Day Three: Establishing a Beginning and End In this constantly bustling society, one area that often gets overlooked is the amount of sleep everyone is getting. Some might be getting too much, but if you're a mom of young children, chances are that you aren't getting enough sleep. I can be totally guilty of that - robbing time from sleep to get things done. But if you don't have rest, it makes you much more irritable and less productive. It … [Read more...]
Creating A Family Schedule that Works for You: Narrowing Your Path
When I was a kid, we ran from one activity to another. We were involved in EVERYTHING. While I appreciated being able to do nearly every activity I ever desired, I reflect on childhood as a very frazzled time - always running from one activity to the next. Today, I struggle with performance-based approval which I believe stemmed from this frequent activity. How much can I get done and how well can I do it - these are questions I began asking myself at a very young age, … [Read more...]
Creating a Family Schedule that Works for You: Day 1 – Developing the Vision
It's Officially Day One!!! I know - you're as ecstatic as I am. You could barely sleep last night thinking about scheduling....am I right? huh?....oh yeah, baby!! No?...... You're not that excited? Oh. Okay. In that case, it is a good thing we are going to take this one step at a time. Imagine you are preparing to shoot an arrow. You grasp the bow in one hand, line up the back of the arrow to the string, pull back and let go. … [Read more...]
Next Week…
I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know what is right around the corner!!! Monday I am going to kick off the week on Monday with our first ever blog-hop! Some great CC Smart Mama's out there will be reviewing the new Orchestra Study Guide and Lapbook and hosting giveaways! You can enter all of them! Be sure to jump around their blogs and see what other ideas they offer for your school year, or just encouragement while living in the trenches of raising our kids for Christ!!! … [Read more...]
Creating a Family Schedule that Works for You: Pt. 2
You Can Do This! Imagine with me..... You arrive somewhere ten minutes early. Since you have plenty of time, you can carefully hang the kids coats up (or patiently instruct them to do so). You can casually walk to the event, and find a good seat where all of you can actually sit together. Since you arrived early, you feel much more calm and patient than you usually do when you are hurried. The kids notice it too, and they seem to also be more calm and patient (at … [Read more...]
Creating a Family Schedule That Works for You
It's that time of the year where resolutions are made, closets are organized and to-do lists are created. If you live in my household, it is also the time of the year when I re-evaluate our schedule. I posted on this topic a few months back, and I thought I would run a series that would take you one little step at a time through creating a family schedule that works for you. I will be doing it with you! We will be developing our schedule a little each day so it should be a … [Read more...]
Sneak Peek…The Orchestra Book!
The Orchestra Book is officially written and off to the editor! Designed to be used in a community setting or at home, the Orchestra Book includes a complete study guide for instruction, as well as lapbook components that record what the student is learning! My favorite piece has to be the Music Timeline with pop-up composers and major people and events during that time! I thought I would give you a sneak peek in pictures....Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Our Daily Schedule {with free download!}
If I can be totally honest, I've struggled at times with feeling like I am not accomplishing that which is most important. Don't get me wrong, we are busy all day, and our days are full of good and necessary things, but don't you ever have the feeling that when the end of the day comes you never really got anything done? I think part of that is just motherhood. I mean, is the laundry or the dishes really ever done? But some of that has to do with the way our … [Read more...]
Our 2012-2013 School Year Resources
I am putting the final touches on our school year plan. Actually, most of it has been planned since February or March! (I was a little excited to get started) I spent some time evaluating what worked well last year, what I hoped for this coming year, and from a practical standpoint, what I could actually be consistent in implementing. Things I learned last year: One thing that worked very well last year was to start gradually. Unfortunately we started school in September so … [Read more...]