Posted in Organizational Planning

Good morning...

We start our conferences today.  Here is a rough idea of what will happen...

*   We are a Charlotte Mason style school and here is a link to a curriculum guide we try to follow each year from Simply Charlotte Mason.com.  We use our own texts and not their's but we do follow the schedule pretty closely.  We will start here and decide the schooling schedule for each day for each child.  Each child takes a different amount of time to get done with their school each day.  We also take time to do morning Bible reading and chores before we get started so we start around 9:00am.

*   Each child has to bring me 10 books they want to read during the year.  I add my own selections to that but they, at least, get to read what they want from time to time.  I am talking chapter books here.  Picture books are another story.  We read from those every day around here.  We will keep a record of what each child has read, both Bible and books. 

*   We expect our children to work around the house to be team players.  Here are a few places you can go to find age appropriate chores for your children.  We are making a list for each child as we do our conferences.

 - About.com Housekeeping
 - Family First Age Appropriate Chores
 - Printable Checklists
 - Stages of Responsibility

*   We are gathering calendars from all the organizations we are involved with throughout the semester and making a master calendar. 

*   We are also setting up a Center for Information called "The Brain" and a "Launch Pad" so we can have everything accessible and there will not be confusion and lack of knowledge on what everyone is doing, where phone numbers are and other important information. 

*   Finally, a list of all that still needs to be done and purchased to get started.  We are officially starting school on Monday when I go back to school.  We will have a tight schedule but with everyone pitching in and taking responsibility and with a centralized location for information I am hoping and praying that it will run pretty smoothly.  We will be learning and correcting as we go but this is a start...

Our school hours are from 9:00am to 3:00pm with snacks, naps and lunch in-between.  JoNathan will actually have the afternoon schedule but the smaller children will be done by noon each day unless they procrastinate.  ;)

My job is to supervise, instruct and plan.  I am the Family Manager.  That includes the household as much as the schooling.  I was inspired recently by Kathy Firkins at a women's conference and this is our year to get it all together.  I have been thoroughly convicted over all of this - the home, the schooling, my weight, my time, etc...  I want to teach my children how to run a home and family before they leave home someday.  They need skills!!!  In our home, everything is school.  We are always learning and growing and changing.  This year is no different.  :)

Business hours???  Not sure how I am going to work this but I am thinking I can bake on Fridays for customers and have them pick up or deliver on Saturday mornings.  I need to set up business files and clear a space to work and build menus and customer lists.  I am opening myself up to personal chefing and home meal replacement services if God calls me to that. 

I still have quilting and sewing that need to be done and crocheting when I have time to sit and watch a movie with the family.  That seems to be the best time for me to crochet.  I am praying over it all...

As for television... we have strayed abit this past week and I have watched the finale of Hell's Kitchen, Dan watched a football game and I let the kids watch a Jimmy Neutron they had recorded from their Aunt Vera.  We are off for the remainder of the week.  We are watching the Netflix as they come and we borrowed the remainder of the Horatio Hornblower Adventures from Blestwithsons.  We are NOT watching television just some selected movies for the remainder of the month. 

I noticed when I watched the Hell's Kitchen (recorded it to watch later) the business really bothered me when the commercials came on.  I could not take the noise and the chaos of it all.  Just three weeks of not watching and I have gotten used to the natural noises of my home (the children playing and singing, music from their practice times and reading aloud and conversations with family).  I realized that the radio bothers me too and I find myself turning it all off more often.  This has been good for us!!!  I don't think we will be turning it back on much anymore...