing weekly checklists since 6th grade although he could have probably handled it sooner if I had trained him. He's in 11th now.
My middle is in K. So the list is all for me. I have gotten in the habit of weekly lists with my oldest and it works for me. I make her list and put her stuff in a basket and then just keep track throughout the week. Its more organized than "next thing" and more flexible than daily schedules.
My ds likes it because he has some control over what he is doing. He likes to do his reading in between his cc classes so he takes his smaller books with him. If he's really into his "free" read for the week, he stays up late doing that. He also prefers to putoff his math and do 5 assignments in one day - not sure if I like that part. He also like to bother me by skipping assigned work completely on Mondays. He gets to tell me to relax and trust that he will do the work. I think its cute because he will usually spend the school hours playing with his sisters.
If you go to weekly schedules, you need to discuss expectations with your kids. What is the minimum amount of time that they can work "on task" each day? What can they do if they finish all of the work early? What if they want to skip school for a day and catch up later? Are there specific times of day that they must be doing something? My ds likes to work at the limits of my tolerance - he has a deadline for when all work must be accomplished.
I would never let my younger have that much freedom with her schedule.