How I plan for the week… with popsicle sticks

I've been seeing a lot of back-to-school pictures in my feeds. Do you commemorate the start of a new school year? We usually take pictures of the kids (holding signs that they've drawn and colored themselves) and we end our day with a special dessert. This year it was ice cream sandwiches. (We're a dairy-sensitive family, so finding frozen novelties can be a challenge, but we love the SoDelicious treats.)

Now that a lot of folks have started school, I wanted to share my popsicle stick method that I use for weekly planning. I used to write down daily plans in the form of a to-do list the night before (or the morning of), but I found that too much was falling by the wayside. The kids couldn't always find my plan (or be able to read it when they were young), and sometimes I would even forget what I had written down for us to do. That's why I devised a new system a couple years ago, and it's held up remarkably well. It takes no more than 10-minutes to prep, but keeps us going throughout the year.

On a plain popsicle stick (like those sold in a craft store), I write down a school subject at the end, front and back. I make additional sticks with the same subject for as many times as we may study it in a week. For instance, I may make 5 history sticks (to account for the possibility of doing history every day), but I'd only make 2 art sticks (because we would normally do art once a week, but I like having an extra). I use a separate color marker to write subjects for each child (or you could use a different colored stick) and a different color for subjects we will do together.

Now comes the really high-tech part. I get 3 cups that are differentiated in some way. I wanted to use 3 different colored cups, but when I started this, we only had red party cups, so that's what I used. (We're still using the same cups!) I marked the cups as "To Do," "Done," and "Extras."

At the start of each week, I put sticks in the "To Do" cup for all the things we will be working on over the course of the week. Anything that we won't be working on stays in the "Extras" cup. At the start of each school day I take out sticks for things my kids should do that day. They each have their own pile and the sticks provide a very tangible way for them to see what they need to get done. As the day goes on, they put their completed sticks in the "Done" cup. At the end of the day, any sticks that are still on the table have to go in the "To Do" cup again. By the end of the week, I have a good idea of what we've successfully accomplished. If there are leftover sticks, we are held accountable for unfinished work. (Unexpected doctor visit? Life happens and there's grace. Your child keeps pushing off a certain subject, leaving a lot of sticks leftover? Consequences. Another week in which art wasn't done? I forgot to buy the right supplies - hop online now to order materials. Etc.)

I adjust the sticks in the "To Do" cup when I know we won't have a typical week. Have family in town for a long weekend? Make adjustments for a 3-day week. Doing a special history unit study? Forget the grammar sticks. Ahead in math? Maybe do it 3 times this week instead of 5. And so forth. This method is flexible and you get to decide what goes in the "To Do" cup at the start of each week. As a bonus, once the sticks are made, you can keep them for years to come and add new subjects as needed.

And there it is! The popsicle stick planning method is an easy way to get things done and stay accountable throughout the week. I also love that it allows my kids to have more ownership in their education. They can work ahead to open up more free time towards the end of the week. In our house, we also don't have firm start times, but we tell them what time they need to be done each day. They get more control over their personal schedule as long as they've finished their work for the day as laid out in the sticks on the table.

If you decide to try this method, I'd love to hear how it works for you! Next week, I'll share my super simple, no-nonsense recordkeeping method.