Homeschooling Plans for Our Next {First} Year

First, can I tell you that I want to redesign my blog … again? What is wrong with me? hahaha

OK … so I have been searching through some really great homeschooling sites and blogs and gathering inspiration for next year. In many ways it feels like our first time doing this. And I guess in some ways it is. It will be my first time homeschooling 2 little girlies (well one little, one not-so-little) instead of just one.

In order to organize my thoughts I went searching for a yearly overview planner. I found one and printed it out, but it was plain and I'm not. So I (of course) made my own. It looks like this:
It goes in my handy dandy notebook. If you like it, you can access a blank version here and print it out for yourself if you'd like. It's colorful, of course :) … if you don't want to print it in color, you can simply print it in grayscale, or you can access the blank black and white version here.

As you can see, they are doing nearly the same things, even though they are 6 years apart in school. More about that coming soon …

Weekly Menu - Free Printable!

I ♥ free stuff.  And I ♥ to organize.  And I ♥ lists.  And I ♥ to have everything spelled out right in front of me.  So for me nothing is better than a weekly menu displayed in my kitchen for me and all the world to see at a glance.  And cute, it's gotta be cute ;-)

I'm currently working on personal organizer pages for myself and I thought I would share them with you as they are complete.  The other day I posted about my daily tasks page.  You can find it here (also a free printable).

I just finished working on this matching weekly menu page.  I made 2 of them in case you need the other one that I don't use.  The first one is the one I use:

I don't know about you, but there's really no point in me planning any dinners on the weekends.
If we do cook at home then we will decide what we want on the fly.  But usually it's eating out that happens because we're out and about (these days we're on the lake).  Also there's a place for lunch ideas for the week.  I jot them down and then Lydia tells me what she would like the next day.  That works well for us :)


The second one is like it, but includes Saturday and Sunday for my friends who want that instead.   There wasn't enough room for "lunches" on this one - sorry!  It would have looked all jumbled and, well, less is more, right?

So if you like them, feel free to download them by clicking on the version that you would use above.  They are .pdf files and print great on a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper.  The downloaded files will not have the One Crazy Chicken Designs watermark on them :)

Here's how to use them:

I have mine framed in an IKEA frame that *says* it is 8 ¾ x 11, but it's not … it's 8 ½ x 11.  So it works perfectly.  Of course, you can print it out and cut it down to 8 x 10 for a standard frame - there's plenty of room for trimming to that size.  You could also print it out in black onto a cute piece of scrapbooking paper!

After you have printed and framed it, simply use dry erase markers to write the day's meals and lunch ideas on the glass (or plastic if it's an IKEA frame).  Mine sits on my kitchen counter.

Another option is to print it out and laminate it.  Then you could glue a magnet onto the back and use it on the fridge.  That works too.  Or you could just print one out each week and write directly on it.  However you want to use it is up to you.  I simply ask that you do not repost it and claim it as your own.   Otherwise, enjoy!

my day … free printable

I use notebooks for everything … decoration & project inspiration, favorite recipes, and to keep myself organized. I love lists. They help me stay organized. I must confess that in the summer I don't really stay organized - I tend to chuck it all out the window in favor of laziness. But the new school year will be beginning soon and so I am on a quest to find just the right daily organizer for me. I don't do daytimers or the like. I have to make my own notebooks and so I use a lot of free printables for calendars and such. But I haven't yet found just the right daily sheet for me. So I made my own. And I thought I would share it with you! If you use something like this, I hope you find it helpful Ü … here's what it looks like:

And here is how I use it:

I prioritize my most important tasks for the day and write them in the first section.  For instance, if I absolutely must buy a birthday gift today for a party tonight (hopefully I haven't really waited that long, but you know how life can be), then I write it there.

When things come to my mind that I want to research or look up or learn or just blog about, then I jot them down in the next section.  If I don't I will completely forget about them!

In the next section I write things that I might want to try and accomplish today, but they either aren't necessary to complete that day (such as laundry - ha!) or they're things that are already on my radar screen (like swimming for the girls).

In the other section at the top I want to make sure that I take care of me.  Did I have my quiet  time with the Lord today?  Check.  Do I have some inspiration for today?  Perhaps (and it usually is these days) Love never fails - 1 Corinthians 13:8, so I write it here so that I can  read it over and over and remind myself.  Have I exercised today?  I'm working on the Couch to 5K plan, so I'll write that here.  Am I drinking enough water?   Truthfully this almost never gets checked off all the way!  And lastly, what have I eaten today?

Last, any notes that I need to make or thoughts that come to my mind I jot down at the bottom, along with dinner plans for the day and what and when I need to begin the dinner prep process.

And that's that.  For me, being a list-maker and notebook-taker, this is very helpful.  And if you want to try it, feel free.  Just click here to download the pdf file (minus the watermark, of course!) Ü … enjoy!