Rats! I really don't work well with digital record keeping/ planning. I am very tactile and if I don't write it in pen, it either didn't happen or won't happen, depending on what it is. I might just play around with a few different options and go from there.

After our math lesson this morning I jumped on Amazon and ordered a Judy clock. Sigh. My encouraging day last week was short lived. I am hoping that the Judy clock rotating the hour hand as you move the minute hand will help her visualize it better. If we are still getting nowhere by Friday, I'll put all away for a while... again. :( Reading, science and piano are also done. Everyone was up early this morning and now we are reaping the benefits. Later, we'll have some snuggle time for history reading and we need to fit in LA among early baths and early dinner before we leave the house this evening. Oh, and even with yesterday's snow day I still got to record reading, geography, science and piano! All from things they were doing on their own! I think there have been other days off that were similar, I just wasn't listening for those educational things I could record.

Perhaps you could tempt her with something more tropical? ;)

We have a finished basement and the school room is the family room you walk into when you go downstairs. The big kids' bedroom, bathroom and the laundry room is down there too. It is a walkout and there is a huge window in the family room. The sunshine pours into that room in the mornings which is perfect since that's when we're doing school. My desk with the desktop pc, the piano, 3 bookcases, a TV on a tv stand, a cubby unit with canvas bins, the fish tank, the easel, the futon and 2 leather storage ottomans take up the space in the room. We have kids' artwork, maps, chalkboards, dry erase boards, bulletin boards, and timelines on the walls. Anything that can't be done on carpet like paint, playdough, etc., are stored in the upstairs hall closet and are easily accessible to the kitchen table. I am in the process of updating the room to incorporate a reading nook and a nature study area. So excited about the changes!

Critter- I was up at 7:30 Sunday morning checking in on the boards while the house was quiet and I didn't want to wake anyone. I thought "I beat Critter!" But I was too chicken to start the thread. ;) Hugs to all of you with struggling learners. I tip my hat to each of you for your patience and perseverance in educating your children. I was that kid in math and I really slipped through the cracks in the PS system. It would have been nice to have a parent right there with me, trying things to find a good fit and advocating for me. Your kids will appreciate your efforts when they hit their late 20's (cough, early 30's, cough). ;) It's snowing here today and I've got a fridge full of chicken to cook for freezer meals and broth so I am calling it a snow day! The kids got these really cool art books this weekend that gives prompts and ideas. Today is a good day for those, I think. Have a great day everyone!

I am going to need more room to record what we do in each subject for dd's school this coming school year. This year I just use a weekly spiral bound planner. It has tabbed monthly pages, and a 2 page spread for each week. I don't really need the monthly pages and the weekly just doesn't give enough room for each day. 12 lines each day are completely full this year. I record reading, LA, math, history/geography, science, and quickly jot down piano lessons, physical activities, and any field trips. So, for those of you using a bullet journal for homeschool, is it just for goals, future planning, and reading logs or booklists or do you use it for actual records? If so, what is your layout? I'm thinking this might give me the space I'm looking for but it needs to be easy for school officials to read and understand.

Stephanie- hugs! I hope she makes steady improvement. Jean- ha! You are right! The neighbor was headed to work and didn't have time this morning. This afternoon, I was planning on walking to the farm across the main road to ask if she was theirs. Maybe she was supposed to be a barn cat but wandered too far. But we got engrossed in lessons and now I can't find her anywhere! Maybe she made her way home. I hope! I am shopping on Amazon. I know there is some school thing that I thought I'd finally break down and buy but now for the life of me, I can't remember what it was! I'm thinking it was a book for me to learn a teaching method or something about children's attitudes... Oh man, this is gonna drive me bonkers! Off to read saved threads, hoping I will run across it!

Good morning! Someone new really wants to be a part of our family. When we came home from dinner at the in-laws last night, a little black kitty with white paws was waiting for us. He's still outside meowing loudly. I don't have any cat food and don't know what I can give him. Or her. The neighbor tried to coax him over to her this morning but he was having none of it. He's decided on us. Unfortunately, ds has severe allergies and asthma, so this kitty chose poorly. Not sure what to do. I don't want to call animal control but I don't know anyone that would want a cat. Poor kitty. In school news, I think dd is finally "getting" time. I give it a whirl every 3 months or so trying something new each time. This go around, we are going back over a chapter we've done before. MM was the one I thought explained it the best and had the most logical progression. She is surprisingly doing much better! She still switches the hour hand and minute hand quite a bit or she'll say minutes for both, like 20:35 instead of 4:35. But in the past, she'd say 12:00 when it showed 11:45 or 7:00 when it was 6:30. Everything was 'o clock no matter what. So happy to see some progress! Today, I'd like to double up on math lessons and language arts since we have back to back out of town dentist appointments that will eat up the whole day tomorrow. We are running late this morning but I think we can do it! Have a great day everyone!

I've been using the bullet journal method for years! Way before it was a "thing." I have a box of them that dates back 14 years. I think it started when I graduated high school and I wasn't given a free planner anymore from the boosters so I just bought a little notebook from the dollar store. Anyway, I thought I was tired of the bullet journal. I didn't have time to make a grid calendar anymore but I really like that layout. Plus, there are so many beautiful versatile planners out there. So I bought one. Guess what? Not even a month in to the new year and I'm back to the bullet journal! I am still using the planner for appointments, meals, and financials but nothing beats a bullet journal for ongoing lists, records, planning, general brain dumping. And now that I have the planner, I don't have to draw a monthly grid in my bullet journal anymore! Best of both worlds! :) I should add that I am the queen of cheap and not super tidy in the pages of my journal so I have never bothered to spend any money on one. My current one is a 20 cent composition book with graph paper pages. My planner is a Happy Planner I got on sale for $12. That's the most I've ever spent on a planning system!

Just the other night dh and I were in deep conversation while doing the kids' bedtime routine. The bigs were in their room putting on pj's and I was holding the baby and getting ds' daily meds ready. I was talking and making a dramatic point and after I got his liquid med ready and set it on the edge of the kitchen counter, I shoved the inhailer into the spacer, put it on the baby's face and PUFF!!!! It synced up perfectly with the end of my dramatics and I look at dh for his agreement with what I just said. Instead, he's looking at me with crazy eyes and said "did you really just do that?!" Me: "what?" Dh: "you gave the baby a puff of ds' inhailer!!!!" I was so engrossed I didn't even notice! The baby just smiled at us as we cracked up. It didn't seem to be a big deal to him at all. Dh said he's watched us give it to his big brother every single night so he was happy it was finally his turn! :D

I have been thoroughly enjoying this thread. I've had 2 responses typed out in as many days and the baby has seen to it that they were both lost. He literally shut off my tablet. Maybe it's a sign I'm not worthy to post here. :D I'll have to come back later when I have more time but I just want to say that I love the ideas here and discussion and it takes me back to what we originally envisioned for our kids' education and why we homeschool in the first place.

No time now but I will be back when I have a chance to check out those links!

Daily Individual Reading Time :) I am thinking of introducing literature study next school year but I'm not sure what that will look like for us.

We each go with our own library bag. They can put whatever they want in their bag but I will not carry it if it gets too heavy for them. I go armed with a list of good picture books I want to read with ds, books that relate to our history and science topics and I fill my bag with those. I also have a list of chapter books I want dd to read for her 30 min DIRT time and she can choose which book from the list she wants. She usually also has a chapter book of her own choosing that she will read in her free time. I might try the WTM recommendations when dd enters 5th grade. But for now this works for us. If we go to the library a 2nd or 3rd time in the same week for storytime or classes, they will inevitably ask to check out more books. Lately, I have been letting them choose 7 books for dd and 4 for ds to match their ages.

I didn't manage to post anything yesterday. Things got done but it didn't feel like it. The day felt very disjointed. I couldn't get a good flow going. My proudest moment wasn't school related. I scheduled a slow cooker meal since we had to leave the house quickly after dinner. At the last possible minute, I really, really, really didn't want to head to the kitchen to get it started but I called my current kitchen buddy, ds in to help me and his enthusiasm bolstered me and we got it done. So glad I forced myself to do it! Its changing from a winter mix to snow here and the kids are giddy! I don't want to disappoint them with the news that its not expected to accumulate. :( Reading, science and piano are done. Math, the rest of Language Arts, and history are up next after our morning snack break. I am mulling over some changes for the 2016-17 school year but I think I'd like to start experimenting with them now. But I think that might be for another thread. :)

My maiden and married names are 2-2-2 syllables (my name is not actually Mrs.Robinson) and dd's and ds#2's names are too. I think it works if the names have a good rhythm to them. My favorites so far are Joseph Beckett and Joseph Blake.

Kids are watching a video about volcanoes. I feel like I am moving away from the science curriculum and into child-led science fun. Feels like the ground is shaking since I am such a box checker but I cannot deny the far and away higher retention and excitement for learning doing it this way. So my box checking brain can just hush it! :D Math, reading, piano, outside time, some free play and now science all done! I am satisfied with that for today since I have some paperwork to do today for dh's business. Aurelia - I enjoy hearing about your dd's tumbling activities. We haven't had any of the kids' activities turn into a passion yet so its interesting to see what that looks like for other families.

I live over state lines but visit NWA often. Family and friends there. Its beautiful and I'd love to live there but our circumstances haven't opened up that opportunity yet. When we visit, there is always plenty to do and explore. I agree with pp, the Fayeteville library and Farmer's market are drool worthy. I thought I read somewhere that AR dropped the testing requirement for homeschoolers??? I must be remembering incorrectly.

Hmmm... Page 2 seems to be the Jean and MrsR portion of the thread! Ha-ha! Everyone must be super busy. Good for you getting that painting done! Whatever it takes, right? :) Today was storytime again for ds. The kids wanted more books since in their opinions, I chose all educational materials last week. So I let them choose 7 and 4 books to match their ages. All together, they wound up with 3 silly stories and all the rest was completely educational! They were perfectly content with their choices and thought I really did them a favor. I've been chuckling to myself all day about that!

We live in the Midwest too and after our errands, we had to stop at a local nature preserve and walk the trail. The car just drove us there magically! ;) The kids were thrilled! They want dh to come back there with us this weekend.

Critter, you and me both with lack of sleep last night. I am dragging today, as a result. Yesterday was a solid day. We did math (1 and a half lessons!) lots of reading in our read alouds and history lessons. History lead to an impromptu geography lesson. To my shock, ds knew where 14 states were on the map without any help! I am going to try to have some more fun with maps with him today. He seemed to really love it. He was even saying things like "Florida is warm and sunny all year. Iowa grows a lot of corn. The Statue of Liberty is in New York." Where is he getting all this? The tag-a-long theory among homeschoolers is real, people! Today, the usual lessons, hopefully, some extra geography with ds and dd, running the errands that didn't happen yesterday, a solid effort in the laundry department (not committing to any particular number of loads), my nephews coming to play this evening and chicken and dumplings for dinner.

Yesterday was better than Monday. We did math. That's it. But Monday, we didn't even do that, so like I said, yesterday was better. Today, I was up with the baby by 8:30. Picked up his room, my bathroom, and laid out clothes for the 2 of us since we have some errands to run today. Feeling like I got a solid start to the day. Dd is eating breakfast across from me as I type this and ds is still asleep. Our out of the house commitments on Tuesdays mean we don't get home until 10 or later so they usually sleep in on Wednesdays. But I am determined to get a solid school day in today. Time to get going on it! Jean- I hope you feel better!

Haven't even thought about it, so this is a good opportunity to do so. Let's see how many decisions I have yet to make, shall we? 3rd grade: Reading- no clue. I know I want to introduce the idea of literature study. Spelling- either Spelling Workout or Spelling Power. I own both, so its probably a matter of what I'm in the mood for come September. Grammar- either Language Lessons for Today grade 3 or Easy Grammar grade 2 or Treasured Conversations. So, pretty much, no clue. Writing- Language Lessons for today includes copywork. I already have EIW level 3. It doesn't excite me. I would love to try something from IEW. I get the BraveWriter emails and could implement some ideas but it would take a little effort to plan. Still clueless. Math- This I know for sure!!!! Math Mammoth level 3!!! History- American History year 2 using who knows what as a spine. Will probably be pretty free-wheeling. Geography- Doesn't Guesthollow have a geography curriculum for this age? I should probably look into that. Science- well, I missed the Mr. Q annual sale so I dunno. I would like to try RSO. Maybe. Maybe not. Extras- we might get to those Deep Space Sparkle art lessons. Piano daily will happen. Swimming lessons will also happen. Kindergarten: Reading- I really want McRuffy Reading and Phonics but I don't like the price. Plus, I already own 100 Easy Lessons (boring!). Math- Saxon 1 or Math Mammoth 1. Own both so we'll see which is a better fit for him in Sept. Will tag along with big sis for the rest. He'll have his own swim lessons. I am counting 9 subjects that I don't have a solid answer for. Meh, I'll start sweating around May. Then panic will set in for the still undecideds around August 1st. They're young and resilient, right?

Baby took ALL my attention yesterday due to to cutting teeth. His poor little gums looked so painful! So I let dd have the day off. She had some new craft projects to tackle and a fresh stack of library books, so her day was actually fairly productive. Buuuuut, of course, dh asked "what did you learn in school today?" He NEVER asks that!!! She doesn't go to school!! He will ask what did you all do today? or how did you do on your spelling test? if he knows something specific that's going on. But, on the one day that I drop the ball, he specifically asks about "school" gaaaahhh!!! Dd's response? "We skipped school today." Great, thanks kid. Throw mama under the bus. I jumped in with the books she read that pertained to our history lessons and the Nature's Weirdest Events show she watched and that she did piano practice but to no avail, dh teased me the rest of the evening for "skipping" school. :S I did manage a preK lesson with ds. I couldn't turn him down when he came upstairs lugging a huge preK workbook and even bigger wooden art case with him, huffing and puffing, saying in a sing songy voice "tiiiiime for preeeeeeKaaaaayyyy." Today will hopefully be more productive. Dd has a math test that I expect her to sail through, a spelling test that should be quick as well, and just the next lesson in her other subjects. I am hoping to read a chapter for history and a chapter of our read aloud. Those are so hard right now because the kids want to snuggle with me while I read but the baby wants my attention too and if he is with us, he's grabbing hair and trying to rip the book. I need to power through anyway.

Jean- your dd's race board looks super cool. 8) Sdel- I'd be pumped too! Hopefully things continue to improve for you and dd. Let's see. It's been a few days since I've been accountable. Wednesday was back to the routine, no more snow excuses and we all did really well Wednesday and Thursday. Got all subjects done and household chores. Today we finally made it to storytime!!! Yay!!! Ds didn't want to go even after a thorough explanation of what to expect so I told him we were going today and if he didn't enjoy it, he didn't have to go again. Well, of course, he loved it and can't wait for next week. :) While he was doing that, dd did her math lesson at a table before selecting her books for the week. All in all, a pretty good day and a pretty good week. Have a good weekend, everyone!