If you’ve read my article “Schedule or Plan: What’s the Difference?” then you know the difference between and overarching schedule and a daily plan, as well as how critical it is to have benchmarks. In “Not a Lesson a Day” we explored how important it a solid, daily plan is to keeping up with progress in a curriculum that doesn’t match the lesson-a-day rule. I also told you in those two articles that there was a the third reason that daily and weekly planning are critical for homeschool success.
That third reason is accountability, or a confirmation that the work has been done!
Accountability, on the surface, might seem a lot like benchmarks. But, benchmarks are laid out ahead of time while accountability is a record of what has been done. This is important for a variety of reasons. First, it’s easy to set aside this book or that “just for a day,” only to lose track of the fact that multiple days have gone by. With a daily plan, you see exactly what you have and have not accomplished each day.
Second, there’s the weekly progress of your student to consider. Many times a lack of intentionality about what work gets done each day also leads to a lack of awareness of how well a student is performing. When you’ve recorded daily assignments, you can also record evaluations of those assignments. This may be in the form of a grade, simply highlighting the assignment to show that it was completed and done well, or making notes in the space around the assignment to reflect progress. Whatever the case, you have definite evidence of progress.
Finally, accountability offers encouragement to you. Perhaps you missed a benchmark or got off track in a reader. By looking back over what you’ve accomplished, you can see where you needed to make changes in the plan for this need or that, where you needed to spend a little more time than expected on a concept, and where you enjoyed a special field trip day as a family. All of these things give you the encouragement you need to adjust your planning and reach for your next benchmark.
The Well Planned Day Family Homeschool Planner is designed to allow you to establish benchmarks for each month, quarter, or semester; prepare each week by laying out exactly which assignments need to be completed every day to reach those benchmarks; and hold yourself accountable by clearly seeing what was and was not accomplished each day. Each of these activities take you beyond the foundation of scheduling and into the details of homeschool success.
So grab your homeschool planner today and prepare for a successful homeschool year!
