Getting Ready for School

Summer is almost over for us, we didn't do much on our break so we are looking forward to getting back to school next week. Most of my lesson planning has been done for a while, and it feels good to be organized. Today I'm cleaning up our 'school room' in preparation for Monday -if I could just get my filing done!!
This year will be different for us, I am using a mix of homeschool materials for the kids whereas in the past we have always used curriculum packages. It was a lot of work -but fun- to research and find the best choices for our family this year; I am happy with the materials we will use and am excited about teaching with them. I will share some details and opinions as I begin using each, for now I'd like to tell you about a helpful planning and record-keeping tool I'm using this year.

My planning began in June (I think!), I started by setting our school calendar dates, then designating subjects and lessons for each day to fit in all that we need to cover for the year. My daughter likes to be able to look at the day's assignments and see what she has to accomplish, so I used a desktop planner  which I had on hand and started filling in her daily work. I decided to just use a separate planner for my son to avoid confusion.
Since my son is in high school, record-keeping and transcripts are important to me now, so I set off on my web mission to find a good resource for those purposes. I came across Homeschool Tracker which I had used briefly several years ago, they still offer a free 'Basic' version so I downloaded it and began to play around with it. I liked it but the Plus version and Online version offer much more, including the ability to make transcripts. I downloaded the 'trial' of Homeschool Tracker Plus and started inputting information for our past school year. Very nice!  I now have our upcoming school year planned with my kids daily schedules laid out. Since I have already done most of our lesson planning in my books I am not doing very detailed plans in the program as I don't need to create more work for myself. It is very easy to make a series of lesson plans however, based upon lesson/chapter number etc., I appreciate this feature. Each day I will input any grading and the program will keep track of it; it is easy to create a variety of reports at any time. I chose the Homeschool Tracker Plus over the Homeschool Tracker Online because it fits my budget better and I prefer not to have to rely on internet to access my program.


I would highly recommend the program if you are looking for something similar; the company offers a referral program so if you purchase through my links I receive a small referral fee!

Linda

Back to School and Freebie Friday

Didn't get a blog out yesterday :( sorry, today however I am so thankful that we are cooler and I am getting my house back to a normal temperature, I got some sleep last night so I feel much better today and a bit more productive.

I got the Staples e-mail today with their specials for next week, they are selling packs of filler paper for 1 cent each, I am definitely getting those for school. The kids and I went in on Monday and got some of the deals I told you about last week, I saw the filler paper on sale for 79 cents (I think) but I had a feeling it would go lower because we got it last year for a steal, so I decided to wait... smart choice. By the way, those sale prices are effective Sun. - Thurs.

Ok, so it's Freebie Friday... I've been looking around for a really nice freebie... sometimes it's hard to find, I came across this offer and although it's not completely free, you get 7 free bonus recipe books with your purchase. Anyway, I really like to cook so it appeals to me, they are offering recipes from all our favorite restaurants. Click on the link to take a look.
America's Secret Recipes

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Be blessed!

Smart Mom

Back to School Savings

Seems like just a few weeks ago I was wrapping up the 2008-09 school year with my kiddos, as a homeschooling family we make our own schedule, I like to start the school year earlier than our public schools and we don't take as many days off so we get done sooner.
So, it's time to start preparing for our new school term coming up, we are already set up with our curriculum but we still need the miscellaneous school supplies.
Here's a few deals that Staples has going for the week of July 26-Aug. 1. I imagine some stores are offering different specials so you might want to go to www.staples.com for your local store ad.

25 cent deals:

• Elmer's Glue 4oz
• Staples manual pencil sharpener
• Bic Matic Grip mechanical pencils (5 pack)
• Staples 3"x5" white ruled index cards (100 pack)
• Staples cap erasers (12 pack)
• Slider pencil case

Print coupon from ad: $5 off any in store purchase of $30 or more

Save 25-50% on all backpacks

There's much more, check it out. By the way, sign up for the Staples Rewards card, it's free and they'll send you a rewards check each month. That was easy!

I'll keep watching for more back to school specials and update you as I find them.

Have a blessed day!