A Note of Encouragement for Worried Parents

As someone on social media so eloquently stated, there are no good choices in all this mess.  So I'm going to assume that there is something about your child's educational circumstances this fall that worries you.  Some parents have to work and have no choice but to send their kids to school.  Some have online options but feel like either way, they don't like it.  Maybe some of you are choosing to homeschool for the first time ever and not really liking that option either.  Parents like me who homeschool still aren't happy because our co-ops and extra-curricular activities are complicated at best too.

I don't have answers to all of the concerns for sure, but I do have some encouragement to share.

No matter what scenario you end up choosing or being stuck with this fall, I want to encourage you that it can be okay.  Some are worried about health, some are worried about education and some are just plain worried!  We've always tried to make intentional choices to bring about the kind of results we want.  In all of these scenarios you might be faced with, I think there are a few things you can do to help things go smoother this fall.  

Begin every day, every meal, every difficult conversation with a prayer.  

Use this semester to encourage and teach your family to cover your life in prayer.  Ultimately, we are not in control of so much, but as believers we have the ultimate arsenal in prayer and our relationship with Jesus.  No matter the dangers, discomforts or disappointments, God wins and we will be blessed through Him.

 

Cultivate a desire to learn

It's common to find yourself trying to make your kids learn something instead of considering how to cultivate in them a desire or love of learning.  An easy way to do this is reading together.  Children learn and grow through reading and being read to.  If you can spend time as a family reading, perhaps before bed, you will be stimulating their minds towards comprehension and curiosity of all kinds. The questions and conversations we have in the midst of reading together are so important and perhaps of the greatest value. My family is on the next to last book in the Chronicles of Narnia and we have an enormous collection of shared memories and experiences through reading together as a result.

Revisit what health and wellness looks like in your family.

Especially for those families who are genuinely worried about their health this fall, make sure you are teaching your family what healthy looks like.  Of course, a diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and clean meats is a great place to start, but don't forget how much water you drink, what kind of sleep habits everyone has, and how much time you spend outside (make it a LOT!).  We are a big advocate of supplements and that has proven helpful in all of this mess.  Shoot me a message if you need some ideas.  Finally, ensure your family has space to talk about their feelings.  All of these changes are driving me nuts and I need ample time to process it.  Our kids need it too.

Focus on the good.

We haven't been told anything really, but Mr. Butler half expects to continue working from home for the rest of the year.  It was a struggle at first, but we are LOVING him being home all the time.  It is absolutely feeding our relationships with each other and I am so thankful. There is personal growth happening all over our house, something I have craved for a long time.  I NEVER would have ordered 2020 in order to bring it about, but here we are.  And it's important to be thankful.  If your kids go back to school, help your family be thankful for some kind of normalcy and teachers eager to help your kids.  If you decide on an online or homeschool set up, lean in to the family time and a new shared learning experience.

No matter what educational situation you have this fall, know that I am rooting for you! Taking good care of those kids is what it's all about.  If you have any needs along the way, especially homeschooling or education related, don't hesitate to contact me.  

  

Children Book Collections: A Carole P. Roman Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

With all of the complicating and often destructive influences in our modern culture, I am continually on the look out for quality content for my kids.    As a parent, I see how valuable it is to have character reinforcement in more than one area of my children's lives.  The content they consume helps shape who they are. Since I know that to be true, I need to know what books they are reading and what kind of virtue (or not) is being encouraged.  Today's review is a gold mine in that department! Carole P. Roman is a children's book author that we have reviewed before and loved! This time we were generously given our choice of 4 books from the Carole P. Roman's assorted series and we were happy to add to our library.

What We Received:

For our 4 books, we chose 3 volumes of the Captain No Beard series and 1 volume of If you were me and lived in series:

• Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience
• Stuck in the Doldrums: A Lesson in Sharing
• Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis
• if you were me and lived in Colonial America

All 4 books are paperback with plentiful color illustrations.

The Captain No Beard series is an adorable collection of books based on a child imagining he is Captain No Beard and going on adventures of all kinds with his cousin and animal cohorts from his bedroom.  In a Calvin & Hobbes type manner, much more happens in Captain No Beard's mind than in reality, but that doesn't hinder his imagination!   This series is great for preschool aged kids, but my big kids enjoy listening to them with their little brother.  In addition to encouraging imagination and creativity, each book we have read teaches some kind of lesson. Pepper Parrot and Stuck in the Doldrums make the lesson clear in the title.  The Aurora Borealis is about stealing of all things!  Captain No Beard decides he wants to take the Aurora Borealis home and being the pirate that he is, it takes some convincing that it stealing such a thing isn't practical OR right. 

The if you were me and lived in... series is a collection of books that highlight different places around the world and puts history and geography into a storybook form. I chose Colonial America because my we studied US History last year and I thought this would be a fun refresher of some of the things they learned.  It is a bit thicker than your average paperback storybook and includes a glossary in the back.  The glossary is pretty impressive with a few words that I had never heard of or understood their meaning in that context.  I had never heard the term breeched which meant when a boy is finally allowed to stop wearing gowns and moved to pants.  The book covers all aspects of colonial living like new government, travel, history, farming, Thanksgiving, clothing, and schooling. Before the 

glossary at the end of the book there are two pages of people who influenced the colonies and some information about them, including people like William Penn and Myles Standish.  Books in this series are great for elementary age kids who are starting to travel the world through their education.

What We Thought:

Since we were familiar with these book series, everyone was more than happy to sit down and read these.  The Colonial America book is pretty dense sometimes we would only read a few pages at a time in order to digest it all a bit better, but not a problem for my 9 year old to read on his own.  It's a great way to communicate history to kids in a simple and interesting manner.  The Captain No Beard books are perfect story time additions  so we didn't have any trouble reading through the entire thing in one sitting.  As my kids get older I know that Mom and Dad saying something is right or wrong can get repetitive, even in the best of dynamics.  It's really important to me that Biblical and virtuous principles are coming into their hearts from all directions and the Captain No Beard series is a great addition to our library that we can feel good about!

Visit Carole P. Roman on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caroleproman/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/caroleproman/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6A9PDx7NdBgYUN1giUOp0A

There are a ton of books available from Carole P. Roman and the Crew reviewed a LOT of them. Check out other reviews to find out more!

A Progeny Press Study Guide Review

Giving a child a complete education is more than checking all the boxes and completing all the tasks.  What we are trying to do here - especially as homeschoolers - is to grow them!  Growth can come from a rigid schedule and all the right drills, but a deeper growth can come from a great conversation  with your family about something they've just read together.  It's easy and very tempting to get caught up in the concrete and quantitative, where we can see and testify that they 'learned' something today.  Slowing down to read something together and discuss things about it is sometimes hard, not because it is a complicated thing, but because we are so busy.  There's always more chores to do, errands to run and distractions to get hung up on.  My latest review highlights a beautiful process that has the potential to do more than just widen vocabulary and reading comprehension.  Today we're talking about The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide from Progeny Press.

What We Received:

We were given access to one digital file containing a 50 page document entitled The Long Way to a New Land Study Guide by Colleen Schreurs.  This document included activities like fill in the blank worksheets, short answer questions, definitions, crossword puzzle, family heritage activity suggestions, and a lot of discussion ideas pertaining to the students feelings if he were in the character's position.

How It Works:

A study guide is a document of exercises intended to aid the reader in pulling as much understanding out of the original text as possible.  How you use it is largely up to your discretion, but this study guide is divided up into before you read activities, activities based on each chapter and after you read activities.  In the Notes to the Instructor section, they recommend students reading the entire book first while doing some of the before you read activities and then reread each chapter as they go along in the study guide.  The exact order, while natural to go through sequentially, isn't vital for learning since all of the activities and subjects are related within the text.  This study is a great example of individualized education based on each student's pace and needs.  With 5 chapters and a host of pre and post reading activities, this study could be spread over several weeks if desired.  For most students this will require some parental involvement and some great discussions certainly enhance their learning.

What We Thought:

The most challenging part of this project was simply finding the book! Neither of the library systems we have access to had the book so we finally found a proper reading of it on the internet.  Everything past that was well-organized, straight-forward and value-added to the reading of the book.  My son is in 8 (almost 9) and all the activities seemed appropriately leveled including some easily done while others more challenging. For example, the vocabulary words were not a problem, but the pages that asked about the student's own feelings or how they would feel if certain things happened to them took a little more time.  Still, the empathy inducing questions were some of my favorites!  My kids struggle with appreciating how good they have it and tend to complain.  These types of discussions are important to keeping their perspective accurate rather than distorted by our culture's standards. 

According to their website, Progeny Press' mission is "To teach our children to think clearly, to understand literature, and to rely on the scripture for truth and values, and enjoy themselves while they do it!"  Based on this singular study guide, I can say that they are succeeding! From asking students to apply scriptures to characters actions to encouraging them to empathize with the characters, this study guide supports character building and alongside the initial reading comprehension! 

Follow Progeny Press on Social Media:

Facebook: facebook.com/progenypress
Twitter: twitter.com/progenypress
Pinterest: pinterest.com/progenypress

The Homeschool Review Crew reviewed a variety of study guides spread over several age levels.  If you are interested in another age or simply looking for another perspective, go ahead and click below! 

Easy Grammar - Grade 1: An Easy Grammar Systems Review

Grammar is the kind of subject that a lot of people remember learning at some point, but that doesn't mean it stuck.  If you're like me, maybe you know what sounds right, but the details and rules of why are a little blurry.  The company behind today's review has designed their products for mastery learning - meaning you should expect it to stick!  Easy Grammar Systems, authored by Wanda C. Phillips, came from a teacher's experience in the classroom that just wasn't cutting it and prompted her to utilize a different way to teach grammar.  As a result we have Easy Grammar Systems and today we are getting to talk about Easy Grammar:  Grade 1.

 

What We Received:

We were given one soft-covered book, Easy Grammar Grade 1 - the Teacher Edition.  The book is divided into three sections.  The first section is Scope and Sequence that includes notes and suggestions for each day.  The second section is the student section with 180 pages of reproducible worksheets.  The last section is the Answer Key for all of the worksheets.

How It Works:

With 180 pages of worksheets, it is clearly designed for a complete school year.  Each daily lesson is 5-10 minutes of teacher led instruction and student practice.  However, within the Scope and Sequence it isolates different elements and indexes them for you as well.  For example, if you wanted to brush up on commas, all of the lessons and their various uses are listed for you.  Each lesson includes Capitalization, Punctuation, and Grammar principles and often revisits what was introduced the day before.  Since this is the Teacher's Edition, I do make a copy of the day's student worksheet.  If that is more time consuming than you would like, they do offer consumable student workbooks as well.

What We Thought:

While these lessons are very short and straight forward, if you are looking for something to teach itself, this might not be for you.  Sometimes I would print off a page and just tell my first grader to follow the instructions, but other times I would introduce each element before asking her to do anything.  Regardless of how I approached it, she usually had questions that required me to explain something.  So, it's not a hands-off program, but the book goes over and above to prepare the teacher  for all that will be required of them.

We really enjoyed the simplicity of this program.  As you have seen, the worksheets are nothing fancy, but the content is direct and short.  With every day reinforcing similar concepts in slightly altered ways, there was nothing burdensome about any of it.  My first grader felt confident and I was comforted that she was grasping some important concepts - especially as a foundation for the future.   Easy Grammar is an easy addition to any curriculum that ensures these important concepts are introduced and mastered.

Easy Grammar Systems on Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EasyGrammarSystems/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Easygrammar
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easygrammarsystems/

The Review Crew looked at several products at various grade levels so make sure to check out the rest of the reviews if you are looking for something other than 1st grade.

The Super Power of Homeschooling: Resources

Taking charge of your children’s education is an overwhelming venture some days. Compared to a public school counterpart, we may be doing the work of several people all by ourselves. Whether you are just starting your homeschool journey or have been at it for years, there are seasons that can feel really lonely and daunting. Doing life differently is just like that. The good news is that modern homeschooling has a superpower we forget about sometimes: Resources.

Are you looking for age-appropriate read-aloud books? Maybe you need a different way to approach Algebra? Wondering when anyone has time to clean their house? Is your child struggling with communication and social skills? Can you afford to homeschool? Do you need help heading into high school, and wondering what to do about a transcript? These are all things that can burden a parent down when they don’t know where to start. Homeschool parents get used to sifting through things that won’t work, in order to find a great thing that will. When you are overwhelmed, find those that have done some of the sifting for you. Through social media, organizations like SchoolhouseTeachers.com and The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, and local co-ops, you have access to hundreds of parents just like you working to get the little souls entrusted to you pointed in the right direction.

Sometimes in our feelings of isolation, we end up bemoaning how different our situation is, rather than celebrating the freedoms we have in being different. As a homeschool parent, you are afforded a wide berth in determining and pursuing what is best for your children. Whatever their need or interest is, there is an internet and homeschool community full of possibilities. From worksheets to schedules and methods to mentorship, homeschooling parents are establishing this village of resources and support for other parents venturing out onto this unique path.

Every homeschool parent you meet will have a bag of resources to share with you, if you ask them. They have tried, failed, succeeded, and shifted so much that they have advice and experiences that can help you. For the lean times, the challenging times, and the wonderful times, every home educator has resources to share with you. We all have experiences we’ve learned from, and love the chance to share the fruits of our struggles with someone who could really use it! It usually isn’t a problem getting other home educators to talk with you, it’s getting them to hush about it that is the hard part!

Every time you start to feel burdened and overwhelmed by the unique needs of your job, remember the myriad of people and places you can call upon for help!

-Originally published at Homeschooling with Heart, a blog of The Old Schoolhouse.

The Pitfalls of Year-Round Schooling

In my final installment of this Year-Round Schooling series, I'm talking about the difficult aspects of year-round schooling.  As much as we would all like to proclaim the perfection of our lifestyle choices, everything comes with baggage and difficulties.  One choice creates various issues that another choice would solve.  It simply depends on which difficulties you are comfortable with facing.  While I love the flexibility and advantages it gives our family, there are unique pitfalls that we have to watch out for.

Feeling Left Out.  It rarely seems logical  that I should feel left out since not following the crowd gives me incredible freedom in educating my children.  Yet, when everyone is posting back to school pictures or doing all the summer things, it's hard not to get caught up in it sometimes.  And it usually has nothing to do with the actual thing, but just not being a part of what's currently happening all over Facebook.

Losing Track.  If you aren't great at record-keeping or lesson planning (like me) never having a clear beginning or ending can result in not having a clue where you're at other than just knowing everyone is learning every day.  It's not the worst problem to have, but the older your students get, the more it will matter.

Out of Season Lessons.  If you ever find yourself way off the traditional 9 month school year, some curriculum and lessons won't line up as nicely as they could.  Apples and pumpkins are perfect for the fall and butterfly stages were meant for the Spring.  Unless you plan it right or switch lesson plans around, sometimes things will just be out of season.  It's certainly not the end of the world, but it's something to be aware of.

Breaks Must Be Intentional.  Sometimes life decides when and how you will take a break.  When someone gets sick or an unexpected opportunities present themselves, you just go with it.  Other times, school might feel like it goes on forever.  Homeschool parents already struggle with mental overload and not having predetermined, clearly defined breaks may feel like too much.  That's why we are strategic about our vacations throughout the year and respect mom's burnout!

Year-round schooling isn't for everyone and not even possible in some situations, but if you ever find yourself in an emergency state with your homeschooling, don't despair!  Giving yourself permission to seriously go with the flow in this season of life might be the best thing that ever happened to you!  By keeping these pitfalls in mind, you and your family can thrive despite irregular events!

Kristen Heider @ A Mom's Quest to Teach -Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year
Patti Pierce - Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy - My Favorite Homeschooling Things
Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane - 5 Days of Nature Study
Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning - Homeschooling my final 4 
Christine @ Life's Special Necessities - Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child
Sally M - Tell the Next Generation - Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners 

What Is Year-Round Schooling? A Not Back To School Series

Over the years, I've witnessed year round schooling models take a lot of different shapes.  The common thread is that they do not match the typical (American) schedule of a couple plus months off in the summer, a Christmas Break and a Spring Break.  In public education, a year-round schedule is often 3 weeks on, 1 week off or 4-5 weeks on and 2 weeks off.  Homeschooling kind of turns that on its head!  

1) School never really stops. Our homeschool version of year round schooling is school that never fully stops, but stops whenever we need it to. Oklahoma is a great state to homeschool, because we are allowed to determine much for ourselves, including our schedule as long as we get in 180 hours of school.  With a year round approach, you more than satisfy that requirement.

2) Schedules Honor Student Needs.  A typical 9 month school year requires students to honor the schedule in spite of their needs.  Any educator will tell you that is one of the hardest part of their jobs.  Human beings just don't develop at the exact same rate in development and understanding and when life circumstances come into play, there can be huge gaps that are hard to fill in before the school year ends.  Year round schooling means that we take time - slow down or speed up - when we need to.  Bored with their grade level work? Let's review and move ahead to something more challenging.  Struggling with new concepts?  We'll spend as much time as we need until a student is comfortable with it.  This also goes for non-academic elements.  A major change, a death, or a great accomplishment can appropriately slow school down for mental and emotional nourishment.  What's best for the student can reign supreme when necessary.

3. Highlights a Lifestyle of Learning.  When you learn at home anyway, it's easy for learning to happen any time to begin with.  When you don't take the summer off or break at typical times, students get used to learning for learning sake rather than only at certain times of day.  As homeschooling lends itself to this anyway, year round schooling turns every single thing you do, especially as a family, into an activity of discovery and wonder which automatically includes learning.  We are cultivating a lifestyle of learning.

It might seem that year-round schooling is way too much or over-kill, but for us we end up ahead of the curve while feeling like we're relaxing our way through the year.  Of course there are seasons (like soccer or holiday/birthday) that are hectic no matter what we do, but we are able to adapt school to our needs, not the other way around.  I love that!

This post is participating in the Homeschool Review Crew's Not Back To School Blog Hop this week so be on the look out for more Year-Round Schooling posts!  If you are interested in other homeschooling topics check out the links below!

CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew - 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop 
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses - ABC of Homeschooling
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag - Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
Erin @ For Him and My Family - Large Family Homeschooling
Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens - Learning Life Skills
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling - Homeschooling the High School Years
Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom - Homeschooling With Autism
Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range - 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling
Abby @ Making Room 4 One More - Time Management for Homeschool Moms
Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool - 5 Days of Homeschool Questions
Amy @ the WRITE Balance - Year-Round Schooling
Annette @ A Net in Time - Homeschooling.
Betty @ Lets Get Real - Homeschooling High School
Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess - Eclectic Homeschooling

StoryTime Treasures and More: A Memoria Press Review

It's nothing new around here how important reading a great book is and our latest review is a wonderful tool to utilize great books to your students' learning even more!  Since both of my big kids have taken off in the reading department, it is so easy to just give them books to read and leave it at that.  While independent reading is very important, not following up with questions or activities can cut the learning a little short.  For today's review we are looking at one of our favorite vendors again, Memoria Press!   Miss Z and I explored some great books with the help of  StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key and More StoryTime Treasures Student Guide and Answer Key

What We Received:

We received StoryTime Treasures Student Study Guide with its Teacher Guide and More StoryTime Student Study Guide with its Teacher Guide totaling 4 books in all.  The target grade level for these books is 1st grade.

A few years ago, we reviewed part of this product with my oldest son and this time we're getting a chance to use the entire set with my daughter! Since that time they have release a 2nd edition of the set which includes a few changes to the book selections, converted to spiral-bound student books and separated the Teacher's Guides into two separate books rather than one combined.

How It Works:

Both StoryTime and More StoryTime are layed out the same way with a series of lessons that correspond with the reading selections.  The teacher and child are to read through selections together, allowing for the student to have ample time reading aloud. Each lesson highlights different types of language elements like vocabulary, capitalization, parts of speech, comprehension and includes different activities such as word scrambles, drawing/coloring, fill in the blank, and even some math equations!  Both Teacher Guides provide answers to questions and activities, but also a layout of procedures or activities that go along with that day and/or section of the book. The Teacher Guides recommend a possible 5 day schedule, but ultimately recommends the teacher/parent to use their best judgement for each circumstance.

How We Used It:

While it makes sense to work through the pieces of literature in the order they appear in the workbook, the Teacher's Guide never explicitly says that you must and little, if any, of the information taught really builds on the previous stories' activities.  Since we didn't have access to all of the books in order right away, we decided to skip around with what we had.  Miss Z is quite the reader and loves all things school so she had no problem jumping from Little Bear to Caps For Sale and then to Billy and Blaze. In all cases she had already read the book before we sat down to work through the Student Guide so our initial reading was always her secondary at least.  Caps for Sale is a book we have owned since she was a baby so in some of it she could even quote it.  Still, breaking down vocabulary words and testing for comprehension was useful and important in sharpening her skills. Not to mention it highlighted how much we need to work on her handwriting! ;)

What We Thought:

As to be expected, miss Z and I enjoyed our enhanced Story Time and it was perfectly suited for her grade level.  She didn't need a ton of help, but when she did we had really good conversations about aspects of the story or definitions of words. While a teacher could get by without the Teacher Guide because the Student Guide's directions are self-explanatory, the Teacher Guide really allows you to get the most out of the activities and maximize your student's learning. That is especially true if you are working with a struggling or new reader.  The focus on their phonics skills is extremely beneficial in the reading process.  If you have an early reader that you are wanting to begin literature activities with, I would even recommend getting this and stretching out stories and activities further to slowly but surely build momentum in the area.

Follow Memoria Press on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/

Memoria offers so much and the Review Crew got to review a variety of their Literature  Guides.  If you have different grade level needs, click the link below to read other product reviews from Memoria!

Hey Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20: A The Old Schoolhouse® Review

As a member of the Homeschool Review Crew, I have been exposed to many companies, products and opportunities that are widespread in space and idea.  The blessings are many, but I have to say nothing quite compares to the gift of prayerful guidance that comes from the parent company, The Old Schoolhouse® I have never had the honor to do business with such a multi-faceted company that genuinely seeks to glorify God and bless me for being a part of it.  Today, I am sharing with you the Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year that Gena Suarez, founder of The Old Schoolhouse, has authored again this year.  Even in this product, you can see their desire to support and help us committed but exhausted mamas!

There are planners upon planners out there to choose from, but finding a planner designed and suited for homeschooling is not easy.  Not to mention, we all work and plan in different ways with a different number of children, so one size doesn't usually fit all very well.  That being said, the Hey Mama! planner does a beautiful job of incorporating the many aspects of a homeschooling mother planning and keeping track of her children's education.  I've only just begun the job of homeschooling two students and mentally trying to prepare for three and it's just a little much for my brain!  I'm convinced that if you weren't already in the happen of writing stuff down, once you get to three students, heavy record keeping is a must!   
The Hey Mama! Planner is a spiral bound 189 page book that includes:

• Academic Transcript instructions and template
• Skills Checklist
• Annual Calendars for 2019,  2020, & 2021
• Monthly Calendars with Notes
• Hey, Mama! Devotionals
• Weekly Planners (dateless)
• Curriculum Planning, Books Read, Attendance and Goals for up to 5 students

One of my favorite aspects of this planner is the weekly planner pages.  Covering two open pages, you have the ability to track up to 5 people in a couple of different ways.  I chose to list subjects to track each child in, but an equally useful way would be to track their day, as there are 7 spaces for 7 days of the week.  There are no dates on these forms making it very versatile.

In the planning section, there is a page for yearly, first and second semester goals.  I appreciate these pages so much because of the sub-headings that are included.  There is a space for each of the following for each child:

• Educational
• Spiritual
• Physical
• Personal Talents
• Life Skills
• Financial
• Relational

All of these categories certainly seem relevant to a high school student, but we don't focus on all of these with the same intensity with younger students.  The reality is that considering these things for younger students is arguably more valuable because of how much is still developing in their lives.  Whatever the age though, these are so important to consider and map out for our children.  One of the reasons I love working with this company, The Old Schoolhouse®, is the main reason I love this planner - both are working to keep me focused on the most important things.

The Old Schoolhouse on Social Media:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/theoldschoolhouse/?fref=ts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tosmagazine/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TOSMag  @TOSMag 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tosmag/ 

If this is something you could use in your homeschool, don't put off getting one! A little birdie told me these are close to being sold out and there won't be another printing this year.  Interested in seeing how other moms used it?  Check out other reviews through the link below: