Planning your FIAR units?

[MichelleL in Tn]

Well I am wondering what others do here.

How far in advance you plan your units?

If you do your fall planning do you plan the whole year and the books you are going to row? or the next 6 months, 3 months etc. Do you decide to row all of one volume in a certain amount of time etc?

I have a friend that is really good about planning all this out...And there were times I did some of that. But what I do most of the time is wing it..."Oh this looks like a good book this week"-Ta da here we go..

I am orgainzied and structured -but I don't do a lot of planning...In fact at one time I was typing up what we would do all week-yeah that was long ago...

A few times I decided that I would row certain titles in a month at the beginning of the month and I would penciled them in...That helped b/c I would actually get them from the library in time to row the book.

I always row all 3 volumes together interchangeably. (I don't do one at a time.) Perhaps this is why I never actually finish a volume.

Hmmmm maybe I should focus on one volume.

[Candace C]

Michelle, am I that friend that has it all planned out?? LOL!! Yes, I do most of the time...but I must live that way or I'd drive myself crazy. (you remember that planning thread awhile back, some of us are just WIRED that way.)

I was thinking you, too, were wired that way...but maybe you're falling off the bandwagon, just kidding!

I sat down for little bits of time here and there and planned out my books through December. I just like having a game plan. I like to reserve books at the library for a month at a time and need to be somewhat planned to do that. I also like to have my printables, like from Enchanted Learning, etc, printed off ahead of time. This sort of frees me up when we are actually rowing the book to enjoy it and not fret over each little lesson in the days ahead. If that makes sense...

I don't know that it actually would help you to row one volume over the other. I really just LOVE the flexibility of doing them all interchangably...fitting in with seasons, special family things, holidays, etc. I am just SO excited about all the animals books we're going to row after our creation unit. I can't wait!! (bee tree, horses of sweetbriar, salamander room, a bear unit including Before titles and celebrated bear...)

I'm not sure that I helped you...but I think you have to find what works for YOU. There are LOTS of ladies who successfully row by just "winging" it or picking up a book and going with it...alas, that is not me. But that's ok too...maybe you could try planning 1 month in advance. Just plan 3 books for 1 month and see how it goes...

Good luck figuring out what works!

[DD in IL]

I just usually plan out 2 weeks in advance. The library allows the books to be checked out for 2 weeks so that helps me to plan.

[MichelleL in Tn]

Michelle, am I that friend that has it all planned out?? LOL!! Yes, I do most of the time...but I must live that way or I'd drive myself crazy. (you remember that planning thread awhile back, some of us are just WIRED that way.)

I was thinking you, too, were wired that way...but maybe you're falling off the bandwagon, just kidding!

IGood luck figuring out what works!

Yes you are the one...You know I did so well for a while...I was so organized and doing so well..I really don't know what happened. And now I just can't get into planning again...

Maybe when it gets closer to rowing time again..it'll get easier..I just cannot choose what to row,and when...Perhaps I will just put all the titles in a jar and let the dc pull them out for that month....and then row in that order...

I think it is all the home projects-decorating, etc. that I am having to decide about...You know I can't really have alot of decisions having to be made at one time or I go kind of kooky...

[Candace C]

Michelle, I understand!! And I definitely don't think you are worse off for not planning long term...everybody does it so differently, yet it always will still be a wonderful experience for your kiddos!! That's another reason FIAR is so great!

I could send you my list and let you row in the order we're going! Although we probably will be doing some you've already done!

[Trish A]

I pick up a volume, pick a book, read through the lessons, call the kids in and away we Row. No planning involved. Thankfully, the art isn't on that first day so I have time to get all that together.

[Paige P]

I don't do too much planning. Sometimes I know that I want to row a certain book based on a holiday or a season, but at other times, it's what I can get ahold of when. I really, really try to sit down over the weekend and plan everything, print things out, etc. so I'm ready for the week, but that doesn't always happen, either. Like you, I'd LOVE to be more organized. I'm really and truly hoping that this year I can be more "together," even if it's a month at a time. I like Candace's idea of going ahead and printing things out and having them ready to go. Hmmmmmmm... an idea just struck -- I usually scope things out and then go back to them -- maybe I should just go ahead and print it out and then file it away so it's "there" when I row that book.

Anyway, Michelle, I know where you're coming from, and I, too, am one of those "wing-it" people who would like to change

[MichelleL in Tn]

I could send you my list and let you row in the order we're going! Although we probably will be doing some you've already done!

Well maybe you can just post your schedule on your blog and then the rest of us can just row right along...

I guess I just go in spurts...Sometimes I plan for a 6 weeks, sometimes a month-sometimes not at all...Your right that is what is so great about FIAR, you can just wing it if you need to....

[MichelleL in Tn]

I like Candace's idea of going ahead and printing things out and having them ready to go. Hmmmmmmm... an idea just struck -- I usually scope things out and then go back to them -- maybe I should just go ahead and print it out and then file it away so it's "there" when I row that book.

I was doing good with this early this year..Having all my stuff printed early. I even joined enchanted learning...Then I just fell off the planning wagon and started winging it for a while...

Just the other day in the middle of our day I said "Hold it-I need to get a printable on that." Luckily I had the kids drawing something that related to occupy them while I did it....

[Kendra AU]

I have boxes designated to each volume. They look like rubbermaid styled boxes (complete with lids), but they are designed to hold hanging files. So each book from the matching volume has a hanging file. For instance one box has Volume 1 written in sharpie on the outside, then each book has it's own hanging file.

When I find something that I know will be fun to incorporate with the lessons from that book, I open the correct hanging file and drop it in. It saves the time of wondering where I found it and then actually locating where it is now. I just open the file and I'm ready to go.

As for how we choose which books, I look at our calendar and the upcoming events in the community as well as holidays from Australia and America and we try to plan books around that. For my kids it's all about hands on, and the more we do something, the more completely involved everything is with it, the more they walk away remembering.

Once deciding which books will go well with the upcoming events, seasons, holidays, etc.. I open my planner to the correct month and write the name of each book at the start of the week. Then I look through the manuals to see which books I need to reserve at the library (if any) and be sure we have what we need on hand for art lessons.

Because we've been notebooking from the beginning I also make sure we have whatever printables we'll need as my boys are still pretty young to do a lot of writing.

This doesn't mean everything goes "smoothly" all the time. We hit lots of bunny trails or the boys strike an interest in something that we were only going to "graze" and so we might go to the library or the computer and hunt down lots more info on it.

Kendra