The Homeschool Mother's Journal

I thought I'd finally take the opportunity to link up to The Homeschool Mother's Journal. And while I haven't made firm resolutions, I am attempting to blog more regularly....in case you hadn't guessed that yet.

In my life this week...
I'm working on getting us back on a solid schedule. We have taken off a lot more time than I had planned for due to our move this fall. It took much longer to get in to the groove before and after that move.

In our homeschool this week...
I'm trying out a few new things. I've been playing around with Schoolhouse Teachers and this week added some courses to my oldest son work load. I'm not sure he's all that happy with his increased work load, but I've realized that I've been a bit too lax over the years. For my youngest two boys...just consistency. It's after 11pm and I have yet to correct and prepare the boys school work for tomorrow, but it will happen - consistency...consistency....consistency....

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
I saw some chatter on Facebook among homeschool moms prepping for school after the holiday break. One mentioned an online scheduling program called Scholaric. It offers a ten day free trial and after that it's only $1 a month per student. I started using it this week and I love it! I can bump things when they aren't completed (or we have a busy day and I'm feeling nice). I can set up one lesson and it will repeat it out including adding sequential numbers. It also allows you to add grades and will create a gradebook. Once I input lessons, I can then print out a daily checklist. I've been creating my own checklists daily for the last two years. I'm saving TONS of time - which is why I'm not panicking about how late I'll be up tonight getting the boys work ready for tomorrow. It's a simple matter of double checking their work and printing out their checklists for tomorrow - simple and easy. And this is probably the simplest and easy online scheduling program I've ever tried - and I've tried a lot of them.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Since our move I've been trying to stay closer to home. We have fewer outside activities, but I am slowly adding back in a few. This week we only had piano lessons and a couple of play dates scheduled. Starting next week the younger two boys will start swimming lessons. And next week our piano lessons will end for about eight weeks while our teacher is gone on a short term mission trip.

My favorite thing this week was...
I started reading The Hobbit aloud to the boys. I find it interesting that even though they all say they don't like me reading to them, none of them complain and they all engage in the story. They seem to be enjoying it right now. My oldest ha read the book and we just went and saw the movie on Sunday so that is certainly fresh in our mind. It's making reading the book fun.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was...
As I mentioned above, my oldest and I went to see "The Hobbit" Sunday afternoon. It was fun to have him to myself for a bit. We had a great time and, boy, does that child eat! A large bag of popcorn, a bottle of water, and a king-sized Twizzler (well, I snagged a few of those). My man-child is getting bigger.

Things I'm working on...
I'm planning to get the rest of our school lesson plans entered in to Scholaric. I'm hoping it helps keep me on track and therefore, keeps my kiddos on track.

I'm cooking...
One of the ladies in our church had knee surgery today so I'm making a meal to take to them. I originally planned to make homemade pizza, but now I'm wondering if that is best. Thoughts?

I'm grateful for...
Our new house. I'm so thankful for all this space. It's fantastic to not always be falling over clutter that didn't have a place, to have room to spread out to do schoolwork, to just have the space to entertain now. Although, my hubby loves that part a bit more than I do....I'm such an introvert....

I'm praying for...
So much...too much to share...

I rewarded my kids this week by...
We left early for our piano lessons today so we could swing by Subway (for my youngest son) and McDonald's (for the oldest two). They all had received gift cards for Christmas so I let them use them today and get "lunch-to-go" which they love.

Something I am ogling or have my eye on...
I have started using some of The Great Courses in our homeschool. My oldest son is working through their American History course at the moment. I have my eye on their Fundamentals of Photography course. The normal price is over $200 but it goes on sale a couple times a year for a fraction of that. I think it's going on my Christmas/birthday list for next year.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)...

VERY fun!