I’ve had lots of links to share but they’ve all gone ‘walk-about’ so here are a few from the last few days.

Prepare to be a guest in someone else’s home – though this doesn’t apply to us this year I still thought it was a very good list and I’d like to share it with you all.

Here’s a great Squidoo Lens on Workboxes – we don’t use workboxes but she sure makes it tempting!!  (note:  The only reason we don’t is that our system of lists and diaries is working well to keep Daniel focused throughout the day though we used similar types of systems when he was younger.)

Robyn from Heart of Wisdom shares about 15minute clean ups - we call this Blitzing.   I like these charts though that Robyn shares – giving a bit of a system to the Blitz.  Kids seem to work better when they know what to look for in a messy room – look for all the books, look for all the paper, all the toys, all the clothes.  I am going to customise these lists for our rooms that regularly need blitzing.

These days our house seems to be a buzz with political and philosophical discussions.  I’ve subscribed to two blogs to help me keep up.  I used feedblitz.com to subscribe to any blog/website I want to keep in touch with.  Feedblitz sends me an email whenever my subscribed sites update.  I find it easier to have these updates come to my email box instead of setting up a RSS feed.  Anyway back those to emails:

• Andrew Bolt
• Breakpoint by Chuck Colson

Another from Robyn from Heart of Wisdom as she talks about celebrating Christmas and the changes that have happened, and the reasons why, over the years.  I enjoyed Robyn’s honesty and the fact that she shows that these things are so often a journey.  12 Things I don’t like about Christmas

I’ve finally got my head wrapped around Josh finishing homeschooling and moving into university studies – he’s not there just yet but hoping to start some university units next year via Open University.

Our after lunch routine is 1.5 hours of quiet, individual, independent time. 

Quiet:  Quiet time has a two pronged purpose.  One is rest and the other is focus.  I find children get overstimulated with noise, busyness and choices.  A time of quiet helps to calm things down.  Unfortunately in this busy world we are not comfortable with quiet and yet it is in the quiet of the morning that our soul is restored – if we are busy busy busy we so often miss the still quiet voice of God.  Helping a child get use to quiet is a good thing.  (The ability to be quiet is also an issue of respect towards other people) 

Individual:  Our children need time where they can look after and develop their inner self and their unique self.    They too may need to rest or they may take the time to develop and work on the things that are a reflection of the unique them. 

Independent:  Our children need to be able to do things themselves.  They need to be able to entertain and teach themselves.  It is important that our children are happy with themselves and their own company.  This cannot be developed in a crowd - they need time alone.

So the purpose of this time is for the children to learn to rest, to focus, to process things, to learn things and to entertain themselves.

The flip side is that this is a time where I have 1.5hours of uninterrupted time for the things that I need.  (The rule is the children can come and get me if there is blood and no breathing!)  I may need rest or I may need to work on projects it is really up to me to determine how best to use this time.  The challenge is not to waste it!

Of course our children have had to be trained towards this and they haven’t always achieved 1.5 hours.  It started off with toddlers still having a day sleep, then it moved to nap time, then rest time, then reading on the bed time, and it grew from there.

Sometimes we seem to lose the skill altogether and we start a season of retraining.  Daniel was at this place at the beginning of the year.  He could just do 20min of focus by himself – just and it wasn’t all that consistent!  So we started stretching always keeping our eyes on our purposes.  I split the 20minutes he could do into two 10min blocks and taught him how to use the timer.  10 minutes of reading on his bed (he wasn’t reading reading so it is just looking at books), 10 minutes of playing with a toy he choose (this toy was taken into the bedroom at the beginning of this 20minutes.)

Once he could do 20minutes, moving from reading to playing by himself successfully, we stretched him to 30 minutes – two lots of 15 minutes.  Once he could do this well we moved him to 20 minute blocks, and so forth.  Now he has 3 blocks of 30minutes and he can transition from each block without me.  Next year I may bump this up to 4 blocks.  He is not ready to focus on one thing for longer than 30minutes. 

I have used many systems to keep myself and all my many roles and responsibilities organised over the years – I’ve used paper and digital systems.  This year I put it all together in one place and I call it “My Whole Life Diary”.

It started with SimpleMom’s daily docket, and has grown into my own system.  Here are the sections in my binder:

• A monthly calendar where I write every commitment that we have as individual’s or family
• My own ‘daily docket’ (I’ve tweaked Simplemom’s so it fits all my roles and responsibilities – things I want to remember ever day)  It has my daily routine on the left (which includes my cleaning routines) and on the right I have space to write reminders or to-do’s for training my children’s hearts, general to-do list, office work, cooking, teaching my children, and blogging.
• Homemaking and Business routines
• Menu planning and Shopping lists
• Homeschool overviews (only overviews and notes to self otherwise the binder gets too heavy!)
• Heart training notes
• Phone numbers
• Birthday / Celebration dates and plans

Keys to keeping myself organised:

• I set aside time each week to organise and plan my week.  I print off a weeks supply of my daily docket (each day of the week is different) and then take my calendar and transfer this week’s commitments to my daily planner.  I look at my homeschool plans and transfer realistic goals for our study times.  I look at our week and plan my menu accordingly (I can’t think of anything worse than planning a roast on a day that has me out and about all afternoon!)
• I try and review where my children are at – spiritually, morally, relationally, academically and with their practical skills and talents each month.  (Ideally this is one child a week)
• I don’t change my daily docket to suit my week.  Some weeks are just so far from the norm but I don’t change my daily dockets on my computer to reflect that.  They are a form or chart that reflects the norm.  On these crazy weeks or days I just write something up by hand.  These daily dockets, are simply a form that serves a purpose – they don’t have to look pretty.  I only change the daily docket when a new season of life happens and the norm changes.
• I do what I can and let the rest go!  As I have trained myself towards being organised I learnt very early on that there would be days (most days to be honest!) that I don’t get everything done that I plan to get done.  This is okay.  I’ve had to learn that it is okay!  I also learnt not to squeeze that undone project into tomorrow but rather find its best time – eg if Friday is dusting day, and it doesn’t get done, we don’t squeeze it in for Saturday, but rather leave it till next Friday but it becomes a priority then.  Of course there are things that we don’t get done that have to be put to tomorrow but not everything.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this system because it keeps all my roles organised – not just homeschooling, not just homemaking, not just parenting, not just business but each and every role I play gets a look in.

Welcome to Freebie Friday!

A week from today is Christmas! This time of year, as we turn our thoughts towards the birth of Christ, is the perfect time to share the BEST freebie of all with kids! The free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ!

Romans 6:23 tells us:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And in John 3:16 we learn:

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

and Acts 16:31 tells us

. . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved . . .

It is all so simple, and it's FREE! Click here to find freebies that will help you share with children how Jesus died for our sins and offers us eternal life as a free gift.

It's the BEST freebie of all!

I will see you next year!

Happy homeschooling,

Why Jesus is Better Than Santa Claus

By Rev. James Spellman of Ohio

*Santa lives at the North Pole... JESUS is everywhere.

*Santa rides in a sleigh... JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

*Santa comes but once a year... JESUS is an ever present help.

*Santa fills your stockings with goodies... JESUS supplies all your needs.

*You have to wait in line to see Santa... JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

*Santa lets you sit on his lap... JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

*Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"... JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our head.

*Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly... JESUS has a heart full of love.

*All Santa can offer is HO HO HO... JESUS offers health, help and hope.

*Santa says "You better not cry"... JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

*Santa's little helpers make toys... JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

*Santa may make you chuckle but...JESUS gives you a joy that is your strength.

*While Santa puts gifts under your tree... JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

Its obvious there is really no comparison! Jesus is still the reason for the season. Yes, Jesus is better, he is even better than Santa Claus.

I found this poem over at the 1+1+1=1 blog.  It is part of a lovely FREE Christmas Symbols lapbook she has put together!  I just LOVE the poem!  It completely speaks to how I feel about Christmas in my heart!  

Happy Homeschooling,

Jamin

An Assignment sheet is simply all the work I expect (hope) my children to work through in a study block (6-10 weeks).  Each child has their own assignment sheet – for those children who are independent learners they monitor their study by using this sheet, ensuring they are keeping a balance of all their subjects (actually Jessica writes her own sheet and submits it to me for approval).  For younger students I keep a copy myself and monitor how they are going as the weeks progress.

I write sheets at the end of each block before we begin the next block (I use the word ‘study blocks’ instead of terms).  Depending on family life and how the student is going with the work, these sheets may be tweaked as we go along.  My purpose is to teach my children to be accountable and though I may need consequences if they have been slack I also realise that because homeschooling is all about taking life opportunities, often times we don’t have the same amount of study time as I had planned so their assignments get shuffled around with no consequences set – that is just life!

I use Excel to write these up, so there are lots of columns going down the page and along the top is a column for every week of our study block (6-10 weeks)
Down the left side is all the subjects that they study. I divide this up into categories

• Relationship (Bible, Character)
• Basic Skills (Discipline subjects - things that need practicing every day - math, reading, writing, typing, music, foreign language etc – this is different for each student)
• General Knowledge (History, Science, World View, etc... whatever they are learning)
• Workshop Subjects (these we learn together as a family, with the Homeschool co-op and friends)
• Delight Subjects (Subjects they choose for themselves or enhance their individual gifts and talents- this can be short term or long term)
• Reading List (this is prescribed by me - or approved by me) and infers a reading journal is kept as well
• Family Life – which includes family read alouds,
• Individual Pursuits (Productive Free time)

I then plot what work I expect to see finished in each week.

• Eg. I expect a balance of Bible and Character to be done over a month (5x Character, 15x Bible)
• math, writing, piano etc gets done 3-5 times a week (depending on the student),
• I plot in what history unit, or Science lessons need to be done,
• speech once a month,
• Keepers x2 month
• etc.....

If I keep the assignment sheets, then it becomes a part of my record keeping.

I have been away from my blog – and many other online activities – for 3-4 weeks now.  I needed a break and though I didn’t intend to stop blogging life took over and that is what happened.  Looking back, I’m kind of glad that is what happened.  Sometimes I think my blog world takes over my thinking – there is always the next blog post to write – and it was good to see that it just stopped.   Over the next few days or so I’ll post about what has been going on in my world.  It has been fairly crazy-busy! 

But in the meantime, I've been thinking over the last year - the things we've done well, the things I feel we could do better on, and the things that didn't happen at all!  It is good to review before setting forth and setting new goals and plans for next year.

These are the things that come to mind that have gone well in 2009, things that have worked for us:

• Nomi and Daniel have established the ability to do daily independent work.  Read Daily Diligences
  
• Josh and Jess have worked well with assignment sheets, I've used assignment sheets for Nomi and Daniel.  Read about our Assignment Sheets
  
• Monday was a Family Workshop day - this was the day I taught those lessons that we learnt together or in various configurations - writing, creation science, speeches, money, Auslan
  
• My main focus this year was teaching Daniel to read and though he isn't 100% there, there has been tremendous progress.  He started to write as well, often spending an hour or so writing in his free time. 
  
• Daniel established a habit of 1.5 hours of Individual time spent after lunch (where he doesn't interrupt me)  Read After Lunch Routine
  
• We scored well when I added to Nomi's discipline studies an art project each day.  She has explored various media and forms
• Joshua moved from History to Philosophy, completing Francis Schaeffer How Should we then Live DVD course
  
• We enjoyed Living Math stories and activities
  
• We began Institute of Excellence in Writing and have done several units, the kids use these tips and techniques in most of their writing.
  
• Jessica has done well at dress making (a Keepers project) she feels like she is 'getting it'
  
• I established 'Cooks helper' as a part of our daily chore roster. Consequently Josh, Jess and Nomi's cooking skills have improved greatly.
  
• My Whole Life Diary has been very beneficial in balancing all my roles and responsibilities this year.  Read a summary of my Whole Life Diary
  
• Nomi is now blogging and writing regularly
• list to be continued....
  

Things that I reflect on and think "we did not so well here"

• reading lists - though Josh and Jess do well at reading lists, Nomi struggled, she needed more involvement from me.
  
• Character – I have come to realise that this is a discipleship lesson - they need an older/wiser person to discuss this aspect of personal growth with.  Though Joshua studying it independently has had some success I believe doing it together will make more impact. 
  
• Nomi isn't as far along in her ability to research topics (though she is processing non fiction information better)
• Daniel still struggles with free time – still relies on too much screen time (or his desire is for too much screen time)
  
• How I wish we could get into Nature journaling (Check out Melissa’s blog - she says it well - just what I feel like)
• Josh and Jess Bible Study (though they studied other things that was unplanned but really good – I still want them to do the Wisdom unit from Heart of Wisdom)
• Activity Box for Daniel – Jessica and I made an activity box on the theme of Pirates with the idea of helping Daniel use his time wisely.  Unfortunately there were too many dependent activities - which was silly because the idea was for time he had to do by himself!
• List to be continued...
  

I would like to be wrapping presents today but I told the kids they couldn't wrap their gifts until they are finished the assigned schoolwork for 2009. I typed out a list for them with little boxes to check off as they go. The incentive is working but still...holidays are beckoning and the call is pretty loud and difficult to ignore. Wrapping gifts and stacking them under the tree makes waiting for Christmas just that much more challenging. The stress level in the house goes up by a notch or two and the two younger kids get really hyper. And, truthfully, I'd rather suspend their shenanigans for another day or two.

Speaking of days...today we finally brought an end to the carpet-cleaning fiasco that began two months ago. In the initial encounter they sent us a new guy who didn't work out too well. He seemed to spend time cleaning the carpets but when he said he was done, they looked no different than before he began. The guys that came today seem to have done a much better job. But, even they have been here once before and couldn't complete the job because some of their machines weren't working properly. So, hopefully three times, as they say, is a charm. The carpets smell clean and I took a brief jaunt around the house to check out the fruit of their labors. Looks good so far. Unfortunately, we now have to wait twenty-four hours for the carpets to dry. That's hard to do when so many of us are home all day! So we're limited to the lower half of the house; a small price to pay for another job wrapped up. Yeah!

Another job I have to wrap up before the holidays truly begins is spending a whole day taking my mom in for day-surgery. She is having a cataract removed from one of her eyes and I've been nominated as the one who has the most free time to take her to the hospital, hang around in the waiting room, transport her from there to the doctor's office for a post-surgery check-up, and then take her home to settle for the night. Let's hope everything goes as planned. But, as life is never quite that easy, I'm preparing myself for an early morning, long periods of hanging around, and haven't even bothered to put a time limit on when I'll return home.

While there are other  things that need to be taken care of before Christmas day, like presents for the extended family, I'm trying not to sweat the small stuff. Sometimes it's amazing how much can be accomplished in a matter of a few hours. I also haven't picked up all the groceries needed to make our Christmas dinner. Wow...now there's something I hadn't even put on my list of things to do.

The busyness in the days prior to Christmas can be daunting, and it can steal away the peace that is such an inherent part of the whole Christmas message. I want to enter that peace this year in my approach to the preparations. I keep telling  myself to relax, breathe deeply, and know that all will be well. And, now I'm reminding you to do the same.

 So, until the next time I post, that's a wrap!