It’s that time of year again! It is so fun (really!) to lay the groundwork for the coming homeschooling year. I just love the promise of a new year. Today, I’ve got a MODG syllabus hack for you!
We’ll be using Mother of Divine Grace (MODG) again next year. Using MODG this spring brought such peace and direction to our homeschooling time. It is making the planning time even more peaceful. Everything is all laid out for me, so I get to spend my energy organizing the materials, tweaking, and personalizing.
While this post is really for MODG users, I know those of you who don’t use this program can still glean some tips for your homeschooling planning time.
Today, I’m going to show you how I use the MODG syllabus as a student checklist.
If you want to create a weekly checklist while using MODG there are several options.
MODG Weekly Checklist Options
- Enroll and use family site to automatically populate a customized checklist. (highly flexible, not time consuming)
- Use the MODG Teacher’s Planner available in their store. (very little flexibility, not time consuming)
- Create your own checklist each week. (highly flexible, but time consuming)
Currently, we aren’t enrolled, though I do see that in our future. If you are enrolled in MODG, there is a wonderful tool on their site that helps you create your own customized weekly checklist. It makes enrolling that much more appealing!
Alternatively, there is a Teacher’s Planner, which gives a weekly day-by-day style checklist for the student to use in completing their work. Although I purchased one of these, I’ll be making enough substitutions or changes that it is not going to work for us. It is just not flexible enough for our family. If you stick to the syllabus VERY closely, then this is an option.
Last semester, I created a weekly checklist in Excel. This involved me typing in the individual assignments for each subject, which ended up being extremely time consuming. However, it did allow us to jump ahead in the syllabus as well as add other subjects.
Enter another option:
OPTION 4: Use the syllabus as a checklist.
Since we won’t be enrolling and I don’t feel like creating a checklist every week, I worked on a new system. It involves using a printable checklist (which doesn’t have to be recreated every week), the MODG syllabus, post-its, and a pencil.
While I could try to explain my system in words, I thought it would be much easier with a video. So here it goes!
MODG Syllabus Hack
I’d love to know your favorite way to simplify your homeschool routine!
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Hi Elizabeth! Just wondering, did you like all the books in the MODG curriculum? Next year I will have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and pre-k. We are switching from Seton and I am comparing other books. I think to save on confusion we want to go with a fixed curriculum without enrolling. I hear different things from different people, ie Saxon is the best for math, etc. Are you pleased with the books MODG offers or do you supplement? Thanks so much!
I was looking at Seton enrollment as well as MODG so I was curious what you didn’t care for about Seton?
I find Seton to be a very dry approach to education. LOTS of busywork. Yes, there is meat, but there is a lot of repetitive work.
If you’d like to chat more about it, I’d be happy to email with you.
I’m pretty happy with the books. I actually have a post in the queue detailing more of my opinions. It would be redundant to post that here. I’ll get it up soon!
Thank you for sharing these organizational hacks! We are starting with MODG this year, and I’ll have a 4th, 1st, and three littles. I am excited about beginning the curriculum this fall (without enrolling), though wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be “doing” in the time being to prepare for a smooth start. My brain doesn’t really think of organizational tips on its own, but I sure can follow them. So, again, thank you! God bless, Charlene
Way to go, Charlene! I hope your year goes well. My tips for a smooth school transition is to make sure you have a workable schedule, there is a flow (to paper, to finished projects, to grading, to sharpening pencils, EVERYTHING), and that there is very clear direction for the kids. Best wishes!