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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My Planner and stuff

We have been homeschooling for eight years. We started when my oldest was in third grade and the younger two were a preschooler and a toddler. My oldest is now finishing up tenth grade. I have tried several different planners and a couple of different computer based school tracking systems.  I find that even though I now use Homeschool Tracker for keeping our records and printing daily lists, attendance, transcripts, etc., I still need a paper planner to visualize our schedules and various activities and to make notes on the run. 


This year I bought The Well Planned Day and I have been filling it with my schedules and plans for the rest of summer and next school year. I really like the format and that there is plenty of room to write notes and keep track of all the things my kids are involved in.  The only thing I think might be a useful addition would be pockets for loose papers, stamps, etc. I really like the shopping lists, the fact that there is room for four children and the holiday organization section.

I just recently found The Checklist by Cindy Downes at Oklahoma Homeschool.  It is exactly what the name implies -- a huge checklist of so many things I couldn't possibly list them all here.
I purchased the pdf version and printed it all out and put it into a binder. There is also a printed book format available.  I am finding it extremely useful now that I have a high schooler and we are looking ahead to college. This is a handy format for making sure I have covered everything I had planned. Now, of course, no one will cover everything on the list, but it is nice to have a way to see at a glance what still needs to be covered.

All products discussed were purchased by me.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

From my garden

The strawberry plants are blooming.

The catmint is beatiful. As promised, the ants hate it and stay out of the raised bed. The neighbor cats love it.


Potted marigolds.


The lettuce looks okay -- not great, but okay.
I am hoping the beans and potatoes do well.  Not much to look at yet, so no photos.

Friday, June 17, 2011

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - 1

This is my first ever The Homeschool Mother's Journal entry! This lovely meme is hosted by The Homeschool Chick.


In our homeschool this week…
We are enjoying a slower pace in our homeschool. Even though we do schooling year-round, we are finishing up and taking time for fun stuff too. My oldest is in jazz camp for half a day for two weeks, so it's been kind of quiet around here.


My favorite thing this week was…
Due to our more relaxed pace, I have had so much more time for my own reading. I love that.

Questions/thoughts I have…
I've been thinking that I need to focus more of my reading time on reading the classic books I have been meaning to read and just haven't. It's time.


Things I’m working on…
I've been working on our school plans for next school year. 



I’m reading…
I'm reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin and The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Need more space!

I need more space to work on my homeschool planning, grading, etc. Our house is pretty small for a family of our size and I have no place of my own anymore for working.  I have been looking for ways to consolidate our books and supplies and make room for a desk for myself. I am thinking about this one.
It isn't too big and it looks simple and classic.  Now I just have to talk the husband into it and find a place for it.