Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Planning update

Last year I went back to my homeschool tracker program in January.  I really love the ease of putting all the lesson plans into a grid and then moving them over to the assignment grid each week and being able to print out a daily to do list for the kids. 

I should say that its easy, after its all put into the program.

I am currently putting in all the lesson plans for the year into this program.  For some subjects, like math, its extremely easy.  Others like history or science, not so much.  For those subjects, I have to sort lessons outs and I'm working on making note sheets for the kids.  For example, TL's biology has the reading assignment, vocab words, and questions all ready for him to work on.  Its taking some time to do this, but once its done, I can use it for all five kids so no problems really.  Same thing with History.  We use Tapestry of Grace so I design sheets for the kids to take notes and work off of each week.  It seems to work out much better for them and me.  I know, I make a lot of work for myself but I'm OCD and everything has to have a place.

On the farm:
We're starting to get some veggies in.  The massive load should be in a few weeks and then I'll be canning canning canning!

The chickens are getting huge!!  We need to finish up their nesting boxes and do a little clean up to their coop.

My dad is here right now and has been busy for the last ten days doing projects with the kids.  They power washed the deck and put a new screen door on.  TL and dad put up motion lights outside the barns because we don't have any outside lights here and it gets dark!!  Dad also fixed the lights inside the big barn and outside of the garage.  And he fixed the exhaust fan from the bathroom....the pipe was filled with bird nest fixins.  And most importantly he fixed the shower.  I think all of his projects are done except to help me hang up stuff in the house.  We still don't have anything on the walls.

In the house:
I made my own laundry detergent the other day.  No problems at all; it was easier than I thought.  It seems to clean the clothes just fine so I don't have any problems with that.  I've also started using vinegar mixed with essential oils for softener.  Works great!!

I hope to work on making some mixes for taco and ranch seasonings.  And I'm going to be blessed with a freezer (mine died a few months ago) next week so I can start working on stocking up again and freezing some meals. 

I also hope to get the living room and dining room painted in the next few weeks. 

And I'm still doing cleanup outside.  The weeds shot up during our two months of rain and then I didn't have a weed eater, so you can imagine how it looks.

Take care everyone and have a blessed week!!

Michelle

2 comments :

  1. You are so busy! What a blessing to have your dad there for a few weeks. I know that is so helpful to you.
    blessings, Dawn

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  2. Sounds like we have lots in common. We also moved into our house just in the past year. I also made homemade laundry detergent for the first time ever. I love nature, but unfortunately we moved to a larger city this past year. But, whenever we have a chance, we like to go to places like nature refuges, the mountains, parks, etc. I grew up in the countryside and can't get it out of my system. I've also been busy doing lots of painting since we moved in here last Fall. But, I still have several more projects in mind. I see one of your kids (6th grader) is using a lot of the same materials as my daughter. That's because I'm trying to get her caught up with her English. The beauty of homeschooling! We use everything from 5th grade to high school level, depending on where she's at. Have a great day, enjoying that great view!

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