You'll see below why I put the word "needed" in quotations:
I mean, does anyone really need a ruler that bends up like an accordion? Or big, bubbly calculators? (Which are, by the way, color-coded by child.) Or lots of pens in funky colors? Well... hyeah!
In case you're interested in what's what, my son's stuff is on the right, mine is in the middle, and my daughter's is on the left. (And if you're really interested, you can click on the picture to make it larger!) She got a cute, striped clipboard at Target because she likes to doodle, draw, take notes, etc. while I'm reading and notebooks can be floppy. She also chose a cute planner (which I'm going to insist that both of them write in daily/weekly this year) from Target, while my son found a digital camo/army one with a pocket on the front at Officemax. He also had to have those Crayola Total Tools, which I have to admit are pretty cool!
The kids both alerted me to the fact that they wish I would refrain from grading/marking up their papers with plain, red pen, which apparently hurts their ::cough::: self esteem. I will henceforth be using fun, neon colored pens. (Which, in my defense, I've been using pretty frequently because I've usually got a highlighter within arm's reach even when I can't find a pen to save my life.) But, apparently I've been pretty free with the red ink.
As you can see, I'm a fan of Post-it Notes. I restocked my supply of various sizes, and I'm not sure if you can tell how HUGE those pink ones are, but I'm pumped about those. Sometimes I need to write a note that CANNOT! BE! MISSED! and I think those might fill the bill. 
You can also see my son's new Trapper Keeper, which he is excited about not only because it will hold all of his "stuff" but because they are outlawed at the local public school (according to their supply list) so it feels like contraband. That's the way to rebel. With a Trapper Keeper.
Oh, and check out his new backpack! He found it in the Cabela's catalog, which he reads with great anticipation each time a new one arrives. It's a Surplus German Military Rucksack. It fits his contraband Trapper Keeper just fine. ("Mom! It'll hold more than 25 kilos!") That's a lot of sixth grade work!
As for the planning, I'm doing as I described last year and putting the puzzle together at the moment. I've got my spreadsheets for the year made and am plugging our subjects/curricula in to see how to best spread it out. We may not stick to it as specifically as I'm listing it, but it does help to know what months we'll be in which time period, or when we'll be hitting certain projects for geography, etc. I like to see it all laid out together so I can move things around if I see that certain subjects will be heavier than others at certain times.
One resource I'm having fun planning is the Colonial Life unit from Homeschool In The Woods. It's a cd rom that is just packed with resources. I ordered it a few weeks ago and had no idea how pleased I would be with it. I would encourage you to check it out if you're in Colonial period this year in history.
Another resource I just received is The Cambridge Music Guide. I don't use a music "curriculum" but we have been going through the Usborne Internet-Linked Music book together slowly over the past couple of years (when I think about it, frankly!). I wanted to more coherently focus on American composers and modern era music this year, and I find that this book has such comprehensive biographies and wonderful listening notes, I wish I would have been using it all along! I probably won't read it aloud to them straight from the text, but will use it as a guide for myself and pull selections from it, using the listening notes for pieces I get from iTunes (another invaluable resource!)
One thing that is HUGE that I gave myself, which incidentally is not available at Target, Officemax, or on any online catalog... is T-I-M-E. I found myself getting bogged down with planning school as well as orchestrating the beginning of our Awana club year (which my husband and I coordinate together). One day I was feeling particularly burdened trying to get it all done and I felt a gentle nudge in my spirit asking me, "Why?" So I asked myself, "Why am I trying to start school on the 13th? Or even the 20th or the 27th? Just because those days work best for other homeschoolers or school districts? They aren't me!" So, I sat down with our calendar and adjusted our start date to the day after Labor Day (which just happens to be the day after I turn the big 4-0) and it's all falling together. We can still be done by the end of May/ first of June. Life is good. I have more time. And the kids have 2+ more weeks to squeeze all the fun they can out of summer.
I hope your school planning and starting is exciting as well!
Taken from the Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons www.familymanweb.com
When doorbells are ringing and UPS men are bringing new books for our school ye-e-e-a-r!
Recently we were visiting the Alamo in San Antonio when I had one of those moments. If you are a homeschooler (particularly if you are the one who does most of the teaching) you'll be able to relate to the type of moment I'm talking about. It's the moment when you're somewhere hearing information pertaining to one of your child's subjects and you think to yourself, "Oops! I didn't teach them that!" I have those moments all the time. Sometimes it's at church when the Bible Study teacher asks all of the kids a question and my kids don't raise their hands. Other times it's been in a co-op situation, when there's some background information with which the other kids are familiar and my child isn't. It's even happened a few times while watching "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" as a family! "Oh, no! I haven't taught them that! What kind of homeschooler am I??" Two weekends ago, we were standing in the Alamo looking at the exhibits, flags, and timelines and I had that "I-didn't-do-a-good-job-of-teaching-Texas-History-this-year" feeling. I even said as much to my daughter. "Oh, yes you did!" was her reply (partly to reassure me and partly because she was probably afraid I'd want a "do-over" this year!)
Hi, my name's Cyndi and I'm addicted to Yahoo Groups.Are you a highly-organized planner? A loosely-organized one? Or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants planner? I've been all of the above, and everything in between! My homeschooling friends run the planning-gamut as well, and I've seen it work- however it's done. Some years being highly-planned works for me. Other years it drives me nuts. It depends on the season, the ages of my children, our family mission and ministry opportunities, and quite frankly, my energy level!
Now that it's July, my mind has turned to planning. I usually spend April and May wrapping things up for the current school year and solidifying and purchasing some of my curriculum choices for the next year. If we're not on a mission trip, I spend June facedown in a deckchair by the pool taking some time to record what we did, weeding through their work and deciding what to keep, and researching/ buying for the next year. I've learned in recent years to focus as much as I can on the "year at hand," since I tend to prefer living in the future (planning, buying, and strategizing) to the exclusion of actually doing what I had planned, bought, and strategized for current day. So, I reserve time in July and August for heavy-duty long range planning and buying, and during the school year I try to focus on the current week and only about two weeks ahead. As I begin my month of planning, I thought I'd share some of my thoughts and experience in this area.
Buying a Planbook vs. Making Your Own: For years I used a premade planbook. Actually, I was so "stuck" on the way I had planned when I had taught public school that I wanted my plan book to be exactly the same. Exactly. So, my mom,who still taught for the district, would snag me a district-issued plan book each year. (Shhhhh. Don't tell. Actually she would give me the one they gave her, as she was a renegade who did her own planning forms.) So, there I was with my one little Pre-K/Kindergarten homeschooled child, clutching my forest green " ______ Independent School District" planner like a security blanket. But, hey, it worked! And eventually I moved on. I bought this one, mainly because I thought it was cute. I taped the word "Mom's" over the word "Preschool" at the top because apparently I had time on my hands and had learned how to do cute fonts on my computer. One that I used once both my kids were school-aged was this one. With its 11x9 size (which meant oodles of slots) I could use one side to plan our combined subjects for each week, and the other side for their individual subjects. (With only two kids, this works.) Eventually, I was comfortable enough with planning to do my own sheets and made my own plan book (pictured here) with a section for each child, and a section for our combined subjects. Two years ago I began doing all of my planning on my computer, which has been revolutionary for me. Now I use the binder I created, but I simply print out the "final version" of the current week and put it in the proper section of my binder.
Forms and Charts: One resource I have enjoyed over the years for any type of planning I'm into is Donna Young's site. She has many, many downloadable forms that you can customize to fit your family. I enjoy clicking around over there and downloading charts, then seeing if I can tweak them to fit my family's needs. In the past I've downloaded some, printed them out, and started a binder just to see if it would work for me or if I would be working for it. Summer is a great time to check out some different planning strategies. Since then I have adapted her forms and use my own in Excel. My plans for the year are 40 weekly "sheets" within one Excel "book," so I just fill in the dates each summer for the upcoming year and plan for each child week-by-week that way. Each week I cut and paste whatever didn't get done and move it to the next week. I wrote more about that strategy here.
Logging Rather Than Planning: When my kids were very young (Pre-K through and K) and when I was incorporating the File Box System (below) I would use a planbook more as a log rather than a planner. I kept it open for the current week with the subject area headings filled in, and simply jotted down activities we had done that fit certain categories. A cooking activity might count for math if they helped me count or measure, books we read were logged under "Reading", and I recorded workbook pages we completed. Every couple of weeks I would note which squares in my logbook seemed to be empty and then make an effort in the weeks ahead to do more things in whatever area needed a boost. (The early years, though, are mainly times to have lots of experiences, not just book work, so I would give more weight to an outdoor outing or field trip, or watching the construction workers build something down the street than sitting at the table working on a "community helpers" worksheet!) The two main areas, in my opinion, are reading and math at that age. In fact, there were weeks I pared it down to "Reading," "Math," and "Life" and my kids fared just fine!
List-making: I came across this great post over at Faithlifts, in which Carrie describes her system of list-making, which I think is very helpful. There are weeks, even in my planned-out and scheduled years, where I simply go through my plans and make lists of what needs to be accomplished. I've done this when we travel and it throws our school schedule off, or when I need to be more flexible due to unexpected situations. The kids like it, and our work still gets done. I love the way Carrie outlines how she does her lists. Very informative!
The File Box System: I came across this system, posted here on the Well-Trained Mind website back in 2001 and LOVED it. I adapted it to fit our needs and used this for a couple of years. I found that it was similar to making lists, in that it allowed us to move at a more doable pace, eliminated the circles and arrows in my plan book, and gave us flexibility when the flu hit. I found it especially helpful to figure out how to print notecards on my printer, so I created a notecard-sized template in Word, which I would use every few weeks and quickly plug in page numbers/assignments by subject. I would print the cards for their individual subjects and keep them on our school table, one box per child, divided by subject. They knew each day they were to pull a Reading card, a Math card, a Spelling card, etc. I had a separate box for our "together subjects"- Bible,Science, History, Latin, Spanish, and Art. They loved this system. In fact, one year at Wal Mart I found a roll of achievement stickers that had a little bell on top, and when they finished a card, they would put a sticker on it and ring the bell. Corny, but fun! And, it motivated them!
Color Coding: Early on, I gave each of my kids a color. I may have let them pick, I'm not sure. My daughter is blue, my son is green. They've been those colors for years, they are permanent from year-to-year. I've found various ways over the years to color code them. For instance: When I printed the notecards, I printed them according to their color so I'd know at a glance whose they were. Their lesson plan pages are the same way (or at least the headings are). Before I did them on the computer, I would write their subject headings in colored pencil in my plan book. The tabs in my plan book are color-coded by child as well. As much as possible, I use their colors so I can quickly file things where they go. I utilize accordion-file folders for loose papers, and purchase those according to their colors, so I can tell when I'm digging through old files whose they are. When I make name stickers for their workbooks or folders, I print them in their colors as well. Anything that helps me sort through a pile! 
In fact, right now I have next year's curriculum divided into two color-coded crates so I can see who still needs what (and I even found a basket last year at Walmart that had both colors combined, for the books they're doing together. How did Walmart know I needed that color combo? :) Here are some pictures of our school room and the back-to-school baskets, which show how I've used their colors. If I had more than two children, I would certainly color code. If I had more than three or four, I might even assign numbers! ( Just kidding.) Since I'm so visual, I have found it particularly helpful.
Well, these are some of my thoughts on planning. Since I do things a little differently each year, it'll be interesting to see what this year brings. And I'd love to know what works for you. Happy planning!
Are you doing summer school? No, not your kids, you! I suppose I could call it "Teacher Inservice," or "Continuing Education." At some point, many homeschooling moms go "back to school" in one way or another, I suppose.Though I haven't worked out any sort of "schedule" I will be starting this week going through some of the material. Just this morning I watched the introduction to the logic course. I won't do it everyday, though I'll stick some of the reading in my bag for the poolside. I'm looking forward to it!
I'm back! I've mainly been updating my other blog (and my husband even posted there in my absence!) as I usually post only homeschool-related "stuff" here, but I just wanted to let anyone who mainly checks here know that we are back from China. I did a quick turnaround and spent a few days in Maryland with my cute husband, and now we are back! I was so excited on the plane, knowing that I was coming back for SUMMER. NO SCHOOL! The kids are excited, too. (Surprise, surprise.)
Do you think he'll make it past security??
See you when I get back!
A couple of weeks ago, we took the opportunity to go see the "Body Worlds" exhibit. Since we were studying life science this year, I thought it was too timely, so we went. I was kind of squeamy about it at first, but I'm so glad we did! It was absolutely fascinating. I learned so much, and have an even great appreciation for just how intricately God designed us. I just asked my kids what they thought of it, and my daughter said, "It was much more interesting than I thought it would be." My son's favorite part was the plastified horse and rider. I kind of got past the fact that they had been actual people and told myself they were models. (Yeah... models. That's the ticket!) We rented the little headset with the recorded information and it really added to our understanding of what we were seeing. We had kids as young as eight years old in our group, and everyone really enjoyed it. It was really worth going to! It is touring all over the country, so if it comes to a museum near you, I'd encourage you to go check it out.
Drawing the continents, then placing the dough on the posterboard
Ready to dry. (See the tiny dot in the middle of the Atlantic? St. Helena!)
Not-so-tiny Texas, using the topography map in the text.
This week for co-op (now that the paint's dry) the girls will finish labeling the neighboring states, add borders, and paint Texas' major rivers. Kyle will paint the Atlantic. It took a good week or so for the salt dough to completely dry, especially where the Texas mountains (yes, mountains!) are. So, it's been a good project to do in stages.
If you've not tried salt maps before, I encourage you to. The kids have loved it. In fact, with some of his left over dough, my son even created an island for some of his tiny ships, so it doesn't even have to be for geography, it can be just for fun!
