Searching for a planner.

So here is another post all about my endless search for a good planner.  Ideally, I would love to have a template where I just enter assignments for each subject with little boxes to check them off when they are done.  Something that I can print out and make into a little assignment book for the kids so that they know exactly what they should be doing.  But I also want to be able to archive these assignments in case I ever use them again in the future for other kids.

Does this exist?  Unfortunately, I haven't found anything like this for someone on a Mac.  I have been using Scholaric since it first came out and I really like it.  It's the most user friendly, online planner I have tried...and I think I've tried them all!!  I have done Homeschool Tracker Online, Homeschool Planet, Mardel's Simple Plan Online, the Homeschool Helper App, and Olly.

Yes.  I am that obsessive.

The problem with Scholaric, my favorite of all these, is that I can't save my plans to be reused for a future time.  Being able to archive lesson plans would be awesome!  Having the ability to download for future use would be so handy.  Not only that, but I would love to have it be mine...once you stop paying the yearly fee for these online providers, you lose all your stuff!

So I'm looking back to what I've done in the past and trying to come up with the ever elusive, homeschool planner.  Let me know if you have had any luck with this.  With five kids doing school work, I know I can't fit them all into one paper planner and I'm totally OK with that.

I'll have to keep everyone updated on what I finally decide to do with this.  In the mean time, we are still plugging away without a planner.  We can't cancel school for that!

Explanations.

Why is it so hard for me to just sit down and do some blogging?  I think I'm trying to make things too complicated and awesome.  So I'm going to just sit down every day and write something...anything.  We'll see how long it lasts!

Today I've had a busy day so far and none of it has included actually homeschooling the kids!  A doctor appointment, some clothes shopping, and then lunch with my 10 year old took up all my morning.  It's always nice to be able to spend some one on one time with the kids.  I don't know if I do it often enough, but I think I do!

Currently, I've been pondering all things having to do with planning.  Lesson planning, scheduling the day, planning activities, etc.  I never really have a free day to just sit down and do nothing but plan.  If we aren't doing school, we have activities to go to.  If we don't have activities, then we need to tackle cleaning and laundry.  If cleaning and laundry are done (yeah, right!), then there is grocery shopping!  It a never ending cycle!!

Of course, one can always suggest that I spend some time doing my planning in the evening.  But let me break it down for you.  Hubby gets home at 6:30pm.  The house is empty and I'm off with the kids until 7:30pm when we get home from Tae Kwon Do.  So hubby hangs with the kids for a bit before the littles are headed for bed.  That leaves me with the baby and while the big kids tackle the kitchen.  Baby has been really bad about sleeping (I know it's my fault!), so he's not officially in dream land until 8:30pm.

Big kids then really want to hang out with their dad until they have to go to bed at 9pm.  So 9pm rolls around and that's when I can really get down and dirty with any planning, scheduling, etc.  Do you think I want to do that at 9pm? Not really.  By then I am exhausted and just want a brain chill.  Not only that, but I really like hanging out with the hubs, too!!  So there goes my entire week.

How about the weekend?  Well, I do have laundry to do.  And because the kids insist on being fed and hubby insists that we hang out as a family, I'm thrown back into the same type of cycle I encounter during the week.

I'm exhausted just writing this.  But I don't want a pity party.  I love my life!  God has blessed me so abundantly that I have nothing but praises to sing about my life!!  It's just that being a mom can be hard...and it's OK to say it sometimes.

St. Valentine's Day Celebration

This year we were able to, once again, celebrate Valentine's Day with our awesome Catholic homeschool co-op!  Although our celebration was delayed by one week due to a snow storm, we still got to exchange valentines and have fun.

Usually, we tend to take Valentine's Day as a feast day at our co-op.  This year, however, I decided to host it at my home so that we could dedicate a co-op feast day for another saint.  I planned some art activities for the kids.  They were separated by ages/grades and sent to different stations around the house.  This was followed by a valentine exchange and then snacks.  

We are so overly blessed by our Catholic co-op!  The families are each amazing and we have all become great friends.  

Back to Nature.

So for the last couple of years, we have been doing school and I have left our nature studies and walks behind.  I thought that including these nature studies was a great thing to do when the kids were little, and as they got older it was a definite time waster.  What I didn't realize was that by getting rid of our nature time for the older kids, I was getting rid of nature time for my younger kids, too.  They were missing out on all the kinds of fun we used to have.

This got me feeling guilty, of course.  So I started reading my homeschool books again for the 100th time.  I needed inspiration!  Little by little I started to realize how much I missed our weekly walks.  I missed our bird studies.  I missed our gardens.  I missed our nature journals.  The list when on and on.  Then I ran across a quiz I took years ago when I was just starting my homeschool journey.  It was in my copy of Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.  It was in that book that I saw all my scribbles and notes from so long ago.  I also realized why I had done all those nature walks...it was because I had scored so high in not only classical studies, but also Charlotte Mason.  It was because of that quiz, that our early years in homeschool were so memorable, relaxed, and fun.  Had I changed that much since I first started?

This got me curious and I decided to retake the quiz.  My score was practically the same!  So then I came across this quiz, Which Homeschooling Approach is Right For You?, and I scored with Charlotte Mason again!  OK...so I think you know where I'm going with this!  So I am definitely fulfilling my teaching style of classical education, but I have been ignoring my love for nature.  What does that mean now that we are mid-year?  Well, I guess we have a lot of rethinking to do for the new year!  But I also immediately started doing weekly nature walks again, brought back our practice of having a nature table, and busted out the nature journals!  We are all so much happier now.  My older kids are so glad that we are doing this again.  "Why did we ever stop, Mom?"

I guess my point here is that it's never too late to go back to doing the things you love and instilling those things on your children.  Homeschooling is truly a journey and sometimes we take wrong turns (or detours).  Luckily, we can make our own path.  

I totally encourage every homeschooler to keep evaluating and assessing their methods.  If they aren't working or are making everyone miserable, then it's OK to change.


With the snow we got this week, we decided to take our nature walk in our own backyard woods.

Welcome Back.

It's been a while since I've given in to my blogging.  A combination of busy schedules, new baby, more school, and less time have all contributed to my absence.  But I'm starting to think I really miss writing and sharing our journey, so I'm going to jump right in again.

The last six months has been almost a blur.  We were blessed with the birth of Matthew and we officially have five kids homeschooling (pre-k through 6th)!  It's been a little bit of an adjustment, but it hasn't shaken us up too much.  It seems that I'm pretty accustomed to having a baby and we've all learned to take each day as it comes.  I can't say this year hasn't been stressful, because it totally has.  It's just been stressful for different reasons...mostly all due to homeschooling.  But what a joy and blessing it has been to be able to educate our kids!

I'm really excited about sharing some of the things we are doing!  Our successes and our failures; my concerns and joys.  I keep reading blogs about how to function with a large family and think to myself...."wait a minute.  I have a large family and I'm totally functioning!"  There is so much I've learned and I'm wanting to share it all with you!!

So here I go again.  Welcome back to my blog!

Oh Baby!!

Yes.  Another addition to our "little" family.  Welcome Matthew Alexander!!  We are so blessed to have this little guy join our family!

Decorate Your Books! Oh Yeah...I'm Still Alive!!

I know I've been a slacker...not posting and ignoring all things "blog."  I don't know if it's having 4 kids to homeschool, a toddler and a 3 year old running amuck, or just adding all 6 kids into everything I do!  We are still alive and well, traveling along this homeschool journey.  

In the mean time, I thought I would start posting little projects and accomplishments.  Anthony, in his 7 year old glory, has started a spelling notebook this year and was not too thrilled with having the typical composition book to jot all his words in.  Being the wanna-be crafter...I took out my pile of fancy papers and had him choose something he liked to decorate the not so nice notebook.  Some glue, scissors, letter stickers, and laminating sheets later....voila!  A new spelling notebook!  He is actually looking forward to writing in it now and it's easy to spot among his other things.

Hope your homeschool journey is still going!