Homeschooling, is obviously my current obsession. I believe that it will eventually fall into a routine that will return balance to my life, but that's the nature of starting something new. So expect something of a homeschooling focus to the blog for a bit.
A while back I created a homeschooling planner. Prior to beginning to actually use it I decided that I needed to switch from something bound to a mini binder. I just like binders. I reworked some of the formatting from the original version and popped it into a binder. Also, the original planner only included weekly plan sheets and I decided I really did need daily ones. I ordered the binder from Amazon because even office supply stores didn't have a mini 3-ring binder around here. I used Microsoft Publisher and created the pages from scratch. I print them out two-sided in landscape mode, trim off the extra length, and punch holes.
I have sections for record keeping (attendance and logs), the current month's daily plans, past month's plans, state standards checklists, etc. I decided that our school year would run from July to June to mimic public schools. We started homeschooling in June, so I used June as a test run for the planner. At the end of June I sat down and tweaked my lesson plan format and I'm now using a slightly modified version of the daily plan sheet and logging chart.
Here's our daily plan sheet. (This is just a screenshot of the print preview in Publisher.)
I write in the day and the date at the top. I enjoy keeping track of our total number of homeschooling days. (1 through... ?) Writing them in by hand, allows for days missed due to things like gymnastics camp, visitors from out of town, doctor's appointments, etc. without having to scratch out days and dates that I had pre-printed. Circle time, handwriting/writing, math, and our reading program are consistent. I just pick up and continue from where we left off the day before and so it was silly for me to hand write the same thing out day after day. I just went ahead and typed those up as "ongoing". The sections that are blank are the sections where our lessons vary from day to day.
All the way on the right, you'll notice a section for "minutes". That's where I write in the amount of time we spent in each area for the purposes of logging. The state of Missouri has annual requirements for homeschoolers and so this is my method of keeping track. During the day, as I refer to my planner I'll make notes about which subjects we did during that day and the amount of time we spent doing it. At the end of the day I tally up the times and transfer them to the Learning Log.
So far, this system is working well for us. It looks like a lot of work, but in practice, it is taking no more than 15 minutes a day. The sections we do daily require no time at all because they are ongoing. At the end of the day I sit down for 5-10 minutes and think about our plans for the next day. I try to rotate in other "subjects" at least once a week. I try to do something science focused, social studies focused, arts/crafts focused, and so on once a week and so I'll write those in.
The ongoing lessons do require some maintenance work. The short version is that at the end of an ongoing lesson (math, reading, spelling) I preview the next day's lesson and prepare any materials that need to be prepped right then. It takes no more than 5-10 minutes and the children take a short break while I get that done. So, at the end of the math lesson I preview the next lesson and gather any manipulatives I might need that I don't already have on hand. At the end of a reading lesson I preview the lesson for the next day. Those lessons often involve cutting something out, so I'll go ahead and do that and place the cut out words in an envelope of the binder ready to go for the next day. The children tend to get a drink, go to the bathroom, sit down at their computer for a few minutes, or play with something while I spend those 5-10 minutes prepping the next day's lesson. Then I call them back to the table for the next thing.
I have a monthly calendar at the beginning of the lesson plan section that helps me keep track of special things I need to remember. For example, in June, arts and crafts included making something for Father's Day. The monthly calendar helps me remember to include those types of events in my lesson planning. So that's planning and logging. I'll post on how we organize/store all the materials for each subject and more on the math, reading, and writing programs we're using. For now, however, this post is long enough.
I was able to overcome senile dementia via a complete naturopathic process.
ReplyDeleteAbout two years ago, when I was 56, I started feeling foggy and had occasional memory lapses. My wife, Mary, started to notice it, too, but I also have hearing issues so she thought that was the problem. My memory problems worsened very gradually over the years, and we lived with it, compensating as needed. I became less social. After some months thereafter, it got to the point where we couldn’t keep making excuses or ignoring it. I had gone from doing our grocery shopping without a list to going with a list, to having the list but not buying what was on it.
Mary went online to do some research, and it was during this process we had been fortunate enough to come across Dr. Utu Herbal Cure: an African herbalist and witch doctor whose professional works had majored on the eradication of certain viral conditions, especially dementia, ( improving the memory capacity positively), via a traditional, naturopathic process and distinguished diet plan. It was by the administration of this herbal specialist that I had been able to improve my condition for better. So to say, the encounter with the above-mentioned herbal practitioner was the first time we ever heard there was something that possibly can be done to improve my memory functionality.
By the existence of such an encounter, I was able to learn of the new approach by which this herbalist successfully treated dementia conditions, which included a distinguished herbal therapy and lifestyle changes of which I had undergone to a tremendous, positive effect.
It was after the completion of the herbal therapy I had started to experience a great deal of cognitive improvement when it came to rational decision making.
In brief, I was able to go through the dreadful hollows of senile dementia without any further hazardous damage to my health condition, and within a short period. Had it not been for the support of my wife, of whom had encouraged me to undergo the above-mentioned therapy and that of the herbal practitioner of whom now happens to be benefactor - I would have been long exposed to the further perils of this condition and of which had been apt to result to a calamitous end.
I would also wish for the same positiveness upon patients who may happen to be suffering from this debilitating disease, and would warmly beseech them to find a confidant like this herbal professional with whose professional services I was able to attain a divine healing.
For more information concerning this African traditional cure for Alzheimer's disease; feel free to reach Dr. Utu directly via email: drutuherbalcure@gmail.com
Hi, there. I am Tom Neil and I wish to describe how life had been for my younger brother living with schizophrenia and how he had been permanently able to overcome this debilitating disease via a naturopathic, herbal method.
ReplyDeleteMaicon - my kid brother was twenty years old when he was brought to the emergency room by the campus police of the college from which he had been suspended several months ago. A professor had called and reported that he had walked into his classroom, accused him of taking his tuition money, and declined to leave.
Although he had much educational achievement as a teenager, his behavior had become increasingly different during the past year. He quit seeing his friends and no longer seemed to care about his appearance or social pursuits. He began wearing the same clothes each day and seldom bathed. He lived with several family members but rarely spoke to any of them. When he did talk to them, he said he had found clues that his college was just a front for an organized crime operation. He had been suspended from college because of missing many classes. My sister said that she had often seen him mumbling quietly to himself and at times he seemed to be talking to people who were not there. He would emerge from my room and ask my family to be quiet even when they were not making any noise.
My father and sister told the staff that Maicon's great-grandmother had had a serious illness and had lived for 30 years in a state hospital, which they believed was a mental hospital. Our mother left the family when Maicon was very young. She has been out of touch with us, and they thought she might have been treated for mental health problems.
Maicon agreed to sign himself into the psychiatric unit for treatment. The whole family except I had agreed to have Maicon transferred to a mental asylum. I knew inwardly there was still some plausible means by which my kid brother could overcome this condition. I knew botanical means of treatment will be more favorable than any other type of treatment, and as such, I had taken a keen interest in the research of naturopathic alternative measures suitable for the treatment of schizophrenia. I had pleaded for some little patience from the family in the delay of the transfer, I was looking forward to proving a point to the entire family, of a positive botanical remedy for this condition.
It was during my ceaseless search on the internet I had been fortunate enough to come across Dr. Utu Herbal Cure: an African herbalist and witch doctor whose professional works had majored on the eradication of certain viral conditions, especially schizophrenia, ( improving the memory capacity positively), via a traditional, naturopathic process and distinguished diet plan. It was by the administration of this herbal specialist that my brother had been able to improve his condition for better.
Before the naturopathic remedy - Maicon's story had reflected a common case, in which a high-functioning young adult goes through a major decline in day-to-day skills. Although family and friends may feel this is a loss of the person they knew, the illness can be treated and a good outcome is possible.
My brother Maicon is just like many other patients out there suffering from this disease. Although he was able to overcome this condition via a naturopathic herbal remedy administered by this African herbal physician and saved completely thus, rekindling the lost joy which had been experienced by the family members.
I wish to use this opportunity to reach across to anyone who may happen to be diagnosed with this disastrous condition to spread the hope of an everlasting herbal remedy that is capable of imposing a permanent end to this disease.
For more information concerning this naturopathic herbal remedy, feel free to contact this African herbal practitioner via email:
drutuherbalcure@gmail.com