Back from the IHM National Conference!!!

I am back from the IHM Conference! It was a great trip, but WAY too short!! Two days is just not enough to be away from it all. I definitely felt the need for more time to let all the talks sink in, to decompress, to organize my thoughts, and finally to plan the year far away from the distractions that running a household bring.

I do, however, feel a bit more refreshed and inspired. I came away with a more knowledge and faith that I can actually do a good job homeschooling! I also don't feel so alone in my journey. Sometimes it's easy to forget that there are others out there who are doing the same thing you are and who are struggling with many of the same issues. Going to conference is like getting a yearly tune-up for me. It keeps me looking forward.

One unfortunate thing about this year's conference was that I felt that there were vendors missing. CHC failed to attend and many other vendors didn't have the selection of books that they usually have. I'm not sure if it is due to our present economic status or not, but it was an inconvenience to me (and many other moms) to not be able to peruse through many of the books only offered through online Catholic sites. It makes a huge difference to be able to thumb through a book, as opposed to just reading the description and reviews. Perhaps next year will be better in that sense.

Overall, IHM is a wonderful Catholic conference!!! With a daily rosary, confessions, and fabulous speakers...I'm not sure why anyone would not want to attend! And as for our curriculum...it's done! I just have to piece our schedule together and get all the logistics out of the way. From Preschool to 2nd grade...amazing that I've been on this homeschool journey for 3 years already. It is truly a blessing!!!

A Light World Geography Plan.

For the past year, the kids have been studying the continents of the world through our co-op. This was a wonderful introduction to world geography. With lapbooks, presentations, and even cooking; it was a fun year! This year I wasn't ready to move on to a study of the states, so I decided to continue with world geography, but moving the emphasis from continents to countries around the world.

Time is a huge factor for me, especially with a new baby on the way; so I wanted to make sure that our geography studies will be light, fun, and not time consuming. After looking around, I decided to use the bare bones of Galloping the Globe. Although this book can be used over a span of up to 3 years, I've opted not to use it so in-depth. With suggestions for activities, recipes, literature selections, and so much more....I can see how easy it would be to spend a whole month studying a country. This is not an option for me, so I am planning on doing one country a week.

A country a week for 5 days? Not even close! We'll be doing this only twice a week!!

Day 1: Maps, facts, geography

Day 2: Culture, saints, people, food (activities and extra reading books, as well)

That's it! Simple.

I'm aiming at spending 30-45 minutes MAX!! The last thing I'm going to need is my schedule being taken over with geography projects.

More for preschool??

As I continue to peruse my own stash of curriculum, I keep coming back to My Father's World Kindergarten program. I used this for Marco when he was in kindergarten himself, but stopped about half way through the program. It wasn't that it was difficult to implement or that I disliked it; but it was more about the repetition that was boring Marco. I just got tired of forcing it upon him. Now this doesn't stop this from being a solid and fun program. It just didn't mesh well with my child!

Now Isabella is going into her kindergarten year and I haven't even considered taking this program out. I'm sure she would enjoy it (as she did do it along side Marco), but since she seems to be a little advanced for now...I'm taking her in a different direction.

Anthony is my little guy who I can't get out of my mind for using MFW K, however. Although it might move a little fast for him (he is a young one), I can't get out of my head how much he would enjoy the program. So now I'm seriously considering adding this to his weekly schedule. I'm not opposed to taking it nice and slow at all...perhaps take 2 weeks to do 1 week of work (or more!). Not only that, but I know that Isabella would more than likely want to join in. It's always fun when you can have the kids do activities together!

So I will spend much of my weekend working out a schedule for Anthony...and all the other kids! I'm looking forward to my weekend away at the IHM Conference. I know it will give me the time I need to focus on creating our weekly school schedule. Having 3 kids doing school, 1 toddler, and 1 newborn is certainly going to throw me for a loop!! I hope that we are able to blend into a productive year...with lots of prayer, of course!!!

Preschool Decisions.

I'm not completely done with Anthony's preschool materials as of yet, but I'm getting there! I did go ahead with the Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K; mostly because I already had everything needed for it (I used this with Marco). I just bought him a new workbook. It is a fun program and takes such a small amount of time every day. I'm sure that Anthony will love it since we already sing the songs from the CD.

On top of that, I also purchased Rod & Staff's preschool workbooks. I thought they were really cute and simple. Enough to keep Anthony occupied for short periods of time when I need him to be nice and quiet. These workbooks introduce shapes, colors, numbers, and all the typical preschool stuff.

Of course, I am looking forward to getting him some nice, Catholic books to look through and color in. I'll be looking for these next week at the IHM Conference. For now, Anthony has looked through his books and is extremely excited about getting started with his own school. It's so much fun to see the look of pride on his face knowing that he too will be an official preschooler!

Planner Done!! Next Up....

Well, I finally got my planner printed, organized, and bound! I'm excited about it because it is exactly what I want and need. It is definitely an improvement over last year's planner that was in a 3 ring binder. This is lighter and easier to use, as well as easy to take with me anywhere if I need to.

My very basic planner. I'll be adding a large label to the front cover.

First page is a yearly calendar for quick reference.

Following the yearly calendar is the student checklist, where the kids can check off work completed. This can also serve as an attendance record.

The weekly planner is spread out over 2 pages. Following this are monthly pages, my curriculum planner, reading logs, and lined pages for notes.
*For more details on my planner and links, check out my Planning a Planner post.

Last year, I had all my lesson plans and schedules included in my planner. This was handy, but also became a pain after a while. It made my planner heavy and cumbersome. Not only that, but I didn't need my lesson plans or schedules on a daily basis. It became a bit of a hassle to have them in my planner. This doesn't mean that I don't need my lesson plans or schedules this year. I just have decided to make a separate bound notebook for them.

This separate notebook will be my Lesson Plan Book. It will contain all the lesson plans for each subject for the year. Of course, some subjects don't require their own lesson plans (Saxon math, religion, etc.) because the lessons are self explanatory and there is very little prep time. But for other subjects, such as history (History Odyssey), I need a break down of what to do week by week including supplies and books needed.

Since the Lesson Plan Book will only be needed, at most, once a week...it seems like a better idea for it to be separate from my daily planner. I'll have to post picture of that when I'm done. For now, I'm still organizing and making my lesson plans. I also have some materials left to buy, so I don't want to get it all together before I have every book in my hand!!

Nature Study.

Not too long ago, we went outside for a little nature study. We had been listening to different bird calls and were trying to see how many different birds we could recognize in our own backyard. I got the idea when I was searching through the NWF Green Hour activity section. They have all kind of bird calls in their Issue #109.

We were able to hear 5 different birds (although we weren't able to identify all of them). Afterwards, we got out our drawing pads and made some nature drawings of birds, flowers, and trees. It was a fun and productive time spent outside.

Taking a walk into the forest to listen for birds.

Marco and Anthony pick a spot for drawing.

Anthony draws a robin.

Marco worked hard at his nature drawing.

Planning a Planner.

So these past few days I've been working on my new planner for the year. Unlike last year's planner, I would like to have it bound rather that using a 3 hole punch approach. Although I like the flexibility of being able to add pages, I wasn't thrilled with it. I especially didn't like that it was bulky and it couldn't write in it comfortably. So here is what my planner for this year will have.

2 Page Weekly Lesson Plans: This has a column for the subject, as well as columns for Monday through the weekend (we don't just do school on a M-F schedule). I decided to make my own, but you can find a similar one at DonnaYoung.org.

Curriculum Planner: This is a list where I list exactly what books I'm using for each subject and what I paid for them. Last year I wished I had kept track of my costs, as well as all the books I had purchased. It's actually more helpful at the end of the year when I'm planning the following semester's books.


Student Checklist: Lately, the kids have been using checklists after they have completed their assignments. Not only has this stopped the incessant "Am I almost done with school work?" question, but it has given them a sense of pride and accomplishment after they check off each assignment. If there is no assignment for a subject that day, I put an "X" in it's square. Rather than printing out a new sheet for them for each day or week, I decided to include the checklist in my planner. This can also serve as an attendance record if you are required to have one for your state. This form can also be found at DonnaYoung.org.


Book List: I wasn't sure if I would need this list or not, so I decided to add it just in case. This will allow me to keep a record of books read or checked out from the library. Many times we will check out a great book from the library and later, after I've returned it, I want to reference it and I can't remember the name or author of the book! This list will be handy especially if you have younger kids you plan on homeschooling. You can always look back to see what books were hits and find them with more ease rather than starting a search from scratch. (**the O/L stands for Own or Library. Sometimes I forget I own a book!)


Daily Schedule: This is just a copy of what our daily schedule typically looks like. I haven't planned it out for the new year yet, so that is something I need to do.

Lined Paper: This will be for notes and ideas.

Monthly Calendar: An at a glance view for the month.

Hope this helps someone out there in deciding what to include in their own planners!! Although purchasing a ready-made planner is inexpensive and easy; I like that I can include my own personal forms and fit the planner to my needs. I'm actually excited to start writing down our schedule!