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Our 2011-2012 School Year Is Off and Running!

The school year is off and running for us as of last week.  I’m not sure who’s been more excited this year – me or the kids!!!  Even with lots of unexpected things coming up that are constantly changing our plans this school year, we’re still managing to get off the ground and get going.  I know every family is different, but I thought I would give some insight into how we have chosen to homeschool at this time.  Keep in mind that one of the keys to successful homeschooling is just like anything else in life – FLEXIBILITY!! 

With Brian also starting to swing shifts at the same time that we chose to start back to school, this is one of the variables that has made things “interesting” for us!  And it just goes to show that being flexible is a “must”.  While he’s on 3rd shift, we are staying up a bit later than normal so that the kids, especially, are still asleep when he gets home and the house is nice & quiet for him.  Once we start waking up, we eat, do any morning chores that need to be done, & then get started on our school work.  When he’s on 2nd shift & 1st shift, things will pretty much be the same.  We’ll be in bed earlier, get up & start our morning earlier, and, hopefully, get done with our school work earlier in the day. 

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This year, we are choosing to do things a little differently.  Our kids have asked that instead of doing a little bit of each subject every day, we spend each school day focusing on certain core subjects.  So, we will focusing on the following subjects two days each week with “homework” in between those days as well as dealing with any questions/concerns that come in in between those “focus” days:  Math, Science, English, History, & Bible for each of our children. 

Here’s what we’ll do:  Let’s take Tuesday, for example.  On Tuesday we will be covering English/Language Arts & History.  These will be our main focus with plenty of time to to also work on “homework” assignments for Math, Science, Bible, etc.   We will spend a good portion of our time going over our focal subjects & then we’ll focus on the “homework” from the subjects that are not our focus for that particular day.   So, everything is covered, but not as much pressure to get EVERYTHING covered & done!  Does that make sense?  For example, We also left Wednesdays as a “light” day for us since we also have AWANA that night at church. 

So far, this is working really well, but the year’s just starting.  And I love seeing my children setting around the table working, learning, enjoying being together, and, at times, laughing.    I’m so blessed, and I’m thankful that my heavenly Father continues to bless me through my family!  We’re looking forward to a fun & educational school year this year! I hope are, too!

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How much can you get for $0.21 at Staples?

 

Staples Deals

How about $117.45 worth of school supplies?  Yep, you’re reading that right!  I walked out of Staples yesterday paying ONLY $0.21!!!! Would you like to know what all I bought & how I got my price down that low?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Here’s what I bought:

Three 1 1/2-inch binders (buy 2 get 1 free) (**FYI:  These are the really good heavy duty notebooks – not the really cheap ones.  We have found that these will last a lot longer than 1 year of school so well worth the $$**)

Five  1-inch binders (*buy 2 get 1 free – meant to get 6 but that’s what shopping with your kids will do – you lose count!)

one 500 count lined index cards

2 packs of arrowhead erasers

2 packs of post-it notes

2 packs of Stickies Flags

6 composition notebooks

one 3-hole punch

1 pack dry eraser markers

2 packs jumbo paper clips (100 count each)

2 notepads

1 Back To School Savings Card

________________________________________________________________

Retail price:                                      $117.45

Sales:                                                  -$32.40

BTS Card Discount:                        -$11.26

Reward Coupons:                          -$73.60

Subtotal:                                             $0.19

Tax:                                                        $0.02

Grand Total:                        $0.21

 

I’m not a shopper by nature, but I do LOVE this kind of shopping!  I will say that I had been saving my Staples Rewards for this, so that really helped out a lot. I won’t be able to duplicate this again, but shopping the sales & using the BTS savings card really helps out.  You get an extra 15% off ALL school supplies (excluding things like computers). 

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School Days Are Here Again!

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For those of us that homeschool (or even those who are in public schools) it’s time to really start gearing up for the new school year.  Whether you school year round or take the summer off, getting ready for the next school year is always full of decisions.  For homeschoolers, it’s a time to go through the curriculum that you already have and see what you do have on hand, what you need, what worked, what didn’t, if there are any supplements that you would like to purchase, etc.  For all of us (public school & homeschoolers) we have to go through and see what basic supplies we have & what we NEED, such as pencils, paper, rulers, crayons, pens, etc.

It never ceases to amaze me how much work goes into both types of schooling just to get ready for the start of a new year.  For us, homeschooling is the way that we feel God has lead us to go, and we love it!  However, it is still a lot of work.  Brian & I chose to go ahead & use some of our income tax return to start buying curriculum for the upcoming year, so we already have most of that on hand.  But, having the curriculum on hand doesn’t mean that it’s already preplanned out to fit our family’s needs.  I did get a head start on that at the end of the year, but that was also with us planning to continue a subject per child over the summer.  But, since our planned semi-calm summer has turned into a hectic one, well, let’s just say that we’ll now be fitting most of the summer plans into the upcoming school year.  But, that’s the beauty of homeschooling.  Flexibility.  I love the fact that we don’t have to force our children to complete the exact same work that everyone else in the classroom does.  They do not have to be forced to try to squeeze into the same mold as everyone else.  They get to be who God made them to bed.  They can whiz through science while they need to take a slower pace in math.  They take a faced paced approach with Bible while maybe taking a slightly slower speed in English, etc.  They can use their strengths to help them with their weaknesses, all the while turning those weaknesses into strengths. 

Hmm.  That sounds really familiar.  Doesn’t God do the same thing for us?  Teach us so that are weaknesses are made strong? Romans 8:36a says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. “  That verse also talks about how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer when we, ourselves, don’t know what to pray for.  In teaching our children to grow in their weaknesses in school, we are teaching them to be better students and, eventually, employees/employers in the working world.  In the same way, God uses our weaknesses to grow us for His glory so that we can better serve Him in the mission field, at home or abroad. 

For us, our choice to homeschool is based on where we felt (and still feel) God leading us.  We want our children’s education to be biblically based, with Christ at the heart of our learning.  We try to make sure that –He is the one that helps us to make the decisions in what curriculum to use, what co-op to be a part of, etc.  We strive to make him Headmaster/Principal of our school just as we strive to make Him the head of our household. 

We’re really excited about this upcoming school year.  Brian & I believe that God has a lot of blessings in store for our family this year, and that seems to be confirmed lately since we’ve met up with a lot of mountains in our homeschool trail these last couple of weeks.  With a lot of help from our Lord, we are slowly climbing each one & tackling all the obstacles that have been laid in front of us and finding our way through.  I, myself, truly believe that God is using each of these to grow us and lead us down the path that He has planned for our family.   So, how are your plans for the new homeschool year coming?  Do you have any mountains you’re having to climb or bumps in the road that have sent you down a different path than you originally thought you would be going down?  I would love to hear how God is growing you and your family through these.