Recently in Organization Category

I know many homeschoolers are currently finishing their school year and looking towards planning next year. Therefore, I thought now might be a good time to explain how we homeschool.

First, I choose our course of study and books. I use Charlotte Mason and AmblesideOnline (AO) as a guide. Though we are eclectic homeschoolers, I would say we are Charlotte Mason followers at our core. If you have not heard of Charlotte Mason or her educational ideas, please read AmblesideOnline's Introduction page. In a nutshell, I would say a Charlotte Mason education is filled with good books and beautiful things.

Second, I don't follow AmblesideOnline's booklists explicitly. You'll notice that their Year 8 is not exactly like my Year 8. One reason for that is that I make substitutions according to what is available to me. Another reason is that AO travels through World History in only two rotations. I chose four rotations - each lasting three years. Potatoes, Potahtoes. Both choices are valid.

Third, I make checklists for each term. These checklists itemize every chapter to be read and lesson to be completed.  In a few cases, as in the Free Reading section, the checklist merely lists a book title. The date when the assignment is finished is to be written in the blank next to the assignment.

Here are our current checklists:

Year 5 - Term 2 Checklist.doc

Year 8 - Term 2 Checklist.doc

And here is a snippet for Year 8:

Utopia by Sir Thomas More.

_____ Of the Cities

_____ Of the Magistrates

_____ Of the Sciences, Crafts, Occupations

_____ Of their living

_____ Of their journeying

_____ Of Bondmen, Sick Persons, Wedlock

_____ Of Warfare

_____ Of the Religions

I let the children complete assignments at times of their own choosing. The Montessori part of me believes that it stifles a child to always demand that Geography lessons take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00. However, we are currently working on "Together" subjects (such as Plutarch and Shakespeare) at 2:00 each day, but we chose this time as opitmum for all, much as a college student would sign up for Intro to Criminal Justice - choosing the best fit for her schedule from the days and times offered.

A new addition to our school this term is a wooden recipe box filled with index cards. This idea was born out of my need to give my children a visual reference as to how much work should be completed each week. We all have ADD or ADHD here and it is very easy to become distracted. It would be very unpleasant to arrive at the last week of school and still have most of a seven-page checklist of assignments to complete. Not that I'm saying this has happened. Oh, no, we have never hopped down all the delightful bunny trails of knowledge to suddenly find responsibility staring us solemnly in the face. Ahem.  

Anyway, I divided each book or subject's assignments among 12 weeks and wrote one index card for each time an assignment should be completed during a week of school. For instance, Plutarch's Solon has twelve sections and one should be completed each week. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has 24 sections and two should be completed each week.

When a child completes a lesson of Solon and writes the date on his checklist, he should also move a Solon index card to the Done area of the recipe box. At the end of the week, all of a child's cards should be in the Done area. On Monday, all of the child's cards are moved back into his or her own section of the recipe box and the process begins again.

We have found the card box to be a very helpful in keeping us on track with our educational goals and it looks like we will continue using it.

I hope this post has helped explain how we homeschool and helps others on their own homeschooling adventure. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can comment here or, if unable, send a missive via email: mrshappyhousewife at yahoo dot com.

Easter celebrations at my house may have been a bust, but I did manage to whip up a couple of Peep Bunnies:

The pink one is 10in x 5in and the yellow one is 3 1/4in x 1 3/4in. The eyes and noses are painted on with brown paint. I managed the eyes and nose for the tiny Peep Bunny by using an unused pencil eraser to paint the circles. Worked perfectly.

The pattern for the small Peep Bunny is here. I just copied and pasted the pattern into Microsoft Word and then enlarged it to make the large Peep Bunny. 

The yellow Peep Bunny is for myself, but the pink one is for my daughter who says Easter is not complete without Peeps to eat. (Yes, we made sure she had some edible Peeps, too.) I told her not to eat this one - might cause indigestion.

Yesterday, after yet another doctor visit (hip, hip, hooray), we popped over to Walmart to comb through the clearanced Easter candy. Post-holidays are when we indulge the children with sweets and it's a bit of a treasure hunt to find the good stuff in the randsacked holiday aisles.

Candy isn't the only thing clearanced after Easter is over. I also snatched up these 50% off Easter baskets. I'll probably use these in my craft cubbies in the Family Room. I really like that the handles fold down, unlike most of the baskets I acquire.

Also, if you're looking for Toy Story III and other children's theme tin buckets, Walmart had those. 

So, now is the time for inexpensive baskets and decorative buckets, as well as solid chocolate bunnies.

Much like Emma Woodhouse in Jane Austen's "Emma", I love to make plans. I don't always follow them, but I sure do enjoy making them. Schedules and routines are some of my favorite plans to make and what better way is there of finding new schedule ideas than peeking into the schedules of four moms with a total of thirty-five kids.

The moms linked below have kindly offered a view into their lives and detailed their daily schedules:

The Common Room

Life in a Shoe

Raising Olives

Smockity Frocks

I suddenly feel a planning yen coming on.

I found this color career test at How About Orange (how's that for a color choice?) and tried it this morning.

Best Occupational Category

You're an ORGANIZER

Keywords

Self-Control, Practical, Self-Contained, Orderly, Systematic, Precise, and Accurate

These conservative appearing, plotting-types enjoy organizing, data systems, accounting, detail, and accuracy. They often enjoy mathematics and data management activities such as accounting and investment management. Persistence and patience allows them to do detailed paperwork, operate office machines, write business reports, and make charts and graphs.

ORGANIZER CAREERS
Suggested careers are Administrator, Secretary, Printer, Paralegal, Building Inspector, Bank Cashier, Private Secretary, Statistician, Operations Manager, Financial Analyst, Bookkeeper, Medical Records Technician, Developer of Business or Computer Systems, Clerical Worker, Proofreader, Accountant, Administrative Assistant, Banker, Certified Public Accountant, Credit Manager, Store Salesperson, Actuary, Dental Assistant, Business Education Teacher, Food Service Manager, IRS Agent, Budget Analyst, and Underwriter.

ORGANIZER WORKPLACES
Your very careful, conscientious, conservative nature gives others the confidence to trust you with handling money and material possessions. Structured organizations that have well-ordered chains of command work best for you.

Suggested Organizer workplaces are large corporations, business offices, financial lending institutions, banks, insurance companies, accounting firms, and quality control and inspection departments.

 

True, or not? Well, despite my ADD (or, maybe because of it), I have always been rather fond of order. I loved filling out forms as a child, the first big purchase my husband and I made was a filing cabinet, and my favorite part of homeschooling is the lesson planning.

I'd love to know how you all fare on the test. Please let me know if the test is accurate.

I thought after yesterday's post of my Green Cabinet organization that it might be nice to share some of my links on Organization.

Below are a few Flickr photo groups I have found inspiring. Please share any other groups you know of.

Flickr Groups

Craft Rooms

My Crafting Room

Organized Collection

Organization is for Squares

Operation: Sewing Room Organization

Pretty Organized

The Savvy Organizer

Unclutterer Workspaces

Work Spaces

Workspace Karma

I've posted photos before of the Green Cabinet in our Dining Room, but I don't think I've ever shown the inside of the cabinet.

Here is the Green Cabinet shown again standing in the corner with our wine rack which holds decorative bottles.

The cabinet holds some of our school supplies but had gotten quite messy lately. I decided this week that it had to be tidied. Let's take a look at the results. 

Not perfect, but better. I really should have taken a before photo.

Shall I tell you about each shelf?

Here are the top three shelves: 

The top shelf holds two free brass planters - one with colored pencils and the other with markers. I plan to spray paint these planters soon. I'm thinking a blue or green.

The second shelf holds pens and pencils. The white milk glass cup holds pens and highlighters. Ten years ago, it held toothbrushes in our bathroom. The large white jar used to be part of a kitchen canister set and now holds our unsharpened pencils. The blue star tin cup is where we keep the sharpened pencils and erasers. The tin cup is from Target's dollar section.

The third shelf holds our stapler and tape dispenser. The white tub has our scissors, staple remover, calculator, hole puncher, and compass, but it held baby wipes long ago. It was long, long ago because my youngest child is nearly twelve-years-old. This sturdy container has been very useful all these years.   

The fourth shelf has a large, blue metal bin from the thrift store with all of our crayons in it. The little blue tins has our Crayon Twistables. It came from Target just like its twin above.

On the fifth, and bottom, shelf we have our watercolor pencils, a box of index cards, and our index card binders. The box for the index cards actually was part of a small paper shredder years ago. The part that sat on top broke ages ago, but I saved the the hard plastic box and it has been very helpful. 

So, that's my tour of the Green Cabinet. I hope you enjoyed a look inside this useful (and free) piece of furniture.

I suppose I should have known, but I didn't. Obviously, I should pay better attention because I was simply shocked to find out...that the IKEA chalkboard is magnetic. This will really transform our lives. How? I have no idea, but a magnetic chalkboard is an amazing feat of technology and I must reap the benefits - whatsoever they may be.

Above you can see my overachieving chalkboard working her heart out by holding a Columbia Restaurant magnet while simultaneously displaying fractions AND guarding our clothespin doll collection. Quite the skilled kitchen helper, isn't she? She definitely deserves a gold star. 

In one of my very first blog posts (back in 2005), I mentioned a great organization show called Neat. I recently started watching the show again - thanks to the FitTV channel and my DVR. Neat is a great source of organization inspiration and I was pleased this week to discover that the host, Hellen Buttigieg, has her own website, ezine, and blog. Buttigieg is also on Twitter. Four more ways to get inspired about organization - isn't that neat?

Monday, February 1 - Brigid of Kildare (patron saint of Ireland)

Tuesday, February 2 - Groundhog Day (American folk holiday) & Candlemas (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord)

Wednesday, February 3 - St. Blaise (Armenian bishop & martyr)

Friday, Frebruary 5 - Agatha of Sicily (3rd Century martyr)

Saturday, February 6 - Nagasaki Martyrs (Japanese martyrs)

Monday, February 8 - Josephine Bakhita (African nun)

Wednesday, February 10 - St. Scholastica (twin sister of St. Benedict)

Sunday, February 14 - Valentine's Day 

Monday, February 15 - Presidents Day (US holiday for Lincoln & Washington)

Tuesday, February 16 - Fat Tuesday (day before Ash Wednesday)

Wednesday, February 17 - Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent)

Sunday, February 21 - First Sunday of Lent

Tuesday, February 23 - Polycarp of Smyrna (disciple of John the Evangelist)

Sunday, February 28 - Second Sunday of Lent

The memorial service for H's grandmother was yesterday and I needed some mourning clothes for D, who had nothing appropriate. Thankfully, I managed to pull together a few thrifty pieces we had:

• Talbots charcoal gray lined wool skirt - thrift store, about $5
• Joneswear silk shirt - Bealls Outlet, about $5
• Black leather boots - Bealls Outlet, about $8
• Black vintage scarf - my mother-in-law, free
• White seed pearl necklace - mine
• Pearl earrings - hers
• (not shown) Black wool coat - my mother-in-law, free

D is probably the only fourteen-year-old who goes to a memorial service and gets a million compliments from the fellow mourners. Those who know her best were completely amazed to spy her in earrings AND a necklace.

In other news, the memorial service was short, respectful, and a good opportunity for those who loved H's grandmother to celebrate her life. All things considered, I think it went as well as possible.