Friday, June 18, 2010

Homeschooling - Planning Guide

You may recall the other day, that I was bemoaning the dearth of Homeschooling Workshops out there.

One of the things I would like to see most is the Canine Homeschooling Curriculum Planning Guide that would almost certainly be handed out on Day One - a guide that would help me figure out the things my particular dogs should be taught. It would include questionnaires and lists of ideas to help create your dog's personalized Curriculum, pointers to helpful programs (like Sue Ailsby's truly wonderful Training Levels) plus all the paraphernalia needed to plan out their studies and keep track of their progress.

Such things exist for Homeschooler's of Humans, why not for Canines?

Using what I've already done, and what I saw on Human Homeschooler's sites, I could picture it looking something like this:

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Canine Homeschooling Curriculum Planning Guide

Introduction
  • Family Pet vs. Family Member
  • Why Homeschooling?
  • What a Curriculum is (and is not!)

Overview
  • Core Studies
    • (What every dog should know: Sit, Down, Come...)
  • Family Member
    • (Developing a dog you can live with)
  • Citizenship
    • (Developing a dog welcome in society)
  • Extracurricular Activities
    • (Organized/Purposeful Fun)
  • Just For Fun

Getting Started
  • Long-Term Goals
    • (The big picture - where are you headed?)
  • Curriculum Definition
    • (The big plan - what do you need to do to reach those goals?)
  • Reality Check
    • (Can you get there from here?)

Basic Planning Guides
  • Monthly Lesson Planner
  • Weekly Lesson Planner

Additional Planning Guides
  • Unit Studies Planner
  • Projects Planner
  • Learning Activities Planner
  • Field Trips Planner

Basic Planning Templates
  • Long-Term Goals Form
  • Yearly Goals Form
  • Monthly Manager Form
  • Weekly Worksheet Form

Additional Planning Templates
  • Project Form
  • Activity Form
  • Performance Schedule Form

Tracking Templates
  • Progress Tracker Form
  • Report Card Form
  • Student Evaluation Form
  • Student Academic Record Form
  • Achievement Forms

Additional Resources

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... or at least that is what the Table of Contents might look like.

Last night I created a web site that I will devote to Canine Homeschooling. At the moment, it is just a shell - a gutted facade of the template I started from - but should it blossom into something more, I'll let you know.

Until then, if anyone knows of anything already out there, please let me know. You'll be saving me a whole lot of work!

3 comments:

Cavaliers Corner said...

Sounds great. So do it! Very comprehensive curriculum. Good on you.

Wendy Krehbiel said...

Sensing a career change for Kathleen....

BZ Dogs said...

Definitely NOT a career change!!! I adore all aspects of my job. This falls squarely in the "hobby" category. :)