I have read many things regarding the issue of schooling year round verses following a more traditional schedule. We tend toward the traditional, although I always say I would like to change to year round. It might not matter that much what sort of calendar we follow though. I believe the kids are learning year round, even though we aren't officially doing school work. The learning does change, so I don't think the kids consider it learning at all. We go from math and history books to doing more hiking, camping, enjoying nature and vacationing. Where else would my kids learn so much about the ocean except by visiting the ocean in the summer? What better way to learn about the stars and constellations then by gazing up at them on a warm summer night? Taking the canoes and kayaks down the river can be very educational, whether you are learning about the physics of not tipping the canoe, or whether you are learning about the wildlife you see while gazing lazily into the water as you row past. So, regardless of the actual "School Calendar" I think we are year round learners, just don't tell the kids!
With that in mind, my 3rd step in the planning process is to decide on our school calendar. In my state, we are to do school for 36 weeks, or 150 days. Before I sit down to plan the calendar I jot some notes about times we will want to take a break from formal schooling. I know we will want to take off a week in the fall in order to visit our favorite family field trip location - Williamsburg, VA. I also know, from experience, that I need the entire week of Thanksgiving since there is so much to do to prepare, and we need two weeks as Christmas. I also like to take two weeks at Easter, one for Holy Week and one to really celebrate Easter. Since it is the holiest time of the year, I feel it deserves more than a long weekend. Finally, I like to schedule two weeks for testing. These aren't breaks from the school year, they are counted as school days, but it is important that I actually schedule them in.
Next I print a form from Donna Young. This site has quite a few calendar printables to choose from,
but I like to use a form like this or this form designed to keep track of attendance. I like that I can jot little notes about what week number it is and the reason for various breaks, etc.
So, I know the times we want to take off for little breaks, I know we want to end our year by the end of May because, once we pass Easter, the nice weather comes and it gets more and more difficult for my kids to get their end of the year work done. I also like the idea of dividing the year into 6 week terms. This will work nicely for subjects like science where we can do a different unit per term.
I discovered, after plugging in various start and stop times that if we want to end by May 31st, we will need to start by August 6th. That is early compared to the school calendar, but my kids usually don't mind starting school early if they know they will be done earlier than the school kids. ;) They actually tend to be a bit bored by then and it is usually quite hot and humid outside. Since they tend to want to be inside anyway, at least in the afternoons, it makes sense to be academically productive. :)
I also discovered that it will be difficult to plan my 6 week terms so that every one of them falls at a natural break point. The first term works great. Six weeks from Aug. 6 will be right about the time we want to go to Williamsburg. But, the next term will actually be 7 weeks until we reach the natural break time of Thanksgiving. Then we only have 5 weeks until Christmas break. I think it will work out okay though. I will be sure to plan the more difficult units of study for those longer terms, and keep things a little lighter for the short terms.
This step in the planning process takes much less time than the others. Since we have been homeschooling for 10 years now, (gasp!) I am aware of our tendencies and rhythms. It takes only an evening to sit down with a calendar and a blank form and jot down the dates. Getting the calendar figured out and down on paper gives me a settled feeling. Now I get to move on to my all time favorite part of homeschool planning - choosing curriculum!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Setting Goals is the 2nd Step
After getting all my random thoughts and ideas down on paper, the next thing I do to plan is set some goals. In all honesty, I have to admit that I often start looking at curriculum way before I set goals, but I try to have the goals in mind once I start the process of actually choosing curriculum.
There are several ways to set goals. Some like to use the great forms available from Donna Young's website. I'm sure there are other sites and programs with goal setting forms. This year, I'm just writing them in my notebook. I try to keep my goals very general. In some cases I leave the nitty gritty to the program I'm using for a particular subject. An example would be math. I have always been very confident in the Saxon and Abeka math programs. I know that my children are getting everything they need if I follow one of these. I think I would find it too overwhelming to set specific goals for math. I admire those who can do this and then use various resources to help them meet those goals. English grammar is another example. I tend to use Voyages or Easy Grammar and I believe, once again, that both of these programs provide the content my children need to learn. So my goals are more general.
An example of a general goal would be last year's reading goal for Jetter. As a fifth grader, Jetter was able to read, but his stamina for reading was low. A few minutes and he was done, moving on to climbing trees and wrestling with his brother. So, the goal for Jetter this past school year was to increase reading stamina. We accomplished this by simply finding series of books that Jetter was interested in. I started with the Bush Boys series which I found at CHC. I bought just the first book because I didn't know if he would like them. After one book he was hooked and I ended up buying all the rest. He has also read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and several of the Red Wall books. He is currently waiting (impatiently) to get the next in the series. He reads mostly before he goes to bed. He enjoys the privilege of staying up after lights out so he can read a while. And read he does! I am delighted that it was so easy to accomplish this goal of building reading stamina! Next year, the goal is to increase his writing stamina! I'm not sure that's going to be as easy.
I try to set goals for each of my children in the five areas below. Sometimes, it works better if the whole family works on one particular goal. This is usually in the case of a virtue that I see lacking in my children and myself. I'll describe each briefly below but I think the one thing that is so important, and that I need to really work on, is the act of REVISITING these goals that I have written. I have, in the past, gone to great lengths to write out wonderful goals for my children and myself, only to stumble upon them in say, April, and think "Oh wow, I forgot we were going to work on that!" (Yes, I can be that scatter-brained! :) So the goal for keeping these goals always in mind is to revisit them on a regular basis. Since I will be dividing our school year up into 6 six-week terms, revisiting goals (and adjusting if need be) will happen at the end of each term.
Academic Goals - I touched on this above. When possible, for the subjects like math, grammar and spelling, I try to use a program that I trust is going to cover the important objectives for each grade. Sometimes I will need to add, like in the case of memorizing multiplication facts, but for the most part I can list the goals for these subjects in terms of pages completed. So for Math I can list the academic goal as "Complete one lesson daily." At the end of the six week term I know my child should be at lesson 30, or close to it. Other subjects require more thought though. For example, I wrote about Jetter's reading goal above. For Social BF, the goal for reading is to read more challenging literature, not necessarily a greater quantity. I am including a Family Goal for Writing this year. I think this is an area that we as a family need to work on. I've ordered The Writer's Jungle that I hope to read for inspiration to help us reach our goal in this area. So, in similar fashion, each child will have goals written for each subject that they will study.
Behavioral Goals are more difficult for me to write. I think that is because I have to admit the misbehavior that is going on, and then make the efforts to correct it. I think most moms know the necessity of discipline, and I don't think I'm the only one that finds it difficult. To take away a child's privileges in order to teach them to follow the rules, or be kind, or respect property (or whatever it is) is not just a hardship on the child being disciplined, but on the parent doing the disciplining. Here is where the many prayers for grace come in! I have to pray in order to be the consistent, loving parent I need to be. Once again, writing these goals and then revisiting them each term helps us to stay on track. The beauty here is when the goal is met and you can give a great sigh of relief. ("Whew! Thank you Lord, that little Beany has learned to stop hitting in anger"!)
Spiritual Goals are most often family goals. Perhaps we want to make attending Adoration weekly a goal or maybe we need to work on more reverence during our family prayer times. Or, maybe we're seeing the need to pay more attention at Mass. The latter was one that we accomplished a couple of years ago. It was quite simple: After Mass my husband would ask the kids what the Gospel was about, or the homily, or the first reading, etc. Since they new the question was coming they listened more intently. I also listened more intently because of the conversation that often began after the question was asked. This is also the area in which goals regarding virtue come in. Areas like self control, obedience, fortitude, etc. can all be spiritual goals.
Social Goals are being added to my list for the first time this year. I think my children have done well in the social area so far. They see their friends on a regular basis and they all seem to do well in making new friends, although some are a little more quiet than the others. Also, one of the many advantages of having several children is that there is usually someone around to do things with. Jetter and Builder are together 24/7. Beany sometimes joins them or sometimes he and Patch play. Social BF is the one I worry about most in this area though. As she matures, she doesn't seem to want to play the same games as her brothers. She needs other girls her age to talk to. So we are making plans for guaranteed time with her friends on a regular basis. One of these plans is to continue the book club she started last year. It was quite a hit. All her friends came over once a week and discussed a book that they were all reading. It was simple, easy, and the girls just loved it. This year we are also talking about a co-op which will be a new experience for me. Boys Scouts is on the list of possibilities for the boys as well. All of these things take effort on my part (driving here and there, making sure to take the time to arrange for kids to come over, planning events like field trips that groups can do together ...) but social interaction is part of the whole development of a person, so, in my opinion, it's just as important as math or spelling.
Physical Goals are pretty easy to cover around here! I am blessed (although at times it might seem more like a curse ;) with active children. But even though there is no lack of physical activity, there are specific physical skills a child should learn. Some of them are picked up by playing with their siblings and friends, but I usually try to involve my children in at least one sport each year. The fall is usually our busiest time of year with soccer and football. This year we are also considering Tae Kwon Do for the boys which will be more of a year round activity. Builder started last year and did very well. Social BF discovered her love for dance, so we will continue that for her. Even though we live in a small town, the list of opportunities is really quite extensive. Once again though, it takes that effort to get the kids to practices, watch the games and competitions, wash the uniforms, etc. It helps that my husband and I both see the need for this so we share the load.
So, in ending this rather lengthy post, I will confess one of my goals! My goal for this coming school year is to not only prayerfully write the goals, but once again, to revisit them each term and adjust when necessary. I love the feeling of crossing a goal off the list once it is reached!
There are several ways to set goals. Some like to use the great forms available from Donna Young's website. I'm sure there are other sites and programs with goal setting forms. This year, I'm just writing them in my notebook. I try to keep my goals very general. In some cases I leave the nitty gritty to the program I'm using for a particular subject. An example would be math. I have always been very confident in the Saxon and Abeka math programs. I know that my children are getting everything they need if I follow one of these. I think I would find it too overwhelming to set specific goals for math. I admire those who can do this and then use various resources to help them meet those goals. English grammar is another example. I tend to use Voyages or Easy Grammar and I believe, once again, that both of these programs provide the content my children need to learn. So my goals are more general.
An example of a general goal would be last year's reading goal for Jetter. As a fifth grader, Jetter was able to read, but his stamina for reading was low. A few minutes and he was done, moving on to climbing trees and wrestling with his brother. So, the goal for Jetter this past school year was to increase reading stamina. We accomplished this by simply finding series of books that Jetter was interested in. I started with the Bush Boys series which I found at CHC. I bought just the first book because I didn't know if he would like them. After one book he was hooked and I ended up buying all the rest. He has also read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and several of the Red Wall books. He is currently waiting (impatiently) to get the next in the series. He reads mostly before he goes to bed. He enjoys the privilege of staying up after lights out so he can read a while. And read he does! I am delighted that it was so easy to accomplish this goal of building reading stamina! Next year, the goal is to increase his writing stamina! I'm not sure that's going to be as easy.
I try to set goals for each of my children in the five areas below. Sometimes, it works better if the whole family works on one particular goal. This is usually in the case of a virtue that I see lacking in my children and myself. I'll describe each briefly below but I think the one thing that is so important, and that I need to really work on, is the act of REVISITING these goals that I have written. I have, in the past, gone to great lengths to write out wonderful goals for my children and myself, only to stumble upon them in say, April, and think "Oh wow, I forgot we were going to work on that!" (Yes, I can be that scatter-brained! :) So the goal for keeping these goals always in mind is to revisit them on a regular basis. Since I will be dividing our school year up into 6 six-week terms, revisiting goals (and adjusting if need be) will happen at the end of each term.
Early Morning Academics |
Remorse (?) |
First Communion and Confirmation! |
A terribly blurry picture! |
Builder is now a "Camo-belt"! |
So, in ending this rather lengthy post, I will confess one of my goals! My goal for this coming school year is to not only prayerfully write the goals, but once again, to revisit them each term and adjust when necessary. I love the feeling of crossing a goal off the list once it is reached!
Labels:
Family Life,
How We Homeschool
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Battle Preparation
Taking a little divergence from my planning posts to write about something controversial. This is something that is weighing so heavily on my heart and mind that I don't have much mental energy for anything else. I posed the question, "How do we prepare our children for the battle?" at the MODGFamilies Yahoo group, so if you are part of that group this might sound familiar. I feel like this issue warrants a blog post, though I'm not sure I will be able to address it properly. Please bare with me.
This whole question arose when, in choosing a speaker to give the commencement address at the high school my son attends, the faculty chose an openly gay man. This man had recently posted on face book, or maybe YouTube, that he was engaged to another man. Because of his openly gay stance, the principal decided to uninvite him to speak. As you can imagine, this caused quite a problem for the man invited to speak, his family, and the faculty at the school. I wont go into detail but suffice it to say things were a mess. After four years at this high school I was so happy Night Owl was graduating. I knew things weren't perfect there. The Religion classes weren't always the best, but there was nothing said or taught that we weren't able to discuss at home, and bring the Church's truth and clarity to.
What I didn't realize, is that there was a prevailing attitude of relativism which had affected my son to some degree, and for many of the students at the school to a large degree. I don't think "relativism" was actually taught as in , "all is relative". But there was that underlying attitude of relativism that seeped its way into the school. I'm picturing it as a vile green smoke, that nobody seems to notice. No one sees it and it has no smell, but its affects are damaging like a poison.
So we set the stage with relativism, and we throw in the fact that there is very little solid Catholic doctrine being taught. Now we have a shaky foundation on the building into which this green mist seeps. Finally, when the seniors at the school are just about to graduate an issue like this comes up.
The teachers and students are angry at the principal who eventually blames everything on the Bishop. The students are in a frenzy. They all rally for the speaker. They make t-shirts in one of their classes, they make a "students against homophobia" video in another, they are given permission to call an assembly... What a frenzy! Everyone supports the speaker, but no one, no one, uses this as an opportunity to teach the students what the Church teaches. There are letters to the editor about how the Catholic Church teaches hate and fear. There are letters about bullying. Anyone who tries to speak out for the truth is considered a hateful homophobic. My son, and many others are confused.
In all his life I never thought I would have to prepare him for this. We studied the Catechism, we studied the saints, we studied the Bible. I never thought to talk to him about how this issue would present itself in so much confusion that it would be hard to know what is right and what is wrong. The faculty member who was involved in choosing this speaker spoke of how they teach tolerance at the school. We did not know that going in. We would have made different choices. I am not a theologian but I do believe that tolerance is not a Catholic teaching. I believe that LOVE is a Catholic teaching and sometimes love is hard. Love tells us to love the person and help the person, not continue to enable him to live in a way that displeases God and will never make him happy. I love this quote by Fulton Sheen regarding tolerance (mentioned at MODGfamilies) ~
"There is no other subject on which the average mind is so much confused as theFulton J. Sheen 1931
subject of tolerance and intolerance...
Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles.
Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons."
The Curse of Broadmindedness
As my son graduates, I am relieved that this ordeal is over for him. I am even more relieved that he is back on track and all is well in his heart and soul. But I'm not willing to let it go. In speaking with a friend recently I was so tired of it all I said I was done and we're moving on. But I notice I can't just move on. The fact is, there are so many children at the school who have been affected by this mess. How are they moving on? Is it no big deal, "live and let live"? Are some choosing to act as though it never happened? Have some become militant in the campaign for gay rights? I don't know. I do know that I need to keep praying. I need to discern mightily - will any of my other children go to this high school? If so, how will I prepare them differently? If not, I have to realize this issue and others like it will come up in their lives no matter where they are. How do I prepare them for that? I don't know yet. I am praying for wisdom because I feel at this point that is all I can do. And then that nagging question... "Should I be doing more than just praying? Should I be in that school, in some way, to shine the light of Christ? Is there some way that I can dispel some of that green mist to bring the clarity of truth?" I need to pray for courage if that is the case, but I am surely lacking in it!
I would like to end with a quote by a priest who is the pastor at another Catholic Church in our town. His homily a couple of Sundays ago was in response to the mess at the Parish in which we are members. His entire homily was beautiful. A very loving, compassionate explanation of the Church's teaching. I wished I had a tape recorder with me that day because I knew I would not be able to remember it all. He did send this short quote to me when I requested it, for which I am grateful. It is very pointed and a great explanation for all who don't understand why the Church does not accept the homosexual lifestyle~
In closing I ask for prayers. I know this is a controversial topic and I also ask that all comments would be made in a prayerful way. I reserve the right to delete comments that I feel are aggressive.The key is the complementarity of men and women. Sexual complementarity has to do with God making the human person as male and female, and they are meant for union. This union is a bodily reality as well as a spiritual, emotional, and psychological reality. Only a man and a woman can enter into a bodily union in the natural way. The bodily union is sacramental for Christians as it is meant to express a union with God and a union that images God’s love in the world that is total and complete (bodily), forever (unending), and open to life (conception of new life) if they are of the proper age. Only a man and a woman can give and receive each other in this embrace in a total way (bodily, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually). Our bodies are important. Our bodies do matter and what we do in our bodies will have lasting effects on our hearts.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Beginning the Planning Process
Now that I have my scattered thoughts down on paper, I can begin to really organize for the coming year. I'm actually a bit late getting started on the planning process this year. My mind had been full of many things that we were dealing with, (like college hunting for Night Owl!) and planning for the future had to take a back seat for a bit. But, my enthusiasm for planning a new year, and the knowledge that planning is essential if I want to have a peaceful, successful year to come, has kept me from keeping it on the back burner for too long.
I wont be linking back to any old planning posts, although there are many! My methods for planning have basically stayed the same, but each year I read about or come up with new ways to do things. For me, this keeps things fresh. I have an enthusiam for trying new things. I've often heard people say "If it isn't broken, why fix it?", but I'm always ready to tweak things or change things completely just for variety.
So, how am I planning for the 2012-2013 school year? There are several things to take into consideration and I will hit on each of them in seperate posts to keep this one from getting too long. Here are the steps I will be taking:
- First, get all the random thoughts swirling around in my head down on paper. I already did this, and I'll call this first step "Brain Declutter". Once this notebook is full, it wont be forgotten! I plan to re-read my notes regularly as I plan so that I don't forget to incorporate a new idea or a new resource.
- Set Goals. I will do this for each child individually and for our family as a whole. This can be divided into five sections-
- Academic Goals
- Behavior Goals
- Spiritual Goals
- Social Goals
- Physical Goals
- School Calendar - This is simply deciding when our school year will begin and end, and any breaks that we will need to take throughout the year.
- Choose Resources - This is the fun part! Here I carefully decide on the resources we will use to help us meet the above goals.
- Create shopping lists. My lists cover the items I need to gather (already on my shelves) or purchase and from where I will purchase them.
- Carefully consider how and when each resource will be used. This includes setting some loose goals regarding where the children will be in each resource per term.
- Devise a method to keep everyone informed of what they are to do each day, in each subject.
- Create a daily schedule and work out the logistics.
9. Organize it all into some pretty notebooks!
I thought I would come back to this and add links to the planning posts that follow. They are not all complete, but here are the next, completed posts:
Step 2: Setting Goals
Step 3: The Calendar
Step 4: Choosing Resources
Step 5: Hunting and Gathering
Step 6: Carefully Considering the Resources
Step 7: Assigning Assignments
Step 8: Scheduling the Day
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Brain Clutter Solution
Over at 4Real some of the ladies are talking about Decluttering the Mind. I thought I'd share a bit about how I do that. This year in particular I've had a lot on my mind and not a lot of time to be organized. When I tried to sit down and start my planning for the coming year I had too many thoughts swimming around in my head! It made it difficult to focus. There were too many thoughts and not enough of the organization that my "type A" personality craves. This was causing much stress and anxiety. Enter the "Everything Notebook" or, to take a phrase from the ladies at 4Real, the "Brain Dump" Notebook.
I bought this little journal notebook from my local store when it was on sale. It's a bit fancy for what I need. I'm not usually a "jewel studded" person, but I thought this was pretty, and the price was right. I had it sitting in my "giant bag of things to read and do" for a while until I decided I was going to use it to write random notes down, in no special order. Well it didn't take me long to nearly fill it!
"Giant Bag of Things to Read and Do"
I keep it with me on a regular basis and I've discovered how valuable it is for when I'm waiting. I think I spend a lot of time just waiting - waiting to pick up Social Butterfly from dance, waiting for Night Owl to get done with his Chem lab at the university, waiting for various sports practices to end ...
I used to keep all my notes on my computer, but I don't always have access to that. This little notebook has been just perfect for what I need. As I'm leaving the house it's become my habit to grab my phone, my purse, my keys, and now this little notebook.
I decided right away that I was not going to try to keep it in any special "order". This was difficult for me! I don't even date the pages! That's because I want to keep it random. If I'm writing notes on our schedule for next year, I don't want to feel like I can't insert a note about Builder's Math. If things were dated and in some sort of order I would hesitate to write it down. I add these random notes by simply inserting a "random thoughts" box right smack down in the middle of my other strand of writing. I just draw a box around it and label it "Random Thought" or "Side Note" or some such thing. Then I continue on with my thoughts on scheduling, or whatever I happen to be writing about.
Is it confusing to read then? Not really. I think since they are just my thoughts I can pretty much follow them. It's actually sort of fun to detour from what I'm writing to insert something completely off topic. I put these detours into boxes or surround them with brackets; something to set them apart from the original writing. I haven't gone so far as to use different colors yet. I'm afraid I'd get too caught up in the "artsy" part and lose track of my thoughts.
This little notebook has really been the basis for much of my planning for the coming year. It's been a crazy Spring so far and before I could actually get to the nitty gritty of planning for the coming year, I had to get all the those thoughts swirling around in my head down on paper. My "Brain Dump" notebook has been just the thing I needed.
Labels:
Family Life,
How We Homeschool,
Special Events
Thursday, May 10, 2012
So, When Do You Blog?
I have a question for those with blogs who read my blog... When do you find time to blog? Erin was so kind to comment here that I don't blog enough. I wish I could find the time to do more blogging. I have all sorts of ideas in my head that I would like to share. The trouble is, I think of something to blog about and look over at my computer. But on the way, my gaze passes "Mount Laundry-more", "the Valley of the Sink of Dirty Dishes", the angry looking daughter who is waiting for her math help, and my nose is telling me there is a 1 year old with a dirty diaper that needs changing - NOW.
So, dear readers, when exactly do you find time to write the wonderful blog posts I read?
So, dear readers, when exactly do you find time to write the wonderful blog posts I read?
I'm delighted to recieve the Liebster Blog Award from my good friend Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting ! Actually, she's not really an "in real life" friend. I wish she was though! I love reading Erin's blog posts and sharing ideas with her over at 4Real. Maybe some day I'll get to Australia to meet her, or maybe she would rather come here ... probably not though. Michigan would seem rather boring ... and COLD compared to Erin's home town.
My understanding is that the Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers, to help them build their number of readers. With only 7 followers, I am just a humble little blogger sharing my thoughts, when I get a moment to do so! My hope is that some of my ideas may help my readers, just as I have been blessed by reading the blogs that others write.
So now to pass this very nice award on to fellow bloggers:
Beginning With The Assumption is a relatively new blog find for me. I enjoy reading the posts written by KackyK, another member of 4Real.
And The Kitchen Sink is another great blog. I love to read about the very real adventures that happen in this wonderfully large family!
Allison's blog, Totus Tuus Family has always been one of my favorites. I think it is quite popular so I doubt she needs more readers, but I notice her members count is just under 200, so I'm going to include her!
I've just found Catie's blog, Our Catholic Homeschool. It was mentioned on the MODG Families Yahoo Group just as I was about to write this blog post. Perfect timing! So far I've enjoyed reading some of her curriculum reviews and seeing the photo of her precious new baby!
So there are four blogs that I am happy to direct you to! Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Time to Plan
It's that time of year again, time to plan for the upcoming school year. There are so many things to think about: Goals for each child, school supply storage, book storage, systems for keeping things organized, systems for assigning work, how to do a better job at keeping the house clean ...
All this on top of just trying to finish up this year!
This has been our busiest Spring ever! Between Confirmations and First Communions, Dance Recitals and Highschool Graduations I've hardly had time to think about next year. I feel like I'm in survival mode. I just keep thinking, "If I can just make it through June we'll be fine!" Yet, the planning bug is persistant so even while I'm planting daylillies and spreading mulch to get ready for the Open House my mind is working on planning for the school year of 2012-2013.
So posts ahead will be about this and that, eventually getting to my final plans for next year. If all goes well, those ideas I have stored in my brain will be the basis for an exciting year of learning for all my children, and for me!
All this on top of just trying to finish up this year!
This has been our busiest Spring ever! Between Confirmations and First Communions, Dance Recitals and Highschool Graduations I've hardly had time to think about next year. I feel like I'm in survival mode. I just keep thinking, "If I can just make it through June we'll be fine!" Yet, the planning bug is persistant so even while I'm planting daylillies and spreading mulch to get ready for the Open House my mind is working on planning for the school year of 2012-2013.
So posts ahead will be about this and that, eventually getting to my final plans for next year. If all goes well, those ideas I have stored in my brain will be the basis for an exciting year of learning for all my children, and for me!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
My First Blogger Award!
Wow! I am honored to receive my first blogger award! Thank you to St. Francis De Sales Homeschool for the "Versatile Blogger Award".
Here are the rules:
- Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
- Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.
- Give this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
- Contact those bloggers and let them in on the news.
1 - I had my 6th baby at the young age of 46.
2 - My oldest son is headed to Hillsdale College in the fall, and my baby is 1.
3 - My favorite vacation is camping - anywhere. I like condo's on a beach too, but tent camping is my all time favorite. Hotels are too confining for this family with 5 rough and rowdy boys!
4 - I was a classroom teacher for 10 years before I started homeschooling. I loved the classroom but I love teaching my own children even more.
5 - My favorite time of the school year is the planning time! I love to plan and I love to look at new curriculum. Nothing is more exciting than a blank spreadsheet just waiting to be filled in!
6 - I don't like jelly beans!
7 - My favorite meal is anything eaten with my husband in a nice, quiet and peaceful atmosphere. So PB&J in the car in a parking lot works just fine!
Now I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15 recently discovered blogs. I will admit that not all 15 of these are recently discovered, but if you haven't discovered them I highly recommend them!
1. St. Francis Homeschool Blog
2. Seven Little Australians and Counting
3. By Sun and Candlelight
4. Harmony Art Mom
5. Wildflowers and Marbles
6. A Lee in the Woudes
7. Busy With Blessings
8. Like Mother Like Daughter
9. Shower of Roses
10. Sweetness and Light
11. Grace in Loving Chaos
12. Family in Feast and Feria
13. Finding Elegant Simplicity
14. My Symphony
15. Flowing Streams
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