This week’s carnival of homeschooling is helping you through the back to school madness as you take advantage of some last minute sales on school supplies. And who doesn’t like school supplies?
And free laminating? What can I laminate? Well, you know where I’ll be on Thursdays until September 13!
Now for the giveaway! My Two Boys is offering a total of five Signing Time products over the next five weeks! We all know what a benefit learning sign language is, right? Check out her post and see what you need to do. I fulfilled the requirements right here in this very post, so it is not so hard. If you do not have a blog, you get to play pretend and tell her what you want with a fictional unlimited budget. Not so hard, right? If you are like me, you spend a fictional unlimited budget every year this time as you drool over catalogs. Hopefully, you don’t order all that stuff, though. I just throw all the pretty brochures away after I’m done.
Has anyone made any great changes for this upcoming school year? We jumped back in without any planning, so we are a little more structured. Funny how that works. The more I plan, the less like school our day looks. I am trying to teach my daughter to take more responsibility, so her morning chore chart now includes one subject area. Right now, that just means filling out two pages of a spelling workbook I bought her to give her extra practice. Later, that will expand to really study some things on her own so she can make her own discoveries.
Update: My daughter is doing well with taking on more responsibility, especially when it comes to cooking. She got up first this morning and made pancakes. Instead of three teaspoons of salt, however, she used three tablespoons. I hope my reaction at that first bite did not discourage her too much!
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
OH, LOL!!! I remember the 1st time I did the salt v sugar and the teaspoon v tablespoon thing as a young cook. It is a lesson that sticks with you and she will learn it well LOL Did she realize her error? That is precious that she is taking on the task of her breakfast herself, such a big step in the growing process!
I started this year without much planning as well. I sketched out a schedule and just started. So far we’ve had lessons on prayer, quiet times, and why it’s important to memorize the Bible. Most of it is review for my son but now the little ones can participate too. Before I’ve always started with the rudiments of each subject but building a relationship with Jesus is the best place to begin.
Shawna, she realized when she tasted it! I am very happy with her in this area at the moment. I was sick earlier in the week and was pretty much incapacitated for most of Sunday. She took care of her siblings, made them breakfast and lunch and kept them busy. She was a better mom than me, I fear, playing with them, changing activities frequently and just keeping them moving. No yelling at them and the normal frustration she exhibits with her siblings.
Now, the state of the house on Monday? We are still finishing cleaning that up, but I’ll forgive her on that account!
Renae, other than our study in Proverbs 31, I would hardly call what we are doing PA. But she needed more structure than what I had been giving her over the summer and so we just jumped in.
It actually does work rather well for us. Then we ease into it one subject at a time. Mostly, I just need to set aside time to plan. That is difficult at the moment, with everything else going on. I am excited about a few things I’ve read recently and you may be seeing some of that crop up now and again as we get our feet wet!
Dana, thanks for visiting my blog! I’m sorry to hear you have been sick! I have been, too, so I am no where near ready to start school. But we are planning on getting going next week. Big change for us this year is that my 3yo (nearly 4yo) will be attending a 2-1/2 hour preschool class at our church three mornings a week. I look forward to the extra time this will give me to spend with the older two (ages 11 & 14), who I feel have been somewhat neglected as we have had a baby and then toddler in the house the last few years.
Dana,
I’ve made some major changes. For one, I switched to Tapestry of Grace. That means my 11-year-old daughter suddenly is in charge of her own days - we sit down together and map out assignments for the week, but she decides when she does what (as long as she’s getting it all done). I love giving her more responsibility for her learning, and she’s very happy to take it on.
That is great! I have heard a lot of great things about TOG. “Self-educating” is a goal we are working toward. My daughter is gradually taking over more, but her basic skills still need to improve before she will be ready for the next step.