HELLO season of PREP! I love prep season! There is something so exciting about getting ready for the upcoming year. It is filled with possibilities and gets me PUMPED!
Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing how I am preparing for the upcoming year. One thing I have learned over the last three years of homeschooling is that the more prepared I am – the more relaxed I am and just able to enjoy what is going on in our daily life of learning {rather than trying to gather and get things together}.
So taking a couple of weeks during the summer to organize and prepare = a happier school year for me and more free evenings with my hubby down the road. WIN. WIN.
Let me start off by saying though, that I {perhaps} prep more than the average homeschooling mom. This is definitely not a MUST. And a lot of what I do is not “outlined” or anything to do for prep by The Good and the Beautiful. It is what I do for our family and for all of those reasons I just gave. Hopefully some or all of it is helpful!
Step 1: Dance Party
Dance around the room because you get to use The Good and the Beautiful history. Honestly. I love their history. It is my favorite subject to teach and it’s just amazing.
I wrote all my thoughts about it here.
Step 2: Course Book Copying
Once you’ve received your course set {and after you have looked at its beautifulness}, start flipping through the course book.
I get the physical course book but this step will be easier if you use the PDF files. I go through each lesson and find pages that need to be copied {or printed} and cut out – these are found at the end of each lesson. I also will print out pictures so that they can be detached from the book and shared amongst ourselves for easier viewing.
You could just tear these pages out of the book – but I like to have a master copy of everything all in one piece. Just my personal preference.
Step 3: Course Book Cut/Laminate/Cut
Now that you have your pile of pages, it time to start the cutting. At first, this can seem a little tedious, but stay with me here. It is tedious. BUT just think of how wonderful it is going to be when you pull out history in the middle of November and everything for your lesson is all right there smiling at you ready to go.
There, my friends, is your motivation. So put on a movie – have a Harry Potter marathon {PS It will not take you that long to cut and laminate! But you get my drift} and just enjoy.
There is also a sharp divide about whether people think you should laminate and then cut OR do the whole cut, laminate, cut method. I go with the cut, laminate, cut. Do what you wish – but just DO IT! It will make your year and daily learning so much easier.
Step 4: Course Book Files
Now that you’ve got a nice little stack of beautifully laminated material, it’s time to organize them. I have a file folder container that we keep accessible in our schoolroom where I keep files that we need for the year. I make a file folder for each unit and simply divide the materials into their units.
That way when I need something for the lesson, I take out the file, pull it out, and WOOT it is there!
Course book is prepped.
Step 5: Student Explorers
When your purchase the course set, you receive access to PDF files that contain different student explorers for various grades:
- Grades 1 – 3
- Grades 4 – 6
- Grades 7 – 9
- Grades 10 – 12
The student explorers are wonderful and that is where your kiddos have an opportunity to dive deeper {depending on their age}.
You simply print out the “explorers” that you need. I laminate the front and back covers and then bind them together. I love binding them because then you don’t have a bunch of loose papers floating about. You could definitely use a binder if that works for you too. However, I will say, I have never regretted buying my binding machine. I use a proclick and LOVE it!
And you are…DONE!
And that’s it, folks! You are ready to go for the entire YEAR. There is no preparation for the Big Book of History Stories, the games, timeline stickers, or audio recordings.
That moment I talked about earlier, about just being able to pull out your materials and have then ready to go. Really is worth this time. If you are anything like me, once the kiddos go to bed, I appreciate my down time. It is nice to unplug and the last thing I want to do is look ahead at what we are doing tomorrow and prepare something. So look ahead today so you can relax every night of your upcoming school year.
Let me know what tips and tricks have worked for you – I am always up for more goodness!
You’re an awesome teacher, Elise. The kids are lucky to have you both as a mom and a teacher.
Thank you 🙂