POLL: How much time to you spend prepping for the next day?

[annettemarie]

I'm just wondering, how much time do you spend each day getting ready for the next day? This wouldn't include any "big prep" time you do (for example, once a month I pretty much spend the weekend getting ready for the next month), but how much time do you spend checking the day's work and getting ready for tomorrow? I know this will vary depending on method and how many kids you have, so please explain in a post. Thanks!

[annettemarie]

It takes me about an hour. I go through the finished work box, check the day's work (mostly I have them check things themselves), file anything that needs kept for portfolios, fill out what subjects we did that day to satisfy the state, load up Nicholas's workboxes and Katie Grace's workfiles, fill three surprise baskets for my toddler (our baby version of workboxes), and check all my lesson plans to see what I need to do for tomorrow.

Sometimes it actually takes more like an hour-and-a-half. It seems like a lot to me, but maybe it's because I have 4 kids?

[dotnetdiva]

I voted other, but then I read your post saying big prep time didn't count. Either way, I think I fit into the "Other".

On a day-to-day basis, I spend virtually no prep time other than pulling up my schedule and grabbing the books we need. But a few days a week there are subjects that require prep time, like history and science activities/projects.

Other than that, I spend HOURS pre-planning and mapping out the lessons 5 months ahead of time.

[AAK]

I voted "other" also. I almost checked "none" but that seemed as if I wasn't doing anything. On a daily basis though, I rarely prepare for the next day. Currently though, I plan a month at a time for my oldest dd. My second child is different. We do more together as we are focusing on improving her reading skills right now, but most of that is already "prepared" for me. If I decide to add something/do something special I either plan for it over the weekend or it is a spur of the moment thing. We do a lot of spur of the moment things depending on our mood for the day, but at the same time, it is often stuff that I have thought out ahead of time for "when we need it".

So, I plan/prepare, but definitely not daily.

amy

[LovemyBoo]

I voted 15 minutes only because you included time spent checking that day's work. I probably spend 15 minutes or less, total, checking work throughout the day.

Prep time is very little to none. Usually only when I'm teaching a hs group class, or my kids are doing some big art or science project the next day, I'll make sure I have everything I need and we're ready to go.

Otherwise I spend roughly 15-30 minutes on Sundays prepping for the next week, and 2-3x a year I'll spend several hours, cumulative, on prepping unit studies or for next year's schooling.

[tankgirl73]

Some days nothing (I just follow the overall plan and we wing it the next day), some days 10 minutes, some days half-hour plus if I'm organizing a specific type of checklist or cards or something for him to follow. So I said '15 minutes' as an average.

[kittie313]

I usually spend around a half hour daily on that stuff. I check off assignments and input assessment scores, log our hours, scan through the next day's lessons real fast, and print off a couple pages for the preschoolers to do for playschool. But on Sunday nights I read through all the lessons for the week in detail, and pull all my materials and plan prep time as needed (like growing grass for a science lab) I also pull worksheets for the kids one unit at a time in each subject, so that we can go their pace better with each subject without my having to stop and pull more activity pages from the books.

[phathui5]

Probably an average of 15 minutes.

4 children, 2 old enough for homeschooling.

[One_Girl]

Maybe fifteen minutes. I check dd's work right after she does it and put together things to do as she gets ready to move on to another level in a subject.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by tankgirl73

Some days nothing (I just follow the overall plan and we wing it the next day), some days 10 minutes, some days half-hour plus if I'm organizing a specific type of checklist or cards or something for him to follow. So I said '15 minutes' as an average.

yep, this is us as well.

but, if you had asked how much time do you spend researching curriculum, reading homeschool blogs & lurking in forums....well..... that's a different story, lol.

[akwifeandmomma]

Originally Posted by elizawill

yep, this is us as well.

but, if you had asked how much time do you spend researching curriculum, reading homeschool blogs & lurking in forums....well..... that's a different story, lol.

Haha! Ditto this!

I spend *maybe* 15 minutes prepping and reviewing every afternoon.

[ChinaDoll]

I voted other

So far (kindergarten and first grade) I'm able to check/correct work as we go.

It takes me 5 minutes to refill workboxes (because we use them only for academic subjects, saving all the fun stuff for unschooly afternoon time).

But it takes me 1.5-2 hours each weekend to make my lesson plan for the next week. We use Sonlight, so the basic plan is laid out for me for each week, but of course I tweak, and I have to schedule math/art and some of the LA components I've added in.

[NightOwlwithowlet]

I voted other because it varies from day to day. Sunday or Monday, depending on my work schedule, I review what he did last week. Then I try to decide what needs to be reviewed, what his current interests are, and decide what books and videos to take out of the library. I make up a schedule for the week with general objectives, figure out our work schedules and try and come up with reasonable and flexible plan. If we are going to be in the car all day Monday, I try to make that the day he does mental math and we listen to books on tape. It probably takes 45 minute to an hour.

The rest of the week I probably spend 5 to 10 minutes a day, unless I'm working day shift and I have prep the work for DH to do that takes 15 minutes. DH needs a new job (he had 50% pay cut), so I can go back mostly home schooling and not trying to work 30 hours a week and home school.

[moominmamma]

I have four kids too. I spend almost no time in prep and voted "15 minutes" which is probably a good bit more than is actually the case most of the time. Sometimes while they're working on something I'll be getting something else ready -- copying a page or hunting down the second protractor, or maybe writing out one of the personalized challenge problems two of my math-geeks are so fond of these days. But basically my kids work ahead in the books and programs they've chosen, and they come to me if they need guidance or suggestions. My 13yo likes a little more structure from me, but that just consists of me putting sticky-notes on pages and books and writing "do #12 - 30" or "read Ch. 2.7 and do problems" or "spend 20 minutes on this." It takes me a couple of minutes.

Miranda

[craft_media_hero]

I spend pretty much zero daily time, but I do plan ahead in chunks by making a matrix of what to aim for for each week/subject matter. I actually enjoy the planning, but I make it really easy on myself, like aim for 3-4 classic stories/wk, 3-4 math sheets a day + packet/manipulative time, read a little every day, copywork 3+/wk. But daily I just pick out copywork or look up stuff in the Miquon Lab annotations as we go along. She doesn't find it distracting for me to say, hmm, let's look in the teacher book or prep a quick handwriting sheet or look up words for our foreign langs, in fact I think it helps her feel more like she's a part of the whole process, my end included.

We have a "work box" but it's basically a hanging file box where I store the texts that we're currently working with, so we use it every day, and then I change out when I want to use a different resource. It takes me maybe two minutes a week! I can stay ahead of her by scanning through the science book for the next day while she's doing math, etc.

Originally, I didn't think that we would be as "school at homey" as we are now, but I've realized that having workbooks and texts to use for an extended period really helps me to give her what she needs/wants. I still customize our resources for her a lot as we go along, and I plan our curric (not using a boxed curric, tho there's nothing wrong with that). So I feel like she's definitely getting a customized education, but I just couldn't keep up with planning blocks/units and digging up everything I needed from a million resources and having it polished before she ever sees it.

[iamme]

Hello-
I voted about 30 minutes. I do most of my planning on the weekend, but our oldest zooms through her work, or our youngest takes off on a rabbit trail, and I find the need to make adjustments.

I must say, day to day it's usually 15 or so minutes.




emma

[iamme]

Originally Posted by elizawill

yep, this is us as well.

but, if you had asked how much time do you spend researching curriculum, reading homeschool blogs & lurking in forums....well..... that's a different story, lol.

Oh, geesh!! Me,too!!

[sbgrace]

I imagine part of this depends on the age of the kids, the number of kids, and the curriculum selected. My kids are young so I have to do everything with them right now so there is nothing to check afterward--it's all feedback as we go. I'd expect that to change in time. All my curriculum choices are pretty much open and go/scripted. So I just look at the lesson, collect materials, fill workboxes. I get ready for the next day as soon as we're done with the current usually.

I voted 15 minutes.

[Aeress]

I voted 1/2 hour but i bet it varies by day. I look over 8 yr olds math and gather books and materials daily.

sometimes on sunday night i will spend and hour or so looking up materials, resources.

my biggest time is keeping up portfolios and assessments, especially during may/june.

[mangopassion]

I voted about a half an hour. A lot of planning is done ahead of time... at this point, it's mostly on weekends. But daily I write in a journal about what each child did that day, how they did, if they liked the activity, etc. It's sort of spread throughout the day, with my thoughts written at the end of the day when we are taking some down time.