Adjustments

Funny how I thought that when the children went to school, I would have more time for blogging. Who was I kidding? I thought I would shed tears and be missing them during the day. Perhaps it hasn't fully hit me yet. I thought I would get huge amounts of stuff done the first week. That hasn't happened either.

We're all still making adjustments. Figuring out where we need to make time and where we have excess time. Bub is having alarm clock issues and is rushing around so as not to miss the bus. The girls have plenty of time to even sit and read yet before their bus arrives.

I on the other hand have not been out of my housecoat before 8:30 yet this week -- with the exception of the first day because I wanted to attend the opening assembly at the girls' school. It seems the major adjustments belong to me. It doesn't help that I've been doing battle with a migraine which totally saps my energy, or that I have had to run out every day this week so far, but really those are just excuses. Hopefully by next week, I will be able to establish a good and consistent routine for myself too.

In the meantime, I've been busy in the kitchen putting up the harvest from the garden. Super spicy salsa, cukes ready to be made into bread and butter pickles, loaves of pear bread, yum! I love listening to the success of popping jar lids.

Off I go to perhaps get dressed and make a batch of milder salsa today and to get the pickles started. Oh, and just a little something to make you smile.

Sometimes it feels like we're having triplets :o)!

My Goals for the New Year

I don't make resolutions, but I do make goals. Every year shortly after Christmas I start mulling over what I would like to accomplish in the new year. Sometimes my goals are very achievable, but other times they seem almost insurmountable. This year Organizing Mommy at Organized Everyday has set up My Goals for the New Year. After reading hers, I was amazed at how similar mine are. I asked her if I could just use her list and add one of my own. She agreed we could work on them together, and that the one I added was also one hers... but you'll have to go to her blog to read more about that :o).

Anyways, for my records, here are my goals for this year:

1) Time Management: a) To spend more quality time with the Lord and my family.

Objective: No computer time until I have done my morning devotions. Limited computer time when the children are up.

Weekends are predominantly for family things. Geocaching, board games, crafts, baking together...

b) To use my free time wisely for my creative outlets.

Objective: Again, limited computer time -- unless it's what I am using for my creative time.

2) Home Organization: a) To Eat Consistently More Healthy

Objective: Get back on track for meal plans again. Try at least one new recipe a month.

b) To keep up to date with the children's and my chore packs.

Objective: Do regular checks to ensure that both the children and I are on track and consistently doing our work.

3) Decluttering: To have a tidy home with a place for everything and everything in its place.

Objective: Focus on decluttering one room per week for 15-20 minutes each day.

4) Enrichment/Learning: a) To regularly be learning new things.

Objective: Read at least one book every other week. Take another online course.

b) Continue to improve my photography skills.

Objective: Get instruction and advice from the real pros. Read, read, read. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Continue to push myself to the limits.

5) To get in shape again. This means shedding some extra baggage too :o).

Objective: This is a tough one! I always start out the new year with gusto. Rising early, sweating it out, only to get a migraine and skip a day or two or ten ;o). Or sleep in because sleep is so much more appealing in the cold depths of winter than getting up in the pitch black and sweating it out in a cold dark basement. I'm going to try again. This time though, I'm only going to do fifteen to twenty minutes a day and it won't be early in the morning unless I want it to be.

I'm also going to go outside regularly with the kids and shoot hoops, or toboggan, or play frisbee, or whatever the weather and season will allow. Geocaching is great for this too.

Maybe as the week goes on I'll think of a few more, but this is a good start for this year. Be sure to check out Organizing Mommy's blog for her list and for lots of great tips and tricks on having a more organized 2010.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiasties 3:1

Return of the Chore Pack

We have used these in the past with great success. It was time to get them out again.

They work very well!

The desire of the lazy man kills him,
For his hands refuse to labor. Proverbs 21:25

*** Some of you have asked for more details on these, so I put more information in the comments. I do find that this system is the best and most simple one I have ever used.

What This Year Looks Like.

Of course things are always subject to change, but this is how our school year looks for now. We like to start in August just to get a jump on the school year, and often we take a week off to go camping in early September. It's not happening this year, but we do have another type of learning holiday in the works. This year we're starting a little slower and building up as the weeks go by. I find that the children are usually ready for some structure at this point in the year anyways.

First the ages and grades of the children:

Bub will be thirteen next month (Eeks! A teenager) and is in grade eight.

Peach is eleven and is in grade six.

Beans is nine and is in grade five. (She managed to work herself a whole year ahead the year we brought them home. She was in kindergarten).

Squirt is six yet -- will turn seven in December, and is in grade one/two. She struggles -- not because she can't do it, but because playing and imagining are far more fun!

These are the subjects we do together:

Devotions

Mom reads aloud -- novels, special interest books whatever. Last year we worked through the Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett

History. We are going through the Mystery of History this year. We're using the second book in the series. I am excited about it, but at the same time leery because although I can look and be very organized on paper, my head is often far from it.

Science. (Except for Squirt). Considering God's Creation. We have done this curriculum before and all of us love it. It is interesting, creative, and even my unorganized brain does very well with it. Bub will be doing lots of extras with this program as it is really only meant for up to grade seven. With the extras though, he will get lots of practice researching and writing.

We are not doing a formal Bible curriculum this year as I could not find one that I really liked and I find that the both the science and History programs we're using are very good at incorporating the Bible into them and we will be learning lots about God's wonderful world.

Journalling. Mon, Wed, Fri is for their written journals. Tue and Thu is for their nature journals for as long as the weather holds out.

The girls all do penmanship. The A Reason for Handwriting series.

Likewise, the girls all do grammar with the Easy Grammar Plus series. When I discovered this series three years ago, there was no looking back. I love it!! Explanations are clear, amount of work is very reasonable, and if you have kids who struggle with the mechanics of the English language (I don't -- yet), there are extra booklets to help guide them. The teacher's manual is excellent for referring to as well.

Peach and Beans are also working through a vocabulary book called Vocabulary Smarts by The Critical Thinking Company and Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer. Both these books are new to us, so no reviews about them yet -- except to say, so far so good. We are all enjoying them.

Bub continues to work through the Write Shop curriculum by Kim Kautzer and Debra Oldar. I love this one with the exception that I have a hard time keeping organized on what he has completed and what he hasn't. It is certainly great for teaching him good writing skills and is preparing him well for future education.

Squirt does phonics using the Plaid Phonics series by Modern Curriculum Press and we have picked up the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book again.

From day one we have used Math-U-See. It works very well for us, and me being the math dunce that I am I really appreciate the instructional DVD.

For art we use various books by Barry Stebbing. Peach is currently working on one about drawing horses. Bub and I are working through an art curriculum by Alpha Omega Publishers. I am excited to learn more about art media and getting to practice it too.

I'm sure there are a few more books, subjects, topics, etc. that we will be working on through the year, but for now that is good portion of what fills our weeks. It should be another fun year full of learning!

Next will be to get them into their chores routine again. Argh! This one is a tough one!

Late Start

This morning was so beautiful with the freshly fallen and falling snow, and sunshine too -- yes it was snowing while the sun shone -- that we were outside before 8:30 this morning. Shhh! Don't tell, but some of us were still in our pyjamas under all our winter wear.

I took photos while the kids played King of the Snowpile. Then we all played with the dog. The snow is so deep in places that Snoopy has to bound through it like a jackrabbit. She stole Bub's glove at one point and made a great game of it. She likes to lie down in the snow so only the top of her head poked out. I think she likes the snow more than we do.

We had tea when we came back in and then got down to business. Another late, late school day.

Getting Back into Routine

Not surprisingly, some of the children are having a little difficulty getting back into routine. The two youngest seem to be spending a great deal of time staring at the ceiling (or floor joists in this case) and humming or whistling to themselves.

Bub and Peach on the other hand, are surprisingly focused. They both managed to get their work done shortly after lunch yeaterday. In fact I think Peach was done before lunch. She even did extra math! I guess she doesn't want to repeat her mistake of a week or so ago.

I had vowed I would stay off the computer during the school hour, but when they are all quietly working and I am ahead in the marking and lesson planning, it is hard not to resist -- especially when I am only about three feet away from it and the little girls, so here I am on the computer during school hours.

Squirt is loving her new science curriculum.

This her yesterday working on an experiment . Some of the lessons are very tactile. This is Jello on fingerpaint paper. She got to wet it with a squirt bottle. Then she was to use her senses to describe what she could see, feel, smell, etc. Then when she was done, she got to lick her fingers. Yum!!

Back to School Countdown

I had originally thought that we would start school on August 18 this year, but my plans have since been revised. We will start on the 23rd instead. We just get back from camping on the 15th and the kids have a swim meet yet that weekend and possibly even the week after. We will likely work on some school type things, but won't make it official until the following week.

The worst part about it is, I haven't even started planning out their schedules. This week I'm busy preparing to go away for a few days, so alas it will have to wait until our return -- unless I find some room to squeeze it in somewhere this week. *Sigh!* Why is it so much work to go on vacation?

Now That It's Finally Feeling Like Summer

Hooray! The heat has arrived. I love the heat and all the enjoyment it brings! We finished our official schooling last Friday, and it's like the warm weather was just waiting for us to be finished. The children will now be doing their summer schooling. It will be far more casual. A math page (Math-U-See) a day, some penmanship, some drawing (the Draw, Write Now books), some science (Alpha Omega). This coming Monday, we're going to start working through The Body Book published by Scholastic. The kids are pretty excited about it. We're also going to learn all about Africa with Donna Ward's book Africa A Land of Hope. When we have completed this book, the children will each have a nice notebook to show their friends and family.

Of course, our days will not be all work. The three oldest will have swim team. There will be swimming lessons, and French camp, some camping of our own, and hopefully lots of beach days.