Planning your year

Set Up Student Notebooks

Many newcomers with a printed year-plan ask us how to set up their student notebooks. As with all things homeschool, it’s a matter of personal preference. Here are some popular options from which you may wish to choose (you can obviously customize any of these plans to work with DE if you’re interested in printing the necessary pages):

• Use Lampstand Tab Sets to divide the student notebook into 36 weeks. Then, have your student file all completed work behind each tab.
• Use dividers purchased at an office supply store to divide up your student’s notebook by subjects. Thus, he would file geography work in a “Geography” section, and class notes in a “Class Notes: History” section. Obviously, you need to determine the subject readings for each individual student
• Some students have one notebook per subject. We suggest that students make a separate one for Grammar & Composition, and some students prefer to have dedicated time line notebooks, too. See the curriculum directions for details on this idea.

Read the Year-Plan Introduction

On the Loom, there is a detailed introduction to your year-plan. It is important to your success that you take time to understand the goals and philosophy behind Tapestry. Though it is not immediately apparent, Tapestry may be truly different than any other program you have yet used, so please do read this introduction.

Look at High School Credits

Many high school students are looking towards college. According to a cohesive four-year plan, determine which credits your high school student needs to earn this year. On the Loom there are course descriptions and information about giving students various credits for years 1–3 of Tapestry.

Determining the Year’s Content

• Based on the needs of your oldest students, think about which of the subjects offered in Tapestry you plan to teach this year.
• Write out a master plan for each student that lists the subjects he will do this school year (don’t forget to include math, science, and foreign languages in each plan where age-appropriate).
• Plan to spend the bulk of your teaching time with your non-readers. They will need you to sit with them in order for lessons to be completed, but their lessons are usually brief: not more than ½ hour each.
• As you are able, work towards teaching your fluent readers to become independent learners. This takes time and training, but yields great dividends.
• With all of your independent readers, plan to have periodic (i.e. not daily) lessons with them. For instance, schedule science lessons for Tu/Th, and math lessons for M, W, and F. Independent readers can work towards class time, often doing two or three published lessons that you can then go over in one sitting.
• Plan where you will fit in read-aloud sessions and weekly discussions with older students.