Homeschool Planning and Record Keeping w/Free Printables {5 Days of Back to School Blog Hop}

One of the biggest questions that homeschool parents have for each other is “What curriculum works best for (insert age)?” The next question most common is “How do you plan out your year?” Followed by “what do you do for grades?” I have chatted all about picking curriculum in a previous post you can read here (Homeschool Curriculum Planning) and here (5 Mistakes I've Made With Curriculum), so let’s talk a little bit about planning curriculum lessons, and then recording WHAT we do—i.e. record keeping.

Lesson Planning

When it comes to lesson planning there are sooo many different styles and methods you can use. You really just need to find a way that fits you best. Ask yourself a few questions:

●Do I prefer paper/pencil style of planning or would I rather have it all digital?
●Do I want to see a year at a glance? Monthly assignments? Weekly?
●Do I want to be able to plan in detail all in one place, or just have a general idea of what is to be done?
●Do I want to see all my children’s lesson plans at one time?

Once you know the answers to these questions, it is a LOT easier to know what you are actually looking for in a lesson planner. Many curriculums provide you with suggested lesson plans. These are very helpful when determining how the curriculum will look spread over your year. You can simply then copy into your own planner what THEY suggest is done. Maybe tweaking it as needed. If you are a digital planner, you will have to set aside time to sit and enter in all the information into a program. It can be tedious, but having an email pop up with everything your children need to do for the day, may be just your style! Or clicking one button to shift everything around instead of having to erase.

Once you have decided HOW you want to do it, just start looking at different planners! There are MANY free downloadable ones available. Pinterest is full of links to them. Maybe you have a spiral binding machine, or a print shop that can put it all together for you? This might be the way to go to truly customize WHAT you want in a printed binder. Another option may be to look at pre-designed, printed, and bound homeschool planners. Places like Apologia and Mardel are two companies which publish best selling planners—they include a lot of sample pages for you to look at. I have reviewed the Apologia planner before—and I actually BOUGHT the Mardel "A Simple Plan" for me to use this year.

If you want to get an idea of some planners I myself have used before, here is a video I did dedicated TO talking about different planner ideas. I cover two digital ones, three paper ones, and two children planners.

I wrote another blog post about planning out your homeschool routine that you can read from last year which I think may be helpful too!

Recordkeeping

Now—states are different in regards to the homeschooling rules for how much recordkeeping needs to be done. You may live in a state with NO rules for homeschooling so you can basically just do whatever you want—keeping in mind the long term goal of transcripts for high school that will be transferable to college. I live in the next level of states—the ones with minimal rules. I have to do progress reports which follow the local school districts time frames, and a final report card—as well as attendance. The next two levels of homeschooling states increase the amount of record keeping required—so it’s very important you know WHAT is required for your state. I urge you to join HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) to stay on top of that.

So let’s get back to what my rules are for my state (Kentucky)—I need attendance, progress reports, and a report card. There are so many different ways to make progress reports! The local ones for the public schools usually include letter grading for grades 3+. The early elementary is still pretty much the pass/fail, excellent/satisfactory/needs work style. So what do I do? I use the grammar school style of excellent/satisfactory style. Why? Because this way I can do a clear assessment of progress throughout a year towards mastery. I like to see how work has improved as the year continues.

When it comes to end of the year reports, there are some subjects which DO have grades. But these are few, not the norm. And it is usually because of whatever type of curriculum I am using.

So how do I calculate the progress? Before I “grade” them, I make a clear list of my goals and expectations for the subject/curriculum. I include things like comprehension, neatness, completion of work, etc. This allows me to give realistic progress reports.

But what about Kindergarten? It’s so basic—how do you do a progress report?

I did a progression of things like:
*Writing their name
*Writing a sentence I dictated (The black cat sat by the dog.)
*Identifying colors/numbers/sight words/shapes
*Does he know his phone number or address?

With our progress reports those years, I did the SAME questions so that I could have visible documentation of their progress in these areas. Then I just made notes of the strengths and weaknesses’ they displayed. This is why you can easily just type out a progress report. Maybe even a page per topic/subject. Or just paragraphs for each one.

If want something a bit more “official” looking I have designed three different progress report pages for you. Feel free to print these out and use them as desired! One has the standard subjects already added; one has the subject area blank. The other allows for a more documented progress with room for paragraph writing.

Progress Report-Paragraph Style

Progress Report-Subject/Grades Elementary

Progress Report-Blank Elementary

Another big thing for record keeping is the attendance. Some planners have attendance sheets, while others do not. So, if you need a quick and easy sheet you can add wherever, I've got you covered!

Attendance Sheet for 2017-2018

I hope that these simple sheets will help you get started with your recordkeeping. One of the bonuses of having an account with Schoolhouseteachers.com is that it comes with a FREE subscription to AppleCore Recordkeeping. I use Applecore for creating my final report cards because I can quickly enter the subjects and have it spit out the "official" record. I can also enter my attendance into it for a quick calculation of my total days. If you get the PREMIUM subscription to Schoolhouseteachers, you also get the GOLD AppleCore subscription which even allows you to make transcripts! here is a video to learn more about AppleCore...


Remember, there is no extra cost for AppleCore Recordkeeping IF you have the inexpensive subscription to the super fabulous Schoolhouseteachers.com--full curriculum for K-12 website! There are also FREE printable planners available as a membership bonus!

Finally--when your year is over, and you are going through everything that your children created, be merciless! LOL! If you don't NEED to save all of their work--DON'T! It's not like taxes! Every year, I pick the best demonstration of how they have improved through the year--maybe an exemplary report, or paragraph they wrote. A few tests. A completed workbook. But here is the catch--if it doesn't fit in a manila envelope, it doesn't get saved! Each boy gets ONE manila envelope for me to keep their best work in. When I have it all together, I finish by sliding in their progress reports and report card. Then I label the front with the name and school year. Now it's EASY to store! I can put them in a file folder container and keep it in our loft.

Well I hope you have gotten an idea about how you can stay on top of planning and recordkeeping from our chat. I hope that at least one of the printables I have created will benefit you in some way!

There are 35 other bloggers doing the blog hop this week, so make sure you pop over to the Homeschool Review Crew to visit some other blogs this week! Join me tomorrow when I share ways that we take Homeschool OUTSIDE the Home for Day 4 of the 5 Days of Back to School Blog Hop for 2017! Have a simply marvelous evening!

Homeschool Curriculum Planning and FREE Curriculum Planning Worksheet

I have a plan to start back to FULL school and our new official school year in two weeks--the first full week of September. It's been so busy, I haven't even really had a chance to "officially" determine what each boy will be doing. They are still wishful thoughts in my mind. As I was looking at my curriculum filled bookshelf, I wondered if I needed to do up a form that would help me in my planning. Before lessons planning EVER happens. Because I mean...I need to know WHAT I am using before determining how I'm going to use it.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

There are a lot of free printables and planners to help you with the lesson planning stage of homeschooling--I even created a weekly lesson planning printable recently. What there doesn't seem to be as much of, are documents for curriculum planning. You know...the "Oh I think I want to use Apologia Astronomy, but I might use Science Shepherd instead." And then you go and check out the cost and the best place to get it--but don't have a nice handy form to record all of that. So it gets "filed" in your memory, never to be seen again. Bwahahahaha.

Been there. Done that.

I have a challenge with this and I only have TWO students. I can't being to imagine trying to keep track of what curriculum is going to be for whom with larger families! 

There are planners that include pages for this kind of thing. The Hey Mama! Schoolhouse Planner and the Apologia Ultimate Homeschool Planner have them in some form or another. But sometimes you just want a quick sheet to grab and record that stuff on, right? And some planners just don't give you enough room to write your notes!

Fear not! I have designed some simple forms to help us all! I mean, if I use it for me, why shouldn't I share it with everyone?!

The joy of the LORD...and an Egg {Free Copywork Printable}

It's amazing where the simple joys can come from. Here on the farm, we have a LOT of joys around us. We find joy in the smell of a summer storm. We find joy in the sight of the puppies tumbling over each other on their short legs. We find joy in the smell of fresh cut alfalfa hay. We find joy in the wobbling newborn calf. We find joy in the trickle of a stream that was dry before the storm. We find joy in the sound of the whirling wings of the hummingbirds at our feeder. Out here, there is joy to be found everywhere you look. 
Including... The chicken coop...

We find joy in our very first egg!

We didn't know it was there, until I went to make sure the coop was still watertight after our 2" of rain. I opened the roost door to make sure the sawdust was still dry and as I was closing the door, this beautiful brown oval orb caught my eye in the nesting box. What a smile it brought to the boys as well as myself. 

In that moment, joy was in the egg as we marveled at God's creation of the chicken!

And so, since I was messing around with new fonts and new border doodles, I decided to throw together a simple copywork for you. 

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

~Nehemiah 8:10

DOWNLOAD NEHEMIAH 8:10 COPYWORK

Make sure you go and grab your zip file. I included three versions of the copywork. Two for cursive (with primary lines and with regular lines) and one for print (with primary lines). I hope you will enjoy using these and look for more being created over the coming months as I play around with new designs!

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There is joy to be found anywhere you look in the world. When you look for it, your sorrows begin to fade away. So look for the joy in your world. It is there if you will just really open your eyes to see. Even if it's just a simple brown egg.

5 Tips on Home Management When Homeschooling with FREE Weekly Chore Printable {5 Days of Homeschool 101}

It is only fitting that I start this post on home management with a confession. I might not be the best person to come to for advice on this subject because....

Hi. My name is Lisa and I am a messy housekeeper.

There. I said it out loud. If you come over to my house, it will NOT be spotless. You can do the white glove check on most things and it will come back black I'm sure. I have cobwebs in my corners. Dust bunnies under the bed. There are probably dirty socks hidden in the couch. And the boys bedroom will most definitely be a LEGO hazard zone. My shower won't be spotless, and the toilet might need a scrub. My bed may or may not be made and the laundry might be clean but still in a basket. And I am TOTALLY FINE WITH IT!

BUT.
My house is a home. It's not spotless, but it's tidy and comfortable. I keep the necessities taken care of. I cook all the meals for the week except for one or two. I have a routine that allows me to not only homeschool my two children and maintain my blog, but keep my house under control and my family fed with homecooked meals. I am a messy housekeeper by some standards (like my mother's! LOL), but I still like things tidy and contained whenever possible. Let me share how I have found a way to make peace with my own weaknesses in my effort to manage my home.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

I have always been more of the messy kind of person. My room drove my parents nuts. I ALWAYS lost a shoe--usually right when we were 5 minutes late to leave. My proverbial "safe place" is probably a bottomless pit. When my husband and I were dating and I was living at his parents house, his mom would peek in my room and sigh--sure that our home was destined to be a disaster. The weird thing is that I have certain areas where I can't STAND mess. My kitchen is one of those places. And my bookshelves. Things have to be in order and in place when it comes to my cooking stuff and my books. My husband says I'm weird like that.

One of the biggest challenges for me, is that I am married to a neat freak. You know that show "the Odd Couple?" Well, we aren't THAT bad, but I drive him bonkers some days as he follows my tracks through the house shutting doors, and turning off lights.

Okay okay. By now you might be worried. How can I offer YOU home management tips?! Well, I won't lie. There are days when I need to read my OWN tips. But our home is tidy and comfortable. And I do the best within my own weaknesses to keep it that way as much as possible. So let's get down to it. What is a homeschooling parent to do when we have to juggle being a spouse, parent, and teacher within a 24 hour day? How can we keep our homes managed when 4-7 hours of our day is focused on teaching? When is there even TIME to clean or cook?

1. Admit your own weaknesses.

Before you freak out about home management, you need to admit your personal weaknesses anywhere in this department. For me, I know that I cannot flip a switch and become a spotless housekeeper overnight. I have a weakness of taking things out and not putting things back. I have a weakness for starting something and forgetting to finish it (LAUNDRY!). I have a weakness for not putting things where they belong. I have a weakness for putting nearly everything I possibly can as a priority above cleaning the house. Guilty as charged. 

BUT, my mom and husband have a weakness of wanting everything PERFECT which is a weakness too! It can cause just as much stress as my struggle to stay tidy can. 

Once you admit to yourself what your weaknesses are, you can move forward in making a plan to help you achieve home management IN SPITE of your weaknesses. 

Because of my own weakness, I have this mantra typed up and on my fridge so I can see it every day: If you got it out, put it back. If you drop it, pick it up. If you made a mess, clean it up. If you open it, close it.

Trust me. I have to say this to myself...every...single...day.

2. Prioritize--pick 5 and then 3

There was a portion of the 7 Minute Life Daily Planner that I really appreciated. It had you set 5 high value things to get done before 11am every morning. These were the things that HAD to be done that particular day. I am dreadful about forgetting to do something I said I would do, so this idea was perfect for me. 

Here were a couple of my 5 high value things to give you an idea what I would write:

Ex. 1:
Bible study, wash dishes, wash 2 loads of clothes, call dentist to make appointment, email article to Jill

Ex. 2: 

Bible study, make grocery list, set out meat to thaw for dinner, sew curtains for classroom, write blog review

Ex. 3: 

Bible study, call eye doctor about glasses, call electric company about budget pricing, write sympathy note to Susan, write check for summer camp fees and mail

No two people will have the same five high value things, and no two days may look the same. But if you set yourself 5 things to get done by 11am every morning, that is FIVE THINGS that were important that you GOT DONE! Nice job!

Once you have these 5 high value things done, pick three more to get done by 5pm. They don't have to be big things. Just anything you KNOW you want to get done and then DO IT! By breaking it up into chunks, it is SOOOOOO much easier to embrace mentally!

I also recommend making a list of unfinished tasks for the day--then tack those on to the next days 5 high value tasks to be done before 11am! 

3. Tackle the House in Bite sized Pieces with All Hands on Deck

At our house, we have chores that get done daily as well as chores done a particular day of the week. We don't try to do every chore every single day. By chunking it up throughout the week, I don't get overwhelmed with an endless list that never seems to go away. It also allows for more focused attention on areas. I have spoken with a lot of homeschool moms who use this trick...

I space the larger chores out throughout the week!

Tiffany W. picks certain days to do her laundry as well as other chores: 

S- mine and hubby's clothes

M-boys clothes

T-girls clothes

W-towels/sheets

T-clean bathrooms

F- Mop

Daily-kitchen counters, table, living room.

Elaine has routine that's a bit different, by only doing meals that take 10 minutes to put together throughout the week (relying on her crockpot and freezer):

I do laundry on Mon, general pick-up at the end of each day, and actual cleaning on Fri. I also only make 10 minute meals during the week, and only serve more elaborate meals on Fri eve.

Tiffany S. reserves chores for Friday:
Chores (except for laundry and dishes) are reserved for prep day (Friday)..we do not school on Fridays ever.

Did you notice back when I spoke about chores, I said...we. That's because in our house EVERY person has chores. Mommy doesn't do it all and Daddy doesn't expect Mommy to. We are a team and everyone pulls their own weight. Just as I have my special chores, Love-Of-My-Life has ones that he takes upon himself to take care of. And yes, even the boys (Aged 10 and 6) have daily AND weekly chores. And it's not little piddly stuff. 

Because we do a 4 1/2 day school week, the boys main cleaning day is Friday. On Friday they are required to do their daily chores (beds, bedroom, daily laundry, dishes, petcare, chickens), but also their weekly chores. They are responsible for vacuuming all the bedrooms which means they have to clean up the floor in their own bedroom first. Little Britches dusts the living room and bookshelves. Baby Britches does the dry Swiffer through the living room and hallway. They boy clean their bathroom--Little Britches wipes down the toilet, tub and sink, Baby Britches wipes down the wall and vanity, Little Britches sweeps the bathroom, Baby Britches takes the rug to shake out. The boys get the garbages ready for Daddy--Little Britches pulls the big one from the kitchen while Baby Britches gets all the little garbages. They empty them and change out the bags. Baby Britches final job is to use the Wet Mop Swiffer in the kitchen to give it a preliminary mop job. 

As the boys get older, they will continually take on more responsibilities. In our home, Mommy is NOT required to do everything. If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a step back. Have you shared your workload among your children? If not, get started! They will grumble and complain at first, but be firm and clear that unless they start helping, you will have to charge them for your services! (seriously. I had to have this talk! LOL) And even the toddlers can help! They love to put away pots and pans. Baby Britches first job was to put away the silverware I handed him from the dishwasher. He also helped me load/unload the washer/dryer with glee! Make sure of a stool and get them involved! The more you involve them, the lighter YOUR load and the more they will be able to take care of themselves when they are teenagers, young adults, and adults on their own! Some day their spouse might thank you for taking the time to make sure they knew how to work!

You can read a past post I wrote on this same theme: Share the Wealth (aka. Don't Make Yourself a Houseslave)

4. Remember that as long as it gets done, it doesn't matter when it happens!

My kitchen sometimes looks like this all through the morning until I do a round of cleaning at lunch time.

I don't have a set time I do chores. I work on them throughout the day, even through the middle of school. If the boys are doing their Veritas Press Bible Curriculum, they don't need my help at all. So I make use of this time for some of those HIGH VALUE things that need to be done by 11am. I can listen to poetry recitation or times tables while I am loading the washing machine. Baby Britches can read to me while I am folding the laundry next to him on the couch. These are some smaller daily things I can do EVEN when we are homeschooling.

Want to know the time I get the MOST done?

When the boys are in bed. 

I am a night owl and can be very productive once they are in bed. I really like scrubbing my kitchen during this time or finishing up my laundry. Sometimes I do 5 High Value Things before 11pm! LOL.

Because our Sabbath is Saturday, Sunday is a day I use for a LARGE amount of the big stuff to get done...but I try to save Sunday for more of the big projects. When I take on organization projects or a deep cleaning of my pantry that has piled up. (ahem. Which is something I need to do actually) I might also knock out some cooking that day, making things that will provide leftovers for the week which will save me time. 

Use this tip in regards to errands too. If the only time you have to go do something is at 10pm, then fine! Go do it! Can't pull a late night run? Then go ahead and do one during the day. Take an hour or so and have your kids ride with you. Let them do their reading in the car, or work on a worksheet, or do Tower Math app for their math lesson that day. 

If you would rather set aside a day to get completed everything that needs to be done, then add one into your week! I could do all my housework on Sunday if I felt like it, and sometimes I do!

I laughed at one of my friend's responses about home management: 

"Well we do school work 1st and I do clean up after."

She just does school and then when it's done, she shifts to taking care of everything else. This works for a lot of people, so if it does for you, just go with it! Another group of friends school 4 1/2 days a week--saving the second half of Friday for all their extra chores. We do this too. 

Find a routine that will work for you and go for it!

5. Let It Go!

Be kind to yourself. There are going to be things that you will just have to let go in order to keep your stress levels down. This goes with your priorities. Write down the things that you feel like HAVE to be done EVERY day/week. And please, be realistic. 

The spare bedroom no one goes in wouldn't be on that list. 

Deep cleaning your closet wouldn't be on that list. 

Organizing your cupboards wouldn't be on that list.

Scrubbing all the windows in your house probably wouldn't be on that list either.

Scrubbing your shower...well it's not on MY list for a weekly job, but I do have it as a twice a month job. 

BUT maybe these WOULD be on your list:

Wash/dry/fold/put away two loads of clothes every day.

Load the dishwasher and turn it on before going to bed every night.

Cook from scratch three days this week--enough for leftovers the rest of the week.

Vacuum the bedrooms on Monday and Wednesday

Wipe the bathroom down every Tuesday.

Want to know my rule of thumb in regards to staying on top of keeping the house clean?

I want to keep clean DAILY every thing I can see the minute I walk into my house--this means my laundry room and kitchen. It brings me satisfaction when I come in from outside and it's nice and tidy as soon as I look around. This also means that if there are any drop-by guests, I know that what they see the minute I open the door will be clean.

Every NIGHT, I try to make sure the living room/dining room is tidy. This is something I do after the kids are in bed and I know they won't be making a mess anymore for the day. I also might go through to make sure the kitchen is tidy before I go to bed--turning on the dishwasher one last time for the day. 

If I do these two things, I can keep my house tidy and it doesn't take a long time to do it. I have had to learn to let go ever being the kind of person who will have a spotless house. It's just not going to happen...unless my hubby takes over the house cleaning. Now HE'S the one who could make this house shine! LOL! But you know what? HE had to learn to let it go. He knows that something has to give and for him, he'd rather have a good home cooked dinner every night than a clean bathroom every day. He recognizes that I can't be EVERYTHING all the time. If he wants me to be by his side in the evenings, than I have to "let go" whatever chore I wanted to get done, which means we might go to bed with some part of the house still unclean. And we are both okay with it.

How About a Free Printable?

Because I know how hard it is to create new routines, I decided to help you out a little bit. Chore charts ARE useful--especially when you want to work on spreading your chores throughout the week. I have created a very basic weekly chore printable for you--it's like the one in the picture earlier in this post. I have given you a category for "Daily" chores, and then the rest of the days of the school week (not weekends) to delegate chores. Remember-if you spread the overall cleaning throughout the week it is much easier to stay on top of! So whether you want to use this for yourself, or for your children, I hope that it can help! 

Download my Blank Weekly Chore Chart Printable

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In summary, to achieve home management during your homeschooling experience, you need to recognize and accept any weaknesses you have (you can change!), start prioritizing with 5 high value things to get done before 11am and then 3 more for the day, share the wealth of responsibility for the upkeep among your family members and do it in bite sized pieces, work it in whenever you can in the routine you currently have, and remember that you might have to let some of the things you want to get done go for now. The good news is that every week is a new week to get started again. Make small changes so you can maintain what you want to get done and accept that you will have to build a habit for it to stick. But it IS possible to have a clean home and homecooked meals...it just requires you to work out a healthy balance of your time and it won't be easy. But it will be worth it in the long run...and just for the record...I'm still trying to find that balance! LOL.

*****

Today was the third day in our 5 Days of Homeschool 101 Blog Hop for the Schoolhouse Review Crew! Monday was all about curriculum, yesterday was focused on planning, and today was all about home management--so make sure you go and visit the posts of other contributors to our fabulous hop today! Stay tuned the rest of the week as we dive into 2 other aspects of basic homeschooling stuff.

Here are the posts I've already shared this week in case you missed them!

*5 Mistakes I have Made with Curriculum

*5 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Routine w/a free lesson planning printable

*5 Tips on Home Management When Homeschooling w/a free Weekly Chores printable

*5 First Day of {Home}School Traditions

*5 Encouragings Words to Remember In Your Homeschooling Journey

5 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Routine and a FREE Lesson Planning Printable {5 Days of Homeschool 101)

Like most teachers, homeschool parents spend quite a bit of time planning out how everything is going to go. We make lists. We check them twice. We hunt for the best planner. We download printables to make our lives easier. We do so much, that sometimes it's hard to tell a beginning homeschooler WHAT we do. So let's break it down. Today I'm going to share five tips to help you-whether a rookie or a pro just looking for new ideas-plan out your homeschooling experience.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Every homeschooling parent has their own method that works for them in regards to planning, but that usually doesn't stop them from trying out new things. I know I explore new planning tools all the time. But I have boiled what I do (and what many of my friends do) into five things.

#1 Plan a routine, NOT a schedule

What do I mean? Aren't they the same? No. They are actually very different. A schedule is a day broken down into timed intervals. Say "breakfast at 7:30, Bible at 8:00, Math at 9:15, English at 10:30". It's a more rigid plan for your day. A routine is saying "We are going to start with Bible, then move to math. Once we have finished that we will shift of History." You create a school routine where you follow a guideline to complete subjects, not limited by time. 

Planning by subject for each day without giving it a time

Why is a routine better? 

Well, in my opinion, a routine eliminates the time busters. When you are only allowing a certain time frame for completing work, you have set yourself to have time busters. Little things like--Susie needs more time to finish her math program, but the clock says it's time for English. Or--Paul has discovered he wants to know more about gladiators after listening to Heirloom Audio Productions Beric the Briton, but we HAVE to shift to math now because it's 9:15. What if the toilet overflows during Science time? If you give them time to do these things, your entire schedule has been busted to accommodate it. 

BUT, if you do a routine, than you have freedom to take longer in a subject because you just wrote in the subject for the day--not the time it needed to be started/finished. As long as you hit your routine, you are good--even if it takes a bit longer to get to the next things. More freedom. Less clock watching. And LESS like a traditional school method of following the bells.

#2 Remember that planning is a GUESS

This kind of goes with the last tip. When you are planning your day/week/month/year, remember that you are basing this on the big word IF!

IF no one is sick, we will have school on Tuesday.
IF we are caught up with our Science lesson, we will do our experiment on Friday.
IF we haven't stopped for rabbit trails, we will move on to the next chapter in our literature.
IF the car doesn't break down, we will go to our field trip in March.

So don't freak out when things don't go "according to plan"! Be flexible...which leads us to our next tip.

#3 Plan in PENCIL

Because planning is merely a GUESS at what will happen that any day, write out your plans in PENCIL and keep that eraser near by. It doesn't matter how awesome things are going in my homeschool, I have ALWAYS had to erase SOMETHING on any given week. There is something about writing in pencil that gives me the mental confirmation that it's okay if I need to change something.

My nice sharp pencil with a good eraser...perfect for lesson "guessing"

If we don't get to the planned assignment, I simply erase it and write it on the next day I "guess" it will happen on, and then change the rest of whatever I have laid out.

Friends, there are some weeks I think I have erased almost EVERYTHING because of something happening. And that's okay. It was just a "guess" at what was going to happen to begin with, remember?

#4 Don't forget to "plan" breaks!

It is FAR too easy to get on a roll with planning out your day/week/month/year, and forget to plug in breaks! Give them (and yourself!) the down time you need to relax your brain. Make sure there are "recess" periods in your day. Write down the days you are going on family vacation, and then remember to take them into consideration when you are planning your year. EVERYONE knows how hard it is to get the kids back into school mode on the heels of a vacation, so let your routine show that. Look at your school year and go ahead and block out the days you know for a fact there won't be any school. This will help you in your overall "guessing" of what will be accomplished throughout the year.

Going ahead and marking out the days I KNOW we won't be doing school

Our family always takes a school break when my parents come to visit. We also take school breaks around Thanksgiving and during the last 2 weeks of December. We have abbreviated school during our annual church festival Feast of Tabernacles that we keep every fall--that's 10 days to plug into my schedule as little to no school. All of this helps me in my year of planning, which then helps me determine how my weeks will PROBABLY fall.

I also figure out how many subjects or assignments a day the boys need to do before they get a "brain break". For us, it is three. Staying on top of these brain breaks, means less interruptions and wiggles during lessons.

And don't forget yourself! Make sure you give YOURSELF a brain break! Don't load your day with 5 subjects in a row that require YOU to be the teacher! Work in periods of independent time. Even at the youngest level (say Preschool) your child should be able to work for a period of time independently in whatever it is they can do. For the younger students, give them a game or a puzzle or a coloring/cutting page. For the elementary students, you could give them the same, or reading time. As your child gets older the amount of independent study SHOULD increase. So make sure of those moments and give YOURSELF a brain break! Drink your coffee. Read a chapter in a novel. Color a picture of your own. Do some housework (psst--this will be something I talk about tomorrow!).

#5 Find yourself the planner that best fits your OWN style

I am so picky when it comes to planners. First, I CANNOT maintain an online planner. It's just NOT me. It takes too long for me to set it up--even when it's the easiest planner there is. I don't like to be tied to my computer or phone or tablet to know what I have on the school "menu" for the day. I have reviewed a few online planners that you can check out if you think this IS your style...several were very good--just not for me:

*Homeschool Planet
*HomeSchool Office from Lord Heritage
*MySchoolYear.com (I didn't review this, but the other crew members did)

So since I don't use an online planner, what do I use? Well, I have used printed forms from three or four different blogs/websites and I have used two different printed planners. They all had their high points and LOTS of pros. I love having a paper planner because I can grab it quick, take it with me wherever, and write in pencil (and make changes) anytime I need to. I don't need internet to make it happen. But even with paper planners I am still really picky. I don't want fluffy stuff in my planner. Keep it simple--calendars, weekly lesson planning, attendance, place for notes. Oh and if it's also spiral bound that's a plus too. Here are some reviews on three printed planners I have used and thought were well done:

*Hey Mama! PRINT Schoolhouse Planner 2016-2017
*Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Apologia
*My Student Logbook (lays out your daily work for each child for THEM to check off)

Which of these do I like the best? Actually I'm good with all of these! The Hey Mama! Print Schoolhouse Planner has a SLIGHT edge, simply because it has attendance forms in the back which I REALLY love having handy. But I have used and enjoyed using all of these.

Now, some homeschooling parents like to have the homeschool stuff mixed in with their daily routine planners. If so, than you might consider more of a planner like the 7 Minute Life Daily Planner. That's not my style, so it's not one that works for me, although it has some great parts. There are some websites that provide FREE planners as part of their membership bonuses. SchoolhouseTeachers.com does this. Not only do you get access to their incredible website with lessons for ALL ages for one membership fee, but you can get a free digital planner to download--it's definitely more a WHOLE DAY sort, but it has a very good homeschool planning section, or get an online recordkeeping account (free!). Lots of ideas out there.

Now if you have a homeschool binder for planning (I had one of those when I first got started), there are TONS of great planning forms out there for free to print out. You will find all types of styles. As I discover them, I have saved a LOT of planning paperwork freebies on my pinterest board devoted just to that! Make sure you follow it and then check it out for some freebies:


But if you want to get started with a basic planning form, I created one just for you! It's a weekly lesson planning sheet--2 pages for each week. The file has one set with days labelled and the other without. I also included an extra sheet to start your week with notes, supplies, and the inspirational quote you have for the week (if you do that).

FREE Copy of my Weekly Lesson Planning Forms

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In summary, remember to plan a routine (not a schedule), allow for changes by treating it as your "guess" and using pencil, schedule in breaks for your students and yourself, and find a planning form that works the best for you! I hope that this will give you the encouragement you need to have a successful planning session for the upcoming school year and many more to come!

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Today was the second day in our 5 Days of Homeschool 101 Blog Hop for the Schoolhouse Review Crew! Yesterday was focused on curriculum, and today was all about planning--so make sure you go and visit the posts of other contributors to our fabulous hop today! Stay tuned the rest of the week as we dive into four other aspects of basic homeschooling stuff.

Here is the list of all my blog posts for this week:

*5 Mistakes I have Made with Curriculum

*5 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Routine w/a free lesson planning printable

*5 Tips on Home Management When Homeschooling w/a free Weekly Chores printable

*5 First Day of {Home}School Traditions

*5 Encouragings Words to Remember In Your Homeschooling Journey

Patriotic Mini-Math Unit and FREE Notebooking Pages

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!
Because it was July 4th this week, we spent the holiday morning going over where the holiday originated, and had a mini lesson about the American flag. I just love using the Alice Dalgliesh book The Fourth of July Story for my lesson because it puts it so simply and has simply fabulous illustrations. Once we completed our lesson, we followed it up with a reader that outlines the history of the American flag and how it has changed over the years. It was only natural that I then used some patriotic printables that I had worked on over the weekend.

Free Printable: Recipe for a Complete Sentence

While recently working through our grammar studies using Fix It! Grammar from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), we have come on a snag. Little Britches has been having some difficulty with telling the difference between a main clause and a dependent clause. The primary difference is that the main clause is a complete sentence, while the dependent clause is not. I decided we needed some additional help to remind us of what makes a complete sentence. After looking around on the internet, I decided to create an 8 1/2" x 11" poster for us to laminate and put up on the wall. This will help him have a quick and easy-to-find reminder, when he gets stuck. 
Because I know there are probably others of you who would like this, I turned it into a printable for you to grab for your own classroom! Simply click the link below the photo and print it off for yourself!

Grab My Recipe for a Complete Sentence Poster
I hope that it will help you, as much as I hope it helps us!

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Copywork: Romans 1:20

Copywork is always useful when you are striving for memorization. I like to make copywork for whatever quote or scripture we are working on--and I am going to start sharing them with you!

I am going to be keeping most of my copywork on my google drive account, which makes it very easy for any of you--because you simply click the link and print!
Romans 1:20 Copywork--print: https://goo.gl/UfqxcZ Romans 1:20 Copywork--cursive: https://goo.gl/jQG3XN
Do you have any scripture copywork requests?  Feel free to comment below and I will work it into my upcoming printables! *****

Farm Adventures with Books, Crafts and FREE Printables

Black cattle. Green tractors. Wrangler jeans and Justin boots. Throw in a LOT of dirt, two little boys and one hunk of a man, and you've just described my life here on the farm! It was with great pleasure that we discovered that the theme for April's Poppins Book Nook was...Down on the Farm! This was right up our alley, so we naturally enjoyed exploring all things relating to our rural world AND I had fun whipping up a few simple farm theme printables to go along with our studies this month!

The Books

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Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Okay. Most books relating to a farm involve...cows. Well that's NOT something we really need to learn a lot about because we are SURROUNDED by them (remember we are Black Angus farm). So I tried to find books relating to farms that weren't focused on cows...but rather more like chickens. We don't have any chickens on the farm...yet.

Chickens to the Rescue
By John Himmelman

There is a fabulous series by John Himmelman called Barnyard Rescue and we enjoyed this book from the series. It is full of hilariousness and Baby Britches adored yelling "Chickens to the Rescue!" when it was time in the book. The plot is simple... The amazing chickens on the Greenstalk farm race to help various family members and farm animals every day of the week---except Sunday when things change!

I highly recommend this book--the boys do too as we've read it multiple times since we brought it home from the library! Now I'm seeking the rest of the series: Cows to the Rescue, Pigs to the Rescue, and Ducks to the Rescue! Make sure you find this book the next time you go to the library!

Tuttle's Red Barn
by Richard Michelson; illustrated by Mary Azarian

Tuttle's Red Barn is non-fiction "Story of America's Oldest Family Farm" beginning with the arrival in Dover, New Hampshire in 1632 by John Tuttle. The book follows every successive generation of Tuttle as the farm is passed down through the youngest son. You get to see twelve generations of the Tuttle family as they go through the many milestone of American history--from the Revolutionary War, to the Underground Railroad, to being part of the Industrial Revolution! It's a fascinating look at the history of one family as the world moved around them and the changes they made.

The Millionth Egg
by Bernice Myers

This is a rare edition that doesn't seem to be available online, but is a library edition, so you might be able to find it at your library. This is the story of a group of intelligent chickens who are getting ready to celebrate the arrival of the farm's millionth egg. Margaret is hanging crepe paper. Judy is blowing up balloons. But Rhoda brings things to a screeching halt with her news--the farmer is tearing down the barn! All looks lost as each chicken ponders her fate...but will Rhoda's big idea save the day? It's a great story and the boys loved finding all the different things going on within each illustration.

Portrait of a Farm Family
by Raymond Bial

This is a non-fiction book chronicling the daily life and routine for the Steidinger farm, a 55 cow dairy heading into it's fourth generation. The book follows the family from milking the cows, to taking care of all the livestock to the harvesting of all the farmland. It talks about the challenges of running a farm in today's culture (as of 1995) and the rewards that a rural lifestyle brings. The boys enjoyed seeing another farm that is different from ours, but shares a lot of similarities and challenges.

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
by Trinka Hakes Noble
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg

This is a must have book for any farm theme! The illustrations are so incredible--but then we adore Steven Kellogg's books. Your children will love experiencing the hilariousness that insues when Jimmy's Boa joins the class on a trip to the farm. The class trip to the farm was pretty dull until...The cow started crying...The pigs got on the school bus...And Jimmy's pet boa got loose in the hen house! What a crazy day on the farm! This book was fun to read again and will continue to be one we enjoy.

Country Road ABC
(An Illustrated Journey through America's Farmland)
by Arthur Geisert

This is a simply lovely book to look through. Using the alphabet, the readers can take a trip down a long country road to sightsee all the letters and much more. Here you will find that E is for erosion, G is for grinding feed and R is for rust. The boys loved working through the book, though they were admittedly disappointed that T wasn't for Tractor...LOL. It's a delightful ABC book and one that I reach for time and time again.

There are a lot of farm themed books out there, but we enjoyed exploring some that aren't usually on the list. For chapter books, I would add Charlotte's Web, Farmer Boy, Sarah, Plain and Tall, and Tornado to the list, as they are all delightful reads with a farm setting.

Our Craft

For our craft, we made a funny chicken to go with our two chicken books. I used the template provided HERE and then printed two sets of everything on white cardstock. I went ahead and cut out all the pieces or that would have taken forever!

The boys love these kind of crafts...mostly because they get to use markers and googly eyes.

Our Printables

We did a few printables as part of our farm theme. Baby Britches enjoyed doing this pig one I found.

Little Britches worked on one that I created myself.

But wait, that's not all! I created it and saved it to share with you! But that's not all either! I also put together a Phonics Farm series to explore some things on the farm and the letter they start with. They are geared towards pre-school/Kindergarten. Baby Britches had fun using his dot marker on them.

                                  You can snag them FREE on my teacherspayteachers store!

If you have never used teacherspayteachers.com before, it is a free site where you can download thousands of educational materials created for teachers, by teachers--and hundreds of the products are free! I highly recommend you getting an account--especially because this is where I'm going to hosting my printables at this time and I don't want you to miss any! If you choose to follow my store, you can also get notified whenever I add something new!

Down On the Farm Giveaway

Swing your partner round and round and come on down to the farm this month with the Poppins Book Nook! Every month this group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. 
This month one lucky entrant will win the Down on the Farm Bundle. The winner will enjoy two fun farm themed learning items. The two items that they will win is the Farming storybook by author Gail Gibbons and Safari Ltd Farm Babies TOOB. Let the farm themed learning fun begin!
Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the PromoSimple terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}.  
Just enter the PromoSimple below to win

Want to see more Farm themed posts?

Here are some more members of the Poppins Book Nook crew where you can explore THEIR farm creations!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - ABC Creative Learning - As We Walk Along the Road - Brain Power Boy - Chestnut Grove Academy - Embracing Destiny - Every Bed of Roses - Farm Fresh Adventures - Growing in God's Grace - Kathys Cluttered Mind - My Bright Firefly - Peakle Pie - Preschool Powol Packets - Pray Species - SAHM I am - Stir The Wonder - Sunny Day Family - Sweet Silly Sara - Teach Beside Me - To the Moon and Back - Tots and Me - Tree Valley Academy - Witty Hoots

Have you blogged about your farm adventures with books, crafts, or printables? We'd love to check them out! Simply add your own link to the linky below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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I hope that you will check out the books I've recommended and snag some of the printables I've created! As always, you can keep up to date with our daily adventures on Farm Fresh Adventures Facebook page, and don't forget about subscribing to my bi-weekly newsletter! Now that I'm on a roll with creating printables, I plan on offering a few exclusive ones to subscribers and you don't want to miss out!

Random 5 for Friday ~ Revolutionary War and a FREE Printable

Friday Friday! Aren't you so thankful you made it to another one? I know that I sure am! And as part of it being Friday, it means that I have another random rambling post...but this one has a FREE PRINTABLE!

Click Here to Add Your Own Random 5

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. 
Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

1. The Revolutionary War era is fascinating. I am a major history buff, but I forgot how exciting that the birth of our nation was. The incredible men and women who set the country on fire for freedom with their words and actions. What a different world we would be living in if we still had men and women like that...because you and I both know...we do not. You can explore in a sort of "Crash course" way the movers and shakers of the time period with all kind of biographies.

2. Patrick Henry was incredible. Most of us know the famous line "Give me liberty or give me death!", but how many people remember who said it? Does anyone know much about the man who declared such an outlandish demand? I knew he was a great man of the Revolutionary War era...and I knew he said it. But I admit. I was pretty clueless about anything else. Little Britches enjoyed diving into Mr. Henry's life as he worked through a biography this week. He learned a lot about him, and was tickled to discover that Patrick wasn't fond of school AND had to learn Latin--just like he was! He also found one of the new words we're learning as part of our Latin--Orator. In Latin, Or= to pray/speak, and a derivative of this is our word oral or orator. Well those words popped up a lot in his book...which made learning Latin more valid to him. He finished his book Where was Patrick Henry On the 29th of May? today and said he really liked it and thinks Patrick Henry is cool and that he'd love to hear him speak. The more I learned about him, the more I recognized what a gift he had and how important he was to that time period.

3. They really should teach more about King George the 3rd. You know, in all my years of school--elementary, middle, high school and college--we never really learned much about King George the 3rd. The "evil tyrant" of the Colonies. Everything is only focused on what's going on in America. It was a good study to read a biography on King George to see the reasoning behind why he was "oppressing" the colonies and to just learn a bit more about him. Did you know he was OCD about things like punctuality and order? Or that he had 14 children? That he considered himself a good king and father to his subjects? Or that he had nightmares the rest of his life about losing the colonies? We learned all that and more as we read-aloud the book Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?. The illustrations are excellent--but then they are buy the famous author/illustrator Tomie dePaola!

4. I want to go to New England for a field trip! All this studying has made me want to take a trip to the New England area so we can visit the cities where our nation was born: Philadelphia, Boston, Yorktown, Lexington, Concord and more! That is one area of the country I have yet to explore and it's on my bucket list. Maybe one of these summers we can work in a family road trip.

5. I was inspired this week to start cranking out some printables! Little Britches was in love so much with Patrick Henry, that I decided to create some copywork of the famous quote he's known for. It was easier than I expected, and it set me off on a printable creation binge! I will be sharing a good chunk of printables on Monday as part of my Poppins Book Nook post, but you can snag my Patrick Henry copywork today! I am hosting it at Teachers Pay Teachers because it's free to have an account and because it lets other teachers find my work. I highly recommend this site for you to snag free or very reasonably priced worksheets, lessons, unit studies, clip art and more!

Click Here to Download Your Copywork

Well it's been a rather slow week--but considering I had three reviews to share last week, I needed a slow week to catch up...because I have to kick off next week with my Poppins Book Nook post on Monday and another review on Tuesday (for La La Logic!). I hope you will check back in and stay in touch!

Have you ever visited the New England area and toured the cities I mentioned above? I'd love to hear about it!