With all the excitement and medical issues in our lives lately, we have not had much time to start school planning. I’m getting closer to a panic attack about the state of our readiness. It isn’t good to go in to a homeschool year with no plan laid out and a pile of last year’s papers left ungraded. And then there are those report cards… and awards earned… that seemed to have been forgotten like the last 1/4 of last year’s Math books.
The kids took their standardized tests only last week. We take the free online version from Texas – the link is in my sidebar under “Homeschool Links”. The test is called the TAKS. They have math, reading, and I think science… but we haven’t done the science portion (yet). Kaden made a 98% in Math, Morgan made a 90%. They both scored 95% in reading. I don’t know why I was so worried about their math (besides the fact that we only finished 60% of their books and they hate math). They are avid readers and we all love reading. It figures that I would end up with math-haters, since it was always my least favorite subject. We are much more in to art, biology, geology, geography, history, and reading!
So now that we are coming up on a new year, I’m preparing today with a big list of things that need to get done. Things for me to do and things for the kids to do. I’m cleaning off my desk as a first start to a new year; a year with lots of big plans (and a big surprise with ten toes and fingers arriving in the Spring).
I love lists and I love crossing them off even more. Would you like to share what is on your back to school or personal list this month? I’m setting up a linky so we can share together.
Be sure to visit the linky at the bottom of this post and leave me a comment!
Here’s my August List (personal):
Blog some recipes
Do a review of CEUpdate checkbookPay bills on the 20th
Catch up on pathetically late birthday and thank you cards
mail those seeds (I am soooooo sorry they are this late!)
Write my HOTM article for September
Update my prayer list
Clean out my beast of an email box (all 4 of them)Create an August calendar for my dayplanner (yeah, I know it’s the 18th)
Make a menu plan
Catch up on States & Regions KONOS assignments
Plan next co-op meeting
Check off my to-blog listCheck the bank account online
Return the $ from savings we’ve been living on out of next check
Sell old school books
Buy a Pampered Chef Timer
Read my camera manual
Help Morgan with her book review for HOTM
Finish my planner review for HOTM
Add our new friends’ birthdays to our calendarPost the winner to the Scholastic Contest
Get our life and auto insurance stuff doneGet HSBA stuff done
Get my friend’s King Ranch Chicken recipeUpdate dayplanner for this weekLAUNDRY MOUNTAIN
Figure out what is wrong with my computer (back up data)Get Kaden’s crown on at dentist
Clean out my closet (put away/get rid of clothes)
Clean out kids closets (give away what won’t fit)
Finish cleaning bathroomsVacuum downstairsVacuum stairsVacuum upstairs
Make a pantry inventoryClean off desk, sort papersBuy Toothpaste
Finish tagging posts on blog
Finish linking older posts on link post
Here’s my Back to School list:Return extremely overdue library books and pay fine
Take cookies to librarian
Get my Flat Stanley stuff mailed out
Finish grading last year’s papers
Give kids the Science TAKS testBegin Choir
Schedule more PE in the school year
Try out Homeschool Tracker
Buy: “How to Write Clearly” – Ruth BeechickReview Goals from last year, create goal worksheets for this year
Finish the 08 Gradebook
Print off some rubrics from online
Print the rest of our chores out, laminate them for our pegboards
Order awards for last yearGet school year calendar printed/updated with co-op datesBuy co-op t-shirts
Finish reading Heart of Wisdom Teaching ApproachGo through the school cabinet and get papers sorted, lined up for school
Buy Morgan’s Math bookPlan out next KONOS units after Civil WarBuy lesson planner for 2008-9
Take kids’ height/weight measurements for the yearBuy school supplies we need stillBuy some binders at Wal-Mart
Make schedule for our days (no computer time before/during school)
Back to school field trip with co-op
Get last year’s school paperwork filed
Make this year’s school to-do list (goals to accomplish)
Make this year’s to-read book list
Finish reading “Cricket in Times Square”
Buy: “How to Draw Animals” by Jack Hamm
Set up field trip to local TV station/radio station for this year
Set up portfolio system for this year (kids in charge of their own)Back to school breakfast out with kids
Organize the school room/set up stationsGet a book basket for current readsSeparate by “brain” in to two bindersInvite friends to local co-opFirst Keepers meeting & paymentsDye Keeper’s shirtClean out “BRAIN” (dayplanner)
That looks like enough to keep me busy for more than just August, right? So what are you hoping and planning to get done in the next month? Dream big! Share it with us!
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WOW You’ve got your work cut out for you!
Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.
My list might be a tiny bit shorter than yours … lol! :o)
JMO on homeschool tracker unless it is free don’t bother…it is very labor intensive to start…I much prefer to write it all down…JMO of course
Heather,
I shall make a list just to help me make a plan! Good luck on all of yours! Thanks for the motivation! Uh-oh, my kitten is up here wanting the cursor!
Danielle
Looks like you will have a busy month!!
This is my first year homeschooling and it should be minimal since it is Kindergarten, but I still feel a little overwhelmed!! Making a list helps a little, I think.
Thanks Nikowa. 🙂
Theresa – I need to homeschool with you! 🙂 Your list looked so much easier.
Katey – my version of tracker is free… but i love writing it down
danielle – 🙂 no problem. good luck on checking yours off, too.
Heather -you’ll be fine. Kindergarten was such a blast! Wish time was that easy for me, too!
Great list Heather. I added mine to the Linky.
I got a late start planning, thinking I did not need to plan much, but so far have half the year done. My lesson plans only go to the beginning of Nov. Figured if there is anything I forgot about, school-wise, we can do it from then until Christmas! I am sure there is more to my list, but can’t retrieve it from the brain right now!
Wow, I wish you luck with both your lists, seems a bit over whelming to me.
Those are quite some lists you’ve got there. All the best to you as you get everything accomplished.
I’ll have to see if I can come up with lists for me. I’ve got the info in my head but I’ve never written it down…maybe it’s because I’m scared mine will be longer than yours are.
Sis Lisa – Thanks for playing! I love lists.
Cassidy – So you are a November/December break person? That’s neat. I take off some during that time of year, too. Sometimes the whole month of December. I usually school for September through June and take off parts of November and March, December, July and August. Mainly we take those summer months because our friends do – and the kids are burned out if we don’t have a “summer”.
Homeschool and Make Money – Yeah, I stay in a state of constant burnout. LOL Didn’t you listen in at the HOTM conference? LOL
Akhmm – Thanks for the well wishes. I have to write things down because I have holes in my brain. Things leak out and I forget them forever. That’s the price of having 5 pregnancies!
do I have to actually DO the things on my to do list 🙂