Over the summer, I spent a day printing out all of the pages for the first semester and organizing them by weeks of the school year.
These weekly folders are stored in the container below
I printed out the first semester, sorted it by week, then by day and then labeled each day's work with a post-it note.
I'm SO glad I did this!
Once we started our school year, I only have to move that week's pages into daily work folders and I'm ready for the week!
(my version of workboxes since I don't have room for actual workboxes)
This has been an awesome way for me to cut down on my prep time and I'm so glad I spent some time up front to organize each week's pages. Of course, I can't take all of the credit! Paths of Exploration is well-organized and is very user-friendly. Taking some time in the beginning, though, to familiarize myself with the curriculum and the general flow has paid off tremendously!
Because of this, I was able to prep the games for each unit so I wouldn't be left scrambling the week of or the day when needed. My Sunday's are not filled with printing off worksheet pages or cutting out bingo pieces because the prep was done during the summer.
I highly recommend doing this upfront prepping if you attempt Paths of Exploration. Not that going week by week would be laborious since I know several bloggers who function successfully in this manner. For me, I find my Sundays fill up with last minute dinner plans with friends and our church activities, so it has worked to take the stress off by prepping prior to the school year. Prepping before each unit, could be another way to do the upfront prepping without attempting to concur an entire semester.
Geography Matters' Trail Guide to Learning series has taken the time to put together a well thought-out curriculum that flows together nicely. I'm so grateful this curriculum is organized so well that I'm able to organize how best it works for me and my family! I cannot say this for many other curriculums I've tried. Some seem to leave both the parent and chil suspended from day to day or week to week, tied up in a knot of instructions. Not so with Paths of Exploration! I have the freedom to prep as much or as little or as often or infrequently as I want and still arrive at a successful outcome!
Stay tuned for my next post on how our first unit went!
*Disclaimer: I receive a discount on the complete package in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion on this curriculum.
