How Do You...Plan a New School Year? {Part 2}

How do you keep track of all the book possibilities when planning a new school year?

Last Wednesday, I talked about how I narrow down what to teach when planning a school year.  Since we don't use a box curriculum, our choices are endless.Today I'm focusing on how I find books on our chosen topics and how I keep track of all those lists of books!

Since we have no limitations on what books or methods we can use, my mind is always alert to ideas.  A friend may rave about a book series they read for history.  If it sounds like something we'd enjoy and it fits the next time period we need to cover, I do a little research and pencil it into our plans. If I glimpse an art book in the bookstore that seems to fit our style, I make a mental note to look it up later. I often work several years ahead, not because I have to, but because I have more ideas than I have time to implement them!

The key is getting my ideas out of my head and onto paper before I forget and maybe miss out on a gem.  Sometimes I simply scribble a title or author in the margins of my planning notebook. Lately, though, I've been taking advantage of two online list systems. 

The first is the Amazon wishlist.  If I hear about a book I may want to use for science, I save the title to an Amazon wishlist, designated for school books.  Adding to the list does not mean I intend to purchase it from Amazon or even purchase it at all, but I put it there as a reminder. 

I also use the list system available on my local library's online card catalog.  If the library owns a book that I want to use for school, I click "Save To My List" and I am able to save dozens of books into as many categories as I create . 

So how does all this work from a practical standpoint?  Say, for example, I read about a book on architecture on a friend's blog.  I know I want to study architecture for art next year so I check to see if my library has a copy.  They have a copy available so I save it.  If they do not own the book, I check Amazon and put the item on my wishlist. Later when I'm compiling my resources for the year, I read back through my lists, narrow down my choices, and gather all the books I need. 

How do you find and keep track of books or resources you want to use?

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My How Do You...? series is ending soon.  Is there anything you want to know?  Leave a comment here or on my Facebook page or send me an e-mail.  I'd love to hear from you.

In the meantime, you can browse the archived index of past topics.