We've had a busy couple of days! With some new routines to nurture and maintain I've made a move towards an idea explained to me at the last Big Picture conference in Sydney, the idea of Plan A and Plan B of routines and scheduling. Belinda explains this concept on her website

 so much better than I do!

I feel we are at a stage now where some routines can be successfully put into practise. We are in our new home, grocery shopping is becoming more routine, we are making friends and learning about how their week usually pans out, I'm getting more regular sleep, and we really do need to get back into predictable tabletime. Our family is starting to fall into a new natural rhythm. Now it's time to start tweaking those areas that remain a frustration to us. The other thing I have been doing in a relaxed way is observing the children individually and discussing those observations with Marcel and he with me. Marcel has been taking on our family devotional/discussion time after dinner most nights! He will read something from the Bible, we will talk about what we understand the passage to be saying, what relevancy it has to us personally and ways to practise what it is saying. When my brain is especially tired I love to sit back and watch the interaction!

I am not a person that works well with lots of structure but I do need a plan! Especially, a flexible plan. And having our children involved in real life has always been a major motivator for us to homeschool. That's why this Plan A/Plan B framework appealed to me so much and fitted into my world-view like a hand in a glove.

Making a good, fresh start is a great feeling! This week I sat down with the kids to discuss the new plan and my expectations of them. Once the days get a bit more bedded down I hope to post our-ongoing-work-in-progress routine.

I'm also excited about the resources we will be using. Out of necessity we have become more online resource focused (ebooks, computer programs and games, web-based curriculum etc) and I'll continue to assess how that is going with the kiddos learning. I ordered the copywork books from Downunder Literature http://www.downunderlit.com/ this week so I'm looking forward to incorporating that into the other stuff I have planned for the kiddos! I really feel we are now moving in a good direction with the academics and that side of our learning.