"Planning"

***In case you need evidence of the scattered and chaotic nature of our house (or maybe just my brain in this case), I wrote this Sunday after the kids were in bed, but just opened my tablet to find it still sitting unpublished...it WAS proofread as of Sunday night. No guarentees now!***


We are "back to school" next week, or I guess tomorrow.  I have found that we have a little less chaos and get at least some "official" school work done if I make a plan for the week.  I have said before that we are fast moving and all over the place.  Because of our odd schedule we are able to have only one vehicle. This is great, but it does mean that we need to plan ahead a bit more if we are going to get all the things done we want to do.  We have the kids schedules, Eric's work and teaching schedules, and 1, 2, or 3 peoples training schedules to work into the family plan for the week.  We spent the better part of last year working Eric's Ironman training plan into our regular schedule.  He raced in July and Charlie had his last triathlon of the year in August, so currently we just have my 70.3 (coming up in a few weeks) and then a marathon I am training for which is in October.  This means that when I plan our week it takes me the better part of Sunday (we're talking from after church to around bedtime), several glasses of wine, and 3 or 4 calendars to sort everything out.  It also means that all the cleaning I did on Friday to pick up from the week totally goes out the window because the children are not being followed and nagged to pick up their shit.  OK, it isn't all them.

This is what the kitchen table looks like when I plan.

Today Eric was working so the kids got to break the food in the living room rule and had a "fun dinner picnic" on the coffee table (fun for them and it makes it seem less like I am just too scattered to get the table clear for dinnertime...)

Much like my record keeping, it took me a while to find a system that worked well for me.  I used strictly google calendars for a long time, but the more school work I needed to organize, the harder this got.  I tried just notebooks, but they weren't structured enough.  I finally got a Filofax (and my Mom made fun of me, something about a romcom where someone leaves their Filofax in a cab? I don't know...).  I searched and searched and searched on Etsy and found a planner bundle with most of the things I wanted and then added the missing thing from free printables I found on Google.  I actually was able to organize our bills and other stuff with the planning bundle too, so that was a bonus.  I will post links for the Etsy store at the bottom of this post.  Over all it is a pretty good bundle.  There is some stuff I didn't use and some pages are doubles, just in a different style, but I got it on sale and the pages are editable, so I thought it was worth it.  

So, in this pic you get an idea of the nonsenses that is my planning routine.  I have here a monthly lesson planning calendar, a weekly detailed lesson planning calendar, a monthly activity/field trip calendar, and then the family schedule calendar...and then once it is all planned on paper, it gets recorded on Google so everyone can see what is going on when and where they need to be at what time and when they will be picked up or dropped off (really just me and Eric...but you can set your phone to buzz when you need to leave and you can't make paper buzz when you need to leave, so there is that).  I also add our dinner menu on because otherwise it will be 6:30 and beans aren't hydrated or the crock pot wasn't filled and turned on and we eat spaghetti again. 

This is the Etsy store where I purchased the planner bundle (I have no idea who this woman is, but she is in the US and has a very quick response time):

Planning Inspired Etsy Shop

This is the Filofax I chose, Domino.  I didn't get it on Amazon, I found it at a local store called The Paper Peddler (http://www.thepaperpeddler.com). I split about 50/50 between Amazon and locally owned shops, mostly depending on if I can wait the 2 day shipping to get my hands on what I am buying.  In this case, I couldn't... 

Filofax on Amazon

This site has a bunch of different planning templates.  I use the pretty pink, green, and orange household schedule.
Random Free Internet Printables

I hope something in here might be useful.  It's a cumbersome planning routine, but we don't seem to have a way around it unless we want more scrambling, more yelling, and a hell of a lot less schooling. We have enough trouble WITH a plan, weeks without a plan just go to shit. Fast.

Well, as you can see, I have a glass of wine to finish (I am not going to drink that cold cup of coffee, I promise). Cheers! And good luck!

Record Keeping

In my last post (*cough* third 1st post...) I mentioned that I started this blog as an experiment in record keeping.  Our first few years of homeschooling I had a hard time figuring out what worked to keep track of progress, lesson plans, goals for the year, etc. DURING the year and also kept compiling portfolios at the end of the year from becoming a multi-week, stress inducing process. You know, the kind of project where when Eric gets home he knows I must have been on the computer all day (toys EVERYWHERE, breakfast and lunch dishes still in the sink, dinner not started, laundry piled in various stages, but none actually made it to the drawers, you get it...).

This post goes a little against the grain of the "not having my shit together" theme, but I promise this is really the only thing I feel like I have down. And it took 5 years to figure it out.  

I tried a bunch of different things. Some were on paper in notebooks, there was the blog, I tried folders on the computer, then I found OneNote, that random program Microsoft insists on loading on all their PCs whether you want it or not.  Turns out it's actually pretty useful. Nice work, Microsoft. If you haven't used OneNote picture your locker from high school. Notebooks for science, social studies, math, etc. all with dividers for notes, handouts, homework...I don't remember what else, high school was a long time ago, but you get the idea. One locker, multiple binders with multiple dividers in each binder. All digital. All backed up (FOR FREE) to the Microsoft cloud. Which also means your OneNote binders sync across devices. I have yet to find a device that does not have a OneNote app available. For me, this means I can plan on my big tablet with a keyboard or a regular computer (either on the OneNote program or on the online version), but I can take pictures with my phone and insert them in project records on the OneNote app (android or iPhone). I also am able to "scan" (take pictures of) tests or other work and store them in the appropriate section.  

And here's my favorite part, well probably second after the syncing over devices feature, if I am diligent about doing quick records during the year, when it comes to portfolio time, a few quick cuts and pastes and an easy-peasey "save as PDF," and portfolios are done and ready to send. I know. Stupid easy.

It took me a couple years to decided what binders and divider categories worked for us.  I should have consulted the state evaluation requirements before I started.  It would have saved a lot of hassle when I first started, but alas...I don't generally think that far ahead and ended up with a lot of shit I didn't need recorded and scrambling to find things that were requested for evaluation at the end of the year. 

Below I have screenshots of what my OneNote looks like both from my android tablet and my iPhone.  I am partial to android.  I had an android phone, but when I went to replace my (totally demolished) phone an iPhone was the cheapest option (??? I think Apple is trying to take over the world) and I for something as dumb as a phone, I will alway go cheapest. Even if it does mean iPhone. But I digress...screenshots:

iPhone screenshot

A sample of a few of the sections in Charlie's notebook.  Daniel also has a notebook.  Both are listed under the current school year and in each there are sections for math, book lists, writing samples, etc.  I scan samples as we go through the year so I don't have to search through piles of paper at the end of the year. 

Android Screenshot

Here you can see a little better how the notebooks are organized.  You can see I also use this for things other than school.  All my recipes are organized in the "Household" section, all neat and orderly even though I always just blindly search through the mountains if shit I have pinned in Pinterest instead...not sure why...oh well...digressing again.  As I said above, each kid has a notebook with folders, but then I have a book list for the books we read all together, also a list of documentaries we watched, and a field trip section where I record where we went and also drop in pictures of the activities they participated in.  Depending on the trip the boys will add descriptions of what they are doing and what they learned.  I then just have to cut and paste the correct kids pieces into the correct notebook if it is deemed "portfolio worthy."  The farther I get into this post, the more proud I am of myself for having this one piece of our schooling organized.  I am just freaking amazing!

Well, on THAT note...I have included links to the Google Play store and  iTunes for the OneNote App.  If you are struggling with keeping all the homeschool shit organized, I HIGHLY recommend giving OneNote a try.  

OneNote on Google Play

OneNote on Apple App Store

(I feel like I need to add some sort of note here that Microsoft isn't paying me to say these things.  They have no idea who I am.)

Apparently people read this....OR Rainbow Farts

So, I haven't posted on here in several years.  I started this blog as an experiment in record keeping (which failed miserably). It came to my attention today that people have actually read and commented on lesson plans I posted. Imagine that...

We are still homeschooling and I am constantly reading other blogs about how wonderful life as a homeschooler is and how days are peaceful and rhythmic and everyone holds hands and sings songs and farts rainbows. Maybe I'm the only one, but it's not like that at my house.  We are fast moving and chaotic and messy and late for everything and constantly behind where I "think" we should be. 

For your viewing pleasure...on a clean day. Note the pile of still to be organized school stuff and the marbles, of which you can only see about a third. Also, yes, that is a Bota Brick wine box, pulled from the recycling for some unauthorized project, probably involving projectiles.

My (personal) goal for this year is to blog here and share just how ridiculous and frustrating homeschooling can be. I am sure this will get criticism  (because, let's be honest, what doesn't today) and I am sure people will ask why we don't just send the kids to school. Sometimes I ask myself that and sometimes I really think maybe public school would be better. But then I think about all the reasons we chose to keep the kids home. There are a bunch of different reasons. I don't think anyone decides to homeschool for just one reason.  Generally, I feel like why someone chooses to homeschool is a personal choice and none of your damn business, but here are a few of ours.  Some are good, some are probably bad, most are pretty selfish, but I really don't care.

1. Control over what our kids learn and are exposed to. And when.
Until this year the boys had no idea that people could be and were judged by other people based on gender, race, socioeconomic status, or sexual orientation. Everyone was the same and only judged by their choices (read a little sarcasm in this sentence, please...only a little though, because black, white, gay, straight, rich, poor, my kids will judge the shit out of you if you aren't wearing a bike helmet or are smoking a cigarette).

2. How they are taught.
We have been homeschooling for 5 years now. What worked for our oldest doesn't work for our middle, and what worked for him probably won't work for his younger sister. I know teachers work extraordinarily hard to accommodate different learners, but we had the option, so we chose to keep them home and learn how they learn and teach them taking all those differences into account.

3. Flexibility.
We homeschool. My husband works 24 hours on, 48 off as a firefighter. While this schedule makes it damn near impossible to be sure what day of the week it is, it gives us great flexibility in planning our school year, athletic events, field trips, vacations,  really anything.

4. Keeping them kids longer.
I have a 10-year-old who, while he may think he is an adult, still plays in the mud, still catches bugs, still likes PBS kids, still is able to be silly without wondering or worrying what other people think. While we were on vacation I overheard another kid question why he was playing a game (voice dripping with disdain, because it was a "kids game"). Charlie simply laughed and replyed, "Because it's fun!" And went on with the game.

These are only a few of the reasons we chose to keep the kids home, and like I wrote, they are pretty selfish, but like I also wrote, it's nobodies business except ours.

All that being said, if you have found this blog and feel like you are lacking rainbow farts in your homeschooling or just your home in general, I hope you find some comfort knowing you are not alone.

Word Families

Charlie used Hooked on Phonics workbooks when he learned to read. I got a 3-grade package at Christmas Tree Shop for $9. I haven't been able to find that package again and I don't want the whole HOP set (CDs and all), so I have been looking for something similar for Daniel. I bought a couple apps for the Kindles which were terrible (I actually complained to Amazon because they were misrepresented and they gave me my $0.99 back for each). I have been trolling Pinterest and found a lot of activities with paint sample cards or Easter eggs, but I don't have a stack of paint sample cards and I recycled all our plastic Easter eggs last spring because the just sit in the closet and never get used.  I also didn't want to have a different set for each word family.

This is what I came up with:

Each piece is laminated. You can write on the pink window card with dry erase marker, so you can change the word ending easily.   

For Daniel, I go through and mark the letters he needs to do with what ever ending us on the card.  It seems to work well, although he told me he would rather have a BLUE window card...(insert eye roll here)

PBS Wild Kratts Lesson Plans

Both the boys LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Chris and Martin and the "Wild Kratts" show on PBS.  We don't have cable or satellite, but they can stream it on the PBS Kids app (which you should totally get if you don't have it...iPhone and Kindle apps available, never was able to find it for an Android phone, and not sure about an iPad...).  You can also stream seasons 1-4 on Amazon Prime which is perfect for this because the lessons available are not all for the current season of the show. Or...you could always just buy them on iTunes...I think they are, like, $2 an episode...anyway...back to the POINT of this particular post.

I was trying to plan something fun and interesting for the boys' science work this year. Last year Charlie had a workbook and we did experiments from a little experiment kit (Thames and Kosmos, Little Labs - Stepping into Science). The kit was fun and I liked that it had explanations about the outcome (a lot of those kits don't have any explanation at all), but the workbook was lacking and combining the two seemed disjointed and scattered.

They (Charlie in particular) are always spewing random facts about this mammal or that bird and ALL the facts are coming from "Wild Kratts." It seemed to make sense to take that and run with it.  I went to the PBS website and found several pre-planned activities that are centered around different episodes of the show.  I am hoping the 4 lessons I picked will carry us through the summer.  I am planning on ending with a trip to the BioDome in Montreal (gives us a chance to test out our French, which we are also starting this summer!)

There is a long list of clips from different shows if you follow the link below.  Some have complete PDF lesson plans available with them and some just list suggestions for how they can be fit in to the Common Core.  I picked 4 with complete PDF lessons because, well, let's be honest, it's much easier than building my own lesson plan. Here is the link:
http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/wild-kratts/