Anna's Room (After)

      I've been so busy, I haven't had a chance to blog any, but I thought I would post some after pictures of Anna's room, since I showed the chaos that was the "before".

      Here is her new "art wall". It gives her a room a personal touch, and a place to showcase her talent.

     Her new shelves I built at the foot of her bed.  She was is desperate need of bookshelves and something to take up the extra space in her built-in bed.  I also repainted the entire room, put in crown molding, and rehung her closet doors. (This was taken before I put the doors in.)

    One of her closets; nearly empty now!  

The other closet, nice and airy.

     I still need to make a desk for her room, hang a light next to her bed, and touch up the pant in the closets, but already things look so much nicer.  I think it will help her allergies, too, having all the clutter cleared out.

My Homeschool Planner

     As part of getting my house organized, I've also been working on getting my homeschool organized for this coming year.  I've always kept school records in a very loose informal way, but this year I wanted to have everything in one place, and easy to access and look back on.  I started looking for homeschool planners that would meet my needs, but didn't really find anything that recorded information the way I do.  Or they were ugly, and since I will be looking at it a lot during the year, I wanted something I enjoyed looking at.  So I decided to make my own, and I couldn't be more pleased with it!

     It has everything I need, and nothing I don't.  Making it was a fun experience, and I definitely want to make another one for next year.  For those who are interested in making their own planner too, this is basically how I did it. (If you don't have time to make your own, I am sharing the pages I've made with you.)
    Starting with the cover, I went outside, found a couple of my favorite flowers, and painted them, keeping a space in the middle for the text.  I then scanned the painting onto my computer, and printed it off on card-stock. The text is a separate document that I printed out over the picture.  This took a few tries to get it right.  I then laminated it and another blank piece of card-stock for the back cover.

     The first pages in my planner are attendance keeping charts for all of my children. It seems silly to keep attendance for a homeschool, but the state I live in requires it.  I don't have copies of this to download, but you could easily make your own. Next I have student schedules.  This helps the kids and I keep track of what needs to be done each day.

     Most of my planner is taken up with a calendar and weekly planning pages.  For the calendar, I printed one off from my computer's Works program.  I printed out as many copies of the weekly planing pages as I do school. In hind sight, I wish I had went ahead and printed out 52. I use these to keep a journal of our year, and the calendar is used for planning ahead. I printed out double sided whenever I could, while still preserving the layout I wanted. To do this, you will need 24 lb. paper, as 20 lb. paper is too transparent.

      The rest of the planner has grade record sheets, a place to record what curriculum we are using this year, reading logs, craft ideas, field trip recorder, and my History book schedule, as I make up my own curriculum, and then tend to forget what I had planned.
      After I got everything printed up and arranged the way I wanted it, I went to Office Depot, and had it spiral bound for about 3 bucks. Not bad for a customized planner.
     Here are the PDF links for most of the pages I made for my planner.  The cover is in two parts; the text and the picture. The text will need to be printed out first, then placed in the printer again, and the picture printed out over the text.  Of course, you could also make your own title, and print that over my picture, or vice versa.  Feel free to make it your own.  The only stipulation I have, is that you do not sell it.  Good things should be free!  Enjoy.
cover text
cover picture
weekly planning pages
Student Schedule
Book log
Christmas crafts
history crafts
field trips
grade record keeper
Curriculum

Summer Cleaning

     The organizing bug has hit me hard this summer.  It started with a homeschool moms meeting.  The lady's house that we met at was spotless; not just clean, but perfectly put together and coordinated. You couldn't even tell she homeschooled, or had kids for that matter! So I come home to my crowded little house, where no one would ever assume I wasn't a homeschooling mom, because all of our books and etc. is right there in the open as soon as you walk in the door.  Then there's all the other stuff here there and everywhere, because really and truly I am running out of space. So I started feeling a little discontented with my house.
     The second thing that happened was we got someone to come and look at our broken heat pump.  It turns out that a very expensive part is broken. We had the money to get it fixed, but unfortunately it's money that had been earmarked to pay for a new bathroom floor, since the current one is rotting away. I went from being discontented to very frustrated. It felt like everything in the house was getting worse and worse, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.
     That's when I had to stop and take a look at myself, and say, "What are you doing? Stop comparing and focusing on what you don't have, and think about what you do have, and what you can do."  First of all, I am way too eclectic to ever be perfectly coordinated, and I really don't want a bigger house. The size of our house is fine, it's just the amount of stuff filling it up that has gotten out of hand. I would like to have the bathroom floor fixed, but I can't do anything about that right now. What I can do right now is get rid of the extra stuff that is cluttering up the house, and making it seem crowded, and organize the stuff that I want to keep.
     I started with my bed room since it is hands down, the worst room in the house.  After buying shelves to store my fabric and other sewing paraphernalia, I managed to fill up five garbage bags of trash, as well as a huge box of stuff to donate to Good Will, from my bedroom alone!  I really am not a hoarder, and I do regularly go through my stuff, but this time I went though everything, including my file cabinet which had not been sorted through in years. It was bad.  I now feel sooo much less anxiety when I'm in my room.  Just getting everything clean and ordered has been huge, but now I want to get every thing looking pretty. But before I can do that, I need to tackle Anna's room.  Since I moved the twins out, her room has turned into a pack-rat's paradise.

Housework and Children

     Parenting is hard.  There is nothing more constant or physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting.  Just when you think you might have this whole parenting thing figured out, you realize you really don't know anything.  And you can never, ever slack up. 
     Unfortunately, I slacked up a little bit, and I am now seeing the results of that.  I've been busy making toys for my shop for the past few months, and then I've been spending even more time down in my shop making Christmas presents.  I've been seeing signs of not enough Mommy time in my kids for some time now, but I've tried to ignore it, because there was just so much stuff I had to do.  Thankfully, I think I've returned to my senses, and realized my priorities were not where they needed to be.  Making things in order to earn some extra money is great, but it's not the top priority in my life.  In fact, it's kinda near the bottom.  Or it should be.  So I probably will be rethinking how my shop fits into my life in the new year. 
     Right now, I've been working on getting the kids to be more obedient about everything, and to contribute more to the household in terms of chores.  As usual, Samuel is the one I've been butting heads with.  He's not into this obedience thing.

     Anna has been resisting helping me with the housework.  She is now at an age where she can be a real help, but she has not been a willing helper.  I used a chore chart with her when she was younger, but it was reward based, and I felt that it was giving her the mentality that unless she got payed for it, she wasn't going to do it.  I stopped using it, and started stressing that everyone in the family needs to contribute to the household work, because we all live here.  She gets this, but it's not very motivating.  She liked the chore chart.  I think I had a breakthrough with her the other day, though.  I had been sick for a couple of days, and the first day I started to feel better, I look around the house and it's horrible.  It looked like something exploded, or maybe lots of things had exploded.  It was bad.   I was already feeling stressed about lack of time, and here was this giant mess that was going to take all day to clean up.  I really wanted to yell, but I didn't.  Instead, I reminded Anna about how she is always wishing that I had more time to do fun stuff with her.  I explained that one of the reasons I don't have time to do fun stuff, is that I spend all my extra time cleaning house.  Then I told her that if we both worked really hard, and got the house clean before 4:00, I would have time to set up a craft for her to do, before I had to make supper.  Well, she helped me clean, fast, and we managed to get the house clean by 4:00.  The twins helped too.  As a result, I made up some salt dough, and the kids made salt dough ornaments.  The next day, after the house was clean, they got to paint them.  This was hugely motivating for Anna, but unlike monetary rewards, it was a natural result of helping with the housework. 
     I decided to reinstate the chore chart, but only as a means to check off what you need to accomplish that day.  The twins especially need a visual reminder of what they need to do.  I saw this really nifty chore chart on Pinterest, and thought it fit what we needed perfectly.  You can get the tutorial here. 



     The kids each got to pick out what kind of paper they wanted.  They loved that!  For the twins, I tried to give them very clear cut jobs.  Nothing like, "Pick up your toys." Since I knew there would be questions like, "Do I have to pick up the ones that I didn't get out?" So they have to pick up one type of thing like all the stuffed animals, whether or not they got them out, or if it belongs to them.  Abriel loves following her chart and doing her chores.  Samuel not so much, but we're getting there.  So the chores are getting done with a lot less complaining, and that's good.  One step at a time.

Our Basic School Schedule for AO Year 3

         Every year I make up a new schedule for Anna's school.  This has been an invaluable tool, not only for me, but Anna as well, since she can look at it and see what comes next.  It helps for me to actually look at a spread sheet, and think about not only what Anna has to do that day, but our whole family, and how we all fit into the school schedule.  I put Bible first, since that is something we can all do together to start our day.  Next is something Anna can do mostly independently, because while she is doing her spelling or penmanship, I will use that time to read a story to the twins.  I am hoping that by having a little special time with them, they will transition better into coloring or doing little activity sheets, while I am helping Anna with her math. 

        Most of the AO readings will be done during the twins nap time. Here's hoping to get one more year of naps out of the twins!  I trimmed the AO schedule down a bit, to better fit our needs.  We are not reading Pilgrims Progress now, as I think this book will be better understood when she is older.  I also didn't schedule in American Tall Tales.  I don't see the need to read a whole book on tall tales.  The few culturally relevant ones, such as Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, and Paul Bunyan, can be easily read without being part of the school schedule. 

        The fun stuff is planned last, as that gives Anna something to look forward to.  Thursday is our co-op day, as well as Odyssey of the Mind.  That's enough for one day, but if I do need to get extra reading in, I can do then.

       P.S. I realize the word odyssey is misspelled in the schedule. I didn't notice it until I had already printed it out, so there it will remain.  Probably bugging me until I am forced to re-print it.

     I haven't posted in a while because I have been BUSY finally getting the kids rooms switched around.  I kept waiting for a time when I could be in the house for a few hours by my self, but it started becoming apparent that even a couple of hours without kids was never going to happen.  So, I went ahead and dove in and packed up, and even through out, with the kids eagerly helping the whole time.  Anna was surprisingly amicable to having some of her things thrown out or put into storage, and I could not be happier with the new arrangement. 
     Here are the "before" photos.  This was pretty normal for both of their rooms.  Even with mandatory clean up every night, Anna's room would look like this before noon the next day.

     The twins have less stuff, therefore less mess, but definitely room for improvement.

     And now.... Tada!  The "after" photos.

     Now the sleeping room contains only beds and clothes.  It is a cinch to keep clean, and after the first night when Samuel kept saying, "Uh-oh Anna, uh-oh Anna."  they all sleep well together.  They also love the playroom, and since there isn't anything out that they all can't play with, fights have gone way down. Here's how it looks.

     Anna can keep the toys she doesn't want the little ones to get out of reach on the top shelf of the book shelf or on the shelf on the wall.  Her legos are in the closet, and papers and notebooks are in the little desk.  I have most of the books in a storage library.  They can get out new books when they want, but there can only be so many books out at once.  Almost every thing that can be put in a bin or a basket, is in one.  Yes, the room does get wrecked, but it can be cleaned very quickly too.   It feels great to have these two room free of clutter and easy to clean; it motivates me to conquer new areas in my house.  Maybe I'll tackle my craft supplies this weekend.  Yikes!

New Years Resolutions: Simplifying Life

     Well, Christmas has come and gone, and things are slowly returning to normal.  We restarted school on Monday, and today the snow started to melt.  What a white Christmas we had this year!  (Over a foot!)  It forced us into a slower pace and gave me lots of time to reflect upon my New Years resolution.  January 2008 my New Years resolution was "get pregnant"; and due to getting more than I bargained for, last year it was "survive". This year it's "simplify".  I actually started towards this when the twins were about six months old, when suddenly all this extra stuff we had laying around started really getting to me.  Something about feeling so harried and pulled in a million different directions made any clutter unbearable.  So I started packing up decorations, and seriously rethinking my relationship to "stuff".   I've never been a pack-rat, but I'm not exactly a minimalist either. I like stuff; pretty things, kitchen gadgets, craft materials, etc, but suddenly here I am going through the house thinking, what can I get rid of, what can I put in storage, what can I just get out of here?! 
     So this year, in regards to my house, the focus is going to be getting things pared down to a manageable level, starting with the kids rooms.  My husband thinks I am a wee bit nutty for even wanting to do this, but he goes along with my nutty schemes pretty well. 
     Currently, there are two kid bedrooms- Anna has one and the twins share another.  In a couple of weeks this will not be the case.  They will all share one for sleeping, and the other for playing.  There are several reasons for doing this. 
One: Anna does not want to sleep by herself.  She has never shared a room with anyone, or slept in my husband and my room, and until the twins were born, this has never been a problem.  Now she realizes she is the only person who sleeps alone, and she doesn't like it.
Two: I like the idea of having a "nursery".  A communal room for all the children of the house, until adolescents.  This seems more natural for me than having all the children parceled out onto their separate rooms.
Three: Our current system isn't working.  Anna keeps her bedroom door closed all the time in order to keep the twins out, and the result is that her room is basically unused because she doesn't want the twins in her room but doesn't want to play alone.  The reason she doesn't want the twins in her room, is because she has too many toys everywhere, and they just love to go through and do a ten second blitz. Which brings me to the biggest reason.
Four:  Moving the rooms around will give me the opportunity to pare down all of the kids toys to a manageable number.  I sound so mean, don't I?  It's right after Christmas and I'm talking about getting rid of their toys.  However, I really think that this will help them to enjoy playing with each other more.  Anna doesn't play with two thirds of her toys anyways, and she hates cleaning up, so I am really hoping that this will leave just the toys that are played with, without having to continually pick up the toys the twins just broadcast about for good measure.
     And this is just the first step!  Many more simplifying measures are going to be happening this year.  Now, if I can only think of a way to convince Dave that we really don't need the TV.  Hmmm... Any ideas?

Getting Back in the Groove After Thanksgiving Break

     We took a week off for Thanksgiving, which is the longest break we've had this year.  I have to admit I was expecting a lot of whining from Anna about having to do school today, but much to my relief she went cheerfully through her work.  I think I was more of a problem, as I have been sick and felt less than motivated. 
     I think the key to keeping Anna motivated and happy with her school is short lessons.  This is the thing about doing CM that makes it seem almost too easy.  Like I've figured out a short cut to teaching.  But it really works; the first fifteen minutes are when they are learning, and after that you are just wasting time. 
    I've got my new Winter Semester schedule up and running.  I still do core curriculum four days a week, but I've added a little more to Friday, since we don't have co-op.  Anna is also now reading all her poetry.  She really enjoys reading poetry, and likes to put it to song, which is pretty cute. 
So, here's how it looks:

Working out a schedule

     I am using Ambleside Online as my curriculum guide this year, and although AO has a great weekly schedule I found that I needed to have it broken down to a daily schedule.  After a little planing, this is what I came up with. It has worked very well for us so far, and I think we will be able to use it for the remainder of year 1.

     I have the subjects divided into periods, as oppose to time blocks since the time of day that we do things might vary a bit, but we always keep to the same sequence.  I have Bible first, since I find that this puts a good start to our day, and I read it with the twins present in hopes that they will slowly get used to listening to me read.  Math is next, because that is Anna's more challenging subject, and her brain needs to be at it's freshest to tackle that.  Literature is third to give her a break after doing math. Then we do spelling, as that is another subject she has to concentrate harder at.  Poetry is our break subject after spelling, and then on to penmanship.  Anna likes penmanship, but sometimes her hand gets tired from writing, so it's sandwiched in-between two non-writing subjects.  On T days (Tuesday and Thursday) the next subject is history, and then the last subject is something fun.  This is important, as it gives her something to work towards and puts a positive touch to the end of the day. 
     You might have noticed that Friday is extremely light, and the reason for that is because co-op takes up a large portion of our day, and when we get home I am too tired to do much.  However, I do have a slot for getting any extra reading that the AO weekly schedule might have that doesn't fit into my daily planing.  That way we have everything covered before moving into the next week.

Organizing!

    I love organizing!   My house might be a wreck, but my closets look fabulous, and there is nothing I love organizing better than school stuff.  One of the reasons for this is because everything goes so much smoother when they are organized, and for me it makes the difference in homeschooling effectively or not.  It also makes things easier to keep up and out of reach, which is really important here.  If something is left out for more than a second, it will either be torn, chewed, or colored on before you even realize what's happening.  Yes, I have twins.

     This picture shows our school area, which also happens to be our dining room.  Since it is our dining room, I wanted the school area to be attractive as well as functional.  Last year I was able to keep pretty much all school related stuff in the dresser, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to do that this year, so shelves became a must.  I sanded, stained, lacquered, and hung these shelves all by my self, and it wasn't that hard. It wasn't expensive either, which is always a big plus for us. 

   

                                                          

     When I first started planning how much shelf space I would need, I first decided what would be more convenient left in the drawers.  Coloring books, composition notebooks, etc. go in one drawer, paper in another. I have a drawer with folders like a filing cabinet, that I keep Anna's art work in, ( she has copious amounts) and of course a very messy supply drawer. 

I have tried to keep it organized, but it never lasts longer that a few hours, so I have decided to let it be for now. One of these days I'll think of a really great way of keeping it all strait. 

     The library book bin and and the tub of math manipulatives are kept 

    on top of the dresser.  I made the library book bin in an attempt to keep from having to pay another $40 library fine.  (partially due to a book ending up in the laundry hamper, and then being washed...) Now all books are kept in the box, and we haven't had a over-due book since.   :)                                                     

                          

  The only things on shelves are things that can be kept tidy.  Basically books, boxes, and cans.  The boxes are mostly the babies activity boxes, but I also keep Anna's handicraft stuff and flash cards in boxes. 

     All year 1 books are kept together, and ALWAYS put back   immediately after they are read.  

No more hunting around for books!  I keep Anna's math meeting book and worksheets in a binder, so that it is on the shelf too, along with my scheduling binder.  
     I keep pencils, pens, markers, and school coins in cans.  I used old formula cans and wrapped them in scrap booking paper to make them pretty, then wrapped clear package tape around them to make the cans durable.  They've been great, and they look pretty too!  I also keep my bug and bone collection up there. 
      No complaints thus far with my new system.  Everything is in reach and accessible, and easy to put back.  Now if I could just do something with that supply drawer...