Happy new year everyone!  We only have 76 days of school left to cover!  Our state does not require us to keep up with the number of days, but I do it for my own peace of mind.

I recently decided to try something new, and I downloaded homeschool tracker for lesson planning & assignments.  Thankfully I was off this weekend (and we start back to school Monday) so I was able to spend some time figuring out the program.  There does appear to be a learning curve to it, as with anything else new.  I think I am going to like it though.  I like doing things on the computer anyway, and I like to plan out my long-term lessons (like at least several month in advance) without having to write or type each separate entry.  It helps me to be better able to tell if we will soon be done with a book and needing to purchase new curriculum.  My son Michael will be 2 in February, and I am scheduling some time to work on Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) with him and his 4 year old sister Katie.  This is something we hadn't really been doing.  BFIAR is for ages 2 to 4.  Our eldest daughter Elizabeth is doing the regular FIAR, which is for ages 4 to 8, but sometimes I think it is too much for 4 yo Katie and she doesn't often sit in for the actual lesson unless it is something like an art project. 

Our first FIAR book of this year will be Lentil, followed by A Pair of Red Clogs.  Our first BFIAR book will be Good Night Moon, followed by Yellow Ball. 

We are looking forward to getting back to work again, and I love the look of my assignment sheets that I was able to print out from homeschool tracker.  Also, what I decided to do was to have the "due date" for each lesson of that week be the following Sunday.  Our typical school day is Monday through Thursday, but this allows us the weekend to "catch up" if needed, and we can spread the lessons out throughout the week.  I will be happy as long as it all gets done sometime that week.  I just hope this works out okay for DH, since I am the planner & he teaches over half the lessons.

Anyway, now that the new year has come & gone, it is time to hit the pillow.  Happy New Year!