Doing What Works

Through this past decade or more of homeschooling, I've tried a lot of things to help us in our quest to 'get school done' and keep track of what we are doing. We've done daily white board lists, assignment binder systems, assignment sheets that mom printed, lesson planners that I filled out as we went along, just reading through our books and not really following a lesson plan because we knew what books we wanted to finish, and laminated flip charts with pictures. I've used baseball card holders with assignments stuck in them, peg board chore charts, iPhone apps, hand-written daily lists, elaborate worksheets that I have created or others created, and Homeschool Tracker software. We used a few different versions of workboxes (school boxes or drawers), too. I sometimes revert to one or more of these methods to change things up, but I find that I always fall back on low-tech lesson planning: good old fashioned paper and pen.

Even while I keep all of my graded work and records in Homeschool Tracker, I still enjoy writing out our weekly requirements. There's something cathartic about actually WRITING something out. It helps me get my mind around what all we have to accomplish during the week. It reminds me of my own school days. It connects me with my to-do list in a way that is tangible. Best of all, it seems to be the one thing that really helps keep the kids on task better than all of my expensive, detailed, complicated 'programs' and processes I tried to implement.

Lately, I've been in a weekly rather than daily mode for my list-making. I include our daily chores in one section, our weekly appointments in another, and then a list for mom and a school list for kids - all on one sheet of paper. How simple is that? I make notes on this list through the week and the kids add check marks for completed items (at the end of the week, some items have 5 checks). The hard part is making sure we don't misplace the notebook that contains our list if we end up taking some school on the road.

For those of you that like to see an example of our simple "what works for us right now" list, here's this week (mind you, this is a week's worth of work - not a day):

MOM:
make worksheet copies (MOH final review, AC p.25 for binders)
post Kaden's last book report
add finished work to Tracker/enrichment club presentations from last week
cut in the paint on the kitchen/hall walls
menu/groceries/bills
Bible Study books procured

DATES:
Blog Chat with Lisa this weekend, Help mom w/ tire & yard
7 year blogiversary Friday
Art class Friday

CHORES:
breakfast, kitchen
teeth, dressed
avoid distractions
gather, sort, rotate laundry
dishes, help w/ lunch
laundry folded, put away
clean rooms
help w/ dinner, dishes, floor, counters
cook or bake
extra chores: bathrooms, vacuuming, sheets, refrigerator, closets

HISTORY:
Mapping MOH
Final Review 1-27 MOH
Haley's Bible Handbook
AC: p. 46
Chronology wksht in history binder
VC cards: green 3 & 4, purple 36 & 37, review order
Finish OWH 103-111
Chapter books on historical period
Iliad - keep reading
MOH Lesson 28
SOTAW 131-136 Sampson
OWH 112-121 Mid East & Test
UWH 142-143 Hebrews
Discussion p. 126 rationalizing powers

OTHER SCHOOL:
thank you cards
last few math pages, make sure graded and recorded
work on memory verse work : Psalm 90:10-17
practice piano
ch 8-12 Raising Maidens of Virtue
Psalm 96-105
24 Family Ways 3:1-6
Write 10 fave Proverbs in prayer journals
Write sponsored child : India
Read Science 241-263
Practice Piano

I don't have to add things like drawing and gardening since lately, every time I turn around, one of the teens is sneaking off to pick weeds and spend time outdoors - or doodling with some new art supply. This week charcoal was the favorite - which made for lots of smudges after the babies discovered that big sis had left the supplies unattended on the dining room table.

I used to have little charts with goals that were character related back in the days when time was not so fleeting. Little people under foot make for much less thoughtful teacher planning time. I've been thinking this week about resurrecting those lists, though. I think each of us could work on some character trait issues. Big kids and mom included. For one thing, I'd really like to do less lecturing and more praising. I tend to turn in to a monster when the chores are not done properly and things are left around the house where they don't belong. The three year old is working on potty training (which makes our days even more interesting than usual - and the carpet a lot uglier). Tiny tot is needing to do a little less nursing and a little more eating of solid food - working on figuring out a way to wean him gently since he prefers milk to pretty much anything (and he's 16 months old already). Biggest dude needs to work on doing things without delay, and taking less time to get tasks completed. Girlie-monster needs to work on less complaining and remembering to pick up the things she gets out (which she gets honest from a certain man in the house who stubbed his toe on his workboots this weekend).

We all have our mountains to climb, don't we? Good thing we have a God big enough for all these monumental tasks.



I love it when you are trudging along and you get a glimpse at the much bigger purpose...

"The most important decision anyone is every called on to make is to settle in one's heart, once and for all, the matter of one's attitude toward Christ.

On that depends everything.

It is a glorious thing to be a Christian, the most exalted privilege of mankind."

That was a snip of our devotional reading today in Halley's Bible Handbook. And so we shake off our medicine head (the cedar mulch and garden herb harvesting this past weekend has done a number on all of us), and we stick our noses back in our books... in between mediating fights over toys and filling tiny tummies with snacks to ward off nap-time crankiness.

This is what works right now. However slow and methodical it might seem.

What works for you? I'd love to read your ideas and thoughts about your homeschool journey as it is right now laid out before you...

Keep trudging along, mama of many homeschoolish kids. You aren't alone!




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I Love Homeschooling: The School Year and a Slide Show

Our 2011-2012 school year began without a bang yesterday. You see, we school year round, so we had only taken 2 weeks off ... and are just picking up on the path we were already trodding down a while back. No fanfare. No horse and pony show.

We still had a couple of distractions to deal with... which refused to nap. #gofigure

I kind of miss those elementary days when we had back to school breakfasts and goals days. I think we'll probably take one this week - just for old time's sake. We're also finding that we are in need of a few school supplies to get organized in our new space (moved to the dining room again now that the book cases are almost installed)... so I foresee a trip to Walmart for binders and mechanical pencils in the near future.

Our big thing yesterday was history review. I'm using Mystery of History, Tapestry of Grace, Story of the World, and a slew of other books and curriculums to make our way through ancients (still). Funny that art and history are my favorite subjects and I seem to tackle school like I do my plate at the dinner table : get all the unsavory stuff done first and THEN "dessert" or the favorite dish. That didn't work last year. History and art were shuffled aside (well, at least history - since both of my big kids draw like they breathe - on everything, including math scratch sheets).

I can't wait to show you the after photo of the dining room... when we finish painting and installing the shelves. Yesterday they brought in the middle piece and the counter for it... and screwed the cabinets together and to the walls. It may take another week or so, until the entire job is finished and the school and cookbooks can be moved to their new homes. The amount of time this new set-up will be saving mama is going to help our year ROCK! Already we noticed a big difference yesterday as little kids were able to play in the living room divided by the dining room half wall -- and still be SEEN and HEARD, even though the TV wasn't a distraction to my teens. Yay!!! It helps to be closer to the kitchen downstairs, too -- because teenagers need snacks and drinks to stay focused on tedium.

As for mama, I have some goals for this school year, too. One of them is to lose between 15 and 20 lbs by the end of October. I started the 17 Day Diet today (my husband started yesterday). We cleaned out our local grocery store's produce section last night (the poor checker was on her 2nd week of her first job and I gave her a real hard time at the register figuring out what all that strange organic stuff was). Eggplants may not be a really popular dish, I take it? The 17 Day Diet looks pretty good. I have a friend who has lost 22 lbs. on it in nearly 2 months... so I'm optimistic - and know that even a few pounds will be worth it.  

You wanna go on it with me? [If so, let me know. I'll start a Facebook Group and we can do it together.]

I have to get going and get back to my amazingly long list, the menu, the bills, the school schedule for today, and my never-ending laundry pile. Here's to 2011-2012... may this school year be the best ever!

Enjoy this little slideshow of some of Jennifer's and my photos from the THSC Convention:



I love homeschoolers!

Aiming High

What are your goals this year?

I'm reaching for the sky -- "taking joy" even though I know there will be setbacks -- having hope that the Lord will lead me on a path of success as I scribble the plans for this school year in my pink planner this week.

::Book cases still aren't finished.
::Babies never cease to add the busy to our schedule.
::Big kids are not thrilled with giving up the loose summer routine for a more directed and serious school year.

BUT...

Last I checked, the entire universe was still in spectacular order... from the starry skies to the tiniest cellular systems. I'm counting on the one who created the original 'to-do list' to order my year.

COME READ ABOUT MY RESOLUTIONS FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR AT THE HOMESCHOOL POST!

The BIG FAT Annual List Tradition

At the end of every year, I make a list. I don't have anything against resolutions... but that's for another post - and they are very general for me... mostly about heart matters rather than physical things. My BIG FAT ANNUAL list is mostly a guideline so that I can aim towards a goal. I make long lists, so I don't expect myself to get it ALL completed... sort of like how you can't read every book in the library. Lists are living, breathing, always-changing reminders of things that you don't want to forget about... things that are important to you. They aren't meant to intimidate... but to be a safety net when you aren't sure what to do next. Glance back at the list... and there's always something there for you to check off - and checking things off is like a piece of dark chocolate: delicious!

I brought some of this list over from 2009 - which was when I started this big fattie... because it is either relevant again (with ANOTHER new baby on the way... I was expecting the Viking back then), or because there were things that never got done. I made sure to clean it up and add new things, too. Something old and something new.

Want to make your own list for 2011? Join me. You can sign up for the linky here... I'll pick a random participant and mail you a special gift if you share your list with me. Who knows, maybe you thought of something I didn't!


134 things to do in 2011
________________________
(Key: Bold = Working on it this month, Strike = done)

1. Spend time every day with God - prayer journal, prayer, meditation, Bible reading
2. Pay off a credit card
3. Get hospital bag ready for labor and delivery
4. Put up the crib
5. Paint Morgan and the baby's room
6. Sell the car seat/stroller combo and get a new car seat and double stroller
7. Finish painting the book case for the baby's room
8. Completely give up soda pop with sugar or artificial sweeteners - forever
9. Read a book/watch marriage tapes with my husband (about relationships)
10. Find a really good homeschool groove
11. Get the Christmas decorations put away by January 15th and up by December 1st
12. Fix Kev's truck
13. Do the Love Dare for my husband
14. Buy a baby book
15. Have the baby and make sure to get photos of his wrinkly feet
16. Put school before housework no matter what the house looks like
17. Get the taxes done for 2010
18. Print my list and start checking it off
19. Get completely caught up with grading, recording, filing, and portfolios for school
20. Wash, organize and prepare for baby
21. Redesign my blog
22. Spend time outdoors every other day (why is this so hard for me?)
23. Finish indexing my blog (after the move to WP)
24. Buy 5 new must-have books or curriculum texts for the school library: Book of Time, ...
25. Work on a project for a company needing homeschool expertise
26. Listen to/watch the Word of Promise New Testament all the way through
27. Work on being better about routine - bedtimes, getting up, school times, etc.
28. Purge emails and keep the boxes cleaned out
29. Renew library card and pay fee
30. Do another 5-10 portrait/conference photography jobs for my portfolio
31. Get through my review box and do all the give-aways I've committed to
32. Make birth announcement cards after the baby comes
33. Have the kids copy a book in the Bible
34. Learn how to use the stupid video camera
35. Say no to something I can't do - without feeling guilty
36. Set aside a planning day for homeschool every other month
37. Prepare and plant the garden for Spring
38. Homeschool Tracker lesson planning/recording weekly
39. Do a new Bible study
40. Cut my hair in February
41. Blog about procrastination projects completed
42. Keep a correspondence calendar/notebook and keep in touch with family and friends all year
43. Make a budget
44. Install a baby gate at the top and bottom of the stairs
45. Purge things we don't need - sell, donate, & throw away
46. Quilt some pillows with Ammie for the school room & baby bedding/bedspread
47. Get portraits made of all the children together and our family after the baby comes
48. Redo our school schedule and adjust as needed to our new routine
49. Print the photos we have in digital format and put them in albums
50. Help the kids blog every week
51. Install Win7 on my hateful laptop
52. Work on my blog series each week
53. Read 3 homeschooling how-to books to inspire and encourage me as a teacher
54. Start doing a family devotional and reading time
55. Reorganize my closet and sell my maternity clothes
56. Get down to my pre-pregnancy weight and then my goal weight after the baby arrives
57. Sync the iPad
58. Get a case for my iPad
59. Cook and freeze meals
60. Create a will and make sure life insurance papers are updated
61. Send Kristen's wedding pictures to her
62. Schedule time for myself every day and keep a journal as to how it is spent
63. Get Kaden to organize his display of Lego creations
64. Read 50 GOOD books with the kids
65. Keep up with menu plans and weekly meals at home (eat out less)
66. Get a few large cooking pots (cast iron, dutch oven, casserole, deep cake pan)
67. Get a water softener system for the house so our appliances don't die
68. Put the photos in albums
69. Get pictures made in a photo booth
70. Let the kids cook a meal without help for dinner each month
71. Train someone to take over admin at the Post
72. Read to the kids every school day
73. Do more art and fun activities with the kids for school
74. Height and weight measurements twice a year for kids
75. Declutter once a month (set a schedule up for it)
76. Nature journal with the children each week
78. Finish our state postcard project by the end of this school year and fill out our state books more
79. Find a good place to back up my photos online & organize them on my external
80. Send Valentine postcards
81. Be better about birthdays and Christmas giving/thoughtfulness
82. Reward myself with a special treat when I get half way through the list
83. Go swimming once a week while the pool is open
84. Get a copy of our credit reports and go through them
85. Post a recipe on Gathering Manna three times a week
86. Pick peaches
87. Print a blank 2011-12 calendar (school year) for my dayplanner in August
88. Deep clean the house
89. Go to the doctor and have my moles checked
90. Do more with coupons/find more ways to be frugal
91. Finish one scrapbook
92. Experiment with digital scrapbooking
93. Go on a retreat or a God-centered conference to charge myself up
94. Have someone over for dinner each month
95. Finish reading the manual for the camera and read a digital photography book
96. Give the kids standardized tests
97. Paint a painting
98. Fix the king bed frame
99. Organize scrap supplies and papers
100. Let the kids have more sleepovers
101. Make window coverings for the upstairs
102. Learn how to make dolmas
103. Participate in Flat Stanley
104. Donate books to the library or another homeschool mom
105. Thanksgiving in June or July (just for fun)
106. Buy a cordless mouse and keyboard
107. Get a new house phone system
108. Watch the rest of the Beth Moore videos that I left off in my last Bible study of hers
109. Have at least 10 date nights in 2011: 1 - Greek food in January, ...
110. Make cookies and take them to the librarian
111. Go on 8 field trips, 1 M to the Opera, ...
112. Host a holiday gathering at my house
113. Go through the last boxes in the garage from our move 3 years ago (ha!)
114. Decorate Kaden's room and paint his walls
115. Redesign Kaden's blog
116. Hire a maid to come help with cleaning the house at least 5 times in 2011: 1. Lucy over in January, helps me take down my tree!, 2. After the income tax return ...
117. Buy a drawer full of new underwear and bras
118. Plan ahead to do Ann's Advent Devo next year & Jesse Tree
119. Eat at the Melting Pot
120. Steam clean the carpets
121. Install overhead lighting in the game room
122. Get Photoshop and Light Room/learn how to use them
123. Do a web design for money
124. Add new handles to the filing cabinets?
125. Tile the bathrooms upstairs
126. Save money for doing our flooring next year (every year we push this out)
127. Finish decorating the garage (hanging tools, pegboard, painting concrete & walls)
128. Get a new set of beaded jewelry and a hat at Charming Charlies
129. Buy some lighting/lamps for the bedroom
130. Make Christmas ornaments and bake cookies next holiday season
131. Make 2010-11 annual letter for next Christmas
132. Detail the cars
133. Take the kids to see Christmas lights next year, plan on going to Little Bethlehem ahead of time
134. Create a new holiday tradition for our family

And I'm sure there will be more... things that get added along the way. I'll add anything extra to my monthly "check-up" posts to keep track of how I'm progressing - rather than bog this list down.

I first plan to organize the list in to a daily, weekly, and monthly chunks... and to count out the leftover assignments to see how many "procrastination projects" I'll have to complete each month to get the list finished. Then I'll probably pencil them on a blank yearly calendar by month as they seem to fit (obviously the Christmas related ones will go at the END of 2011).

After I have a digestible, organized idea of how to go about tackling my list, I'll be writing out each month's chunk on a blank sheet of paper (writing helps me internalize things)... and I'll keep that small list in my dayplanner to see each day when I open it.

Sounds like a plan, eh? Want to join me and all the other crazy list-makers out there? Just add your link below.



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Let's see your list!!!

Remodeling Dreams

I heard that Pledge was doing a "Pledge to Love Your Kitchen" contest - one in which a $15,000 gift card from a major home improvement retailer to help update their kitchen... and a year's supply of Pledge to help make it shine.

Doesn't that sound dreamy?

What would I do with 15,000$ in my kitchen?

* It would be extra cool if they sent those Design on a Dime folks in - and someone with carpenter skills. Because the problem with my kitchen is that my back door is right in the way of my table... and on the other side of the table is a long, shallow 2-door pantry. I would have a HUGE oversized island built that had bar-seating on one side for the kids and LOTS of storage under it - to replace my rickety antique table and give us more room for the tools we need to cook. I'm thinking something using antique materials (old glass refurbished cabinet doors) and something really blocky and solid would be perfect. The more rustic looking, the better. (estimated 350$)

* I'd love to have the funds to refloor the kitchen (and subsequently the downstairs because it all flows together in that 'open concept' look) and put in shinier counter tops. My plan? Rip out the builder carpet/nasty plastic and stain the concrete. (estimated 4K)

* The light fixtures would HAVE to go - replacing those would really make the kitchen pop (and the dining room). (estimated 450$ - cuz, chandeleirs are my fave)

* The cabinets could be updated with just a little antiquing and some top molding - maybe some hardware. A few could even have chicken wire or some other type of mesh put in to replace the doors... and lights could be added for a decorative touch. (estimated 150$)

* I would put in some fancy cabinet features such as roll outs and lazy susans to make getting things out of cabinets and the pantry much easier. (estimated $300)

* I would add a pot rack above my kitchen window and put in curtains that matched on both kitchen windows. (estimated 175$)

* I would upgrade my dishwasher, fix my ice-maker, and put in a water softener system so we would stop losing appliances (worried about the new washer upstairs if we don't get the softner soon). And of course, at the sink - a reverse osmosis filter for drinking would be put in to save us a ton of money on plastic bottled waters (which in turn would be a really GREEN thing for the environment). (estimated 3,500$)



* I would buy some accessories (baskets for linens and oversized canisters for the counter) and matching towls... and I would put all my cookbooks in the dining room bookshelf that I'm dreaming of building - along with a nice, long, new, over-sized, rustic wooden table that would seat at least 12 (estimated $800)

... and I'd still have nearly 5,000$ to fix the floors and bathroom cabinets upstairs!

A girl can dream, right?

Of course Pledge could help me love my kitchen (and a whole lot of other places in my house) with this amazing make-over and after it was done, the lemony scent and shine would go a long way in keeping a smile on mama's already happy face.

You can enter the MomItForward.com Pledge contest, too - but hurry - it ends tomorrow!

Randomness with a Plan: My Blog Calendar

I love the quote at the top of my October calendar...

"Warning: Dates on calendar are closer than they appear."

Ain't it the truth? Just look: October is already gone.

Lately the only thing standing between me and a missed blog deadline is a tall glass of tea or coffee... because mama is tired, and fat, and pregnant, and old. And allergic to caffeine because it makes my heart feel like it is going to explode and I can't catch my breath when I drink even the minute amount contained in DECAF.

FACT OF LIFE: Therefore - without caffeine - deadlines are going to get missed around here. Just like this baby is going to get here and disrupt our fledgling attempt at getting back in to a homeschool groove (which only took - what - 20 months after the last stork visit?).

So please take this advice with a grain of salt... and for you 'close pay-attentioners' (I'm tired, so I'm allowed to come up with new words on my own blog, right?)... there might be a few perks because I'm actually showing you the inner details of my November blog schedule. Technically that might mean you could just show back up for the give-aways and skip all the fluff... but I know you are bigger people than that. Good people. Maybe not so smart because you are reading my blog, but good for sure.

Now to get to the title of the post and help you figure out how to stay in the saddle when the month is galloping by at light speed...

Enter brilliant idea to stay on top of busy holiday posting schedules, etc: A blog calendar.

Well, not just a blog calendar, heavens! ANY sort of calendar is good during the holidays to keep yourself from rotating in a circle and asking yourself "what was I doing here?" A homeschool calendar is great (got one - which I'm working frantically on as I enter lesson plans for the entire rest of the year in to Homeschool Tracker for every subject so my kids won't be lost when their tiniest brother arrives on the scene). A menu plan calendar is necessary (totally under-rated... my menu planning - when we do it regularly and actually have money for groceries - is a life saver). A child's student planner might be very helpful for the older ones (big HINT to TOS that I'm ready to review these if you could just email me the PDF - please... so no one gets hurt).

Calendars are great... and if you try not to be such a blasted perfectionist and look at them as a guide rather than a strict do-or-die schedule, you'll find that they can hold your hand through the busy fog (I'm talking to all those adult ADD moms like me out there) and not slap you over the wrist with a ruler when you have to move a deadline out. Because there's only enough time in the day - especially when it is decaffeinated time... am I right?

OK, so here's what my very un-technical blog calendar for November looks like in a nut shell. I'm only showing you one of them - because I have 2 sites that I have been managing the calendars for (for about 5+ years): Sprittibee and The Homeschool Post. Obviously the Post has gotten most of my quality time for a few months... but that's going to change soon. I promise. Once the awards are over, you and me - me and you are going to be back on regular visitation. For better or for worse.

Without further ado...

Sprittibee's November Blog Calendar
11th : Randomness with a Plan (the blog calendar)
12th : Participate in A B See Photomeme (hosted at the Post)
13th : The Secret Weekend
14th : Geography on the Go
15th : Multitude Monday (hosted at A Holy Experience)
16th : Review of ... an awesome product you'll be jealous of me for getting. (P-Touch!)
17th : My Relevant Adventure Series... continues... (excuse to show more pix)
18th : Christian Music Artist Review (3 artists and possibly a give-away!)
19th : FTFF (resurrected original series: Field Trip Foto Friday - DC!)
20th : Link to www.hsbapost.com for the announcement of the blog award winners.
21st : Participate in A B See Photomeme (hosted at the Post)
22nd : Multitude Monday (hosted at A Holy Experience)
23rd : Sweetshot Tuesday (hosted at My 3 Boybarians) - Fall Themed
24th : Relevant Adventure Series... continues...
25th : Happy Turkey Day
26th : Movie Review and Movie/Popcorn Give Away
27th : Pick something from the review box... I'm leaning towards children's books!
28th : Guest Post or a day off to rest (I'll be lucky if I get half of this posted)
29th : Simple Woman Daybook (because these are so fun and easy)
30th : Learning Enrichment for my Homeschool Series (2007-8)
1st : Order of Operations Series... continues... Academics!
2nd : Planning Ahead for College (with some sponsor links)
3rd : FTFF - Pioneer Farms
4th : Pregnancy Update

OK, so now you can watch my blog calendar and know how far behind I am as the days pass with no posts. Maybe this way you can shoulder some of my stress for me so I know that's not the reason why I'm swelling up like a watermelon and look like I'm having triplets already. Or you could hold me accountable via email... and maybe dangle proverbial carrots at me (*like Starbucks gift cards*) if I actually get to my post each day in here.

We'll see how it goes. We're actually doing pretty good (praise God) lately in the homeschool arena. It appears that the kids needed some NEW life pumped in to them by thinner, more energetic teachers that aren't their boring, pregnant mom. Andrew Pudewa (on video) seems to have been the life support we needed to finally get two solid weeks of school done in a ROW. That's huge. Not having a baby in the hospital or our entire family in a hotel in DC has also helped. But I chalk it all up to fervent prayer - and maybe Daddy's threats that if they don't get in high gear, they'll be on a school bus come next September. That always works, too. Good thing our SCHOOL calendar goes on (and on, and on, and on...) until the end of August. For you anal types, that is exactly 180 days worth of school from this past Monday - including our scheduled holidays, of course.

For now, I'm basking in the homeschool groove and hoping I can revive my quiet little spot on the net and not spend so much time over at the Post (as wonderful as it is). Viva la homeschooling... and homeschool bloggers with blog calendars!

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Tackling The Clutter, Homeschool Style

Homeschool families are at a disadvantage when it comes to getting organized. Having children at home – and even mom at home – all day adds to the mess tenfold. Just imagine: three meals a day in the house, all of the school papers and projects spread out on the floors and tables, book cases and cabinets full of educational supplies, and chores that get neglected because of other, more important learning experiences. Add these all up and you have a colossal mess: a daily challenge to overcome that tends to overwhelm even the most dedicated of organizing mamas!

You can ‘tread water’ by just tackling the urgent – laundry, dishes, floors, paperwork… but if you ever plan to get ahead, you have to create your own system – and then devote your entire family to keeping it. Everyone will have their own system – based on what works for your family. Each of us is different: different amounts of children, different types of stored things, different amounts of times in the home, etc. No matter how different all of us are, though – one thing is the same for everyone (homeschooling or not): clutter.

The first part of getting organized is getting rid of clutter. Clutter can be anything that is in the WRONG place, or things that don’t really need to be in your home any more because they aren’t being used. We all have our fair share of those types of things because for the most part, things just keep multiplying. The longer you live in one place, the more you accumulate. There are easier ways to learn to purge unneeded things than moving. It takes time, but it is so worth the effort when you can remove the mental weight of all that clutter off of your back. Clutter stresses people out. Having a place for everything and an organized system that works for YOU will give you peace of mind.

Here are some ideas to get rid of the junk and organize the things that stay:

1. Use the 3 Box System: “Keep”, “Donate”, “Trash”

Have your family pick a room together to tackle on a weekend. Just like many of the Home Improvement Television shows instruct their participating home owners to do, set out a set of boxes and start going through the closet, drawers, corners, shelves, and crannies – emptying the room down to it’s core. It’s amazing how much you will begin to ENJOY getting rid of things when you see progress. If you have more than one person doing all the work, you’ll tend to stick with the project until it is done. Better yet – enlist a third party that isn’t as sentimental as you are (someone who hates clutter and keeps a clean house is preferrable). Watch your home begin to slowly morph into an organized haven, one weekend at a a time!

2. Move things UP

Clean floors can give the illusion of a clean space – even if you have your shelves packed and your room busy with furniture. Have a rule in your home that children (and parents – remember to set the good example) can’t create floor piles. It’s tempting to just set things aside to tackle later, but stick to your guns. Utilize upward spaces… such as the wall (hang a floating shelf if you don’t have one to use) or even the ceiling (hang a stuffed animal hammock). Put things in stackable boxes in the top shelf of your closet – ones that are easy to get down and work with so your “to-do piles” can remain tucked away out of sight until you have time to work on them.

3. Light it on Fire

School projects are fun, but it isn’t realistic to keep every single toilet paper animal, macaroni necklace, overly large construction paper glitter painting, or towering clay volcano. The children might balk at the idea at first, but let them start a project scrapbook and PHOTOGRAPH these items. Make them write a paragraph or two about the fun they had making them. Then set a date to have a bonfire! Goodbye clutter, hello sneaky writing assignment!

4. Meet a Need

Freecycle and Craig’s List are great ways to give back to others in need and keep the landfill from growing. People (especially in today’s economic times) are looking for gently used items on both of these great websites. Join either one to get rid of your stuff. Craig’s List is a selling site like Ebay that charges no fee to list your items. Freecycle is a FREEBIES only sight and you are allowed to give requests for needed items as well as give your things away. I have a special place in my heart for Freecycle. There was one year that I was supplied with a Christmas tree and an entire set of pots and pans by giving Freecyclers. I have even seen people giving away LAND on Freecycle. Someone else’s junk might just be your treasure. Just be sure to give away more than you bring home!

5. Thin out your drawers.

Keep only what you need. This is hard for women in the closet department… but before you start figuring out what wardrobe items to give away, tackle the areas where it is easiest. Do you need 10 kitchen skillets? 25 serving spoons? 30 boxes of dental floss? 13 boxes of primary color crayons? Start small and begin to fill a box of ‘Extras’. Before you know it, you’ll be able to donate to Good Will or list things on Freecycle. Keep reminding yourself that the less you have, the less you have to keep up with. Liberate your time by limiting your responsibilities to ‘things’.



I’d love to hear your organizing ideas. Leave me a note in the comment section and let me know what things have helped you to keep your homeschool house functioning with ease. It is an endless battle, but one we can’t afford to lose if we want to keep our sanity.

*This post originally posted at 'Complete Organizing Solutions'.

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Beyond Survival: Practical Answers

I've too often been in the overwhelm. I've read book after book. Post after post. I've heard the advice to pray. Yet, in the thick of dancing toddlers, a needy newborn and a challenging teen, how is meaningful prayer time supposed to happen?

See, I need practical. How do I put this great advice I've gleaned into practice for my family? How does it translate to the day to day chaos?

Let’s admit it. Homeschool families sometimes need strategies. Spending all that time together. In our family, we are blessed with five children from preschool to middle school. The needs are as far-ranging as the age span. So how are homeschool parents supposed to handle it all?

The following are the practical answers I turn to. The advice and wisdom turned reality. Some involve time investment up front for long term results. Some are just the quick fix. Right at home. Right now.



Back to Basics - Living Water, Food and Rest

• Practical Prayer – Pray all day. Every day. How to let go and pray without ceasing even when they are all calling "Mama!"
• Find the Freedom in Frugal Living - yes, I'm afraid I've become that homeschool stereotype
• Take a break. Decide to make meals in the crock pot for two weeks
• More get-it-on-the-table strategies
• Make Sunday the best day of the week – Fast Food for Slow Sundays and the Sunday Box

Save Your Sanity - The Homeschool Day

• What About the Little Ones? The answer to the question I get most often. During school, mom really can be in two places at once.
• The Lunch Lady – tummies are growling after a full morning of school. But you still have your lunch lady job. Here’s a few easy solutions.
• Quiet Time – Just a bit of time apart. What the children and I do after school in the afternoon
• Just Take a Nap – I always put the little ones down for a nap when they are cranky. Sometimes, Mama should take just a 10 minute nap and get over her crankiness too.
• Coffee Break – a recipe for a short, afternoon coffee break (with ideas for the children too)
• Celebrate Every Day or Mad, Sad, Glad - supper time traditions
• Dance with the Dishes - making clearing the table fun
• Just Step Outside – after feeding the crew supper, after a long day teaching and balancing the chaos. Just step out through the front door, walk around the house and come back in the back door refreshed. It really does make a difference.
• More Simple Schooling Strategies

Cultivate Relationships

• Dating Your Husband – free, practical and low cost ideas for date nights
• Big Six Great Dates - "MarriedLife is a ministry for married couples. Our desire is to help you experience the fullest and healthiest marriage possible."
• 48 hrs - A yearly, twice-yearly or even quarterly house swap idea for a get-away or anniversary – using gift cards and just going out to eat for $25 or less.
• Sibling Sleepovers –  cultivate sibling relationships (and pssst – mom and dad get a date night at home too.)
• Practical Communication - practical ideas for parent/child relationships

Simplify Annual Events

• Birthdays the Easy Way – give yourself a break
• Three Gifts for Christmas – gold, frankincense and myrrh - the practical guide so parents don't have to think
  
• Mama on Vacation: Planning and Goal Setting – my annual homeschool planning time “We should make plans – counting on God to direct us.” Proverbs 16:9

Give Thanks - Always

Give thanks, count gifts – the Habit of Family Journaling, inspired by Holy Experience's Journaling as a Spiritual Discipline: Writing and Family Worship




Tricia homeschools five children from preschool to middle school, mixing up a classical and Charlotte Mason style. You can find her facing that daily dose of chaos at Hodgepodge. She contributes a blend of writing at Habits for a Happy Home, The Curriculum Choice and $5 Dinners and is also known as Hodgepodgemom.

"My Brain" (Dayplanner... Planner... Control Journal...)

I've had a lot of questions lately about my planning binder. A long time ago I talked about setting up a planning binder for school, but over the years it has changed quite a bit. Some of those earlier binder posts are linked down at the bottom so you can compare if you are a detailed, list-making, analytical sort... but I figured I'd just tell you what I use TODAY. Since those early days I have simplified a lot. I tried keeping everything but the kitchen sink in my binder - and that broke my back. I tried having a separate school binder and personal binder, but that never seemed to work. Too many things to carry and I always had the wrong binder open when I needed to add information. Worst of all, I was using two different calendars - which was WAY too confusing... and balls got dropped.



SO, this post is about the 'evolved' version of my homemaking, scheduling, blogging, business and school planner. It's everything in one spot - which is why the kids nicknamed it "Mama's Brain". Fancy that - my brain looks like a 3-Ring Binder... and is lime green, too!



The first thing you'll notice about my binder is that it has tabs (see close up of them in the top photo). I use colored tabs with pockets on both sides - plastic ones that are harder to rip. Inside some of these main tabs are smaller, flat, non-pocket tabs for further dividing.

Here below is my 'Brain' tab structure:

Prayer
- Prayer List
- Resolutions
- Prayer Journal Ideas
- Back pocket full of notes/scripture cards/Parent's Prayer

TO DO
- Front Pocket full of notes/learning style quiz/tips
- To Do List
- School To Do List
- Reading List
- Dailies/Weeklies/Monthlies
- Back Pocket empty



School Organization
- Rules
- Punishments/Rewards
- Routines for Kids
- Educational Objectives (school year overview)
- Chores
- School Supplies List
- Articles
- TAB: Attendance
- TAB: Schedule
- Yearly Overview Schedule
- Weekly Subject Schedule/Workboxes
- History Overview
- Science Overview
- Teacher Notes
- TAB: Assignments
- Blank forms
- Science Curriculum copies hole punched
- Rubrics

Menu
- Front pocket with week's coupons/product request forms for Grocery Store
- Sheet protector with week's menu
- Pantry inventory
- Back pocket with meal ideas/grocery list forms/recipes for week

Calendar (see calendar open on desk in photo above)
- Monthly blank calendars (www.calendarlabs.com)
- hole punched items scattered throughout in front of their month (brochures/event clippings/invitations/fliers)

Books
- Book lists for library (has a list of books we want to read and the italic ones are available at the library)
- Reference charts for history timeline and artists
- Notes for book recommendations
- Back pocket with bookmarks



Blogging
- Blog calendar (blank with my notes) for Homeschool Post
- Blog calendar for Sprittibee
- Author list for the Post
- Homeschool Blog Awards notes and info
- To-Do list and post idea notes
- Back pocket with sticky notes, recipes to post on my recipe site, etc

Notes
- Front Pocket with blank sticky notes
- blank notebook paper
- Back pocket with stickers, postcards, stamps

Money
- Photography pricing sheet
- Photography expenses sheet
- spreadsheet for 4 paydays worth of upcoming projected bills

There you have it... my 'Brain' exposed. I'm sure there are things I need to add and probably some things I should remove that I don't use any more.

Examples:
1. Homeschool Tracker keeps track of my homeschool attendance, so I don't use that tab at all.
2. It used to contain a business card section that was really handy for local businesses and I kept an extra library card in there, too. I took it out because I had too many business cards and didn't refer to it that often. I miss having it to refer to, though - especially lately since we've been having so many doctor appointments.
3. I have so many notes about the Relevant conference floating around that it would be handy to put this in my Blogging section under a new tab - maps, brochures, budget, phone numbers and addresses, schedules and agendas, etc.

This is the nitty-gritty current state of my organizational 'Magnum Opus' (masterpiece). This binder is ever-evolving in to something more simple that fits my needs at the moment. How about you? How to you keep on top of the paper trails, things to do and places to be?



Quick Links:
Order of Operations: How I Stay On Top of it All
Homeschool Tracker Software (my record keeping program)
Last year's review of TOS' School Planner
Konos Planning for Dummies
Homeschool Planner Setup



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Carnival of Homeschooling: School Rooms and the Places We Learn

Welcome to the September 28th, 2010 edition of carnival of homeschooling - the 'School Room' episode in honor of 'where we learn'. If you have been a long-time visitor here, you'll know that I have MOVED a lot over my homeschooling years and I've 'done school' just about everywhere in the houses we have lived in. Some houses have had dedicated school rooms (sometimes frequently used, other times neglected for the kitchen table) and others haven't (read: 2 bedroom apartment living in Arkansas). This post is in no way meant to intimidate or compare - we're all about sharing ideas and bringing you little glimpses in to the homeschool areas of others. Today you get to be a 'fly on the homeschool wall'.

But first....

Just what is a Carnival? A carnival is just a blog post - but it has the fingerprints of many bloggers... links to the best posts of all those who choose to participate, in fact. Anyone who has something to add to the homeschool community - whether informative, uplifting, humorous, or crafty... anyone who has something to say about educating kids in a homeschool friendly way can join in and be a voice in the Carnival of Homeschooling. Each of us has a perspective of value to offer! We all have something wonderfully varied and interesting to add to the homeschool blogosphere. So if you are new to the carnival scene, browse through these posts and read what other homeschoolers have to say... then check out the bottom of this post to see how you can join in (maybe next time?).

School rooms and learning spots...

Perhaps the most famous and well loved school room on the blogosphere - Ann Voskamp's. I am sure she has had more than a dozen homeschool moms beg to come live with her and do school in her hand-crafted, heirloom-sprinkled space.

A Holy Experience
Best Ways to Organize a Homeschool Classroom
Quote: "Education is the atmosphere we breathe, the envelope of wonder that surrounds us, held by the gravity of our daily habits."

The Homeschool Post
The 6th Annual Homeschool Blog Awards
Quote: "While our site brings encouragement and and great parenting and homeschool-related content to the web all year round, we especially enjoy rewarding our fellow community bloggers during the annual awards season. We are partnering with some wonderful homeschool-friendly products and services to bring our winners prizes and introduce the homeschool community to a whole world of excellent blogs. Check out our 4 prize pages and see what the winner loot will be!"

Sage Parnassus
Rain, Passports and Gifts, Oh My!

HSH Mommas
Our Preschool Classroom
Notes: "Crisc shares how she organizes her Preschool Room."

It is funny how school rooms often inspire the decorator to use bright colors! Our school room walls are teal blue - a perfect match for our many wall maps. You can see photos of my school room here (in case you haven't seen it before). We call it our 'underwater school room').

Life with my Giggly Girls
The Story of a School Room
Notes: "A Story of how our friends at IKEA and Got Junk helped us transform our school room that had become a pit of despair."

Home Spun Juggling
Characterizing Learning
Notes: "A look at favorite characters and how they were educated."

A Pilgrims Heart
Weekly Writer Club: A Review
Notes: "Tipping other homeschoolers off on a Weekly Writer Club that makes reluctant writers eager to write. No more tears!"

Everything Home...with Carol
Homeschool Support Groups

Habits for a Happy Home
The Freedom of Frugal Living
Notes: "Every once in a while I need to make fun of myself. See, I’m afraid I’ve become that stereotype. That bread-baking, homeschooling, make-your-own mixes type of mama."

For more great shots of this school room, visit this post (which wasn't included in the carnival... 'All Things Chalkboard'.

HodgePodge
Make Supper at Lunch
Notes: "The secret to survival on 'those' days. There's a yummy meal waiting even if. And besides. And in spite of."

Parent Community and Forum
Make Time for Rhyme

Alasandra's Homeschool Blog
Another Bigoted View of Homeschooling
Notes: "Apparently Jacqueline Espinoza has no clue that homeschoolers belong to homeschool groups, join recreational sports teams, boy/girl scouts, theater groups and other organizations where they interact with their peers on a
regular basis. Nope according to Jacqueline Espinoza we just sit home all day & night never laying eyes on anyone outside our immediate family."

Barbara Frank Online
A Fun New Math Book
Notes: "Review of a math book good for homeschooled kids with or without developmental disabilities."

A Day in the Life
Hints for Combining Resources

You'll notice that no matter what type of room homeschoolers use for school, one thing is certainly similar about them all: BOOKS!

Home is Where You Start From
Our Learning Areas
Notes: "Photos of our learning areas (we don't have a dedicated homeschool room)."

The Thinking Mother
BIC
Notes: "ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother discusses how important the concept of BIC is for learning and content mastery to occur while homeschooling."

Tea Time with Annie Kate
This Week at Home: Frost, Salsa, and the National Parks

School Survival Blog
Free Online Homeschooling
Notes: "How to use online school to supplement homeschooling, and get a normal high school diploma"

Notes From A Homeschooling Mom
What Does an Elementary School Homeschooler Really Need to Know

Another common place for a homeschool spread-out is the kitchen or dining room table. There's nothing like opening the blinds and letting in the sunlight as you tackle the books with ample elbow room! It beats the 'traditional' school desk for sure!

No Ordinary Piece of Clay
My Classroom Tour
Notes: "My small but mighty classroom, it works for us."

Homeschooling Hearts and Minds
Homeschool for FREE: Reading

The Legacy of Home
Supper Time with Precious Helpers

Habits for a Happy Home
The Habit of Working Together

Online College Courses
50 Best Blogs for Linguistics Students

I love natural light - and the view out this window is not shabby, either. When you can't be outside, it's nice to have a little sunshine streaming in to keep things cheery.

Satori Smiles
School Room Week
Notes: "Some of us have a dream setup: a writing center, art corner, nature nook, learning loft, reading room, kraft kitchen and more!"

C h r y s a l i s ღ
NEWS: Celebrating 100 Years of Scouting
Notes: "Celebrating the Adventure. Continuing the Journey."

Two Kid Schoolhouse
Homeschooling parents, please watch your children.
Notes: "A plea to parents."

Spell Out Loud
The Art of Winging It: The Preschool Edition
Notes: "There are seasons in homeschooling where planning is done more on the fly. I've explained how I am successful at looking like I"m winging-it-- but really have a plan."

All over the house - a little in this room, a little in that...

The Kelley Eight
Schoolroom....4th Times A Charm?
Notes: "My quest to find what works for classroom organization."

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
Top Ten Homeschool Lunches
Notes: "My family tends to get in a rut with lunches. I've shared our top ten favorites and would love to hear a few of yours!"

PARENT AT THE HELM
SPECIAL REPORT: U.S. Schools Embracing Technology?

Let's Play Math!
Math Project: Measure the Earth
Notes: "Now is a great time to perform Eratosthenes’ experiment of measuring the earth. My homeschool math club did this and came up with a very accurate number---fun!"

DANDELION HOUSE HOMESCHOOL
Busy Hands, BUSY WORK or both?
Notes: "Please join us for adventures in OUR CREATIVE, ECLECTIC AND INTUITIVE homeschooling adventures!"

She says she dreams of schooling in an old schoolhouse... and these lovely barn-wood walls are evidence of her style. I'm in love!

The Faithful Homeschool
Snapshots of Homeschool
Notes: "This post is about where we typically homeschool and how it is not in the traditional way or places... but rather everywhere as needed!"

Crack the Egg
Home Education: 9 Unusual Ways to Share What You Learn

Becoming THAT Family
Home School Answers - What grade are your kids in?
Notes: "This is a question I get asked a lot, even before people know that we home school."

Bachelor Of Science
96 Essential Sites & Blogs for Gifted Homeschoolers
Notes: "Homeschooled children are often ahead of the academic pack when it comes to learning and retaining information. These websites and blogs are aimed at gifted students and give parents ideas for lessons and field trips that will stimulate their gifted homeschooler."

Why Homeschool
A Break Down on the Cost of Higher Education
Notes: "Henry understands a little better why the cost of higher educations has for decades climbed so fast."

Blah, Blah, Blog
Starting the Funschooling Year at the Academy of Sciences

Here's a school room condensed... into a tiny shelf full of clear workboxes. Sometimes I prefer to shove the contents in to a duffel bag and load up the class for some 'carschooling'. Amazingly, a change of scenery often is just what we need to squelch our cabin-fever and motivate the kids to hurry with that dragging math page.

Sprittibee
The WHERE of School
Quote: "When I think of a school 'room', I just think of where to store my books. School can't be confined to a room - learning happens everywhere. Not just at home, either."

Masters in Special Education
Top 20 iPad Apps for Teachers
Notes: "Technology has transformed the classroom, teaching, and learning in general. One of the newest gadgets, the iPad, can be of great use to teachers."

Greg Laden's Blog
What is life? (New Biology Textbook)

Homeschool Bytes
Awesome Free Hovercraft Science Experiment
Notes: "Here is a source of fun free science experiments that helped my kids get excited to learn!"

The Ultimate Guide to Online University Accreditation
Top 20 Most Influential People In Online Learning
Notes: "Online learning is an incredibly important, and growing, field. This is a list of 20 people who have done wonders for distance education."

Heart of the Matter Online
Not Back to School Blog Hop, Week 2: School Room
Notes: "Can't get enough of looking at people's school rooms and finding out where they do most of their learning? Check out this treasure box of schoolroom links!"

I didn't include photos of all the other places learning happens in home schooling. Educating your kids is a way of life rather than a room inside of a house where you store your academic manipulatives and books. In the past three years our homeschool family have been through a dozen states on road trips (or more), toured and field tripped at numerous wonderful sites in off-peak traffic, learned the joys (and life-skills) of bringing another little person in to the world and caring for them (a lesson you can't get anywhere but at home)... and much more. None of these things were ever confined to a room in our house - but rather happened as we journeyed along the way. One of the best things about home education is that it is a moving, living, breathing way of life... outside of the box... built on a relationship between parent and child. Our school rooms are wonderful places where we can extend our personality and learn organizational skills - to be good stewards of our resources and blessings... but the learning continues where-ever we go!



Quick Links from Why Homeschool about the Carnival:

Submissions for CoH
CoH Archive
CoH Schedule

CREDITS:
Photos of school rooms were emailed to me by the bloggers listed on the pictures. Two of them were 'stolen' because I couldn't resist taking them. I have given proper credit through links (see below each photo for their entry).


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Order of Operations: Direction

"If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?" ~ Anonymous

Direction requires organization. As a rule, people with direction are usually on course. For a homeschool mom (or just any mom), having direction means you have goals, you plan, you work towards them, and you expect to arrive at a 'destination' at some point in the future.

To reach our goals, the details of our lives must be in ORDER:

-we must know where we are going
-have a plan to get there
-know what is on the schedule (calendar)
-and maintain some sort of order in our homes, homeschools, and lives

It's a tall order in this busy world (especially for moms of large families or moms with little tots and babies thrown in to the homeschool agenda). Without order you'll likely miss your target.

"But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." ~ 1 Corinthians 14:40

The answer to keeping on course (besides prayer (which I'm convinced is the #1 component to success in 'juggling it all') is to organize.

'Ain't it the truth?

How often have you felt like you were going in circles? 'Meeting yourself coming and going'? How often TODAY have you felt like that (at least that's the question I would ask myself because I'm often overwhelmed by the amount of 'stuff' I have to get checked off on my list each day).

One of my favorite books about goal setting, organizing, and creating order in your homeschool is Vicki Caruna's - The Organized Homeschooler. I read this book at least once, sometimes twice a school year. It's in my sidebar and amazon store in case you wanted to get a copy. It is one of my top 3 favorite homeschool books.

Note: She has some great advice that is timeless... good for anyone - even if you aren't a homeschool mom.

Advice like:

- organize not just your THINGS, but your thoughts
- God's plan is not haphazard (Romans 8:28)
- Redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16)
- "when you write it down, you make it serious" - write your goals down
- review your goals often to make sure you aren't wasting time
- "if your expectations are unrealistic, your disappointment will be great"
- start small
- evaluate the habits and heart behind your (and your kids') behaviors
- ask yourself if what you are doing is pointing you towards a goal
- planning is underrated
- if we are complacent, our children will be as well (the kids watch how we spend our time)
- if you are too busy, you are not about "God's Business"
- we are accountable for how we spend our time (it is a gift)
- "It's not enough to be busy. You must be productive."
- "Don't be a clock-watcher. Be a God-Watcher."
- form must follow function (the things you own must be useful and helpful)
- do it daily, follow a routine - keep the chaos at bay

These are great little one-liners - and there's more where those came from - that are such an inspiration to me.

This past week I focused on organizing because I felt the sting of what an 'unorganized' year was like last school year. Things will be different this year. Some lessons are hard-learned (read: much weeping and gnashing of teeth). I got a fortune cookie the other day that said: YOU WILL MAKE A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. I immediately applied it to this area of my life. I'm pretty sure that all the work we have done this month to set goals, plan, prepare, declutter, and organize will pay off in an amazing way this school year. Just in time for our next wrench: baby #4 due in February! Ha!

Later this week, I'm going to share...

-some details about my custom dayplanner/school binder that I call my 'brain'
-some planning forms for this school year
-a picture post of our decluttering/bookshelf 'after' photos
-about our new workboxes

... and then we'll move on to the next Order of Operations ---> A for Academics!

Be sure to tune in!

The Back to Homeschool Woman's Daybook

I looked back on my blog to see when the last Simple Woman's Daybook got posted and was astonished to find that it was in MARCH of this year. Where has this year gone? I feel like I'm on Magic Mountain at Disney World, rocketing through the dark towards an unknown future. So many colors and tunnels ahead - but I know the Lord has me firmly secured on His track.

So today, I'm in that 'random thought' mode and a Simple Woman's Daybook sounded divine. Hope you don't mind me letting the brain dribble a bit...

The view from where I sit ... a very clean desk, portfolio binders lined up against the school room wall waiting to be put away after our two-day project last week where we hole punched and put away over a year's worth of school papers, the last sip of Gold Peak tea at the bottom of my Mason Jar, my open prayer journal with today's list of 'I hope to get done's, my new IKEA vase and red fake Gerber Daisy that I got this weekend for less than 3$, and a package of Italian software that needs to go to the post office today when we run our errands.

Outside My Window... Rooftops of suburbia. The window by my desk doesn't have the nicest view. It looks like a partly cloudy day out there - plenty of sunshine and probably very, very hot. It is Texas, after all. I CAN'T WAIT FOR WINTER.

I am thinking... of where we need to go today, what we need to do today, when I can find time to study more in my photography textbooks, and about friends who have lost loved ones or are going through hard times... my mind is always moving - even when I'm still.

I am thankful for... big kids who have the potential to shine today (praying the tween attitudes don't interfere with my hopes and plans for them), my washing machine and dryer, hopes that we can raise the money to attend Relevant on time - we are all so excited to have a family 'field trip' in the near future, God's amazing provision and the opportunities he has placed before me lately

We are learning... on Monday....
Mama is learning more about photography.

The kids are learning...
BIBLE/DEVO: starting Screwtape Letters (a little late, sorry, Alli!) and picking up reading through the Bible
MATH, GRAMMAR, SCIENCE, HEALTH: picking up where we left off a few weeks back
READING/HISTORY: Egyptian books... Mara, Daughter of the Nile is what we are currently in the middle of, next up is - The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green, and then Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton.
LIFESKILLS: making our weekly menu and grocery list today, taking care of baby as always, pulling weeds in the garden once the sun sets (too hot outside now)
Some of our curriculum is in the mail still... so excited to start using Institute for Excellence in Writing's Student Writing Intensive. We're going to focus on writing more this year than ever before.

From the kitchen... We're probably going to eat lunch out today. I sense some fast food grease coming on. We have no groceries to speak of, unfortunately - and payday is still a week away. Here's hoping that the mail brings us a happy financial surprise today (forget the hope, let's make that a prayer - Amen).

I am wearing... my pajamas! However, I'm about to get up and go shower and get dressed before we go.

I am creating... order. I'm so happy that our piles of paperwork are finally gone, the kids' rooms are nearly cleaned out, and my desk is clean. I'm thrilled to use our new clear workboxes this year for school.

I am going... I found a wonderful place on Sunday to take my client for portraits this weekend. I'm planning to go there this week in the evening so I can get some test shots taken in the evening light and check my camera settings for the different spots I'll be working in.

I am reading... the Bible, Life Management for Busy Women - Elizabeth George, White Picket Fences - Susan Meissner (fiction!), and of course - all the books the kids are reading (listed above)

I am hoping... for another $1620 in sponsorship donations to come in by October 15th. Of course, we're putting our own money in to this pot, too. This past week I added my website ad money to the pot and raised it a bit. Every dollar counts. The kids are talking about selling lolly pops and drinks to raise extra funds.

I am hearing... Blues Clues

Around the house... things are slowly getting organized, but progress is certainly visible (that's a good thing)

One of my favorite things... my new prayer journal from Target (has an owl on it and uses recycled speckled paper with a date heading at the top where I can simply circle the month and day)... it makes me want to 'write pretty'

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Here's my list:
update my 'brain' binder and calendar, print new monthly inserts, clean out old stuff, update appointments
pick up the house, finish the kids closets and rooms final touches, get laundry done
put the portfolio binders away, finish filing the last school paper pile (my "to-do someday papers")
pair up the last 2 swappers for the Homeschool Post
send out PR kits to Hannah's vendor list she sent me for the Homeschool Blog Awards (to gather prizes)
make weekly menu, create grocery list, cook at home, dishes, clean out refrigerator drawers with wet rag
check the mail, take things to the post office
school supply closet organized
school planning and workbox schedule printed
blogging, facebook, twitter and insane amounts of email as able
read, study, plan and learn for weekend's photo shoot, take test shots on location, get print samples
consolidate sticky notes and to-do lists, retype school to-do list and print for binder
order trip brochures, make reservations for field trip tours, touch base with GM
doctor appointment for the pea in my pod - tomorrow

Here's a picture thought that I am sharing:



They are growing up.

F is for Fried Rice

This photo originally debuted on my flickr site and over at my food blog. However, it is one of our family's favorite dishes. I make fried rice at least once every two or three weeks on average. I haven't made it in a while due to the pregnancy nausea. Sounds pretty good to me right now, though.

Last night we had Italian Tuna with Pasta (sounds strange, but it is probably in my top 3 favorite dishes ever).

That's pretty much all I have been doing this past week... cooking (because we have had no money to eat out) and cleaning (still emptying, sorting, organizing and purging closets, book cases, desks, and rooms). I'm happy to report that my dear daughter's room is almost complete. Just waiting on the funds to purchase some white spray paint for her book case and the hardware to hang her extra closet rack. We are all loving the way it has turned out - especially the baby (who shares the room with her and has been banned from it because of the mess for months). He loves the trees and owls in the "green room". It's his favorite place in the house.




Sorry for leaving you hanging in here! You can always check up with me on Twitter when I'm away... the sidebar will have my last few tweets so you'll know I'm still alive. Stop over at the Homeschool Post today and see me there, too - I'm picking the top five photos of the week from our alphabetical photo meme!

Taming the Chaos

If I had a photo for this post, it would look something like a building in a war zone - riddled with bomb holes, piles of bricks and construction dust... everything out of place. That's sort of what my house looks like right now.

I got the urge to declutter. Usually the 'de' part of declutter takes some getting to. Time, elbow grease, trash bags, and a whole lot of patience.

But get there, we must.

To have a good school year, you must start with an orderly home... a functional space to work, a plan on how things will be carried out... and everything in it's place.

That sounds almost surreal in my current state of chaos... but I am no quitter. I'm going to keep tackling these piles and pray that we'll get there soon. Because nap time is coming up for the baby... and mama is pregnant - and exhausted...

...and did I mention that the house was a disaster area?

Hopefully you are cheering me on. Or better yet - praying for my success.

See you tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have progress to report.

Homeschool Record Keeping With Homeschool Tracker

HOMESCHOOL RECORD KEEPING

I was always skeptical that a software program could help me feel more organized about homeschooling. Pencil and paper were my tools of choice. I’m a rabid note-taking, list-making organize-a-holic… so I figured I had it all under control with my monolithic homeschool 3-Ring binder (that my kids call "mommy’s brain") – doing things the ‘old fashioned’ way.

Doing it all on paper wasn’t working for me. Sure, we could get by, but I was bogged down with it all. Never mind that my 3-Ring Binder used to weigh half as much as my SUV (until I purged it this year after digitizing a lot of my school paperwork). You all know how heavy library books are – especially when you are taking home 30 or 40 at a time. My KONOS Curriculum manuals weren’t that easy to carry around, either… and having them with me was a bit of a crutch.

If those things weren’t heavy enough, I also had the ‘stress monkey’ on my back:

1. There were piles of papers to grade.

2. I always seemed to be behind on the lesson plans because we couldn’t get to the things I planned on the correct days. I beat myself up when we are behind.

3. I was chained to my teacher’s planner book trying to write everything in that we had accomplished in the tiniest print humanly possible because the planner was created by someone else – not perfectly fit for my needs.

4. Relying on having the entire curriculum book in front of me kept me from spending ample time micro-planning my lessons… which ended up leading to ‘winging it’ (and we all know where that leads).

Etc.

TRYING IT OUT FREE

Could software really be what I needed? I certainly didn’t need more WORK. I kept hearing about Homeschool Tracker from friends. I even got a free copy of it at a homeschool conference I attended and never installed it; that was, until a friend of mine sat down and showed me how it worked for her. Visual learner that I am, I was intrigued enough to install it. After spending some time with the free version and hearing about all the neat options that the paid version had (such as a Library with a barcode scanning and ISBN entry function), I forked over the money for the “Plus” program – and have never been sorry.

FEATURES

Tracker offers a way to keep up with your school year plans for the kids in every imaginable way. It isn’t just a list or a lesson planner like I was using before with pencil and paper. It is a database that keeps track of EVERYTHING (and fits neatly in a backed up file on my USB drive).

Here are some of the things you can keep records on:

• Attendance
• Assignments (that include directions, notes, links and attachment fields)
• Grades
• Field Trips
• Goals and Progress for Teacher and Students
• Journals/Notes for Teacher and Students
• Memorization, Books and Chores for the kids
• Your home Library (What you Have and Haven’t read)
• Resources (Curriculum)
• School Year Terms/Calendar/Holidays
• Lesson Plans (reusable and easy to manipulate)
• Schedules and Calendars

and… REPORTS!

Just the report section in Homeschool Tracker alone made all the set-up time I spent worth the plunge. You can print out Assignments, Agendas, Calendars, Lists, Tasks, Field Trips, Memorization, Reading Logs, and Resources. You can print your goals, your entire home library book list, your lesson plans, and your teacher planner. It has report cards, transcripts for high-school (full page or columns), progress reports and even a “time spent/sessions” option for those in states that require it.

You can even input and print a scope and sequence, a supply list, or a borrowed items due list if you use the program to the fullest potential. It seems they have thought up every input column a homeschool mom might need and included it. I was truly impressed. [I used to be a database manager, so impressing me with software is not so easy.]

SIMPLIFYING MY JOB

The great thing about finding out that Tracker WORKS for me (after all these years of ‘doing it on my own’) is that it has simplified my teacher duties and made my life easier.
How?

• I don’t have to create manual assignment lists any more or type up my own report cards. Plus, the kids don’t have to waste time hand-writing out their own lists.
• I don’t have to hand-write chore lists or lesson plans any more.
• The program automatically populates the children’s math page assignments across a 180 day school year – skipping my chosen holidays and following my schedule! With just a few clicks – the entire year’s assignments evenly spread out without me even having to do math in my head. Just like that!
• I can reschedule my assignments in huge blocks so I don’t ever feel like I’m WAY BEHIND any more. This is a huge one for me. I hate to feel the stress of being behind. It turns me in to a drill sergeant. It’s not a pretty thing.
• I can print out a beautiful, clean, neat assignment list for the kids for the week and they can take ownership of doing the work at their own pace and turning it back to me with initials for me to grade. Did I say beautiful? And thorough, too. With notes and directions and page numbers. Oh my!
• Grading math is simplified because the program automatically calculates the percentage and letter grade based on my entry of how many problems they missed. No calculator needed. No extra steps.
• With just a few clicks, I can see how many assignments are past due without flipping through my cumbersome lesson plan binder (that tended towards chicken-scratch after the year was well on its way).
• I finally have a place to store grades that is easy to look through and even easier to create report cards for. It makes you feel like a ‘real’ teacher. [Quick, somebody put an apple on my desk!]
• If I ever have to put the kids in school, I have a professional-looking resource for printing a hard copy of all they have accomplished. Or I can just print it for fun… to pat them on the back.
• I can print a high school transcript for my kids so they can apply to colleges… instead of paying someone else to do it.

I could go on and on. But I’m starting to sound like an advertisement.

PROGRAM BENEFITS

In addition to making my life easier, I have also been impressed with the people behind the software (customer service especially). I’ve never had an unanswered technical support or program usage question to Homeschool Tracker’s team. Katie usually writes back within hours. Their discussion group provides a lot of interesting tips and moral support from other Tracker users as well. I’m a very visual learner and have greatly benefited from their free online video training. For those “read it and retain it” moms, they also have a free printable user’s manual you can download. I love helping out other Christian homeschooling families (like the creators of Homeschool Tracker) by using their American-Made products. Best of all, your Homeschool Tracker purchase (if you buy the paid version) is a one-time fee and every subsequent release and upgrade of the system is free!

A LITTLE WORK INVOLVED

I will tell you that keeping records is not an easy task. The hardest part of doing it, though, is not the maintenance part. The hardest part of keeping records is finding out WHAT works for you (your system), and SETTING IT UP. Homeschool Tracker is such an amazing tool and has so many awesome options for keeping track of every aspect of your school year that you can expect to be required some TIME to get it up and running. Some folks open it and are so overwhelmed by the options it has that they never turn it on again. There’s no magic pill in record keeping that prevents you – the teacher – from having to do SOME work.

The great thing about Tracker is that the WORK is almost entirely on the FRONT end. 

Maintenance is easy. You input your data and then the program can really shine. If you have been searching for something to make your record keeping easier and aren’t afraid of a little data entry and learning something new (Homeschool yourself!), I would highly recommend giving Homeschool Tracker a try.

In Him,

Disclosure: I like Tracker so much that I signed up for their customer referral program. That means if you buy the program through my ‘code’ (HHGK9), I’ll make a few dollars. I purchased my own copy of Homeschool Tracker a year ago and they did not pay me for this review. My opinion is my own and was not compensated for in any way.

If you decide to purchase Tracker because of my review, please use my code and tell them Sprittibee sent you! Let me know what you think! Just type in: HHGK9 when you go to the purchase page on the Homeschool Tracker Website.

* This post originally posted at Complete Organizing Solutions