Homeschool Organization--The Planner

I'm going to be doing a couple of posts on homeschooling, since it's the time of year we're looking forward to getting started up again. Now, I realize that these posts are going to interest only a few, but that's ok. If you're not a homeschooler, go ahead and skip it!

I love organizing. And I love teaching. (Just don't ask about the regular housework I also have to keep up on!) Jaron is entering 6th grade this year, so I've had a few years to work on and perfect a system. It's what works for us, and works well... and I'm hopeful someone else will benefit from what I've learned.

I always start my planning by deciding when I want summer break to start. I find it MUCH easier to get the kids to sit in the late summer than spring, so I like to be done in early May. Then I start counting backwards, adding in breaks and holidays as needed, to arrive at our start date, usually early August.

School year overview

Next I lay out our calendar of the months we're doing school. I actually draw out the calendars because it allows me to be a little more creative, but I've also used school year planners for students. Then I start writing in lesson numbers in their days, realizing that this is just a general guideline. We use a lot of Abeka, so we stick to their 170 lessons for the school year length, and I work in our other curriculum around that.

Our general weekly plan is science (Apologia) Monday and Tuesday, history (History Revealed) Wednesday and Thursday, and then a short day and/or art/field trip/finishing a hands-on project on Friday. On Friday we clean our school room for the weekend, and I plan out school for the coming week. That includes writing out the lesson schedule for the upcoming week, usually what's on the monthly calendar but not always since some break days we end up jockeying around due to doctor appointments, all day field trips, etc., that I couldn't plan for at the beginning of the year. I take this time to make sure we have the supplies we need for any projects and that I know what's coming up for each child.

My daily task list

A sample of a child's overview of what needs to be done for their grade that year.

Schedule of Bible class

History lesson plans

Science lesson plans

I also have begun a separate planner for Jaron, since he has a bigger variety in his curriculum and I want him to start being responsible for doing what he's supposed to be doing without as much oversight from me... eventually. Since I'm starting Candi with some preschool stuff this year, I need Jaron to start being more independent as I just won't reach around with all 4 children in school!

Jaron's planner above and below

We also have a sticker rewards system. For every day the child completes their work with a good attitude, they get a sticker and some "prize money". If they manage 5 or 10 consecutive days, they get more "prize money" as an incentive to keep things going well. IF I can get all my boxes checked during the week, on Friday once everything is cleaned and prepped for the next week I treat myself to a little something too.

So far I LOVE how this comes together. And that's my planner!

Homeschool post #2: http://lifeonhegehill.blogspot.com/2018/08/homeschool-organization-big-dreams.html
Homeschool post #3: http://lifeonhegehill.blogspot.com/2018/08/homeschool-organization-papers-papers.html

6 months old! And wintertime stories...

I can't hardly believe our baby is 6 months old already. And what a big bundle of joy she is! Though I must admit the last month has had its challenges. Starting out the month with a cold wasn't fun, but then about the time she got over the cold she started crying at night. A LOT. I attributed it to teeth, of which she had 2 and three more on the way in. But one morning she woke up with ear drainage, so we took her to the clinic and here she'd had an ear infection, complete with a ruptured ear drum! No signs at all--no fever, no pulling at her ear, only the very explainable crying at night. She's been doing better since then, despite poking two more teeth though and one more start swelling. For a total of 4 teeth in and two almost. Yes, she is ahead of schedule! As is usual for her. The official report from the clinic, a week before she turned 6 months, was she weighed in at 20 pounds, and was 26 inches long.

Over the past month Candice's physical abilities have been blooming as well. She is ever so close to crawling, easily crawling backwards with reciprocal motion, and has gone forward just a bit a time or two. She rolls both ways, and pushed up to sitting. Using all these modes of movement, she travels quite a bit! And gets herself stuck. Thankfully she has big brothers who love to help her out!

Our winter is a real Wisconsin winter. Which is different than a real northern MN winter, which makes it hard for me when people are fussing about the "blizzard" we had recently. I didn't see any blizzard, just for the record. (Nevermind we probably couldn't get out the driveway right now even with the truck due to blowing snow...) But anyway, I'm happy with the winter we are having! We have enough snow to make it fun to have an all wheel drive vehicle, and it's not super cold, barely getting below zero. The children all have been thoroughly enjoying sledding, skating, and making a snowman. I'm so grateful it's warm enough for them to enjoy the snow, AND that they're all big enough to pretty much bundle themselves up!

We have been busily getting our house finished. Almost there, and it's such a joy to see final details being nailed in place. To see pictures of the rooms as they're getting finished you can check out my photo album here. I put new pictures in it as we get each room done. Hopefully we'll have a few more to add by the end of the week!

Another project we have going at the moment is another adorable litter of Alaskan Malamute puppies. We have 7, and they are all sold. Two more weeks and they should be gone! We enjoy them, but it will be nice to have our chores cut down on again.

The many faces of Eliott

When I needed to go get some idea of how the lighting would work for our family photo, this little fellow volunteered to be my subject. I think he's a pretty cute one, what about you?!!!

Candice... and other pictures

Here it is almost Christmas again... Seems like the fall flew by on wings of wind, only it still feels like fall! Dreary rainy, foggy, and cool but not freezing weather feels more like October than December. We did get a bit of snow one day, but it disappeared quickly. Lovely while it lasted, though!

My good friend, a photographer, got some pictures of Candice as a newborn. They are SO good, I thought I'd share a few with you!

 

 

Ok, maybe more than a few... anyway, she was, and is, SO precious! So, here are some more recent ones for you to enjoy. And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you. She's a big girl. At 4 1/2 months she weighs 18 lbs 14 oz! She not extremely chubby either, growing long as fast as she's gaining the weight. She can roll over some, and has been working hard at honing those grabbing skills.

Just in case you forget what the other children look like, here they are posing for a picture for my new camera:

We have been staying super, super busy lately. School takes a lot of my time and energy, as is trying to get into the hospitality habit again, and baking LOTS of Christmas cookies! Oh yes, and we took a "quick" trip to PA for Jere's grandma's birthday party, stopping at the Creation Museum on our way out to take in their Christmas program, living nativity, and light display.

  

    

I do hope to get family pictures taken soon, if you want a copy let me know! In the meantime, have a blessed Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

Spring... I think!

This has been an very interesting spring. One week, it was -8. The next week, we were running around outside in sandals at 68. The next week we got 5 inches of snow in about 24 hours' time. Now we seem to be climbing out of the trough of colder weather into decent weather again--and I'm sure not complaining! I'm looking forward to when it decides to stay above freezing!

I was just getting some photos off the camera today and realized that it's been awhile since I've done it--which also means its been awhile since I posted anything on this blog. So, here are a few pictures of what we've been up to since the last post!

One thing we've started doing is giving the boys a few more chores. With Mama's waist expanding and backaches being more common than not, household help is appreciated! And since we can't seem to find domestic help, it's time for the kids to pitch in a bit more. They've already taken over loading and unloading the dishwasher, and Jaron takes care of the chickens. But we've added a few Saturday chores--and the kids are thrilled!

Jaron's newest job is to clean the main bathroom. He's delighted to follow his little checklist and get to use all those fancy cleaning supplies!

Eliott's job is to sweep the stairs with a little dust brush. He's disappointed that he doesn't get to spray anything, but proud that he's needed.

And Leanna's caught the cleaning fever. She begs and begs and begs to PLEASE "pray" something! So I try to find places she won't hurt by overspraying and let her have at it.

Here are a few more general family activity photos taken since I last posted. 

Jaron had to do a school writing project on making a banana split. Problem is, he'd never heard of one! So we got the ingredients and had a banana split special for dessert one night. By the way, this is Daddy's bowl. The rest of us had half that amount or less!

Leanna decided to hang out on the laundry sorting shelves. After I took this picture, she added a pillow, blanket, and ever present Teddy to make a cozy bed.

Eliott enjoys mopping!

After one snowfall Jaron made a snowman all by himself! He was quite proud of it!

An after-supper romp. 

Handsome hunter.

One evening after I was done making Pico de Gallo for supper, these two munchkins begged the leftover lemons from squeezing and happily sucked the remaining pulp dry. I was shuddering watching them, but they were thrilled with their treat!

Another big project lately is trying to get the rest of our big remodel projects done. I'm delighted to announce we're finally finished with the upstairs bathroom--one of the biggest single room projects we had. And, it's the first room in the house to be DONE. Well, with the exception of the hand towel ring. These are some mid project pictures--I'll have to go take some of the finished product one of these days. I'm totally thrilled with the way it's turning out!

This past week I was privileged to throw a baby shower for my sweet sister-in-law. We had a very sweet, blessed time. And, I had lots of help to pull it off, after struggling for an entire week with migraines... Thanks girls!!!

Snack table

The cake one of the girls made.

The special lady. She was surprised!

With very current news. Jere is in Haiti at the moment, on another SALT trip. He's been gone most of this week, and will be gone yet part of next week. We miss him awfully, but we're managing to survive, somehow. And then, today these showed up at my door. I think I must be one of the most blessed women alive!!!