One: A Meme Post

I was tagged by Steph over at Confessions of an Erratic Homeschooling Mom for this one. Tag me back if you continue it. I'd love to read your posts.

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed: Homeschooling: The Early Years by Linda Dobson. This gave me a great start and talked about the different philosophies and encouraged us to go our own way.

2. One resource you wouldn't be without: The Internet :)

3. One resource you wish you had never bought: Science kits from The Young Scientist Club. I really need to not buy things like this unless I have plans to use them immediately. My oldest at least generally doesn't have the motivation to get them out and use them on his own, not when the computer is sitting right there. We have remaining a stack of about 20 of these kits (it was a monthly subscription) that we have yet to use, and it was a bit difficult to cancel once I decided to end it. Maybe someday we'll get to all of them...

4. One resource you enjoyed last year: Gleamer at Raw Learning for planning so many great field trips.

5. One resource you will be using next year: I'm adding "New" to this since we'll still be doing field trips with Raw Learning. This year we're adding curricula from Oak Meadow. I'm looking forward to continuing to explore and learn with it with the kids.

6. One resource you would like to buy: Oh, I can't just stick to one here, but some of the things on my wish list for homeschooling are a butterfly garden, Horrible Histories, and The Waldorf Book of Poetry.

7. One resource you wish existed: A group of secular homeschoolers in my small hometown. I've been able to hook up with homeschooling parents of younger kids (my daughters' ages) here in town (although not too many secular ones), but we have had to drive to meet up with kids any older, enough so that I often wish we moved closer to them, even though I like my town for the most part.

8. One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading: Rainbow Resource Catalog. Are there any others? Honestly, if there are, I don't get them. The one marketing thing I could use, and I somehow missed the mailing list.

9. One homeschool website you use regularly: Facebook and Google probably give me all the information I need. I really don't use any one regularly, although I might be visiting the Oak Meadow web site more as the school year rolls on. Now, e-mail lists, I have plenty of those!

10. Tag six other homeschoolers: I'm still exploring the homeschool blogosphere, so I'll be sure to tag some friends as a note in this post  as a note on Facebook :)

The Homeschool Mother's Journal 2

The Homeschool Mother's Journal is a linkup via www.TheHomeschoolChick.com.

Whoo boy, what a busy couple of weeks. I'm glad for these writing prompts to give me a starting place and a good prompt to write a blog post.

In my life this week…


We have been superbusy the last couple of weeks (I didn't post last week) with a trip out of town, neurofeedback appointments for DS, trying to schedule and fit in a little school, ballet starting up, karate continuing for DS, our first field trip of fall, work, and just life. You know you're busy/overwhelmed when you have to look back at your calendar just to see what you did the past few days ;)

In our homeschool this week…


We didn't do a whole lot of "lesson time." I did do circle time with the girls and start on the letter B with them on Monday, and DS did his second math lesson, but we did more eclectic type stuff. First, my girls, 3 and 4, started ballet on Monday for the fall. DD4 (almost 5) has been with this teacher the past 2 years. I considered moving her up to the next class, but she is kind of attached to her teacher, and I thought it would also help her younger sister (who has a short attention span) transition if they were in the same class. We also had a field trip, right here in our own town at The Art Warehouse, completely devoted to art. We did pottery with the Pottery Lady and explored colors with paint and other materials with Nancy from S&N School of Music & Art (I'll try to post pictures when the pottery is finished).


There was something for all three of my kids, and they also got to visit with friends, as the trip was organized through Raw Learning, a regional free school. I was amazed at how interested my youngest was in all of the artwork in the gallery, especially the sculptures and a little house and yard made entirely of sticks and twigs and other natural things. 

My favorite thing this week was…


Getting paid! LOL. I've been working consistently as a freelancer, but as things are bound to go sometimes, the checks don't always arrive on a consistent basis. We were kind of in a rough spot anyway, and then, it was almost 6 weeks without a check. I was very happy to receive 5 checks all at once this week. It will be helpful for both home and homeschool. DS and I can finally get to work on that Pan Bagna recipe this week!

What’s working/not working for us…


Organizing our schedule is still a work in progress. As my friend Steph over at Confessions of an Erratic Homeschooling Mom expressed in a recent post, every time I try to get "school" started, life gets in the way. But that's okay. I believe that life as plenty to teach me and my children as well. It's no less valuable than school time.

Things I’m working on…


How about things I'd like to work on if only I could squeeze out the time? Learn more about wirework jewelry, do more drawing and photography, play more Diablo II with my son. I do actually need to organize my kids' birthday party (my two older ones are having a combo party) and buy presents for my son, who celebrating 11 years in early October. I'm also researching the idea of hiring a mother's helper (perhaps a homeschooling teen) that could help me out on field trips with the kids. I have a foot issue (plantar fasciitis) that makes long periods on my feet extremely difficult.

I’m reading…


The Freedom Writers' Diary by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers. Wow. I was inspired to read this book after watching the movie, and I'm being well rewarded.

I’m cooking…


We made No-Bake Energy Bites for a playdate this week. They were a hit, both at home and the playdate. Easy, healthy, and superyummy.

I’m grateful for…


My family, both immediate and extended. My mother turned 70 this week, and I'm so glad that she's a part of my life, even though she lives 700 miles away now. She's an awesome lady.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

My favorite photo this week: my youngest, asleep in her favorite place, the dining room table.

Scheduling and Getting Organized

I just popped over to Donna Young's page (Donna Young's Homeschool Resources and Printables) to download some organizers. As I was reading and getting into the nuts and bolts about the Oak Meadow Kindergarten curriculum, I realized that I was going to need at least some kind of planner if I have any hope of keeping up or at least know what I'm supposed to be covering in what order, especially when you add in DS's 5th grade stuff, which I'm still waiting on. I want flexibility, but I also don't want to be floundering.

Hopefully, the subject planners on her page will work for that. You can use them to plan out what you want to cover in a semester without being tied down to a certain thing each day. She also has a good idea, the curriculum key, which allows you to create a shorthand for your curriculum to use in your planner(s). For example, I might code Growing, Growing Strong, page 1, as GGS1.

I'll probably put the pages all together in a notebook, along with some journal pages for notes. I really like her decorated journal pages. Very cute! This a site you could spend a long time exploring, with lots of resources.

Too bad it can't add more time to my day. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm supposed to fit all the homeschooling in before work time (usually about 2 p.m.) and still take care of household chores, exercise, and all of the other things (therapy appointments, etc.) that manage to squeeze their way into my life. I've considered getting up earlier and/or exercising later, but I'm still working on that part. It'll be easier to figure out once I get DS's curriculum and get an idea of what is involved there.

Well, that will be another day. It's amazing how little one can accomplish in a day. Let's just hope it adds up :)