First Review for Mosaic Reviews

This is a practice review for Mosaic Reviews. We were given a choice of free blog planners to check out and review. I chose one from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler has a lot of great free printables and curriculum ideas, including some very affordable packages.

The blog planner had two different layout options to choose from.  I chose Option 1: Calendar Style Layout because I prefer a calendar layout to a list. I think the other option would work well for some people too. The planner has two pages per month. The first page is a calendar and the second page has sections for Reviews/Giveaways, Post Ideas, and Monthly Statistics. All the pages for the year are included, along with a yearly calendar, a cover, and back page. The planner has to be printed and can be bound. I chose to print out the pages as I needed them and 3-holed punched them and put them into a notebook.

I am a new blogger and this planner helped me to get organized and to feel that I am really getting the hang of this blogging thing. I used the planner to organize my future posts and to write out all the dates for the reviews that I am doing with Mosaic Reviews. This planner was simple enough for a new blogger like me. I also feel like it will grow with me as I get better at using social networking to grow my blog, since it has areas on the calendar to remind me to post to different social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. The second page also has a place to keep track of monthly statistics on these social media outlets.

I would recommend that all bloggers, especially new ones use a planner to help them to stay on track. This is a great one, in my opinion.

Turn Your Day Around

It's not just kids, we all can have that kind of a day. You know the kind...everything is going fine, we are happy the world is rosy. Then, BAM! Everything goes downhill, fast. Anything could be the catalyst for this change...getting hurt (physically or emotionally), not getting enough rest, getting frustrated or overwhelmed. You name it, it can change a day fast..it all depends on the person. For my daughter, it is often a combination of these things with some hormones sprinkled in :) Today was one of these days.

Everything started out fine. School was running along smoothly, we were doing some fun Valentine's Day crafts and activities, and then a simple Math problem threw her day into an uproar. It wasn't simply the problem of course, it was also both of our attitudes regarding it. There was some miscommunication and some frustration (on both our ends). She did recover from it though and got her work done and we left for speech. After speech we had lunch and then went to visit family for a little while. That is when the second half of her rough day happened. She was playing with her cousin and was just having a difficult time of it. She would raise her vioce, then cry, then laugh, then be crying again all in the matter of seconds. She didn't seem to be happy being there, but she was even less happy about leaving.

When we got home she was still very upset and I told her she needed to take a nap or at least stay in her room until she "turned her day around." We also often tell her that she needs to restart or reset her day. She has even began referring to these herself and following through. We almost always pray together about it. Today what she needed was to curl herself up in her bed and "read all her books." She came out when her day was "turned around". The flexibility of homeschool is that we can finish our work when that is done or try again tomorrow.

How do you deal with these kind of days?

                              What our day looked like before it turned into "one of those days"

Creativity Abounds

I love how homeschool allows my daughter to be so creative. Not only does she have a say in what she learns and how, she also extends her learning in her own creative ways. A couple of weeks ago we were learning about birds. She did the work that I had planned and then decided that she wanted to make bird costumes and  act out a bird dance show. She even made tickets so we could all come see her show. I was just looking and sadly I didn't get any pictures. I need to become much better at that.

I also love that she can do more or less of what we are working on. She can take the subject and run with it. I asked her last night what she wanted to work specifically on in Science next year since I am looking into curriculum. She thought about it for awhile and then told me that she wanted to dance :)

Homeschooling is about learning. It's about doing what is best for our family. At our house, for the most part it's about being creative and dancing!

Homeschool Week in Review 2/3-2/9

 Homeschool Week in Review 2/3-2/9
  
It's my first week of linking up to The Homeschool Mother's Journal with iHomeiHomeschool Network.  




 In my life this week...

I was very thankful that we avoided the stomach bug that everyone else in our extended family suffered from this week.
 In our homeschool this week... 

My nephew was home all week because of the aformentioned stomach bug. We did miss him, but it was nice to have some one on one time with Ella. We only "did school" Monday through Thursday this week because of the storm that we had coming in on Friday. We talked about Hawaii this week. This included using a coconut cup to enjoy her drink in.

  We also talked about animals and their tracks. We did a fun activity where I hid the tracks and the animals that they belong to nearby around the room. She had fun.

My favorite thing this week was...

Having an unexpected date night with my husband.

Things I'm working on...

My blog. It's a long process because I am not tech saavy at all.



 

   
 

 

Flexibilty

Though there are days where I worry that she isn't learning enough or that she's not "on track", the only thing I am concerned with today that she is able to spend quality time with my mom as she is transitioning into a new home. The flexibility of homeschooling allows me to say, "Yes, she can go with you for two days, actually the weather is going to be bad today just take her today after she is done with her work." It's also a nice feeling to wake up on a "snow day" and not have to stress out about whether we have school or not. I set the schedule. I know what is best for my child. It is so liberating!

I would never discourage someone for sending their child to public or private school. I know that my choice for my child is not the best for everyone. I think that is why I get frustrated when others feel that they need to express their doubts and concern about me homeschooling my child. They know what's best for their family and their child and I know what's best for mine.

I also love the flexibility of being able to homeschool year by year and not have to know what is going to be best for us or our child when she is older. I do not know if we will homeschool through high school. I do not know what God and his time will bring us. I do however know that today I amenjoying the peace that comes with knowing that we are in the right place at the right time in our lives for our family.

February already?

First of all, does Groundhog Day mess anyone else up? I keep thinking it's the first of the month. So, it is indeed the February already and Ol' Phil says it's going to be an early Spring. Little One seems to think that means that Spring weather starts tomorrow...that would be nice. We got our taxes done tonight which means I need to make some serious decisions about next year because we will be able to pay for curriculum soon :) I am leaning toward My Father's World, sticking with Horizons Math, transitioning toward cursive, and still thinking about Language Arts. I am getting really excited about starting reviews with Mosaic Reviews and am working on a test one right now on a blog planner.

Little One has shown a lot of interest in early American history lately. I kept reading about The Liberty's Kids series and how much other homeschool families love them. We do too now! Little One wants to watch them all the time. It's what she's been asking to watch during her t.v. time. She is a visual learner so I think it is helping her a lot to understand what we have been reading and talking about. She has been merging the videos with what we read in the American Girl Felicity books so she talks about the characters in the show by the corresponding characters in the books' names. It makes me feel like she is really putting it together, in her way.