CHRISTEPHI

In my last post I shared what changes we're making to our core curriculum as we cycle back around and repeat Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father's World. Now I'd like to share how we're organizing our day with a "morning basket." My kids are three years apart in age. From the time the youngest was in kindergarten to now, we have always done school together. Even when they were working on independent lessons, I'd have one kid on the right doing math and one kid on the left doing other math. But partway through our last school year, my eldest up and left us. Without consultant me, she apparently decided that she preferred the solitude of her own bedroom for her independent lessons. In fact, she started even taking some of our group work off on her own to complete independently! (The nerve!) So, we've made some adjustments. As much as I miss the togetherness of our younger years, this new style has its benefits.  For one thing, it allows ...

I am so excited to go through Exploring Countries and Cultures again. The last time my kids were so little -- 3rd grade and Kindergarten. And now they are in 5th and 8th grades! They have grown so much over the past five years. As I began to think about our plan for this year, I realized two things: 1) my gifted eldest child remembers just about everything we covered in ECC the first time, and 2) my younger one hasn't had many of the basics that ECC covers. So I was faced with a dilemma -- how do I adjust ECC to suit the very different needs of both children? How do I shift the focus for my 8th grader to aspects of ECC that she hadn't spent time on before (such as types of governments, imports and exports, etc.) while also taking my younger child through the more foundational information that he missed when he was just a kindergartener?  ECC is designed to be parent-led, family learning, with a supplement for 7th and 8th grade. But I came to the conclusion that I need to deco...

When you use My Father's World, you really don't have to do any prepwork to get ready for your year. Things are all planned out for you and you can easily just open and go . However, I am a bit particular and like to have things just so. I find that putting in just a little effort before getting started helps eliminate small frustrations as we go along. Since I had the time and wanted to, I decided to do a few things to get ready for our year .  This post will make more sense if you read our curriculum picks first . The first thing I did was open our packs of student sheets and separate out the State Sheets and President Sheets. I used my brand new binding machine -- a Christmas gift from Hubby that delights my nerdy heart -- to bind each child's pages into a separate notebook.  Since you receive some of the sheets this year and the rest of them next year in 1850 to Modern Times, it made sense to me to separate them out so at the end of the year it's easy to se...

Eight weeks. That's how long our break from school will be by the time we start back after New Year's. It's been such a wonderful break -- much needed!  But our time off is drawing to a close and in these final weeks a good deal of my time is being spent planning our year. I love starting a new school year in January!

We have been off from school since before Thanksgiving when our school year ended.  In that time, we celebrated both the kids' birthdays, two major holidays, bought a house and moved!  It's been a bit hectic to say the least.  Now that we're getting settled at our new place, I’ve been spending some time working out our lesson plan for the coming school year: slotting in spelling lists and math assignments, divvying up science units and lining up books to read for both personal reading time and family read-aloud time.  And I’ve got JUST the tool to help me do it! Homeschool Planet everything you need to organize your home and homeschool in an easy-to-use online planner Honestly, I don’t have time to learn new software at this point in my life.  And it’s not because I’m slow on the uptake when it comes to technology!  I’m pretty savvy!  But time is a precious commodity for a homeschool mama.  That’s the thing I’ve lo...

The motto of our homeschool is: " Learning to Love to Learn ."  One of my overarching goals as a homeschool mom is to teach my kids  how  to learn. I believe that if they know how to acquire and retain information, they will be able to do anything they set their hearts on, both as children and as adults. Veteran homeschool mom Debra Bell believes this too and that is one of the reasons she created The Ultimate Homeschool Planning System.  The Ultimate Homeschool Planning System is more than just a planner , it's a SYSTEM.  There's the mom's planner, the teen planner, and a younger student planner.  The system is designed to grow with your students, teaching them to take on more and more responsibility for their daily/weekly planning, scheduling, and time management.  As early as 3rd grade, students can keep a little checklist for each day detailing what they need to get done.  By the time they're in 5th grade they're able to b...

I don't know if it comes across via cyberspace, but I am not a naturally organized person.  Thankfully, God created us with amazing brains that are able to learn and grow and change!  One way I have been growing the past few years is in the area of organization.  I have been slowly-but-surely beating my house into organized submission.  I have done meal planning , got a freezer and filled it with a bulk cooking day , created my very own oasis  and then rearranged it .  I love Pinterest because I can see how other people organize and discover new ways to categorize, group, and store all sorts of things. (I have board dedicated to organization on Pinterest).  I've also been reading books about organizing and homemaking: e-books, library books, and even one or two I bought. When I decided that I would focus more time and energy on my blog this year, I knew I would need a way to keep myself organized!  There are so many free blogging planners out ...

Over the long weekend, my friend Melly and I got together to do some bulk cooking!  We had a lot of fun, but boy-howdy, it was a lot of work! We pared and chopped 10 pounds of sweet potatoes, 10 pounds of red potatoes, 10 pounds of carrots, and so on. Then we assembled four one-gallon bags (two for each of us) time nine recipes for a grand total of 36 meals!  Each gallon bag is a single crockpot-worth of food, which for my family will actually be at least two meals and a lunch. I found recipes via Pinterest, made a mega shopping list, and this is what we made: Lazy Day Stew (that I re-named Busy Day Stew) from  Ring Around the Rosies . Chicken Curry from  Mama and Baby Love . Cilantro Lime Chicken with black beans and corn also from  Ring Around the Rosies . Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken from  Mama and Baby Love . Savory Chicken from  Ring Around the Rosies  again. Savory Vegetable Beef Soup from The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis . Stephanie's Goulash also from Mama and ...

Monday : Beef stir fry with radishes, fresh greens, bell peppers, onions and carrots (all from CSA) Tuesday : Potato soup and fresh breadsticks Wednesday : Baked chicken, green salad, rice Thursday : Meatless spaghetti Friday : Butternut squash parmesan Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Chicken fried rice with more CSA veggies

Monday : Pork chops, fried eggs, green beans, rice Tuesday : Baked chicken breast, baby butternut squash, rice Wednesday : Potato soup Thursday : Southwest chicken w/ homemade salsa, corn chips Friday : Stuffed acorn squash Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Bean burritos

I used part of this week's grocery budget last week to buy scrumptious peaches and plums on sale ($0.99 per pound is probably the cheapest we'll see till next year!) and put up 12 jars of sliced peaches, some peach jelly, and plum butter.  I also bought cantaloupes at $0.99 each that I sliced up and put in the freezer.  So my menu will be based on a slightly smaller budget this week.  About $55 instead of $75. Monday : Runzas Tuesday : Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green salad Wednesday : Corned beef, fried eggs, Brussels sprouts, rice = Hubby's favorite meal! Thursday : Chickpea curry and rice Friday : Black bean burgers with sweet corn Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Ham and potato casserole

Monday : Asian corn cakes, sweet potato casserole, rice Tuesday : Hot roast beef sandwiches Wednesday : Pancakes for supper! Thursday : Oriental chicken in the crockpot, broccoli, rice Friday : Chili Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Chicken curry, rice

I had my meal plan ready, just forgot to schedule it for Monday! :-) Monday : Labor Day meal with family, supper is popcorn, sliced cheese, fruit Tuesday : Personal pepperoni pizzas Wednesday : Grilled chicken with acorn squash and rice Thursday : Potato soup with fresh sourdough bread Friday : Chicken enchiladas Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Grilled cheese and fresh tomato soup

Last week's meals got juggled around a bit and we ate out a couple days, so there are some repeat meals on this week's menu! Monday : Creamed tuna on toast, cantaloupe Tuesday : Asian beef and noodles with stir fry veggies Wednesday : Spaghetti, garlic toast, carrot and celery sticks Thursday : Black bean burgers Friday : Ham and eggs with potatoes Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Personal pizzas

Our CSA got hit by a terrible hail storm the end of last week.  Our week's share was completely destroyed.  Thankfully, none of the farmers' main buildings or animals were harmed! Monday : Eggs, homemade hashbrowns, sausage Tuesday : Chicken parmesan, salad, french bread Wednesday : Black bean burgers, mozzarella, lettuce, salsa Thursday : Meatballs, broccoli, rice Friday : Chicken stir fry Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Creamed tuna on toast Despite needing several higher priced items all at once, I did well staying within my budget this week!

This week I built my menu around the fresh produce in my kitchen (mostly from our CSA shares) that needs to be used before it goes bad! Monday : Eggplant parmesan Tuesday : Burritos featuring crockpot refried beans and fresh garden salsa Wednesday : Pasta salad Thursday : Grilled chicken and patty pan squash Friday : Beef stroganoff Saturday : leftovers Sunday : Chicken fried rice with carrots The eggplant parmesan will be an "experiment" meal since I've never made (or even eaten!) it before.  Most of my experiments are passable, not all are enjoyable. What are you eating this week?

To keep myself from wandering aimlessly around the grocery store, spending twice as much as planned, and coming home without half the things I needed, I decided to get myself back into the habit of planning meals for the week before I go shopping! We have a budget of $75 per week for the four of us.  Hubby's lunches are very dull...he prefers the same thing day after day.  I typically eat leftovers for my lunch while the kids eat simple sandwiches, bits of cheese, and animal crackers for dessert.  That leaves just suppers to be planned. Monday : Spaghetti, garlic toast, carrot and celery sticks Tuesday : Pot roast, potatoes, corn Wednesday : Nachos Thursday : Asian beef and noodles Friday : Meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli Saturday : Leftovers Sunday : Italian chicken tenders, rice, green beans This week I have most of what I need on hand, so I plan to use the remainder of the budgeted amount to lay in a supply of canned goods that are on sale.

It's time for another SWAP, that is, Sewing With a Plan.  Miss M has grown an inch in height since March.  Her girth on the other hand hasn't changed a bit.  Which means store-bought clothes are not going to fit her well this fall, especially pants.  Which is a bit of a problem since it can get pretty cold in the fall and pants are a must.  Enter the ability to sew! (Not to mention it's just plain fun!) I followed the basic guideline set forth by the lovely ladies in the Ottobre English group on Yahoo.  I already had some fabric and put in an order last night for the rest.  I always get fabric envy for the gorgeous designer prints I see out there, so I figured it's time to allow myself the pleasure of using some high-quality prints before Miss M's clothes require too much yardage for it to be feasible.  Among my choices are a Michael Miller corduroy and a Hilco velveteen. Yum! You can click on the picture to ...

Our no-spend week turned out to be an exercise in both self control and negotiation.  I'm not sure hubby was quite as sold on the idea as I was to begin with, especially for the weekend.  All day Saturday he said things to me like, "You don't have to cook tonight.  We can just go out.  You deserve a break.  Wanna just order pizza?  Let's just go order from the $1 menu." etc., etc., etc.  I made a conscious effort to not be frustrated at his attempts to sabotage our no-spending his unwillingness to cooperate. Instead, I tried to understand why he was being this way.  I was first tempted to say he simply lacked self-control.  My husband was raised Catholic which instilled in him a strong sense of "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission."  In other words, his natural inclination is to do what he wants and deal with the consequences afterwards, like going to Confession Sunday morning after partying all night Saturday.  I, on the other h...

Today's the first day of our no-spend week. I did what I could this weekend to plan and prepare, so we'll see how it all goes! But first...  We went to a parade Saturday!  Miss M has been begging to see a parade (and, in fact, "seeing" them in the most unlikely places), so when I heard there was to be a parade at the Parkville Days celebration, we decided we just had to go. There were two marching bands, clowns, a carnival, pony rides, and one very happy toddler!  You couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day. We got hungry, but opted to buy a small snack rather than spend an arm and a leg for carnival food that most likely would have been less than satisfactory portion-wise.  That saw us through the rest of our errands and we ate at home. I made my meal menu that night. I doubt anyone plans meals quite like I do, but who knows, maybe my way could be helpful to someone else at some point.  Instead of planning specifically what I'll cook on ...