I read Getting Things Done a few years ago and loved it. It was the first organization book I read that seemed to make practical sense for a stay-at-home, home schooling mother to five. Maybe because the book is written to help CEO’s of major world corporations. Apparently CEO’s of major world corporations have a million things flying at them at once, and they need to deal with all of them and still get things done. Sounds like most homeschooling moms of many.
So this summer we are using a Getting Things Done approach to learning. We brainstormed a list of projects we want to accomplish this summer. These include some of the following:
Study local history
Learn to write a letter
Plant a garden
Do some woodworking
Learn about Canadian geography
Learn soap carving
Learn about hospitals
etc.
The next thing to do is determine what the end product of each project will look like. For example, we will have learned to write a letter, if we are able to actually write and send a letter to someone. The end outcome for soap carving would be a finished figure. The garden project would be a success if we were able to eat something we grew. Basically we decide now, when our project will end, by determining what it will look like at the conclusion.
Next is to decide on a Next Action for each project. This is a single doable step to further our project. For letter writing, we determined that we need supplies – note paper, envelopes and stamps. We added that to our errand list. For our garden we need a plot of land that gets a fair amount of sunshine. We will need to go out into yard and mark out our plot. For wood working and soap carving, we ordered some books from the library. For our geography project we decided to “travel” across the country from coast to coast. We’re going to keep a log and start in B.C. So we need a binder with paper for the log, and books about B.C.
When all these actions are complete, we will visit our project list again and decide on what the next doable step is toward completing the project.
My children are excited about the summer, and so am I. I’m also excited about the fact that I’m teaching them how to manage numerous projects at once so one day they can be CEO’s of major world corporations, or homeschooling mothers and fathers to many!
Related posts:
Recent Comments