I was recently reading about Dawn's organizational system and thought to myself, "Self, do you think anyone cared how YOU organize your homeschool?" Since I received one comment that was positive about blogging such an issue here it is.
Let me preface this post by saying that blogs seem to make life look easy, effortless and mostly perfect. Lord knows that isn't the case around our house. So, I'm showing you what I do, what works for me and my crew, in case some part of it will work for you.
Another thought before I start.....as many of you know our oldest is autistic. If there's one thing that we've learned about autism in our household, it's that when we are organized and have everything planned and noted, life goes much smoother. Anxiety levels are down and work gets accomplished. Needless to say my "system" has in great part stemmed from the needs of Nathan and my own need to "know what's happening."To begin, lets talk about colors. Both my boys are fanatical about their favorite colors. Nathan's is blue, Nolan's is red. EVERYTHING they own is their favorite color. Needless to say, it can be annoying at times but it works out well in my organizational system.
As you can see, each boy has several notebooks in his favorite color. I'm going to talk today about the folder we use every day. This folder (it's just a simple two pocket folder) holds all the papers needed for the week, their weekly schedule and all the finished papers for the week. I don't require them to put anything in order at this point. Nathan probably tends to keep things in order a bit more than Nolan but, to be honest, I don't really look at these folders other than to put papers inside them over the weekend.
Included is a picture of the weekly schedule that I print out for both boys. This week's looks a little thin because we have a field trip and a homeschool group activity. I keep the instructions to a minimum in the schedule because I often change my mind about exactly what we are learning OR I have given the boys a long term project that they can finish as they wish. I'm trying to work on more independence in their school work and responsibility this year. It is slow in coming but I can see progress.
Last for this post is my notebook. I really don't use it very much but I do keep a three ring binder with my lesson plans (I usually do my plans on the computer and just print them out), ideas and field trip info thrown into a folder in the back. Once you see what I have in some of the boys other folders, you'll see why I don't really use this folder a whole lot. I do like having everything in one spot so I can find what I need quickly. In the next post I'll share what we do with all those papers that accumulate.
On Wednesdays Nolan goes to his old school for PE and stays for lunch with his pals. I have about an hour and fifteen minutes from drop off to pick up. Usually I just go home and see how Nathan is getting along with his work. Some days I head to Target which is about 3 minutes from the school. Today I needed some magazine holders to help in my homeschooling organization (hopefully a post tomorrow or Friday about that) and some acne medicine since we are now entering the hormone laden years (help me Lord). 
Next to the Target is a Goodwill. So, having some extra time, I stopped by the Goodwill. I bought my dad a never opened 2000 piece puzzle for $1.97 (too much money my mother will say) and an old lamp for $7.97. I thought it would go well with the one I recently fixed. It didn't have a shade and I wasn't sure it would work. With my new lamp fixing skills I figured this wouldn't be a problem. As it turned out, the lamp worked fine and Nolan and I stopped at Home Depot after our volunteer session with PAWS tonight to pick up a shade. I'm pretty happy with the purchase.
In other quilty news, I just finished the quilt for Nolan's piano teacher and his wife. Their baby is due in March. You can see part of it in my new header. It just came out of the dryer all crinkled and warm. There's just about nothing I love better. Pictures soon.
Some days I just can't do a whole lot. Today is one of those days. It's cold. It's gray. I'm grouchy. So as the boys are quietly reading, I sit at the computer because I just can't bring myself to do anything else (although Lord knows, I should). I began checking those blogs that I enjoy. It's so nice that I don't even have to type the url address anymore. My little Apple lap top remembers everything for me. All I have to do is type in one letter and it gives me a list of web sites to choose from. Isn't that nice, especially on a day when I'm feeling really lazy? I wondered if I had a site that I regularly look at for each letter of the alphabet. Here's what I discovered:
Well, I'm glad to see I don't have the WHOLE alphabet. If I get a little more energy I'd like to write a post about how we organize our homeschool materials. I know everyone is different and I've changed things up over the years but I feel like we have a good system right now and thought I'd share it for whoever may be interested. Then again, I just may be too lazy.
We had to say a forever farewell to a beloved husband, father and grandfather this week. Mike's dad passed away on Tuesday with his family and beloved priest by his bedside. He had a long battle with cancer and a final stroke that took away his voice but not his spirit! I'm using the above picture because DadDad (what the boys called their grandfather) was ceaseless in his work. He did not rest when there was work to be done. There was always work to be done. Sometimes the work involved filming the likes of Johnny Cash and Mohammad Ali. His work included helping Vietnamese refugees find a place to live and teaching them English. If you needed help, DadDad found a way to help you. He made friends everywhere he went. Friends with the waitress, the innkeeper, the neighbor, the hitchhiker. There are not enough words to describe the life of this man. But, we will not remember him for his work as a tv producer or because of the stars he met, but because of the love he showed for all he met. You are truly an inspiration. We will miss you but your spirit lives on in everyone who you touched in some way. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Once upon a time, about 15 years or so ago, a good friend gave us a beautiful, antique lamp that he rewired. This lamp was probably one of the finest gifts we'd ever received. It was perfect. We loved it. We used it. Alot.
Once upon a lesser time ago, about 3 years, this beautiful, well loved, one-of-a-kind lamp stopped working. We tried to fix it (sort of), but it was beyond our meager expertise. This little lamp was moved to the basement when we moved to our new house.
Always in the back of my mind was the reality that this lamp could be fixed, by me. I looked it over several times but was stymied by the metal construction. How does all that wire get from the bottom to the top and attach to the light bulb? How does one get ones fingers in those tiny spaces?
Well, yesterday I decided that I NEEDED to fix this lamp. I longed for the lamp. I craved the beauty of the old metal, the curve of the decoration, the gentle light. I set to work.
I discovered that said lamp could be unscrewed in various places. I found out how to take it all apart. Actually, I've always been good at taking things apart. It's putting them back together again that is sometimes difficult.
So, after a few trials and a trip to Home Depot, I was able to fix the lamp. Need I say that I'm proud of myself and not ashamed to toot my own horn. I spent the night reading (homeschool curricula) by my lamp with a fire in the fireplace. Ahhhhh, peace.
As you can see, each boy has several notebooks in his favorite color. I'm going to talk today about the folder we use every day. This folder (it's just a simple two pocket folder) holds all the papers needed for the week, their weekly schedule and all the finished papers for the week. I don't require them to put anything in order at this point. Nathan probably tends to keep things in order a bit more than Nolan but, to be honest, I don't really look at these folders other than to put papers inside them over the weekend.
Included is a picture of the weekly schedule that I print out for both boys. This week's looks a little thin because we have a field trip and a homeschool group activity. I keep the instructions to a minimum in the schedule because I often change my mind about exactly what we are learning OR I have given the boys a long term project that they can finish as they wish. I'm trying to work on more independence in their school work and responsibility this year. It is slow in coming but I can see progress.
