My Organized Homeschool Schedule...yeah, right!

So, I saw this picture on Google and fell in love with it.  Why, because that is how I feel.  Especially at the end of our homeschool year.  At the beginning, yeah I had it all together (at least it looked that way!).  But, truly it is hard to be organized trying to teach four kids, in three different grades.  So, as I do EVERY YEAR at the end of school I search the blogs.  For what, you ask?  For more ideas on how to coordinate our schooling, to make it better.  I take what I learned from last year, and try and tweak it.  I ALWAYS get to March or April and start DYING!  Literally.  I drop all my good ideas, creative incentives and just push toward the goal we all have...to be done!  I have many different ideas I have done in the past: 
*Progress Report Night
*Revised Workbox Idea
*Summary of things learned a couple of years ago

This year I started out with a new idea and it was great, but hard to keep up.  So, I switched to another one during the year.  Here is what I learned this year.  Hopefully, it will help you, if not be entertained.

I started this year with a chart (thought I had a picture, but can not find it. Will have to post when I do.) that my kids could move over a subject tab (that had velco on the back) to the done section.  I did this so they could keep track of their progress and then they wouldn't keep asking me if they were almost done.  This worked great, but I only got two done in time for school to start and the other two never got one...yeah, remember I am only semi-organized. 8-)  So, since I didn't have ones for all the idea went by the wayside.  So, I also found that one of my students (I won't label which one) kept saying he was done with his work, but would not complete all said tasks.  I would not figure this out until I would grade everything at the end of the week.  So, then I had to come up with a new system.  They all had a notebook and I would write the assignments in the notebook and then as they accomplished the work I would grade it and check it off.  Then they could get a sticker at the top of the page, should this happen they would get their three school dollars for the day.  At the end of the week, the school store would open and they could buy items (priced differently) at the store.  This worked great and if they didn't listen then I would take a school dollar away.  This worked great until March...then I just wanted to plow through and didn't enforce it so much...I paid for it.  We will do this next year. 

These are some of my ideas, and I have been researching some more.  I am always open to hearing new ideas.  Please let me know yours.  I will be posting soon about how I scheduled things.  It wasn't perfect, but maybe it would help you out in your scheduling.  That is what makes us all better picking ideas from others to work.  Now, if I could just finish what I start I would be on the right track!  One day at a time!

Google Calendar

Have you ever used one of these? This is amazing! A friend of mine had told me about it and it took me a while to actually try it, but it is wonderful. So many times Jason would want to schedule something and need to call me and check and see if we were busy. I would want to schedule something, but wonder if he had something for work. This combines all of our calendars and color codes them. We also have one for our church and have that as a different color. I add people's birthdays and can have them repeated (automatically) each year. I will be much better about birthdays (at least I won't have an excuse!). Last week I sat down and put my cleaning schedule, breaking it up into a little bit each day, and it repeats each month...forever. Each day I check my task and make sure it is done. I love it. Anyway, it has been so helpful, I thought I would encourage you to check it out and help yourself. I thought my friend was over enthusiastic about it...she wasn't...and I'm not either! Check it out! Here is my cleaning schedule on google calendar:

Where is the balance?

How do you balance life?

I know it is a process, but how do YOU balance life?

I have been working and trying to figure out how to do that forever.
Something that is really important to me is my relationship with God. I have tried to make that a priority the past two years. I hate to admit it, but when the kids were young I used them as an excuse to not have my conversations with my creator and friend. I didn't realize how far I had gotten in my relationship. Just like any relationship, when you don't talk with the other person, when you don't spend time with them you are going to feel distant when you see or talk with them again.

Well, two years ago I realized that I was not doing what I should to do my part in keeping my relationship with God prioritized as I should. I also was not doing good about working out then. So I had tried to start getting up to work out . So I made a pact with myself, if I was able to get up and workout, then I should be able to make the time for God. So if I worked out, then I made sure I had my quiet time.

Pretty soon I was doing my workouts for 30-40 minutes and then the kids would get up and I would have like 10 minutes of time with God (while tending to my children). Yeah, I don't have to explain that doesn't work. This summer I have been going through a bible study with a couple of other women about managing our lives. Through this I realized that yes, I was making time for God, but what kind of time was I making?

So, for the past few months I have been making sure that I have time with God and then the workouts. So now, it is the workouts that go by the wayside if I happen to wake up later or run out of time. Because of homeschooling I really like to start breakfast at 7:00am and school at 8:00. So, I have a time limit.

THE QUESTION IS:

How do you balance both?

Since I have not been able to workout as much, my physical feeling has been a lot worse. I get so much energy from making sure I have my workouts. It makes me feel better, it makes me have more discipline and self-control in regarding to what and how much I eat. BUT, I also have enjoyed making sure I have my time with God too. Both things that I have found I really need to do in the morning or else they don't get done.

What are your thoughts on this?

How do you handle this in YOUR life?

I would love to know!

Should I find anything out in my journey I will let you know.

My Monthly Cycle

Don't worry it is not what you think...it is my monthly dinner cycle. You guys really need to clean your minds a bit!

So, I have wanted to do one for a while and when I was putting the schedule together for school, I thought why not life too!

So here is our monthly schedule of meals. I also put together a breakfast plan so we wouldn't always have the same thing over and over (cereal, it would be).

WEEK 1:
Monday - Chicken 'n Biscuits/peas
Tuesday - Sloppy Joe's (love my mother-in-laws recipes)/corn chips/celery
Wednesday - Baked Potato/carrots
Thursday - Homemade Pizza and salad
Friday - Tacos with homemade shells (again my mother-in-laws recipe)/corn
Saturday - Hamburgers, chips, salad
Sunday - Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and salad

WEEK 2:
Monday - BBQ grilled chicken, italian potatoes, salad
Tuesday - Pulled pork sandwiches and celery
Wednesday - Fish fillets, cheese crackers and carrots
Thursday - Lasagna, garlic bread and salad
Friday - Tacos with homemade shells/corn
Saturday - Hot dogs, baked beans, celery
Sunday - Any leftovers

WEEK 3:
Monday - Stroganoff and green beans
Tuesday - Hodgepodge soup and sourdough bread
Wednesday - Yoshida chicken, rice and green beans
Thursday - Cheesy Italian bake and salad
Friday - Taco filled pasta shells, corn and chips
Saturday - Pigs 'n blanket, chips and carrots
Sunday - Chicken and cheese quesidilllas and green beans

WEEK 4:
Monday - Breakfast Meal
Tuesday - Baked bean Chili, cornbread and salad
Wednesday - Chicken Alfredo with broccoli
Thursday - Manicotti, garlic bread and salad
Friday - Tortilla lasagna, corn and salad
Saturday - Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Sunday - Any leftovers, if none then popcorn fun!

WEEK 5:
Monday - Beef Taco Skillet, chips and green beans
Tuesday - Mexican Pie and peas
Wednesday - Chicken parmesan, pasta and salad
Thursday - Homemade chicken fingers and carrots
Friday - Tacos, chips and corn
Saturday - Pot pies and cottage cheese
Sunday - Turkey lettuce roll-ups

BREAKFAST PLAN:
Sunday - Oatmeal (blueberry or maple)
Monday - cereal
Tuesday - poptarts
Wednesday - baked oatmeal
Thursday - eggs, bacon and toast
Friday - bagels
Saturday - french toast, pancakes, waffles or cinnamon rolls

**Answers to some questions people have asked me regarding this:
1. I go shopping once a week, so any items I need since I already know what I am making then it makes it a lot easier to put the list together.
2. I don't make all the meals ahead of time, but if I am making a dish (i.e. lasagna, stuffed taco shells, etc.) that works great freezing I make a bigger batch and freeze a couple of meals worth for later months.
3. So far I have been doing this for the past three months and I love it. It has worked beautifully.
4. Here is my mother-in-laws famous Sloppy Joe recipe:

SLOPPY JOES
2 1/2 lbs. hamburger
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cuts ketchup
1 tbsp mustard
1 can of crm of mushroom soup
1 tsp onion powder

Brown meat and drain. Mix other ingredients together and simmer.
This is great on buns and also with corn chips. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

My "Workbox" System

****PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK FOR MY UPDATED BLOG ON THIS WORKBOX SYSTEM***

So, I looked into the Workbox System, and liked it. But, honestly, too much work for me. I like to have everything done and not have to worry about filling in everyones boxes the night or week before. Nice, idea, not for me. So, it got me THINKING what do I want and how can I make it. So here is what I came up with:

A BANKER'S BOX! (sorry for it not being rotated...will try to fix)

Inside my bankers box I have hanging fild folders and, of course, folders. Each folder is labeled per day. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.... I set my schedule for the year and then for each day I put all the worksheets and supplies I need. If there is something I can't get or don't have right now I have a flag with the items I need for that day. And if there is something that needs to be used in a later lesson than I mark it for what day I need to move it to when we are done. So far I have it done through December, planned through May. So now I just need to put the items in the file folder that I need.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED!! IMPORTANT!!

Ok, so you might have already figured this out, but I just put it together. I spent so much time photocopying pages from my workbooks. Then I read somewhere that someone just had her daughter write the answers in a separate notebook. So, I figured that half way 2nd grade math (since that is where I was photocopying at the time) was a great time to implement that system. Same with spelling practices. My goodness that woman, I wish I could wrote down the website, had a wealth of knowledge. I bet there was a lot more and I should have kept reading. Anyway, that was my big lesson for the summer! Now, I am just trying to figure out how to fit in Spanish and Art. Any suggestions???So, that is my system. I am excited to use it. Check back later for updates on whether or not it worked. It seems that it probably will for me. But, you never know. There could be things I didn't think of. We shall see!

***Added: October 21, 2009***

It seems that a lot of people have checked out this page, It is different from other workboxes, but I have to tell you I have LOVED it! Each day I pull out the folder associated to this day and then all the supplies are right there. I love it. We had to go out of town to visit my father-in-law and it was great I grabbed my books and then the folder for the day and it was wonderful. I am planning on posting more in how these go along with my schedule, but you will have to wait for that. 8-) More to come.

It's finally here!

It's HERE!!!

Yes, crazy as it seems I am quite excited about it. What you are wondering??? My schedule. Yes, it may seem said that I am this excited about a schedule, but I have been working on it for the past month and I think I found what will work. I researched a lot of homeschool books and websites looking for what might work for our family. Here is what I have put together for us. Any thoughts about this, ESPECIALLY if you find things that you think I can improve on, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Thanks.

Mondays and Thursdays:

• Worship and Bible Time (in living room, for 20 minutes) - Awana verses and CBS lesson
• Reading and Piano Time (in living room, for 1 hour -15 minute increments

15min - John reading, Emily-piano, Kiley-spelling city, Karli-writing

15 min - Emily - reading, Kiley-piano, John-writing, Karli -learning website

15 min - Kiley - reading, Karli - piano, John -spelling city, Emily - writing

15 min - Karli - reading, John-piano, Kiley-writing, Emily - spelling city

• Math (upstairs, 1 hr): Girls - 30-40 min , John - chores and free time*

John - 30-40 min, Girls - chores and free time*

• 10 minute break and snack (10 min, kitchen or outside)
• Language Arts (20 minutes, upstairs)
• Science (20-30 minutes)
• Lunch - help with lunch prep-(mon: J-sandwiches,E-drinks,Ki-plates/napkins,Ka-sides;

(thurs: Ki-sandwiches, E-sides, J-plates/napkins, Ka- drinks)

• History (30 min, upstairs)
• Read Aloud Time/homework (40 minutes)

Wednesdays are the same, except I thought I would change it up a bit so that I switch Math and reading segments (there is also a different rotation for lunch prep jobs).

Tuesdays we have our Bible Study. The kids have their own classes with other kids who are homeschooled and in their grade. We usually, during nice weather, get together for recess and lunch after at a local park. Then we continue on to piano. During piano I have a schedule for the kids to get their spelling worked on and a portion of reading done. So, while the others are doing piano some other school work is going on.

Fridays they have an all day school called One Day Enrichment. They cover science, art, history, P.E. and an elective and, of course, lunch. I am co-teaching the elective class this year. The first session will be on camping skills. We are aiming to teach them skills to be able to help when they are older, as well as, how to take care of their families while enjoying camping. Other topics coming.

I am also in the process of coming up with a better schedule for the rest of our day. Look for that to come. I am still working on that. I am hoping to have that nailed by the end of the weekend. My goal is to focus on aiming for these schedules, and realize that learning flexiblity is good to, but to jump back into the routine of things as soon as possible. I am excited. I am still trying to figure out when to throw in Spanish and Art. We did three lessons this summer for Spanish and only one for Art. I guess that is better than nothing.???!! Look back in the next few days for more on this schedule and the schedule of our lives. Also, look for my version on the workbox idea. Not, that I am a genius, but I found something that will work better for me and maybe there is something you can take or add to this idea to make it better. But, that is to come this coming week.

Enjoy this last weekend of "summer", yes I know the season is not over (that is for my husband's sake *smile*) but the session is. On to the last weekend. Enjoy! Have fun! And make sure you let me know your thoughts on these ideas. I am always looking to make it better!