ORGANIZING WITH A BINDER

 I have used a different organization system this year for homeschooling. In the past, I have used workboxes, which I highly praise and recommend. I may use them again. But, this past year, I organized all of the older boys' schoolwork in 3 inch binders. I got the idea off of the My Father's World K yahoo group. Some moms were doing this for the Kindergarteners. I adjusted the concept to work with the multi-cycle level for MFW.

I bought enough two-pocket plastic folders 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Avery-Plastic-Insertable-2-Pocket-Dividers-8-Tab/14935298?findingMethod=rr

or

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Avery-Back-to-School-Bundle/14935296#Product+Reviews

They do have pockets on the front and the back. So, you could use one folder for two weeks of school. I wasn't sure how it would work, so I used one per week. Yes, it was initially costly, but it was worth it for me. 

All of the organizing was done up front. Having a infant to toddler and a new K student, I knew organization would be rough. This hasn't worked perfectly, but when it didn't it was more my fault for not double checking progress as often as I should. My biggest issue every year is that I lose steam. So, it is better for me to have a system like this in place where the organization is done way ahead of time. My boys know that by the end of the week, the folder should be empty. It is a great encouragement for me to look now, and see 28 weeks of folders, empty. It is a great accomplishment for us after a few rough years. 

Next year, I will put a schedule in the front of each boy's weekly folder. Since MFW allows you to copy for your own family use, this is probably what I will do. Also, all coompleted worksheets and schoolwork is filed into a one inch, three ring binder.

Attached are some folders to help show what all the fuss is about. As I mentioned, it is work up front, I spent an afternoon putting it all together. Then, went through all worksheets including language and decided how many they should do per week. Since I know how it works, I'll try to add in more subjects for next year. It was a learning curve this year.*Another thing I plan to do to help is to gather all supplies needed for art and science projects into one bin, so that it is all ready for the year or perhaps just months ahead of time. MFW suggested this to me and I think it is a wonderful idea!

The weekly folders

 An enclosed, velcro-close packet for holding extras

 Worksheets fit in the folder, with the half divider, you can thumb through the worksheets when needed.

 Our timeline which is in notebook form http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/book-of-centuries/

Happy Organizing!

ONE YEAR COMPARISON

I can barely believe that the photos show the same baby girl. The photo on the left was taken July 1st 2010, moments after we arrived home from the NICU. It was a wonderful day. But, I was scared to death to have this five week old, under five pound baby, just one week post second surgery, under my care--no monitors, no NICU nurses or doctors advising me. With the support of family, friends, doctors and nurses, we made it through her first year. It wasn't easy, we faced dealing with silent reflux (very scary); an often very sick baby (scar tissue was causing a lot of illness); two more hospital stays; a third surgery and many weeks of recovery. But, in the end, we did it as a family and have grown so much to appreciate one another and to be thankful for all the things God has provided us. I will always love the doctors and nurses who were Willow's first caretakers when I couldn't be. When I look at Willow now, so vibrant and almost walking, communicating with the sweetest voice and batting her lengthy lashes at her daddy, the past year almost seems like a dream.

The Creation to Greeks Tabernacle Model: Our Style

I'm not the best at planning for our projects. The teacher's manual says to use a milk or juice carton, well, two of them. I didn't have one, or two. : ) We're also way behind on our history : ( due to life's circumstances. So we are sort of in the fast lane with our history reading and projects. A week long lesson plan for this, turned out to be a morning long project. It was actually very nice to sit and do it and have it be completed in one day. Thankfully, my mom stepped in and cared for the baby for a while, so we were actually able to complete this modified model. I really like how it came out. We used two pieces of black scrap book paper that I simply glued together to use as a base. I did use google images to show them other models that have been made to show them what it "really looked like." It is nice and simple, but the boys were able to learn each part and its purpose. My 11 year old liked doing this. I know because I just asked him and he said, "yeah, it was pretty cool."

I really love how MFW lays out exactly what to say about each item (what a huge help.)

The Ark of the Covenant in the front and the rest of the project, still unlabeled in this photo. Yes, I labeled everything myself. After all the cutting and gluing, oh and my mom gave the baby back, it was just time to let the kids go jump on the trampoline, so they watched me label each thing. I first, asked each of the boys to point and discuss each part of the Tabernacle.

Time4Learning Review

Time4Learning has been an excellent addition to our homeschool. My two older boys, ages 11 and nine, have used it over the past month. One of the main reasons it has been especially great this past month has been the convenience of being able to tell the boys to sign on and within seconds, they are doing school! No prep work for mom which has come in handy the past couple weeks due to a very busy schedule. Normally, school would just be lacking at a time like this.

One of the features I like best is the Parent Login section. I loved and was surprised that, after a couple weeks, I was able to sign on and with just a few clicks view everything the boys had looked at, completed and could know exactly how much time was spent on each activity.
I know that we haven't even scratched the surface on how we can incorporate Time4Learning into our homeschool studies, mainly due to our own time restraints. But so far the boys have learned so much by using the curriculum. My nine year old immediately gravitated to the science section of his level. He was able to view and study things that we hadn't covered yet in our own curriculum.
"I learned about earthquakes, the human body, digestion, the food pyramid and that's only in science," said my nine year old. He continued, "Then, I learned about Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Great Depression." When I asked him why he liked Time4Learning he responded that it is really easy because "they" read it to you and then you get to answer questions. "They" is the narrator for the lessons and it is definitely a great asset.
I have a four year old and a newborn and Time4Learning has enabled to me to feel like we're well rounded in our teaching. I haven't been able to sit through each lesson, individually, but as I stated already, I was able to login and then check on precisely what my child had viewed and completed in their lessons, including the content. And, it didn't take much time at all.
We use a Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum, so having short lessons such as the ones in Time4Learning fit right in with our style of learning. But, I don't think anyone who isn't particularly CM-inspired would have an issue with the lessons.
My 11 year old also really likes Time4Learning as well.
"I learned a lot of the things I never learned before, some of the stories are really cool. This one about the little girl who figured out when the moon would be full in, Phases of the Moon, was much more interesting to learn about by reading a story than to just be told about it."

Both boys and my four year old really loved the Playground section. I like that it is limited to 15 minutes increments per day!

Overall, Time4Learning is a great product. I'm pretty frugal with what I spend for our curriculum and at first I wasn't sure what the cost would be compared to what it would provide for our family. I asked my husband thinking he would be reluctant, but he said, "Well, if it is something you are going to use for them, then it is worth it."

I look forward to continuing with Time4Learning, as are my children. Like I said before, I know we've only scratched the surface so I am excited to see how else we can learn using it.

TIME4LEARNING REVIEW INVITATION

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used in many ways including as a homeschooling curriculum or afterschool tutorial. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

A BIG MILESTONE: the bow

Finally, the little beauty has enough hair for a bow to
clasp on to ever so delicately.
It surprised me just how excited I have been about this. But, friends have assured me that they felt the exact same way with their girls. Is it a rite of passage? And, is that for me, the mama, or for the baby girl?

CHRISTMAS PHOTOS 2010

It's not a month past Christmas 2010; technically, this can still be timely!

Here are some of our Christmas photos. I finally put a bunch together for a card when I realized in almost every photo our baby girl was grabbing someone's hair, or face or just doing something funny.

The message reads, " Love [US] and our newest troublemaker..."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDIE

I'm joining FOR EDIE WITH LOVE today.

Life in Grace is one of those blogs I love to check regularly. I find Edie to be so inspirational, so sweet, I love her style, her posts are always so interesting, but it is her complete abandonment in writing that really draws me in. There are posts of Edie's that read like beautiful literature and I'm drawn in not only by the content, but the style. And, by abandonment I mean this: she's genuine. I don't believe she writes to try to portray who she wants to be seen as; she writes who she is: a sinner who needs a savior, one who wants to be sanctified continuously. One post that came to mind was when she writes about how divorce affected her children.
STARTING AT ZERO
I feel like most people would write a post explaining how everything is OK now because they have a new beautiful marriage. Instead, Edie just lays it out there. Raw truth, lacking pride.

My heart broke the morning I read about the fire. I cannot even imagine. So thankful God spared their lives. There was never a doubt though, that The Wadsworth family's faith wouldn't succumb to this tragedy.

Another post that really hit home for me was this one
The Bridegroom
I wrote to Edie to express how much this post meant to me.
I hope she doesn't mind if I share her response here, but I believe it's very telling of her faith and response in the midst of their own trial right now.
Katrina,

...There is something very unique about suffering though. It drives us to Christ-----where we find our peace and hope---like nothing else can. And I know that He will work all those hurts together for your good, to strengthen you and to give you character and hope and a full abundant life. I pray for you today and am thankful that God is doing a work in your heart.

lots of love and blessings,

edie


EDIE...so thankful to know you, to read about your life and to be able to share in this time of blessing you in this way.

Preschoolin' It

Jeremy Casey is a preschooler this year. He loves copying his brothers as they write. He has very quickly begun to write his name properly. I never asked or prompted him to write, some days he follows me around the house with a pen and paper--or one day he had a word search and kept saying, "ma, tell me a wedder!" Then, he'd try to find it and circle it. Or I would find it and circle it and he would duplicates. He is a fun little guy to do activities with. Can you believe that alligator? (above) I asked him how he colored it so neatly and his reply was, "Daddy told me to always try to color in the lines!" OK...can he please be that accurate with all the direction we give him and uh oh yeah, please tell his brothers and sister to do the same?!

Below is a video of what we were doing recently. I got the two alphabet foam boards from the dollar store and the teddy bears (teddy bears on a shoelace) at Staples. Very inexpensive activity. But, he's really beginning to learn his letters.

TOGETHER

This had to be one of the best days since having Willow. Ryan and I took the boys out with Willow, together, to an apple orchard. It was a gorgeous day, oh and did I mention, we were all together? When I was thinking about this today, I tried to resolve what made it so special. I have often seen a photograph of myself as a baby at an apple orchard with my family. It's one of my favorite pictures. One, I look really cute (in the baby photo; right now in real life, there is much work to be done before I can be called cute.) Two, well why does there have to be a two. It's just a memorable photo. So, apple orchards and family just ring special in my mind. Add that to the fact that this was probably our first outing in public with all four kids in tow. I remember entering the store on the grounds and having a teeny panic moment as I realized I had Willow in a public store. We have been reminded so often that we need to be very careful with her exposure to illness and we were home bound for weeks and weeks after she'd come home from the hospital. I simply held her almost chubby little body a little tighter to make our way to the honeycomb display at the back of the store. To see the hundreds of bees making honey was quite a thing before we made our way out to the apples.
We walked for a very long time through the orchard, sampling apples and then picking what we'd like to buy. The boys had a blast, Willow was so content being held, she never whimpered through the whole trip. We stopped for some photos (as you can see.) At one stage, Ryan took the boys to check out the Mutzu apples. I stood on flatter ground to keep my balance with the baby and slowly pivoted to take in a full view of my surroundings. There was a chilly air, but the sun was so bright and warm on my face and the trees were so green. It was one of those moments of a consuming appreciation when you take the deepest breath, as though you're sucking in even the goodness you feel. Plus, my body was probably having a Vitamin D overload after spending so many days inside of a hospital. It was awesome! I then wondered if there was enough time to ask our friends to do this with us again--apple picking usually winds up in October. Except for my "after I had the baby, baby shower" we really hadn't been able to socialize with anyone at all in about five months. So, naturally, I wondered about sharing great times like this with others.
The boys had chosen their lot of Mutzus and were carrying their heavy bags with fruit gold when we decided we were done and ready to head home. We had one fairly steep hill to walk up to go and purchase our loot. As I got to the top I saw very recognizable faces--my lifelong friend's crew were all walking toward us. It was such a treat to meet up with them. Both families could have easily taken another way in and out of the orchard. But, there we were. It was a simple thing, meeting friends. But, it was pure joy for me and I was so thankful to be able to savor that sweet, brief time. Here they were, with not one, but two of their new sons; one whom they had taken in pretty much at the time when Willow arrived in our family. Both of our families were introduced to new little ones, with comparably complicated situations. Theirs through foster care and eventually adoption of a two and three year old in addition to already having four children. Here we were, meeting unexpectedly after a pretty hectic set of months behind us, making memories with our children.
Did I mention we were TOGETHER?

Here I am, in the 70's in an apple orchard with my family.