Hi! My name is Deborah, and I want to thank you for taking a moment out of your busy day to visit Home For Him. I hope in some small way that you find encouragement and ideas for not only your homeschooling experience, but also your walk with God. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeForHim/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 7 Nov 2009 16:12:00 -0600 Sat, 7 Nov 2009 16:12:00 -0600 I'm watching my youngest son right now trying to juggle three little bags of skittles. The look on his face alone is priceless. I love cheap thrills. Hesitantly, I thought I would start to fill in the gap of the last few months of silence. I guess I struggle with going that long and not blogging. Part of  the time I wrestle with a terrible bout of "writers block" lately. While the rest of the time, I'm just trying to find the time to sit down to do it. I hate that. Especially because it's something that I love doing so much. I find it aggravating to want to pen my thoughts....and then not being able to collect the words to write. I don't know if anyone else finds themselves in that same boat. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on the subject. At any rate, our new school year is out the gate and rounding the first corner, so to speak. Back in September I found a great online program for organizing, scheduling, and planning the school calendar. It's at Homeschool Skedtrack. It took some time to get the courses and schedules entered. On a daily basis, it takes a little time to approve and update the work the kids have done. But, you can maintain grades and your school year calendar, and run reports as well. It's been a great way to lay out the lesson plans for the courses that I'm putting together on my own. I really love it. Each day we can print off the day's work for each child and that gives them something to manage their work a little more independently. They like being able to check things off. With a 9th grader this year, I'm looking forward to just being able to print off a transcript  and report card from the tip of my fingers. For curriculum, we have some "old faithfuls" and a few new additions, all as follows... Bible ~ All 3 are doing Kay Arthur's How to Study the Bible ~ for kids to begin with.  Math ~ Math-u-See's Geometry for Bri, Pre-Alg for Sis and Zeta for Con Science ~ Apologia's General Science for Sis, Biology for Bri and Creation Science Botany for Con Grammar ~ Our Mother's Tongue Writing ~ IEW American History Vol. 1 History ~ Beautiful Feet Early American and World History (literature-based) and American Heritage Series DVD's Basic Maps and Geography ~ Literature ~ a broad look and discussion of different types of literature (Shakespeare, short plays, songs, classics, etc.) Art and Music Appreciation ~ I have designed a schedule using the Usborne Book of Art  the Usborne Book of Art Skills and the Usborne Introduction to Music. One 2-hour class each week. Keyboarding ~ Mavis Beacon CD-Rom Guitar Lessons http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeForHim/742956/ Sat, 7 Nov 2009 16:12:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeForHim/742956/