Homemaking Organized Blog

Archive for the ‘kids’ Category

Check out this free Nativity Printable from Marloes de Vries, a designer and illustrator from the Netherlands. So cute!

 

Thank you Amy at NewNostalgia!

MoneySaving mom posted a great deal today on Kid’s coats at JcPenney.com

And if you’re a member of ShopatHome get cash back.

I just picked up a coat and a pair of snow bibs for Sweet Peanut for under $40.

JcPenney Coat Deal

I’m very thankful for my Sweet Peanut.  A gift from God later in life than I would have thought her sweet spirit just makes me smile.

I have been exercising pretty hard the last couple of weeks. Today when I came out of the shower Sweet Peanut had a “tea” set for just her and me. Pumpkin seeds, crackers, fruit, and water in her little china set with her dolls and stuffed animals at the ready. It was so special and just the nourishment I needed.

 

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Grab the latest FREE educational ebooks from Currclick…

Silent Night Sheet Music for Children

Sight Words in Sentences

5 Ginger Cookies Flannel board set

A Phonics Reader Level 1

and more

Currclick is your one stop shopping place for downloadable educational materials such as lapbooks, copywork, unit studies and novel studies.

Are you finding homeschooling difficult? Getting stressed? Overburdened? Ready to throw in the towel? Before you do read this newsletter message from Gena at the Old Schoolhouse Magazine The Uncomplicated Homeschooler

With first grade well under way I had to come up with a homeschool schedule that would fit in all the new subjects (Science, Spelling, and Handwriting) while allowing Mommy (that’s me) time to breathe (Well that’s what it felt like.) and take care of regular household chores as well as whatever.

Back in the day (last year) the nice kindergarten homeschool schedule allowed me to get much done in the day along with kindergarten class and running an errand or two. Now I have to be smart about my time, organized and scheduled.

So I came up with a schedule (along with the help of Bob Jones) that seems to work well and allow for breaks.

So here is our 2011 First Grade Homeschool daily schedule…

9:00 – Breakfast (I’ve already been up and seen to a few things)

10:00 – Math

10:30 – Break

11:00 – English and Phonics

12:00 – Lunch / Break

1:00 -  Science

1:30 – Spelling

2:00 – School day ends

Free time, Outdoors, Gardening, errands etc.

Now I won’t say it works perfectly every day. Some days we get started late, there are worksheets to complete between each class and so forth but if I with the breaks and knowing that AT LEAST by 3pm we should be finished with the school day that keeps me happy.

Last Year (Kindergarten)

Our Schedule looked like this….

Wake up (you know pray, workout etc)

Dwadle (surf, blab on the phone, snuggle Peanut who was groggy)

Breakfast (pull something together)

Make beds

Start school (By the time school started we were actually organized believe it or not but we took so long to get there. School was only about an hour and 45 minutes too.)

Barrel through (it was three classes, Heritage Studies, Math, and English Skills) be done by the latest 1pm

Play time!

 

This year I knew I would have to be much more organized in work and in home. I take this homeschooling stuff seriously (now that they mailed some tests along with the package). Some steps I’ve been taking that help to keep things together.

Meal Planning – I waffle on this so bad because I really like to cook and experiment AND I like to do it at the drop of a hat. My experimenting now has to be planned. You can find out more about meal planning on the main site.

Work – Knowing that I don’t have all day to write and play around with new planner templates means stuff is getting done slower and in a time slot (like now). I have to make myself okay with that. Peanut’s education is first.

Me Time – I get up earlier and have added in a quick workout and some work time. I go to bed earlier and have some time with the Lord before heading for bed.

Housework -  Except for beds and laundry anything else I want to do has to be done after school.

Errands – Errands are run before school unless hubby is around and can take over the schooling (Wednesday). Trying to do them after means I’m rushing and I actually don’t like being out and about in high traffic. I prefer the lull of the morning. It means school on those days is moved down an hour or so. The beauty of homeschooling.

Friends – I’m so sorry but my friends like to call during the day so I haven’t been answering the phone and have been apologizing profusely. Hey there’s still evenings and weekends.

 

Do you have a homeschool schedule? Tell me about it.

Well it’s school time again. Actually we’re a week out. We like to lazy about in pjs a few days while the other kids go back to school…just kidding. We have various other reasons for starting so late. We use a DVD program (BJU Press) that is very organized, deeply thought out, and can seem daunting at first.

But I have to say, not to plug BJU Press or anything, that I love the Bob Jones homeschool programs. We’re on our third year with them and it’s been great. In the beginning of each year it seems like a lot of work. The expense. The preparation of lessons. The pulling together of supplies.  The looking over each school day. And so on. But as we go through the school year and our little peanut absorbs so much and has so much fun doing it I can see that the program works (and also the organizing is not as bad as I think at the beginning).

So as I’m deeply into the organizing of the homeschool room right now (I’ll try to get a pic in next week) I thought it only right to post links to some homeschool room design sources.

Homeschool Rooms: Pictures of various homeschool rooms here (and lovely background music of Pachelbel Canon in D ). And if you click the link at the bottom of the post you can see homeschool rooms from 2010.

Homeschool Room Ideas; This site is all about homeschooling. The article is about ideas for your homeschooling room. The chairs, organizing supplies and books. That kind of stuff. The gallery has pics from other homeschool rooms and if you have a pic of your homeschool room add it to the bunch. I may do that!

Let me know if the links have inspired your homeschool rooms in any way.

If you have a post potty trained child who still needs a little bit of encouragement with nighttime bed wetting this giveaway is for you. We used these for our now 6 year old and they were the perfect transition to her FINALLY sleeping in big girl underwear (our name for it).

Now if this is TMI for you just move on but for those who have been there any amount of info is really helpful.

The givewaway is packed with useful stuff for your growing kid.

So sign up to win at MommyGoggles

Upset with myself for missing this last month but better late than never.

Have you been looking for resources to help your daughter learn the home arts? Summer is a great time to start driving home those ideals. Helping mom cook, take care of the home or learn a new craft.

My daughter actually came to me and said this summer she would like to learn to make her bed and play the piano. Okay now before you gasp that my six year old cannot make her own bed let me tell you this thing is huge. I don’t know why my husband and I fixated on it but we bought her one of those extra long beds from JC Penney a few years ago. The darling girl’s room in white sold us so here we have this big bed with an equally big mattress. I struggle to make it each week on linen day and she struggles to help me. Truthfully all she has to do each morning is pull the sheet up, situate the pillow and settle the duvet but she sees me sweat and toil each week and is worried. So alas it’s on the agenda.

Piano is another story. Do you know any children that are pretty strong willed? You know you try to teach them or show them something and they snatch it away and say “I already know how to do it!”. Okay this is my sweet Peanut and it can be frustrating. Praise God she does not do this with school (another reason we use DVD homeschool) but with some things (she picks and chooses) she is really adamant about doing it herself. So I’m comprimising on the piano I have purchase the Alfred Beginner series (I learned with Alfred) and then I also purchased this great book that she can work on BY HERSELF and get a real feeling for accomplishment. She is playing along nicely and every once in a while she will ask me what something means and I can toss in a simple piano lesson.

Link Love Link

Homemaking for Girls: This series is such a great idea. 30 days  (not necessarily back to back as the auther has stated) of homemaking for girls with lots of contributions from many great bloggers. I like Make Your Bed for the Glory of God! My type of lesson! There are several more good lessons and ideas to work with so check it out.

 

Now is the time to renew your Old Schoolhouse Magazine subscription. It’s time again for the 19 Free gifts and this year they’ve thrown in a bonus of $15 to spend in the Totally TOS section. Not to mention all of these other bonuses that come with your subscription.

• All our available digital back issues – TOTALLY free,
• Monthly Teacher’s Toolbox membership which includes:
  • Access to subscribers’ only Teacher’s Toolbox section on our website where you can read MANY articles available only to subscribers
  • A month’s worth of recipes – one for every day of the month (recipes change monthly)
  • A month’s worth of “This Day in History” lessons – one for every day of the month (activities change monthly with the calendar)
  • At least one free full length unit study or lapbook
  • And more!

You have to subscribe for 2 years AND you have to subscribe before they run out! May 1st is the deadline IF they don’t run out of subscription bonuses before then. Get it here => Old Schoolhouse Magazine 19 free gifts et al subscription