Elementary Work Plan - Age 8 - over three summer weeks

Want to download this one?
See this link: Description of this Montessori work plan

I found these work plans in my son's papers.

June 18 work plan, finished the following week.

Then July 4 week.

He was 8 years old that summer.


These elementary Montessori work plans were developed based on the conversations we had together about next steps in each area, personal goals and plans, items already on our schedule (outings, etc.). The work plan conversation takes into consideration local education requirements (my parental and our family values, checking the local school requirements from time to time to see what kind of terminology is used and topics are covered), his personal interests and our family culture.

Joshua assisted me with our family business from the very beginning, so there are references to office management in there.

He was also helping to make some videos as well as needed/wanted review on some concepts, so you'll see some typically earlier items on this list. Some things we just didn't start until later, because he is a typical child in the regard of there never being just one right path!

We worked together as a team his entire life. That doesn't mean we did everything together, joined at the hip; it means we coordinated together and supported each other's personal time/interests. In that spirit, even at him being 8 years old, I still did some of the work plan writing for him.

Some more details

The first work plan pictured here was two weeks worth of work. Inititally it had one week on it; most of which he finished, but enough was undone that we just carried it over to the following week and added to it.

Astronomy: The boxes indicate he had activities to do on separate days (they could not be grouped together). He was working through the book Signs and Seasons and there were daily observations and record-keeping. This chart was work over 2 weeks. He had finished the first week (June 18) in chapter 6, so we added chapter 7 activities for the last week of June. Hence the additional boxes.

Homemaking: "Office assistant" refers to a set of particular skills/experiences he wanted to learn at that time - I don't even remember what they were those particular weeks but it could have been organizing paperwork, typing some things on the Montessori Trails blog (he created the infant-toddler page with the list of links at one point, for example). "Organize" was probably referring specifically to our home. We had some minor life adjustments at the time and needed to get our physical space more up to date with our needs.

Latin: He used Lingua Angelica at the time and he created the flashcards. We still have them. I just found one the week before last that he had been using as a bookmark recently. Crown was the English word. Crown in Latin? Corona. His godfather was going through the items on Joshua's side table when he found this card and was completely floored. The timing.

TKD: Taekwondo - he had 1-4 classes a week (open class, he could attend any number of them) and he practiced at home. He liked to have that on his work plan so he had a better idea as he looked at it each day how much time he could allocate for each thing.

Chores: standard chores - morning, mid-day and evening times.

Attitude: there was something he wanted to work on at the time to improve himself.

First LA simple: Logical Analysis, simple sentences - from the Elementary Montessori Language album.

Adj = Adjectives: he was working through the grammar boxes again as he wanted some review on them.

Exercise 4 Verb: Language album again. I don't recall the timing, if this was a presentation or a work. But he didn't get to it, even after two weeks. It looks like we got to it the following week.

Runes: His chosen language study at the time. He chose what he studies, how long, goals, when the goals were met, if the goals needed to be changed, if it was just for fun exploration, if there was an intended outcome. But he had time for these personal studies every day.

Speech: he was in speech therapy and chose to write it on his work plan to ensure he remembered it when planning for each day.

Ec-Geo stories: Economic Geography stories. He was helping me research to write these for publication. We never did finish! But we had fun looking stuff up!

4 River Civilizations: Egyptian, then Sumerian - these were our chosen presentations for those two weeks.

History Question Charts: If I recall correctly this was his first presentation on those so he used them to answer questions about the above two civilizations. Once he knew they were available he used them several times on other cultures.

Millions: I have no idea what this was!

Bead Frame: The golden bead frame (flat bead frame). To finetune some skills that we hadn't covered earlier.

Fractions: Underneath he noted that the lesson was on notation. He needed some review because I know we had done those earlier.

Geometry Story: to hear it again

CSE: Congruency, Similarity, Equivalence --- Geometry work

Water: the river = The Work of Water, the River Model. Yeah he loved this. But we didn't get to it then. It came later.

Leafs: Clearly we were still working on spelling ;) We did all of the leaf explorations in the Biology album over the course of this week, the next and later that summer.

Ecosystems: Biology album again. We read books, watched videos and went outside to find some micro-ecosystems.



The second chart: 

Sometimes he or I would note on the work plan the intended day to focus on an activity, such as "Th" for Thursday.

Create "cold" foods - this was an herbal study we had going where we were learning about herbal remedies. So we prepared foods that were suitable for assisting someone with a cold.

Office assistant and declutter continued from the week before, but he also sewed a pouch on the sewing machine. He sewed other things at other times.

Latin - continue the lessons in our own way.

TKD, speech, piano, music cards and Latin cards we decided he needed to practice daily. This is when he started piano - and LOVED it.

For fun, he also built paper pyramids and a paper castle. I still have them somehwere.

Logical Analysis: we added the extensions

Book of Kells: we read it together and he copied some of the art
Illumination - artwork inspired by the Book of Kells

Verb box and commands - Grammar Boxes

History: Calendar from Signs and Seasons

History in 3 Phases from the Montessori History Album

BC/AD timeline

New World Civilizations: Montessori History Album

Practice long multiplication, adding/subtracting fractions of different families (denominators)

Game 3a and 3b from the squares and cubes chapter in the Montessori Elementary Mathematics Album

CSE of the Constructive Triangles from the Geometry Album

Continue long division

He wanted to work on the memorization of math facts. Finally, at age 8, he finally cared!

Leaves: finish and classify

Explore How animals live and move via videos and books




That feels like so much even for 21 days of schooling, but it was just so natural and flowed for us.  Some activities were 5 minutes, some took a few hours.

Work Plans - CONFUSION

Primary children should NOT use a written work plan.
But they can have the conversation!
And they can ask for a particular presentation
(as this boy is doing - because he has plans!)

There is a plethora of confusion about work plans.

I recently posted this in the comments of an online friend's blog and decided to make it its own post. I try so hard to "agree to disagree" on many interpretations of Montessori, while presenting information from a new viewpoint --- so each individual can make an individual choice for their own situation. This is one area where I am TIRED of being attacked, name-called, my intelligence and adherence to Montessori called into question because I don't "let" the elementary children "have complete freedom." Montessori never said "complete freedom". She said "freedom with responsibility" for the elementary age. And the misinterpretation of work plans and what they are SUPPOSED to be, I am drained of maintaining the quiet stance of "well, consider this aspect....".

Time for the truth to be told. Boldly.

Work plans are the child's segue into responsibility. 

They are the child's written down thoughts/plans for the day or the week or the month, following a conversation with the adult who does not dictate but listens, offers suggestions, answers questions, poses some questions and sometimes reminds a child of an area of exploration that the child doesn't know about (or remember) that would actually HELP the child's current explorations, interests, projects. 

Work plans are not checklists or pre-assigned/designed by the adult. 

Here is what I recently posted in the comments on another blog:

I think a good deal of the confusion comes from inaccurate information given to us first; it saturates us so that we come to the accurate information if it is not MORE forceful and MORE clear and MORE everything than the inaccurate information (and sometimes even then!) it gets pushed aside, not read/understood as intensely because an opinion has already been formed.

I REALLY wish certain other places would stop with the checklists - "download, print and use this as work plan". Those are not work plans, they are checklists. And they are adult led.

We ALL have work plans - whether written down or in a planner or in our heads - we all have a plan for the day, the week, the month, the year, life-plans - and we are all working towards those. To help the children we discuss, we check-in, we guide them, we make sure they are aware of scheduled activities that are upcoming so THEY can plan to get into deep or not so deep work depending on how much time they have, we let them make some mistakes but we also offer words of wisdom at the right moments --- and the children can write that down.

I don't see "checklist" in there anywhere. I am SO happy that the truth is finally being understood and being spread (I have felt like a lone voice for FAR too long) - but I am so sad at the depth of the misunderstanding.... 

A work plan is simply a written form of the plans in your child's mind. 

A homeschooler's version might look different from a classroom version - why? Because in the classroom, you have 35-60 children working in various areas to inspire the other children, reminding them of other areas of study.

Children in classrooms can observe others' work as a review and reminder of their own past work, inspiring them to further work or a way to apply that knowledge in their current work. Homeschool children don't have this inspiration, so it is OK to have a list of all the areas that could be studied in - as that way of reminding the children. They also won't be visually reviewing (observing) as much so it is ok to remind them to review areas they have not touched on in a while.

There are many other differences between classroom and homeschool, found in other posts - and some are still in-development.


Ultimately, we the adults have the map, yes the child still has his own personal journey - but how does the child know his options if we, the adult, don't present them.

Thus we continue to give new presentations (the children have a right to know when these presentations will happen, so they can learn to plan their own day); the children have a right to know there ARE more presentations and to request them. The children have a right to know how to plan their time wisely and receive GUIDANCE in their project and study planning.

If we do not have a conversation with the children and provide this opportunity for them to talk out their previous work (work journals) and their upcoming plans, then we are doing a SERIOUS dis-service to the children.

A GREAT article and video on the "Three Essential Tools of the Elementary Environment".
Montessori Guide: The Three Essential Tools

Homeschool Skedtrack - REVIEW POST

Legoboy has recently begun using Homeschool Skedtrack for his work plan and journaling. This is an online schedule tracking system that we have used at various times over the last several years; this is the first time Legoboy is using it himself. I foresee using this into adolescence for his planning and journaling.

What he did was plot out his work plan goals, divide up by activities, and record it all. He plotted everything out so that each area shows up each day, but he doesn't necessarily DO each subject every day (in fact, he does NOT). He likes it because 1) it is on the computer 2) he can see what he has up next in each area 3) he can edit what he actually DOES compared to what is actually written there.

He records the length of time spent along with any pertinent details. He still keeps a written record of some of his work as well as noting details of his goals and plans (still monthly), but Homeschool Skedtrack IS his Montessori work journal now.


http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/



We make the plans together, but more and more it is on him. I must emphasize that: he creates these plans and he modifies them as we go.

I am happy to re-organize some of the work and add in the pieces we've not typed in yet - to illustrate each of the threads in the elementary Montessori experiences; in a way these are already available via the elementary Montessori task cards (Montessori guide cards) available at Garden of Francis.


Legoboy's current "Courses":

Life of Fred and Cover Story are ready to go when some items above are to certain stages or are completed. Some of the items are more or less ongoing, but again not every day - some things might be once a week or even less with significant time spent when he does do them.

I originally set the activities either blank or with suggestions. As he works with this program more and more, he has started editing future activities.

What we love about it is that you can map out all the steps, or insert generic activities --- then edit as you complete (length of time spent, what actual activity done). If he does more than listed for the day, he can go into the activities tab and delete the future to-be-posted that he has already done. If he doesn't do something, it just shows up the next time that it is scheduled. He plans out his day, but we do have this set for every subject to show up every day (you can have certain things show up just on particular days - such as "Boy Scouts" or "choir practice" or "TKD" or "Grandma and Grandpa visiting".

We list everything as 10 minutes as a generic start; then he tracks the time spent. It has been an interesting exercise for him to see things in this manner - automatically calculated. AND to see the same thing that HE planned, staring him in the face day after day. Hm. Better planning there, son ;)

Upper Elementary Montessori - New work journal and work plan

Work Journal - really it's nothing new, a bit more detail in some areas, a bit less in others. We are simply looking for a record of general time spent. Questions and thoughts now go into their own notebooks rather than in here, though sometimes things pop up in here too.

Just to have a cute photo
for the upper elementary montessori
work plan post ;) 

So we use a spiral notebook; note the date, then list general times spent on general studies/activities. We might have 2 days on a page; or it might be a full page for 1 day.


Work Plan - we are going full-monthly now. Legoboy has his plans and we still have the remainder of the albums.
Truly, as we moved into upper elementary (click that link for a related post), I thought the remainder of the albums would be done rather quickly. Nope! What has happened is that I am presenting FAR less. He receives a new presentation and has two courses of action:

1. Runs with it. Uses it. Practices it. Builds a small (or large) study around it.
   
2. "Gets it." Then returns to his other small or large studies he is doing, integrating the new presentation wherever is appropriate.
   

I am even MORE grateful that we didn't go with more detailed upper elementary albums. As schools start up in my area, I am continually asked "so when do you start school again?" When I say, "We never stop learning," most people are appalled (thinking of textbooks for 4-8 hours every.single.day all.year.round). Nope! We have keys-based Montessori albums that require us to live life to its fullest ;) 

So we are still meeting each week to go over the schedule for the week (I don't mean school schedule - I mean our family schedule: tae-kwon-do, church events, Mass times, events at the Legostore, anything scheduled with friends or family (lots of pool parties lately!)). We then go over the non-scheduled things that need to be done this week.


By "go over" - this means we discuss it. I don't dictate "here are the things that need to be done" (unless there IS something that needs to be done, but honestly he tells ME those things even when I already know). We have our routine of what we discuss and he runs with it. He'll come up with things that should/could be done, or share an insight on how something could be done, etc.

For example, 2 weeks ago, he suggested we attend the early morning Mass at St. Martin so that we can work on the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd sacristy items at St. Paul on the way back, followed by St. John's which is also on the way back, saving a short trip of gas. His actual motive however, was to assure some time in the schedule to play a new game: Settlers of Catan. Well, ok, I can handle that ;)


So we now have a list of monthly goals or "themes" with our weekly conversation of what will be accomplished in each given week. If he feels he needs more time to accomplish a goal, we can discuss and I will support or nix an extension. I want him to learn to meet deadlines, but at 10, Legoboy should not be up until midnight or 3am finishing projects just to meet a deadline either.




As the mother and head of the household, I do have final say on all decisions, but I cherish these moments of discussing age-appropriate experiences with my son, allowing (encouraging!) him to be part of the thought-process behind life's little and large decisions; thereby knowing that when he is an adult and fully responsible for himself, I know that I have equipped him with all that I can including my prayers and my entrusting him to God.


There are a good number of anti-Montessori adults who want to emphasize adult control and adult direction to the point of denying that God has given our children any capabilities of their own. Thus, they hold on too tight until it is time to release the child to the world, then they are devastated by the results when the now-adult child looks to find another authority to "listen to" because he or she is incapable of making one's own decisions. These children spend their 20s (sometimes longer) getting their lives straightened out, when they could spend that time living a wonderful life by having learned all those adult life skills in tiny increments as growing children.
(end soapbox ;) )


August themes/plans:

• My Temple of the Holy Spirit health study (Catholic-based, but could be done by any Christian denomination)
• Study each topic in this book, adding desired activities from Blood and Guts; coloring pictures in two anatomy coloring books (the two we have are high school level, really)
• Dissections where appropriate
  
• Finish up My Pet Store Math (a Charlotte Mason offering) - we had to take a break from this a while back. He would like to finish it up.
  
• Work of Water: create the river model by himself
• Catch up on astronomy newsletters and spend at least 1 night a week outside under the stars
• Come close to finishing Mystery of History (because of his love for ancient history, volume 1 has taken FOREVER to do! This is fine because
  
1. he has the Great Lessons, thus the overview of Cosmic Education;
   
2. he has taken each (or almost every) short lesson and done some further follow-up work beyond selecting at least one of the included activities (usually more), creating the timeline cards and creating a Wall of Fame in a notebook of his own);
   
3. this is the only volume we plan to do. As Catholics, there are 2 specific locations that brought up some interesting discussion for us. Volumes 2 and 3 veer from how we understand the revelation of God. We'll have those discussions, just not with any particular history textbook. 
• Review work with decimal fractions. He has had some minor trouble with decimal places with the Pet Store Math - mostly in understanding when/why we don't need extra zeroes after a final decimal, unless we have something like 90 cents. And he wants to finish reviewing that material/section for me for the math album.
  
• Further music presentations. We have stalled on these, not because we don't LOVE them but because of time and space. He has been playing the piano but no real lessons. We'll look into picking up lessons next month, but our goal this month is to get the tone bars set up again and proceed forward with those album pages.
  

That's it! Think block scheduling, with lots of real life connecting it all.

We are not covering other subjects this month either because we naturally do them and don't have any particular plans/goals (growing and using herbs; prayer/faith studies (we are prepping the atriums for classes to start this September); or because he has goals for those areas in September or October. These later months aren't fully planned, but he set up a page for each to move things over that won't fit for the month of August. Organizational planning skills ;)  

So how did we spend our time today? Discussing the brain, the eye and the heart (topics of his own interest) - then doing a dissection on a cow's eye (post to come later this week!) - all of his own accord, on a deeper level than if I'd required it, but still with my requirement that he learn it thoroughly and all related ethics. I shared that information with a woman who thought I was crazy to not have starting/ending dates for school - she is a retired nurse and she insists he is doing high school level work (with the terminology he used to explain to her what he did today, yep, maybe it IS high school level work. He's 10. What does that say about high school offerings? Of course, I did the same work in college...).

Work Journals as Homeschool Proof

UPDATE 2:
The Real Question:
If the only requirements are "equivalent subjects to the local schools" (the state will not define the word "equivalent" - to give homeschoolers more rights) and "attendance of 180 days per school year" (the state, for the same reason above, will not define "attendance" or "school year" - each private school and homeschool can define their own school year, their own attendance, and their own equivalency to local school subjects) starting at age 7 until the child graduates (the state fully supports a parent-issued diploma based on the parent's own graduation requirements) ---- what is the best way to document those requirements while only providing the minimum. Each of these things must be shown upon request.

Solution 1: a list of numbers 1-180 - checked for each day of attendance, noting the "school year" only
(because even a marked calendar actually gives the days/dates of attendance - as the work journal idea presented below --- too much information)
It is pretty obvious if a child can have a generic conversation on the same topics the local kids would study - so that one is a verbal proof.

Solution 2:  same as above, but not even noting the school year other than the child's grade level? Or is that too much too?

How can we document attendance without giving more than "attendance"?

I am seriously looking for ideas here! I appreciate the 3 private e-mails I received, but the question wasn't really addressed, which is why I post this second update ;)





UPDATE:
I am pondering my post below. But I am keeping it up - for the sake of conversation - of working out the best plan for those who Montessori homeschool - or even unschool.

Clarification --- Three families in my state that I know of have been visited by DCS in the last 2 months. Each family uses some form of Montessori - and all had a work journal of the basic type that has the date and the name of the work done (not necessarily *what* that work is - such as "bead chain 9" - no description of what it is). With lawyers in place, meetings in their homes with the DCS person, the one thing they each shared with me that they appreciated having (so they didn't have to do anything else) was having that work journal to show *that* schoolwork was done on that day. No way could the DCS person know what the work done even was (and legally couldn't even ask). Apparently one of the lawyers involved also homeschools - and they were ok with the sharing of the basic work journal.

MBT has fantastic comments below - regarding NOT giving more than requested. The trouble in our state is, "what shows what is requested?" Yes, I appreciate the lack of definition of attendance, but how do you show proof of something that has no definition? Each family has to figure out how to do that and NOT provide more than necessary. These families made a particular choice and it worked well for them. Some families just print out a calendar and write the letter "S" on each day school was done. In our family, we school every single day of the week. Pick up any calendar and those are our school days. I wonder if a DCS agent would believe me. But there's my son's attendance record. Every - single - day - of - the - year.

Maybe I am putting this out there so someone else can answer the question for me. What evidence is the bare minimum for showing attendance in a state that doesn't define attendance, but requires 180 days of it - and no other legislation on homeschooling? Is a basic work journal too much? Certainly can be questioned less. How much does this depend on the definition of attendance? A calendar marking school days isn't in the definition either. And that is where the real conundrum lies - for me.



The original post: 


Let's pretend you live in a state that only requires attendance in school for 180 days - but the state won't define attendance for private school (and considers homeschools to be private schools).

Portfolios are great; community testimonial that your child is brilliant is great.

But you know what makes life SO MUCH EASIER when someone knocks on the door to question your child's absence from school (presence at home during school hours) ?

Hand them the child's DATED work journal. The contents (style, lay-out) don't matter, but the dates do.

Let me say - it is SO much easier to SAVE those, keep them in ONE place (not hidden somewhere in the piles of papers and boxes of papers that a certain Lego-loving Fiend likes to collect) - then it is to go back and use a calendar to note that school was done on enough days to count for 180.

Do you realize how questionable that looks!? But a work journal, obviously written in different handwriting styles on different days with different writing utensils - so much more believable.

Reality-check: 180 days is half the calendar year. We have school on some level or another every, single, day. 365 days a year. Even Sundays are music (Traditional Latin Mass choir or Novus Ordo chants); Latin with a bit of Greek thrown in; community service (altar serving); history (personal Bible study looking at the historical development); logic (the games we play together later in the day) and literature (Once Upon a Time lovers in this household - and we are always going back and discussing the original tales included in the series as well as the Disney versions - and many times other versions - compare/contrast, discuss the moral implications, changes through time according to culture, what components are the same in all versions because of universal truths, etc.).

Yeah, even Sundays count as school ;) And that's just what we do every Sunday - let alone what we do on only some Sundays (cooking to take food to others in need; art projects of a wide variety).


So, we have 180 days covered in less than the first 6 months of each year.

Of late, I have NOT been as adamant about the work journal as I should be; he does keep a notebook with study ideas, project ideas, he does have his work plan (his organization of the ideas in his head, the requirements he has to meet to attain the goals he has set for himself, and our family projects) and he works from that to move forward with his own work. He does not track dates these days. He should.

So there you have it. Bad idea on my part to not track anything (I don't even have a calendar printed out with "s" on it for every day). We'd need credible proof of 180 days of schooling this school year and last - and a not-quite-10-year-old reading and holding intellectual conversations on high school level literature, doing typical middle school math, pseudo-expert on Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Israel, running his own small business on Etsy ---- not proof enough of adequate homeschooling.

Not when it is only attendance that counts.


Sigh.

Research - in everyday words

I hear so many times comments such as these during conversations about work-plans, work journals, research, exploring personal interests and the like:

• my child would only do the bare minimum - I want to encourage him to do more, so a work plan wouldn't work for us. 
• if left to his own devices, my child would play with Legos. all. day. long. That's too much freedom. We need responsibility too, so I have to tell my child what to do. 
• there is too much freedom in work plans; the adult doesn't control enough. 
• work plans are too strict; the child does not have enough free time; it is just making him an adult too soon. 
• work journals are suffocating - having to record everything they do. I want my child to be free. 
• my child doesn't know how to research. there are so many steps to researching; this is overwhelming; how is it possible for my barely 6 year old to understand these concepts? 

Here is what is missing: 

• my child would only do the bare minimum - I want to encourage him to do more, so a work plan wouldn't work for us. the issue isn't the work plan itself - the issue is in the conversation you have throughout the day, the week, the child's life. What are the expectations; how are you wording expectations; how are exuding a love of learning and of appropriate achievements? 
• if left to his own devices, my child would play with Legos. all. day. long. That's too much freedom. We need responsibility too, so I have to tell my child what to do. Yes, Montessori balances freedom and responsibility; the "bare minimum" via the work-plan, with the oral and experiential learning of responsibility and going beyond; yet with appropriate amounts of free time... and of learning what happens when free time is taken inappropriately - the work doesn't go away, it gets moved to the next week's work-plan and is now "required" to be done on the first day of the week. 
• there is too much freedom in work plans; the adult doesn't control enough. actually the adult needs to be involved in planning the work plan; reviewing the work journal; helping the child to plan the next steps needed. The child is still a child and needs adult guidance. 
• work plans are too strict; the child does not have enough free time; it is just making him an adult too soon. because the adult is working WITH the child, the child is given just enough responsibility and freedom for his skill level at that moment; it can change at any time the child shows the capacity for more, or is dealing with other issues and for a time can only handle less responsibility and corresponding freedom. If a child has no free time at all but is working diligently, then the work plan was not developed properly and that is the fault of the adult for a child new at the concept. However, it can be easily fixed, child learns a lesson, adult learns a lesson, adjustments are made and growth occurs. 
• work journals are suffocating - having to record everything they do. I want my child to be free. the child is still free; the work plan is based on what the child should be doing to fulfill his internal NEEDS (not necessarily desires) at any given moment; as well as exploring his interests (this is actually related to internal needs). the work journal is simply a record of what the child has accomplished as well as perhaps some extra notes to indicate the next step in a particular area. Also, a work journal only needs to include what you decide is needed - a general chronicle of the day; a checklist of the work-plan with a note as to results and the next step; and it certainly doesn't cover a child's entire day - free time can be noted as one big block without notation of what happened minute by minute ;)  
• my child doesn't know how to research. there are so many steps to researching; this is overwhelming; how is it possible for my barely 6 year old to understand these concepts? research, plain and simple, is having a question, seeking the answer, and reporting the answer. Infants in the womb  do it. 6 year olds can too ;) 

SUMMARY: It is the everyday words and actions that are the real meat of teaching and learning - all of the above is just the outer layers that others see - the peripherals; not the true heart of the matter. 

A recent example of "wording" in our home - this one in regards to research - and a prime example of why research skills have not been an obvious feature on our Montessori homeschool journey, but my son is a researcher of the best kind - most days: 

Legoboy: there are two rings in my new Lego set. I wonder if it is supposed to be an extra, or if they just gave an extra piece like I usually get some extra pieces. 

Mama (assuming the box shows the contents like some of the Lego boxes do): what does the box show?

Legoboy: I don't know. I've not looked. I think they just gave an extra ring because of the duplicates they sometimes give of the tiny pieces. 

Mama: that is a great hypothesis. Let's check the box. 

Legoboy: no. It is just a duplicate. 

Mama (with raised eyebrow, to say 'seriously, kid!?'): (real name), stop hypothesizing and check the box for the contents picture. If it's not there, research the instruction booklet to see which parts were supposed to come with it. You have a question, now find the answer. 

Did you catch it? hypothesize and research. Keywords.

These words are an ordinary part of our conversation. Along with the expectation that if you have a question, you should find the answer. Don't settle for "guessing"; don't settle for "someone said that" or "I think that" - look it up - find more information! 30 seconds of one's time. Yep; seriously, kid! ;) 

We weren't schooling; it was 9:00 at night. I was cleaning the kitchen; he was playing with a new Lego set. (hey - if he had a choice, he'd play with Legos. all. day. long. And all night too. Yes, I have a child like that. So yes, I understand!). 

For the record - end of the booklet.
next to last column
3rd row down.
photo of ring "x1"
How ironic to have "two" of the "One Ring" !? ;) 

In the end, his hypothesis was correct, but as a MOTHER (not as a teacher, not as a homeschool parent), I wasn't going to settle for "I guess" or worse what it was becoming: "I guess it, therefore it is accurate, and I have no evidence to back it up". Nope, thinking is a requirement, kiddo - and considering all the evidence at hand. 

Funny what a little playing with Legos can teach... maybe he needs more time with Legos.... 

;) 

Work Journals - Starters

(I re-posted this because it wasn't showing up in blog readers and I know some people were waiting for it it show up! So I've copied everything here to a new post and deleted the original (there were no comments yet) ;) ).


A work plan goes hand in hand with a work journal, but the ideas can be mixed and matched to suit any individual child's purposes.

Some people just use a checklist, which has benefits and drawbacks, more or less so depending on the style used.

Other use movable cards - in or out of baskets or plastic pockets.

Others only concern themselves with keeping any generated physical work, such as math papers and the like, stored in binders or folders or notebooks.

Others might add photographs.

These are what I would personally call starter journals - and they are great! They get the child thinking about his day, what he has accomplished, reviewing his work, collecting it into a notebook or binder - being able to go back and see his progress. These are fantastic!

Ultimately a lot of that can become something a portfolio for the child's work, and the above processes, in one form or another definitely continue throughout their school years and perhaps into life (family photo albums and scrapbooks, for example ;) ).

When I can wrest them from my son's bedroom, where he likes to horde his favorite stuff, I'll post a photo of a couple of his own portfolios.




Here are two articles from elementary Montessori schools that use work journals:
http://www.countrysidemontessori.org/Content8bdb.html/
http://www.chicagomontessori.org/elementary/


The work journals described in the above links are what I personally typically see in an elementary classroom - or some form of it.
The child writes the starting and ending time of his work, along with the name of the material and sometimes what it is he is doing with that material.

This is where I suggest (based on my son's recommendation!) to parents of children who are just not wanting to write - to draw something related to their work. I did this with my co-op children this past year - they did not have to write the times, but anytime they did geography/science experiments, they had to illustrate or write out the results of what happened or something interesting related to it.

Work Journal: Noting how time is spent

Those of you with a clock stamp could offer it to the child to put in his work journal to record the times.

Honestly, I didn't have my son start recording times of his work until 2nd year in elementary and then only sporadically. Now that he's 3rd year and a half, I am requiring it. He really needs the habit formation of consistency, tracking how his time is spent and more appropriate planning of his time - we can only DO so much in one day ;)

Since the stamp we have is rather large, it also means that he has more space to write - the start time on the left; the end time on the right; with the words in-between - so I have him write what he practiced or learned during that time --- basically, what value did that spent time just have for you. And hey, that could be "relaxation" or "reviewing past math skills." I'm good with that. But I want HIM to be cognizant of it, hence he selects the words and writes them down.

He can then also note what he would like to do next with that area if/when he comes back to it. Just a quick note for himself - then when we plan the next work plan, or when he is looking for something to do, he can check his work journal and see where he's been and where, at the time, he wanted to go from there. I don't always hold him to those ideas, because they are just that: ideas. But many times, the "idea" is an upcoming presentation anyway.

As he completes any of those past "ideas", he placed a check-mark with the date that he did do it. Then he can flip ahead to that date and see the progress of his work. And sometimes he discovers he has already done the next steps, or that he is no longer in need of what he previously indicated. So we mark those accordingly (either indicating date done, or NLN (no longer necessary)).

This part is still a work-in-progress for our own household, but it really seems to be working quite well - even though it does need several reminders until the habit is formed.

I wish I would have required the time-marking sooner. My own regret for our personal situation. It is REALLY good for him. He says, "Especially when you tell me that I've not done any math this week and I can show you that I have worked on math a total of 5 hours and 40 minutes all week!"


As with any of the work plan (work contract) or work journal posts here - everyone will get different mileage with each idea - consider the options, consider making up your own, and see what works with YOUR elementary child right now. Next year, it might be something different. So PLEASE share all of your ideas :)

Work Plan - Balancing Freedom and Responsibility

One more work plan post - then I promise to start posting about our journals :)


MBT over at What DID We Do All Day? has put up some posts that have generated quite a hubbub of conversation. (what would we all do if MBT shut down her computer??? ;) )

Part of the conversation in the comments on the posts, as well as private e-mails with individuals, have revealed a few more questions....

The main one being - how controlling are these work plans?

The answer is... Follow the Child.

I'm not very creative on that one, huh? ;)


What follows are totally random thoughts as I sort through e-mails, past blog posts on work plans, the current ones with their ensuing conversations, and questions raised in elementary training.

I will try to organize these thoughts, but in case I run out of time, I wanted them out of my head at least! ;)



Here's the thing - I personally homeschool and I personally chose Montessori (whether school or homeschool) because I want to live in a structured environment that can handle spontaneity. Thus, I have chosen to Montessori homeschool so that we can live out moments like this:

LEGOS!!!!! Yes, we really LIKE our UPS man here! 

His goofy smile - when he's the MOST excited!
Um. The work plan is out the window for the *rest* of the day!
Although he'll still do his daily stuff at some point. 

Structure: For a child just starting out, you'll provide as much structure as they need to assure that all subject areas are being covered in some manner at some point - the details are up to YOU, your environment, your child.

Individualized: Every subject every day is unrealistic and does not provide near enough depth. But however you rotate through a week or a month, or work in blocks - no-one can plan that out ahead of time for a child unknown to them; hence work-plans that are already set up for "February cover these things" - are most likely not going to work because your child might be ahead or behind in varying subjects.


Freedom and Responsibility: We want the child to still continue to choose their own work and not be locked into this work plan/contract dictating their every move and interest. HOWEVER, it should also be built according to their needs as well as their interests, which in elementary don't just always correspond.
3rd year elementary example: Legoboy needs more work in decimal fractions; but is much more interested in history (it's always history around here!) - thus our work plan balances "this specific presentation in decimal fractions on Tuesday or Wednesday"; "enough follow-up to truly master the concept" (this can't be checked off until it is mastered); "possible new presentation if ready"; and what he tells me are the next things he plans to do in history for the week - "I'd like to look for books on the Vikings at the library" - "I would like to look up more information about the evidence for monasteries in North America before Columbus arrived". These are specific, but also child-led.)

Responsibility with freedom. Freedom with responsibility. 


THE BASIC DEFINITION: Essentially, we are at first taking their primary level "morning planning in my head" that they did, and putting it on paper or some other visual format. We are not DICTATING at this point as much as getting them visually organized.

Work Plan as External Order: Remember at the second plane of development, they have internalized the order they've had around them during the primary years, for good or bad, and an elementary child is outwardly "messier" than the primary child. THUS, the work plan is one place to have that outward order in place. Something to show the order that is in their minds.

Plus there are simply expectations of elementary children we just didn't have for primary children (local educational requirements and the like).


Meetings and Nuances: Most of the nuances of the work plan/contract - no matter the format you choose - is going to be in your meeting/discussion. The children should know they have these requirements but they should also be verbalizing their mental plans with you so those things can be noted. They should also have enough freedom to learn the consequences for their work choices - the good, the bad, and the ugly!
(I worked hard Monday through Wednesday - I have Thursday and Friday as light days; vs. I slacked off Monday and Tuesday, and now Wed/Thurs/Fri are going to be harder ---- these sorts of things should be worked out in a loving manner with the adults involved, so that lesson is learned but spirits aren't quelled - best done in homeschools ;) ).



Type of Requirements: The requirements can be vague (something in "math - squaring") or very specific (Math - squaring/cubing - Game 3A) - and usually a combination of both. I might have 2 presentations to give to my son in history this week, but he is expected to do something more with it of his own choosing; or he is expected to follow-up with a previous presentation.

Verbally discuss the plan for the day/week: We can ask the child to plan his day - not everything needs a particular time, but to say, "When do you plan to work on Game 3A? Let's plan a time so I can make sure I am available to show you." Now, this could be "after I am done with XYZ" or it could be "Tuesday at 1 pm or so, when the baby is down for nap".

Working beyond the plan/contract: Then the child is expected to find additional work to do - again, this needs to be emphasized within the environmental set-up, which includes the conversations and nuances with the adult. That just because they have done one bead chain, doesn't stop them from doing much more.


Work plans should match the child: My problem with reading and seeing such examples as a child NOT doing another bead chain because they've already "checked it off" - is that those are the children who have the wrong kind of work plan for their needs. They need something that will set them off to do MORE work, while assuring they have a base minimum of variety. There is a clear mis-match AND the adult has not set up the proper environment.

MBT has a neat system where if her boys work heavily with something, they could see it disappear off their plan for the rest of the week. In terms of a written work plan, such as the one I posted yesterday, if there are 5 boxes to checkmark, they could mark off all 5 in one day! (in which case, I might ask for something to be followed up later in the week or to move on to the next presentation in that sequence, just to keep things going).

Routine check-ins: Hence, in the beginning we want to check in throughout the day; then at least daily. As homeschooling parents, unless we have very large families or lots of other commitments, we will probably touch base every day; in schools or those with very large families/commitments, it might be touching base with each child 2-3 times a week. At least through lower elementary and possibly into upper elementary; older children might do a longer-span work plan and officially check in with it once a week. Throughout all of that, you are still going to be involved, so it's not like you don't know what they are doing  and can offer guidance along the way.



Areas of Interest are included or not - usually both: A child should also be working in his areas of interests - perhaps those are planned in (once your daily stuff is done, you work on your own items; or you work on your own project for the morning and the afternoon is the required stuff; or you don't have to say anything; OR if there is something your child needs, such as a trip to the library, you write that on the work plan - "Thursday morning: library").


Daily requirements???
Depending on your work plan style, yes a child could foreseeably do nothing but math on Monday, nothing but language on Tuesday, etc. And if that works for the child - GREAT!

But typically we do have a very tiny number of items that are daily (but are also generic - just something that meets my definition of real work (see yesterday's post) must done in these areas each and every day) - in our home, it is daily math skills, piano, tae-kwon-do practice, drawing, and Latin practice.


Our Montessori, spontaneous, work-plan organized crazy thing we call life: 
Back to those Legos above? It was mid-morning when they'd arrived; he had already done some of his daily stuff, and started on a project in history. I let him spend 20 minutes or so exploring the box and its contents, long enough to decide he really wanted to set everything else aside for at least a few hours. He then spent some time cleaning things up he'd gotten out; then finishing up a few chores so he wouldn't have to stop to do them later. He made himself some lunch to have on hand so he could keep building. Then he DELVED right in!

He had time to spend with it; then made some proper plans so he could spend longer with it; executed those plans; and had one HAPPY day!

I attribute almost all of that to Montessori and a good deal of it to the process of working with an adaptable work plan and journal system that taught him those skills of organization, planning, follow-through, consequences (he could work for 4 hours on those legos, but then be hungry and grumpy, having "missed" lunch - so he prepared ahead of time (I would have made him something at the proper time, but HE thought to make his own food for himself and not "burden" someone else with the task of waiting on him - thoughtfulness! Now, I did have to bring him water later - he'd forgotten to get that ;) )) - and again:

Freedom and Responsibility in action. 

One more time because I LOVE this smile! 

Sharing Work Plans and Journals

I have set up a separate page on this blog to share links to posts about Montessori work plans and work journals.

I just put up a couple of sites that I've read most recently with the topic, but I know I've read others and I'll add them as I have a few minutes here and there.

In the meantime, please feel free to leave a comment with a link to your own posts or articles/posts that are particularly helpful for you. I'll add them to the main part of the page. Best yet, if you have a search tag so we can link to the blog/site and just have those posts up :) Though particularly insightful posts I will likely link directly as well.

Eventually, I'll put together a chart showing some options.

I DO have more posts coming - everything is in draft form for now (stitches in my finger have slowed down my typing!). However, I also wanted to answer two questions about work plans/journals:

1) The work plan (or work contract) are what YOU make of them - signed by the adult/child or just a loose agreement or a verbal discussion about the child's plan for the morning/day/week. A checklist feels great to those of us with more traditional backgrounds, but if it is a pre-filled checklist with work options by month, then it's probably not going to fit YOUR child who has particular needs and interests, may be far ahead in math and not so much in language, or vice-versa. You might not have some materials ready; a child's interests might be something else of equal (or greater value); etc. So that is my one very personal and very professional piece of input: design it for YOUR situation; try not to make it look like "school at your own pace" - we are aiming for exploration, responsibility, freedom, community dynamics... :)

2) Pretty much the same goes for work journals. Pair up a contract(plan)/journal combo that works for YOUR situation. Mine won't always fit yours; yours won't always fit mine; but swapping ideas encourages creativity and we adjust and adapt as time goes on (see my own previous posts about Legoboy's changing needs).


:)

Work Plan for 6 Year Old - Yes? No?

I was asked to give more information on the following statement I made in a previous work plan post:
     With that said, I find that 6 year olds without a work-plan at all, are missing out on a *huge* piece of Montessori elementary. 

Aren't we supposed to follow the child?

YES! That is why there should be some form of a work plan and/or work journal, and best is both - starting around age 6.

Remember the 4 planes of development?

In the first plane, the inner teacher of the child directs their learning and growth. Children will generally grow and learn and develop certain skills regardless of what WE do. Most parents know to give their children food, warmth, snuggles, conversation. Thus children who are even abused and neglected gain SOME skills, develop at least SOME. I realize there are extreme situations, but here we are focusing on *most* parents.

The child's inner teacher guides that growth. All that we adults can do is provide the *optimal* environment. I say "all that we can do" - but I also say "that IS what we should do."

And we trust that inner guide to utilize the good things we have placed in the environment to develop that child before us.

By the second plane, as the absorbent mind peters out and the social connections become hungry, children now need societal expectations; they live on rules and order - creating their own clubs, their own languages - that herd instinct that still craves identity. The first plane achieved strong identity of self, the second plane now works on strong identity of group dynamics.

Just as we fed that ego in the first plane, now we feed that need for group dynamics in the second plane. If the need is fulfilled now, we will have adolescents who seek to be members of the world, not clinging to the vestiges of "group belonging" that should have been fulfilled in the second plane.

Wow. What does that have to work plans? ;)

This work plan and/or work journal is one small way we create those societal expectations. We also have the following:

• studies on the fundamental needs of man
• meeting those needs throughout time
• reasons for laws in society
• taxes
• continuing the same skills from primary - preparing work for the next child, completing a work cycle
• environmental expectations (chores)
• Goings Out - formal or informal - interacting with society
• prepares for 3rd and 6th year in elementary when the child should be working a bit with the local school standards
• there's more but Legoboy keeps interrupting me with some Lego creations I need to post about soon!

In essence, the true definition of following the child is to observe carefully, note the child's needs, have an understanding of where things are going and providing those things that fulfill current needs in order to lay a strong foundation for what is coming up. 

The work plan does not dictate a child's every waking moment, or even a majority of it. It simply says, "Here is a slightly bigger plan than you usually have in your mind right now" (for some children it might be a morning, or a day, a couple of days and most 6 year olds can handle seeing a week) - and "here is what we can likely work on this week/today" (keep it light at first). Now today is Monday (or it is 8 am and we have lunch at noon). Today (this morning), let's continue that language study you started last week and I have a new presentation for you in biology. Come get me when you are ready for those things."

Or "Tomorrow, we have the men coming to cut down those dead trees. They will be here at 10 am. Let's write that down on our work plan. If you would like to watch, here's where you can take a chair, will you want your camera?" (then write those things on the work plan, as a reminder). 

Then for the work journal - anything will do - a notebook of blank pages - note the date, write down what was done; later the child can be required to write the beginning time or the ending time, then both times. It can be drawings of what was done, a sample sentence/problem, an interesting statement - pretty much anything that notes that the child is recording his/her choice of time spent. So when Grandma asks, "What are you learning in school?" The child will stay say, "Nothing," but Mom can pull out their work journal and say, "Maybe you can show these things to Grandma?" Although Grandma likes to see the art work and actual math problems ;)

The work journal is most handy when preparing for the upcoming work plan - review what was done, how much progress was made, ask further questions.... "You didn't really do anything after our story on the (fill in the blank). What have you thought about that story since then? Let's have another story in that area this coming week - here are some choices, which would you like?" (this doesn't force an interest, but does develop other important social skills, such as making choices in an area of no interest, taking some ownership for learning, and could potentially develop an interest). 

One last thought - an analogy: 

When we grow plants - at first we let them grow how they will. See which ones will be strong. We cannot control which seeds will sprout - but we plant them all, give them all the optimal conditions for growth. 

Then it is time to transplant them - or perhaps you're not needing to transplant them because you planted them where they will stay. Ok. 

(end first plane of development)

But now those tomato plants are going to go all over if you don't stake them; that tree sapling is going to bend in the strong wind, so we prop it up. We provide it *guidance* as to where to go, modifying and later lessening that guidance as time goes on. 

(second plane of development, moving into 3rd and somewhat the 4th)

Eventually the tree is strong enough to do what it will do without our interference and the tomato plants are producing fruit. 

(fourth plane and life beyond)

Elementary Work Plan: Another Sample

DISCLAIMER/BACKGROUND - See these links for more information on what work plans and work journals are intended for. If your current plan isn't meeting the mark, time to change it up. Work plans aid a child in going deep, not moving into checklist mentality.
Montessori Nuggets tagged "work plan"
Montessori Nuggets tagged "work journal"


Due to the ever-present interest in work-plans, I thought I'd share yet another idea for the lowest elementary children, and perhaps some of the kindergarteners out there.

This is a sample of something I did with tutoring children through the summer-time. I set this sample up for you as if I were to do it for LegoBoy today, with his list of subjects.

Daily stuff is straight-forward - must be done each day. Move the paper-clip for that item over to the right-side when it's done.

School stuff - this is where we keep the Montessori principles! And there is a LOT of flexibility. While some of that stuff, I would like to be everyday, realistically it won't happen, and I like to keep the daily must-dos really short, sweet and simple.

So if there is an actual presentation or assignment, those are noted on another page - perhaps one for the whole week like a weekly plan, but it has less on it than a full weekly work-plan. It might have for math "1 new presentation this week", "review small bead frame", "work with 2 operations in fractions" - otherwise the child chooses for himself what to do.

The point is, once a subject is done by the child, for as long as he wants to work on it, and whatever your agreed upon work is (some assigned, some free-chosen; or all free-chosen), the clip is moved to the right-side.

At the end of one day, NOT all the clips are moved. The goal for this day is to have each line on the right-side filled with a clip, so that a minimum variety was worked on each day (for some of my students, this was 3, for some it was 6).

The daily clips are moved back to the left side. The school clips are left alone, unless there is a specific assignment yet for the child (a new presentation or a required work OR the child knows there is something more to do). Try to limit this as much as possible, because....

...the goal is to then hit the OTHER subjects the next day. And clear out that whole left-side. For some children, the goal was a 3-day rotation, especially because some things DID need to be moved back over because they needed daily practice for a short time (not long enough to justify going under the daily list), thus leaving less time for the varying subjects.


So this plan is good for situations that require all subjects be worked on over a 2 or 3 day period - whether due to the local educational requirements or the needs of the child (retention of the learning, especially with particular special needs).

The work-journal system that fits best with this work-plan is one where the child can take a photo of their work, or otherwise have something to show of their work --- OR can be used without a work-journal for the youngest children just getting started, as they are already "marking" their progress with the paper-clips; and the adult can note their work at the end of the day in a conversation. "I saw you worked with the bead squares for math - tell me about that work." etc.

First Work Plan and Work Journal

At 5 1/2 or so, Legoboy started his first work-plan, elementary Montessori style!

It really started a year or so earlier when he would continually ask me the plans for the day. Now, I'd already made a habit since he was newborn (and I bet it started in utero... ;) ) of letting him know what to expect at various times. He may or may not have remembered everything, but at least he heard what was going to happen at least twice before we got to the part where he actually had to start thinking about doing something about it.

Around 4 or so, it really became almost an addiction of his - he could handle *anything* - just let him know ahead of time. There was a span of several months, he truly did not handle sudden changes well at all. But we lived through that.

And he continued to ask for the daily schedule, asking the night before what to expect for the next day, and slowly started caring about what was coming in upcoming days. Then he was following up with it all, and trying so hard to remember everything and be independent about things.

It was time for a work-plan, whether *I* was ready for my little boy to grow up or not!

I created some of these from the Catholic Heritage Curricula Lesson Plans, and I added a LOT, to cover all the possible bases for our own family's particular needs.

I printed them and Legoboy helped color the pictures.
I laminated and trimmed them. 

Each card indicates something to do. I would select the cards from the basket and place them in the "work basket". Sometimes I housed certain ones together in an envelope or with a paper-clip, to show that I expected those things to be done together or in that particular order. The others could be done in any order. 

Sample of handwriting, geography, and music. 

We didn't do everything every day, but if he had the "free time" or "free choice of work" card, he could go back to the original basket and pull out additional items he wanted to do. Sometimes he would bring the card for a new lesson; sometimes he went further with his own work. We had a third basket into which all the completed cards were placed so I could mark down what he had done, or make adjustments for the next day - we could call this third basket his work journal. 

Oh, I also had sticky notes that I sometimes added to the back if I had a particular task in mind or he had asked for a reminder (the music card might have had "practice for choir" and "new song from 'Our Liturgical Year'" with stars for "must do" and another couple of suggestions related to the bells or something else for what he wanted as a reminder or because I knew a new lesson was upcoming. 

Every evening, I gathered the completed cards, changed up any notes that needed it and laid out the new cards for the next day. This took me about an hour of preparation in the very beginning - to make the cards and print them; another half an hour to laminate and cut. Probably another half an hour to find the right baskets ;) (we're a bit picky around here!). Once we had the sticky-notes going and my album scope and sequences laid out, it really took less than 5 minutes every evening to plan for the next day. Then if he was going to be off to someone else's home for the next day, I'd take another 5 minutes to gather together the supplies he needed. 

The end result is a happy, creative, high-functioning planner and do-er ;)

UPDATED 1/23/13 to ADD: 

The Word file I used to create many of the above photographed cards. Additional images came from CHC (Catholic Heritage Curricula) First Grade Lesson Plans - Character Development - so those are not included in this file. Brushing teeth would be in that set for example. 

I printed it all in black and white and my son helped me color them in before laminating them. I intended to round the corners but never did. I have left it in Word, so if you would like to use it, you can modify it as much as you would like. Feel free to share by sending others to this post. :) 

File of our first Montessori work plan and work journal (click here to download the Word file)