Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Baking Anyone??

I have fallen in love with the blog
I discovered her a few weeks ago
and have been pretty much obsessed ever since.
This lady has got her act together!
And her site is a great place to start for new
homeschoolers with young kids!
I am not copying -
well, I guess I kinda am...
but like I said -
she is a great resource 
and a great place to start!!

She does monthly meal plans
weekly lesson plans
created her own curriculum for 
preschoolers and K4
(both of which I plan on purchasing).
She has figured this thing out!

I used to be pretty good at meal planning.
When we lived in NC, I would STOCK
my freezer UP when meats 
would go on super sales
at our local grocery store.
Due to the competition between
5 grocery store chains
(not including the 2 mega stores that sold EVERYTHING)
every day prices were a little high but the sales 
were AWESOME!

So I always had meat in the freezer to use.
Then we get down here in good 'ole Texas
and there is basically ONE
grocery store chain!
YEP
ONE!
Then there are the 2 mega stores too.
So there really is NO competition
like there was in NC.
So my buying stuff super cheap and stocking up days 
are kinda over.
Instead, I am attempting to
plan and purchase for 2 weeks at a time.
We will see how that goes.
I am headed in the right direction and 
have planned out meals and snacks for the 
next two weeks.

I wasn't really giving the kids snacks like they 
think they need.  
So I have been inspired by 
Confessions of a Homeschooler...
and
we are baking!

We would be doing a little anyways.
But when I put things on paper
and on a calendar.
It is easier to stick to!

Last week we made & decorated 
Christmas cookies
while my folks were here.
(will have more about that on another post)

Today
After we put the babies down for naps
- yes "we" - the boys put Ms. Priss in her bed
I put the baby in his bed - 
we made


Christmas-y Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1) Dump




2) Pat



3) Bake


4) Cut


5) Devour!

(six thumbs up!)

Then we started decorating our annual gingerbread house.




I helped/supervised for a while...
then went and worked on something else.

This is what happens when you leave 2 boys
with 3 bags of icing!!
Can you tell that these are supposed to be
the sides of a gingerbread house??


Can't wait to see what the completed house looks like tomorrow!!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Budget Woes

During my research
I am discovering that this 
homeschooling thing
ain't cheap!!

You can do it cheap
You can do it pretty much as cheap 
as you want to...
HOWEVER
I want/need
some structure
and accountability.

And there is a
TON 
of stuff
out there!!
I have found 
some different vendors
that have different
pieces parts 
or subjects.
Then there are the 
"all in one" 
type curriculums.
Some of these can run you 
$800+ per year
per child!

Um, no thanks!

There are very highly 
recommended programs
and resources 
that seem reasonably priced
until you add
all the pieces of the
"program"
together.
Then you remember,
that it is just for
ONE subject!!

Again
HOWEVER...
I have multiple children
and we are starting rather young with 
my oldest...
SO...
assuming we like doing this
homeschooling thing
we can reuse the same resources
over and over
just having to purchase 
"student manuals"
(or the consumable part of the resource).

So far I am looking at:

Math - Saxon
Reading & Spelling - All About Reading/All About Spelling
Science - The Young Scientists Club

And as I add all this stuff up...
I feel like we will QUICKLY 
approach that $800+
per student 
per year
number.
UGH!

Hopefully,
I can figure out a way to 
do this on the 
relatively 
inexpensive...
BUT
I will NOT
sacrifice 
the kids
education.

So we will see what we wind up with.


Monday, December 12, 2011

Signs of Progress...

Today my parents left and headed back to NC.  
We had them for 4 whole days and 5 whole nights.
Now how long is it going to take
to undo all the spoilage??  
Don't care...
Its worth it!  
(It will get undone just in time for the other
grandma to arrive and do it all over again! - HA HA!)

While mom and dad were here
they helped me purchase 
to continue to work on 
putting together our work area
for the kids school.

Here is what it looks like in place...



Now we have to find nice chairs to go with the desks the boys got for Christmas
last year from Grammy.  And they will FINALLY
be using them for their intended purpose!!

These look GREAT!  
I am getting so excited about this!!

So the workboxes are in place...
now we start implementing them!!
(hopefully sooner than later)

Monday, December 5, 2011

We are getting there...

We made the decision to homeschool shortly after 
we arrived in Texas in
mid October...

So we are quickly approaching 
mid December
and I am still struggling
with a curriculum.

We started out
using
**Time4Learning**
(www.time4learning.com)

It is a GREAT starter and basic
on-line program...
BUT
we need more...
I have enjoyed it, 
the boys enjoy it,
miss priss enjoys it...
and 
I plan on 
starting little miss
on it soon.
(since she begs for school)

It keeps up with their 
progress & success
too!
So I can show daddy 
where we are in the year and
that we are actually 
learning and accomplishing 
something!
HA!

I have spent a TON of time
picking brains
at homeschool groups
when I meet other moms.

And have fallen in LOVE with
another blog...
where I learned about
"workboxes".

I had already come up with something similar
I was going to put different activities:
legos
a craft
puzzles
worksheets (in a folder)
stuff like that
in a plastic bin that each of the kids
would use through out the week.
Anytime we had downtime...
go to the box and do something in the box.

THEN...
I found this workbox system.
It requires 
planning
and 
organization
(both of which are lacking right now
BUT
I am working on it)

Unfortunately, 
we can't just run out and buy all
this awesome stuff...
so I find ideas
then do my best to implement them
on a shoe-string budget!

So right now I am trying to find 
two - 10 drawer carts
to use for our workboxes.

So we are getting there...
I have tons of ideas...
I have joined yahoo groups...
And follow a few blogs...

But implementing all of these 
GREAT ideas...

We are getting there...



**As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschoolafter school study or summer learning.