Continue homeschooling or not?

How do we know if we should continue with homeschooling or its time for the chick to leave the homeschooling nest? I ask myself that question daily. If I ask myself that question, I'm sure there are others out there that ask it too.

I asked my sons if they'd like to go back to public school. The older two said no. Oldest told me it was a living nightmare there and will not go back. Gets upset if the subject is approached. Youngest has tears in his eyes, total fear of failure looms in his expression. Yet my youngest says to me, "Only if my friend Mike is going." *sigh*

After doing some research on the subject, didn't find much but I'll see what we can use.
1. Pray. Find a quiet time and place to talk to God about this. Ask Him what He wants you to do. Your answer may not be what you want to hear. Trust in Him with the answer that is best not only for your child but your family as well.
2. Call and talk to several fellow homeschoolers. Ask them all the questions you have. They may have felt the same way and have overcome these feelings.
3. Don't fall to pressure. If you know in your heart that God has told you to continue or to stop...do so. Feelings of failure are satan's way of making us sin. When we feel guilty, we do everything in our power to fix the problem. We try to control our lives instead of doing what God has told us to do. At the same time, not fall to pressure from others to put your child into public school.
4. Do your homework. Yes us mom's have to prepare every week for the next weeks lessons. Being prepared helps keep things running smoothly.
5. Take time for yourself. A burned out mom is not a good teacher. Schedule in a free day every so often.

I have bad days and good days. All moms do. Good luck and enjoy your time with your little ones.

Menu Plan Monday!

I had to get organized again. Life does not evolve around McDonald's, Wendy's, or whatever fast food place we happened to hit on the way home from work. I have 3-4 hrs before dinner to prepare a more healthy meal for my family. Just plain laziness on my part. NO MORE!!

Here is what we are having this week:

Monday: Cowboy Chicken Sandwiches

Tuesday: Overnight French Toast and sausage links

Wednesday: Meatloaf

Thursday: Pasta Carbonara

Friday: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Saturday: Beef Stew

Sunday: Chicken Spaghetti

8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas

Got an email this morning titled "8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas". Of course it bit my curosity so I opened it. What a great email. Me, the organized one, the person with unlimited amount of rememberance for detail.....forgot I had signed up for a newsletter with Families with a Purpose. This is a gem of a site, hurry up and click the link. I'll wait. NOT!

I totally forgot about it this site and shamefully didn't bookmark it for later. (Sorry Families with a Purpose, to many things going on at once.) The site has mega info. Lots and lots of advice, how-to's, ideas, free printables, items to buy, and the list goes on with this site. I'm still looking around and finding new things to read or want or wish to buy. ;)

Sooooo, I printed out the ebook containing information to make my holiday this year much easier. Its similar to FlyLady's and organizedhome.com. BUT this one I like better. It seems more Christian to me, more Christmasy, more user friends, more me. Now I get to start planning on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make people give me more firm dates/plans and info. My family won't like me at all. hehe Which reminds me, we need to buy a new Christmas Tree this year. Better go add that to my list. TATA!

A title? What title?

Trying to come up with a routine type schedule is hard. I'll admit it. I don't like to do this, its boring. So my tendancy to procrastinate comes out. But with a little help from FlyLady's website, Motivated Mom's Chore Planner, and other searches on the net to find homeschool schedules...I came up with our own. Yes, this thing will be a work in progress. Yet I'm following KISS. Keep It Simple Sister.

Our basic schedule:
- As we leave in the morning, take your math book or other subject you wish to work on at grandma's while mom is at work.
- When we get home, let the dog out and put the things away we brought with us that morning. Feed dog so he doesn't nibble on our arms as we read. lol.
- Grab what subject you need to work on next. My kids know that Mon & Wed is science and Tue and Thu is history. Or if they need to work on their spelling or grammar book.
- Put all finished papers in the "to be graded folder". I have a metal divider that hangs on the door to the computer closet that holds this folder.
- All subjects must be reviewed over with mom before she deems you are done with school for the day. Until then there is no tv, computer, or electric toy play/viewing.
- After school, evening chores are started.
- A name is put on the calendar of whom is mom's helper. They help prepare supper as well as do the dishes after the meal.
- Bath time for those that wish to bathe at night. (That would be me. The mom. I love a nice hot bath.)


School Routines:
Mon -
Tue - Library/Errand Day
Wed -
Thu -
Fri - Put away day. This is the day we put everything away.
Sat - Field trips and/or fun things to explore or do
Sun - Prepare for a new week or Prep Day. I write up the next weeks lesson plan, grade all papers and file them away in the appropriate folder; I get all the next weeks materials together (do all cutting, photocopying, gathering of books etc.) and put them in the kids' shelf, and last I make a supply list for any of the missing items to get on Tuesday (which is my Grocery and Errand Day).

Household Routines:
Mon -
Tue - Shopping Day
Wed -
Thu -
Fri - Budget/Paper work day. Also my clean out the purse/van day.
Sat - Home Blessing and Family Fun Day
Sun - Spirit renewal , pamper me, and prepare for a new week day.

See. That was easy and I kept it simple. Now I won't feel guilty for not doing something. I don't have a day for zones, I do those as I work on my list everyday with my Motivated Mom's Planner. Mending clothing...same thing or I stop what I'm doing when a button falls off and repair the items right then and there. I don't need a FREE day. To me, that's Sunday. Its my pamper/get ready for the week so I won't be harried day. Also, each kid has their own chores to do either daily or weekly. Youngest takes the trash out every night after supper. Or the oldest runs the vacuum on Sat morning or my middle son loves to do laundry. I use that kid a lot. ;)

Now I need to go find the two younger ones. They ran upstairs when we got home. Looks like a no tv night for them little buggers. Oi! A mother's job is never done.

Hard lessons

Guess what? Never got to making that schedule yet. Tonight, I've started it (which has nothing to do with the list below, I'll post my new schedule another time). After being the mean yelling mom yesterday we came up with a few things that give me a twitch in my eye. Today, my children found out I meant every word I said the day before.

Here are some of my highlights yesterday:
- All items left out and not put away are trash (no digging it out of the trash either).
- Everyone will do their chores, period. End of discussion.
- All school work must be completed before the tv, ninetdo ds, or other electronic (fun) devices are played with.
- When mom or dad calls your name, you will move quickly while hollering your coming. It could be an emergency and we need you to learn to move fast without question.
- If mom or dad tells you to put something away, we don't care if its yours or not nor do we care if you didn't do it. We are wanting something done without question. The guilty party will be dealt with when we find them.
- You will bathe daily. I don't care if you don't feel like it or you forgot. Its a daily habit; its good for your body; it keeps you from being sick; etc. You've had one everyday since your birth...get over it and just do it. (Me talking to my 15 yr old who wants to become the sloth that his father is...aka my ex.)
- Bedtime is for sleeping. This is not time for playing games or staying up reading til the wee hours of the morning. No getting up to get something. No getting up to get that snack or drink. Stay in bed and go to sleep.
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Today was another hectic day. I did get off work at 1:30 pm. BUT I had to take the van in to the dealership. The engine light has been on for a week. After siting for 2 hrs, they fixed the issue for $39 and I was on my way. So this meant we got home after 4:00 pm. *sigh* School work, dinner, dog & cat wanting attention from being left all alone all day, and mom getting to pee...whew! Oh, did I tell you it has been raining a cold drizzle all afternoon too? Yeppers.

The kids did get their book work done. I found the cd that held the history unit study. Taking that baby to work to print off the note pages. Even trade I have going there. I print things for work here, and get to print school stuff there. hehe

Everyday will have a focus. Example: Tuesdays will be errand/library day. Sundays will be mom's planning/grade papers day. My goal is for my children to learn as much as they can and remembering what they have learned. If this means they take a year and half to complete and understand Alegbra 1; so be it. They will have a better graps at the subject than those that sped through it and skipped over several lessons to boot.

So for tomorrow, my plan is to have the schedule/routine written out. We will start implementing it immediately. I can't wait. I need the structure just as badly as my kids do.

Rescheduling the schedule

We, I mean me or is it I, need to revamp the school schedule. The one we have is not working. Or it would work if we did it. But we do not. Instead I sometimes get off work at 1 pm. Most of the time is later, up to 3 pm. Then my mom or grandma (usually grandma) needs something done. By the time we get home its supper time. Nothing is planned because I was hoping to be home by 1:30 pm. By the time I have time to think of school its bedtime. UGH!! So frustrating.

What I need to do is create a weekly schedule every weekend. Sunday afternoon is for getting my week ready. Getting my work clothes set out for the week, pampering me, etc. Why not include school planning? Because I get so frustrated. There is so much I want to include I get overwhelmed. Then I starting thinking about FlyLady. (Yes, I am a flybaby since 2001). Baby steps. Also remember KISS. No, not the rock band. Keep It Simple Sister. Ahh....simple.

So for today, revamp schedule. Have kids work on Math, Spelling, Language Arts, and science today. By tomorrow, we can include history, PE, and a couple other things the boys want to do. I will post my schedule when its done.

Government Bailout

I usually keep my political opinions to myself. But this bailout really ticks me off to no end. It is plain wrong and still it was vote for. Who pays for this huge ole mistake? Us, the taxpayers of America that's who. I wrote to my senators and congressman. My husband called them. So did several of my friends, family, and complete strangers. Yet these men still voted for it, even after admitting to the press that all of their emails and phone calls received from voters said to not vote for it. Looks like we'll be not voting for them in the next election. Oh, wait...that's coming up in November. *mawhahahaha*

What I'd like to know is where is the old fashioned punishment for these individuals that blindly allowed the debt to rack up as it did? You know, getting fired for being an idiot, blackballed from the business world, and sued for the money they basically stole from the taxpayers. Instead, we are in the "Its not my fault" generation so lets slap them on the wrist so we don't hurt their feelings or some such drivel.

Where has the world gone to that your word doesn't mean anything anymore? Where has the world come to when it's ok to default on your loans (debt) and only get a "its ok, you'll do better next time". Where has personal responsiblility gone? Instead the pattern of defaulting on your loans is repeated again and again and again and again. No one learns from a mistake if things are taken care for them. A baby won't talk or walk if someone does it for them. What is the difference if they are adults? None.

If I remember right, there is a war in history that stopped crap like this. Didn't the colonists start a revolutionary war because of being taxed to death? Why yes my dear Watson, I believe they did. Looks like I need to go find some tea.

DING! DING! DING!

The 2009 Motivated Moms Chore Planners are available! Woot!!! I love these planners. Last year I used the half-sized planner with Bible Study. Can one be more organized than I am after using this little planner. This size worked very well and fit perfectly in my organizer. This year I'm going to try out full-size per day planner. I'll print out a weeks worth and hang them on the fridge. As I finish up a chore, I can check it off my list. Each evening I can remove the finished day's list.

There are eight versions of the Motivated Moms Chore Planner, the full-sized planner with scheduled Bible reading (Read the Bible Through in a Year), the full-sized without Bible readings, half-sized planner with and without the Bible readings scheduled, the full-sized Page Per Day planner (with or without the Bible readings scheduled) and now a *NEW* version half-sized Page Per Day planner (with or without the Read the Bible Through in a Year option).

Click on this link, Motivated Moms Chore Planners, to learn more.