How to Use Binders (and Individualize Lesson Plans for BiblioPlan or Preprinted Plans)

Aug 14, 2013MelissaClasses, Classroom Help, Informative, Organization

Written by GFG on AUGUST 8, 2013
http://gratefulforgrace.com/2013/08/how-to-use-binders-and-individualize-lesson-plans-for-biblioplan-or-my-fathers-world/

A few years ago, I made the switch to binders for each kiddo and it has been a huge help to our homeschool. Let me show you how they work. Specifically, the lesson plan binders.

Each child has binders for different areas of our homeschool and they are color coded (this is another terrific time saver and organization tip I highly recommend).

The contents of the binders change every year or so, but they always have the lesson plans. Last year and this year, the binders are also for memorization work, Latin, science, grammar, and writing (the high schoolers don’t have the grammar and writing binders, but ones that match specific courses).

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The ABCs of Order in Your Home

Aug 13, 2013MelissaBurn Out, Informative, Organization, Projects

Published with Permission
Written by Marilyn Rockett
www.MarilynRockett.com

Okay, Ladies—let’s talk. It’s time to drag this idea of organization out of the shadows, dust it off, and take a good look. We know we need “it” but we aren’t sure where to get “it” or how to keep “it.” We see a friend or acquaintance with “it,” and we wonder how she does “it.”

Why does organization seem so difficult? We long for order out of our chaos, but the whole thing seems to elude us at times. If we could just grasp “it” long enough to show some positive progress, we would feel hope for long-term solutions to our dilemma.

Each of us fights a private battle with organization. Do you lack training? Do you have lazy habits? Do you have a rebellious spirit toward your role in the home? Are you just too busy juggling too many balls? Is school time or your use of a particular curriculum crowding out other important tasks because you fear that you won’t provide a good education for your children? Have you forgotten your priorities? Maybe you’ve never sorted out your priorities; consequently, you jump from one task to another, leaving unfinished jobs strewn from one end of the house to the other. Whatever your particular nemesis, you may be tired of the fight and you yearn for peace and order in your home.

If you desire that order, you have come to a profitable place for change. (more…)

The Quick 10: 10 Famous Homeschooled People

Aug 12, 2013MelissaBiography, Informative, Just For Fun

1. Agatha Christie. Agatha was a painfully shy girl, so her mom homeschooled her even though her two older siblings attended private school.

2. Pearl S. Buck was born in West Virginia, but her family moved to China when she was just three months old. She was homeschooled by a Confucian scholar and learned English as a second language from her mom.

3. Alexander Graham Bell was homeschooled by his mother until he was about 10. It was at this point that she started to go deaf and didn’t feel she could properly educate him any more. Her deafness inspired Bell to study acoustics and sound later in life.

4. If Thomas Edison was around today, he would probably be diagnosed with ADD ““ he left public school after only three months because his mind wouldn’t stop wandering.

His mom homeschooled him after that, and he credited her with the success of his education: “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” (more…)