I am an affiliate with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, specifically their Schoolhouse Teachers site, which is a fabulous value, and a wonderful help to any homeschooler, but especially those just starting out.
There are over 100 classes available from preschool to high school. Point. Click. Teach. Get planners, ebooks, book keeping resources and great freebies as well! Discounts for HSLDA members and military.
Join monthly for $12.95 each month. GET YOUR FIRST MONTH FOR ONLY $1! One fee serves your entire family. Anyone living in your home can use the site 24/7. There are no per-class or per-child fees and you can cancel anytime. Go to this link to join!
This link provides a video and great info about the services and benefits!
There is so much new interest in homeschooling right now, with more and more things happening in our school systems and more demands and restrictions placed upon them by the government. I really think we are entering the “Golden Age” of homeschooling right now!
I’m a very busy mom this month. Numerous special events coming up at church, out of town visitors coming, our daughter’s graduation to plan, VBS to organize…the list goes on. I want to tell you about my journey to the land of Slide Show Happiness!
I wanted to put together a little slide show for our daughter’s graduation party. I started gathering photos…hunting through Facebook albums, scouring various folders on my computer, editing, formatting, downloading. All very time consuming things. Then came the equally time consuming quest to find a tool to help me put together this slide show…I’d never done one before. **Cue the ominous music.**
I experimented with downloading programs (and then uninstalling them) in what seemed like an endless, disappointing cycle. Why couldn’t I find a tool that was reasonable, had the features I wanted, and didn’t require a manual and an associate’s degree to get it to work?
After the last attempt, I decided to search one more option, called PhotoSnack. I’d never heard of it before, but I liked it immediately. All I had to do was plug in my email address, and I was ready to play with all the tools and options.
I selected a title and description for my project. I found it was super easy to download photos, either by clicking the “Browse” button, or dragging and dropping.
I just had to click and drag photos to rearrange. On the Customize screen, I chose what type of template I wanted…how I wanted the presentation to look when moving from one image to the next. I chose “Simple Fade.”
Next, I selected a color as background (nice patterns and textures are also available). I could include my own background music or choose from those offered on the site. All of this is tweakable, to get it just right.
The free version of the tool allows you to make a presentation with 15 photos, and you can share your final product on Facebook and Twitter.
Here are the packages they offer:
You can check out examples here. You can “Like” their Facebook page here for special discounts and contests!
In addition to the slide show tool, look at this extensive list of other “Snack Apps” which are available! This is literally your “one stop shop” for online, easy to use apps, for sure!
I don’t have a lot of time to play with all these wonderful options at present, but I did go explore snackwebsites and “pretend” I was setting up a blog. It was very intuitive, with immediate response time, and I had this set up in less than ten minutes:
Pretty neat! You really need to go explore this site!
My graduation slide presentation was very easy to put together, and it has a nice, personal feel to it. Inside of an hour, I had everything customized the way I wanted it. I showed it to our daughter, and she just sat there, hugging the laptop, grinning from ear to ear. It was an effortless gift of time and thoughtful organization to me…to her, it was a loving journey of her life, capturing precious memories that can be shared with all the special people at her celebration.
Thursday I was in military mode for our schooling. In case you wondered, this journey is not as easy as it seems. By itself, the concept of schooling at home is daunting…I mean, you are trying to teach your own kids, all day. Enough said. 😉 I share today’s skirmishes to perhaps give someone hope, who is plugging along wondering if they will survive. You will. I’ve been at this over a decade, and I’m still kicking. I was sharing this adventure with some fellow homeschool moms at Schoolin’ Swag today, because being transparent is how we learn, and how we receive the help and support we need:
1pm (after repeated stops and starts): “This has been an uphill, both ways, through molasses in winter kind of week. Lots of “I was just…” excuses for not following through, for walking away from lessons, for getting a million drinks of water, for sharpening the pencil down to a ridiculous nub. Oy. So, I decided to use the spiral notebook approach today and give her more control over her own destiny. lol Handed it to her this morning, with a folder containing her worksheets. And, since it is in print, there is no question about what is being asked of her. If she neglects her work, it’s all her. Yep, it’s “Mean Mom” Day. I’ll letcha know how it goes.”
1:30: “I’ve also resorted to having her raise her hand to step away from her work. Even so, a drink of water is requiring time for digestion, apparently. Yes, I’m trying to keep my sense of humor…though I don’t feel very funny. Ordinarily I am all about having a relaxed atmosphere, being spontaneous, having the cat on her lap for reading etc., but “Today is not that day!”
2:00: “She is eagerly checking off boxes. I have Vivaldi playing for her writing/copy work time, which always makes things happier and more productive. And she got 100% on her spelling, which is a huge milestone for her. So grateful to be finally conquering my insomnia/chronic pain issues so that I can have more stick-to-it-iveness, and focus!”
3:00: “And, for those continuing this journey with me…she’s jumping to check off boxes, but still positively dragging her feet with things she knows how to do, just choosing not to do them. So, we had a discussion about choices…that this is a matter of “I won’t”…not “I can’t”. I apologized that part of this has been my fault…I was so tired, so distracted by health issues, that I got lazy, and she learned to respond accordingly. This is a new day. She was rested, and had a good, balanced protein breakfast. She is hydrated. I have my Jeddy’s Blend in the diffuser. And, we delay lunch yet again (for both of us…she needs to see that her actions affect others), until an item is expedited in a timely and excellent fashion, with a right attitude. These are bigger lessons to learn than times tables…these are life lessons which will shape her adulthood. I’m in it for the long haul, and thankful that I get to do this.”
3:30: “And now we are working on the flash cards…each one requires a fan fare prior to the answer…and periodically it is essential to count the “done” pile and the “to do” pile to ascertain how many are finished and how many are left. Oh, and on occasion there is a little monster in her pocket who needs to converse with her about the problem. And then there is the shuffling. I didn’t pray for patience today… 😉 “
Precocious, curious, bright, passionate, with a strong sense of resolve. Our Katherine. Love her so much.
3:45: “Katie is very bright, a quick study, memorizes like crazy, does educational stuff for her play time. Some of this is tedious to her, I know…but that is the stuff of real life. We all need to discipline ourselves to push through things which are not fun. I think we’ve seen a not-so-great trend in recent years, where kid’s school stuff has to involve stickers, prizes, incentives, and fun fun fun every day. Those kids make lousy employees.”
4:30: “The end of today’s story. We finally finished school, at nearly 5pm. She got all her boxes checked off, and I asked her to draw a picture at the bottom of the page, depicting what the next school day *could* look like with a right heart attitude. She liked the idea…it seemed to give her hope. She finished it, handed it to me in tears, apologized, and sat here in my lap for some time. I explained to her the potential I see in her, but she needs to choose wisely. Reminded her that her school matters to God. All of her choices do. Told her I want so much more for her than the direction her current choices would take her in. Made sure she knew that I want her best work…which may or may not be “A’s”. She’s smiling. All’s right with the world.”
These are teachable moments. Her tender heart always wins out in the end, and I am so grateful that I know that. The Holy Spirit in her life eventually helps her sort things out, when she puts her bellowing emotions aside. So true of all of us, right?
Truly, this is messy parenting. But I would much rather have a child who struggles and understands what it looks like to face and conquer self (for another day, or hour, or moment) , than have a kid who conforms out of sheer fear of discipline, tows the line without any friction, but is not aware at all that there is a battle for her soul going on, even during the mundane responsibilities of the school day.
I’m a homeschooler, and creator of the Facebook group, “Schoolin’ Swag”. This past Monday, we hosted a huge giveaway event called the “Planner Palooza”, featuring over 25 prizes. It was a great event!
Well, I’ve been investigating planners for at least 3 years, and in preparation for the Palooza, I did research all over the web, looking for the best products I could find to offer. I thought I’d seen it all. Then I got an email from the Homeschool Buyer’s Co-Op and my life took a new turn!
The Co-Op offers “Homeschool Planet” (click <– that link to see a video!) exclusively. Right now there is an offer to check it out for free for 30 days. It looked interesting, and was totally non-risk (they didn’t even ask for a credit card), so I thought I’d take a peek. I’m sure glad I did!
Now, prepare yourself…because I took a lot of screen shots so you can see what this looks like instead of just reading my descriptions. Ready? Click the images to enlarge:
I love all of these features (and there is SO much more)! I’ve only been using “Homeschool Planet” for a short time. I was going to wait a few weeks to do a review, assuming I’d need to figure things out first. There was very, very little “break in” time for me, so I decided to do the review now so folks could see it in July, before the planning crunch hits! I’ve decided it is definitely a keeper for me!
This planner is pretty much a no-brainer…extremely easy to use and navigate. I do like the fact that there are pretty theme options…if I’m going to look at something as much as I do a planner, I love for it to have visual appeal!
The widgets and different organizational options help me to have my “whole life” in one place…I can schedule classes, appointments, reminders, as well as a to-do list, shopping lists, search options and more via the optional widgets.
I really like that my students can access this via their own logins, and I can choose what they are able to view, and also what they are allowed to edit. They can check off assignments as they complete them, and attendance will be kept.
The data you enter can be shared with smart phones and tablets, using the mobile version.
I especially like that you get *real* people, and prompt replies when you have questions. I saw another blog post in which the writer sent these folks a message about something she wished to see as a practical feature…an improvement…and within a day or so it had been added!
I encourage you to check out this planner while the 30-day free trial is still available! Run! Better yet, grab a friend or two or twenty to come along!
Note: I received a free 1-year subscription to Homeschool Planet in exchange for an honest review of the software. All opinions expressed above are my own.
Getting back into the groove…maybe…perhaps…by next week? Any other home schoolers who took a Spring Break feelin’ this? Ugh. Slow as molasses starting today, and each subject for the little girlie was backwards. Just so you know, homeschooling life is not perfect, even for those who have been doing it in excess of a decade.
Love her.
Today, we forgot what direction our numbers go in. Today in handwriting, we decided to make up our own cursive letters…in orange marker. Today, we were helpless in all ways in navigating on the computer. Today in grammar, the knowledge that any such thing as “opposites” might exist mysteriously vaporized. Today, in an assessment, we felt the need to become a mime, and do all answers without words…except when we needed to ask when we would be done. Today, we ran around the house like a banshee, in our continuing role as “Sooper Katherine”, providing profuse narrative for every action, thought, gesture, and facial expression.
I ask for prayer in our schooling, and people just don’t seem to get that I’m serious. They see these snippets of this spirited, clever little girl, and think it is entertaining, engaging. They have never tried to teach her.
So, no…things aren’t perfect. We had more to do, but we’re done, because I’m done. Any more effort to persevere I think will cause brain cells to selectively begin to wave their little white flags…for both of us. The synapses are twitching.
And no, I’d never consider sending her to school. She’d never be able to be herself there…it is simply too time consuming for a group setting. Secondly, she’d end up being sent home as a disciplinary problem more often than not, so why not just keep her here in the first place? 😉 Third, I can give her patience (most days) and the scriptural instruction that she needs to hone all of this quirkiness into the woman God wants her to be one day. They’re not allowed to do that at school.
School is not about getting done. It’s about getting US done. Not just the students, but the Mom, too.
Katie’s orange handwriting page today said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” We are learning Psalm 23 by memory now that she’s done with her A to Z verses. I shall not want. He has all the grace, patience, creativity, ingenuity, organizational skills, ability to interpret and discern, prioritize and triage…He has all I need.
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isa. 40:28-31
I’m getting my ducks in a row for tomorrow. I want to remember to ask Him for all I need. I dare not do this on my own. The Mom, with God’s grace, will prevail!
“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” Prov. 23:26
Our second grader has been learning a Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet. Above is her verse for M. She writes it a few times a day, and recites the whole set every day, adding on the new one for the week.
I’ve been thinking about this one. For a while. It does not say, “give me your music standards” or “give me your clothing preferences”. It says “give me your heart”.
Out of our hearts (our innermost beings, what makes us tick) everything issues.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23
The word “keep” is a military term, and it means to guard. Protect it. My kids will tell you that I often admonish them to guard their hearts when it comes to friends, music, viewing, reading, and thinking habits.
What do I want from our kids? Three young people who have given me their outward standards and appear “good”? Children whom everyone praises for their conformity?
Nope.
It’s a messy business, but I want their hearts. It’s sort of a triage. That means that there may be some things people observe in our kids, about which they may shake their heads and “tsk, tsk”. But, you know what? I’m starting to be okay with that. Because I know that although not everything observable is perfect, I am aiming at a deeper target. A higher priority which will govern it all, in time. What do I want for our kids?
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8
I refuse to play the “you’re a pastor’s kid” card. Their accountability transcends far beyond what people may expect of them. I want them to know it. I want them first to consider God’s opinion. He looks beyond the outward appearance, and into the heart. He sees it all.
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Heb. 4:13
This is what I want them to pay the most attention to…El Roi, “thou God seest me” (which is another of Katie’s memory verses).
So, you’ll see our kids behave imperfectly. They are sinners, just like you and me. They are individuals who have to learn to discern. We are attempting to teach them. 🙂 We are triaging.
It is not the norm to be a SAHM (stay at home mom) anymore. June Cleaver is a thing of the past. The economy is such that many ladies feel the need to work to make ends meet. If you are one of those ladies, who has to work and then come home to juggle the rest, I congratulate you! We have more single moms than ever before. Just in those times I’ve had my husband out of town, I have felt the challenges…know that I’m in the stands rooting for you, too!! I am grateful I can do what I do. We do without a lot of stuff to make it happen, but I suspect when it’s all said and done, years from now none of us will care much.
Because what I do is uncommon, it is often misunderstood. SAHM’s are viewed as unambitious sometimes. Lazy, maybe. Living a luxurious lifestyle as we eat bonbons and watch soaps. That is not what my life looks like. Here is what my day looks like:
About 7am: Make bed. Do meds. Do exercises. Put tea on to brew. Grab my daily cup of “go juice” and try to scoot through my Bible study time (typically daily reading sent to me via email from ESV, also Valley of Vision, and The Quiet Place, before the youngest gets up (she’s an early riser). Maybe…hopefully… get dressed? No, I don’t wear my pearls to wash dishes or my Sunday shoes to stock the linen closet. I’m not June Cleaver. lol
8-9am: Grab some muffins and tea. Check if anyone needs help on my Facebook homeschooling group (I pop on throughout the day to keep my sanity–I am online for most of our main school stuff anyway– since that is usually the only adult conversation I have most days, my husband being gone working most of the time), and post the freebies and deals for the day. Open Cozi calendar and check what each child has scheduled for school. Open Time 4 Learning and check that yesterday’s progress was accomplished for the oldest two, and see if any papers need to be printed for today’s lessons. Open Easy Peasy and see if anything needs to be printed for the youngest, and/or gather supplies that are needed. Get Katie’s desk set up and papers laid out for the day.
9-10am: Get kids through chores (collectively, they take care of making their beds and keeping their rooms picked up, trash, cat box, bathroom, dishwasher and the oldest does her own laundry), fed, ready for school day. Do devotions with Katie and review her ABC memory verses thus far. Older kids get started on their school day.
10-12 noon: (not necessarily in this order): Guide Katie through all of her subjects, plus handwriting her signature in cursive and memory verse in printing. Throw laundry in. Clean up kitchen from breakfast. Help Michael along with any subjects in which he needs help. Discipleship (see Deut. 6:6,7). Throw laundry in dryer. Referee (our situation allows our kids to know each other pretty well…which is a blessing, and a curse. 😉 ). Answer the phone (my husband is a pastor, so the phone is very busy). Plan supper. Read with Katie and do review of phonics and sight word cards. Referee again. Throw more laundry in. Check on our oldest to see if she needs help (she keeps her own schedule, and must turn in things by 10pm). Sweep kitchen. Tidy, pick up, tidy some more (having everyone home 24/7 means your home is never officially “tidy”…lol).
Noon-3pm-ish: Lunch, PE (which can mean anything from going to the park, walking, biking, Wii Fit, trampoline, or even this), check spelling words, have the oldest demonstrate her weekly ASL skills, assign engineering project for middle kiddo, finish up any remaining school work. More discipleship. Check records in Time 4 Learning to be sure lessons are completed and check grades. Experiments and art projects. Try to remember the rest of the laundry! Select elective activities for each day’s lesson plans for next week (Basic Cooking, Biblical Counseling, American Sign Language, Engineering). Tidy some more. Make shopping list for Friday. Answer the phone some more. Referee some more. Sweep the floor again. lol
3-5pm: Check the homeschool group for needs. Fix supper. Plan and gather resources for tomorrow’s school day. Begin to plan the lesson for Jr. Church, decide the snack, print any necessary resources. Make mental notes for Sunday’s bulletin. Tidy…again. 😉
6-7pm: Supper
7-9ish: Relax with the family. Work on personal writing projects.
9-10: Bed time. Mentally go through the day, realize that although you felt busier than a one-armed paper hanger, you still didn’t get everything done…and once more there are crayons, shoes, toys, socks, scattered hither and yon. Tuck everyone in. This is when we have some of our most meaningful conversations.
10pm: Fall into bed, fairly used up, but grateful.
Lather, rinse, repeat. What does your day look like, SAHM? 🙂
The picture says it all. This is, by far, the best choice I’ve made in homeschooling thus far. The picture shows our son, who has battled with reading disability in the past. Today, his first day of Time4Learning, he asked if he could do extra vocabulary. Extra. Vocabulary. This is unheard of in our home. Anything word-oriented was like pulling teeth for him. In his words, “Mom, I think this is the first time I’ve really liked school!”
Cost
If you sign up as a new member of Time4Learning, you can get your initial month for only $9.99! That is for each student…but an unlimited number of students. This is a great opportunity to test drive the program. There is also a 14-day money back guarantee. If you decide it’s just not your cup of tea, you can get a refund. I’m thinkin’ that’s not gonna happen here! 😉 After your initial month, the cost reverts to the original price of $19.95 per month for your first student, and $14.95 for each additional one . There are no contracts, no hidden costs. You can cancel any time.
Convenience
The site is very easy to navigate, even for our 1st grader. The tutorials and online forums fill in any gaps you may have regarding getting started and using the program. Attendance and record keeping is all done for you. As a parent, I can log in anytime to make sure my kids are completing their lessons, and I can check their progress and grades as they go. School can happen anywhere our laptop can go, and any time we choose, 24/7.
Content
Time4Learning is basic core content, primarily math and language arts, also including social studies and science for most grade levels. There are brief placement tests to determine what level you need for your child. Also, if you find the content is either too difficult or too easy, you have the wiggle room of moving up or down a grade level for any or all subjects. Everything I did was easily understandable for even our 1st grader, and explanations and review are offered for everything. There is a “playground” available (lots of games and education sites and applications to choose from), and you can set the time (which appears in the upper right corner) for how long you’d like your student to work before having access to “recess”. You also determine how long they can remain at the playground, and the timer shuts things down when it reaches 0.
I am adding some reading and writing to do apart from what our kids are doing through this site, but am very happy with it so far! I’d encourage you to try it, if you feel it is time to change things up, or even just use it for review. With the money-back guarantee, nothing is lost if you try it and don’t like it.
If you have further questions, ask away! 🙂 If you’d like a personal invitation from Time4Learning, (and help me out in the process by helping me get credit toward our own schooling) just ask, and I’ll refer you!
**Update**
Here are a few extra tidbits, in answer to some questions folks asked when I posted this on Facebook:
For kids who are not computer savvy, it might be a little more of a challenge; but both of our kids can navigate well. You can mouse over almost all of the buttons and have a verbal directive, which I like, since Katie is reading well, but perhaps not all the words they may use. Some like to use this for summer, or as an additional supplement. The math and language arts are all by general state standards.
You can use it only for the school year, or all year. You can put your account “dormant” for a period determined by you, for a small fee per month…and this retains all of your grades and records. Or, you can start over fresh each year.
I started out with Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool (and still highly recommend it!) but with health challenges, this is so much more doable for us right now. I know there are many dealing with various struggles that sap energy, and this makes Time4Learning even more appealing. The beauties of homeschooling…we can morph as much as we want!
Disclosure Statement: As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschool, after school study or summer learning.
As I’ve consolidated my blogs into one, I’ve added more homeschooling information here. Today, while searching for freebies for my Facebook page, “Schoolin’ Swag,” I came across a great site for homeschool teachers. The name is K B Teachers, and if you visit, you won’t be disappointed! Some wonderful freebies there! Be sure to sign up for their free newsletter to get a heads up on new offers.
The only things I needed to buy for school this year…and it came to less than $30! 🙂
Oh yes…I’m still here. 🙂 Things have been a whirlwind here lately, so I’m having to juggle some priorities.
As you may know, in the space of a few weeks, we candidated at a church, which called my husband as their pastor, we packed, cleaned, and moved all our stuff (with the gracious help of friends). We then had VBS at our church (the Lord blessed with a wonderful turn out for both the children’s morning program and the teen’s evening activities). I was corralling kids from 9 until noon, unpacking like a crazy woman all afternoon, and then back to the church for the teens from 6:30-9:30. Very busy days!
Now, we have only a few boxes remaining in the house, and things are feeling more like home. This past week, I put my nose to the grindstone and got (at least) the first month of lesson plans done for school…which we’ve bumped to the first week in September, all things considered. Wow, so grateful for amazing internet tools! I began combing through resources several months ago to set up lessons for all three kids (1st, 7th and 10th grades). The Lord helped me to find wonderful things (every bit of it free) as well as a superabundance of things I did not need, but simply could not allow to disappear back into the abyss of I’ll-never-find-it-again-unless-I-bookmark-it-but-how-many-things-does-a-person-really-need-in-their-favorites. So I started “Schoolin’ Swag.”
If you are on Facebook, and have an interest in homeschooling, come join the group! We have 300+ members now, with new friends being added every day. Each day there are new freebies, tips and deals from all over the web. I figured it was one way to help others who were in the same boat as I was…feeling overwhelmed, combing through scads of URL’s (some dead, some great, some not so much).
I’ll just share two tools here that I have really enjoyed. The first is from GoalForIt. This site offers free chore charts, with lots of templates and options. There are very cute ones, and some that are more streamlined for tweens and teens. Here is a screen shot of our Katie’s, for example:
The kids get to choose what buttons they want for checking off their responsibilities, and they can earn “moolah” if you wish (which translates into minutes for computer time in our house).
Another tool I am grateful for is Home School, Inc. At this free site, I have set up all my lesson plans for all three students, and the various options allow me to print attendance records, report cards, etc. I can keep track of each student’s progress daily, and it gives them one easy place (for older students) to independently move through their day, checking off their work as they go. I just entered instructions for each course, and URL’s for where they need to go to find their work for the day. It required a few hours of my time, but it will help things to go much more smoothly when school has begun. Here is a screen shot of my main page for all of our courses:
Here is a “School Today” page for our 10th grader:
This view shows here how many courses she has each day. If she clicks on “View Week,” it gives her the week’s assignments at a glance. She also has the option of clicking the down arrow on any given day to see that day’s work. The small boxes next to each date indicate if that day’s work has been complete.
So this gives you a pretty good idea about where I’ve been. Looking forward to a great year. Once the dust settles, I’ll share more postings with you here. TTFN! 🙂
I am an affiliate with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, specifically their Schoolhouse Teachers site, which is a fabulous value, and a wonderful help to any homeschooler, but especially those just starting out.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 