"....Your children shall be like olive plants all around your table." Psalm 128:3

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Prepping for a New Year

Well, friends, it's that time of year again - our school books for the new year have arrived, and I am in a planning frenzy! Actually, the frenzy has died down a bit, and I am in the process of re-organizing our school room to make room for the new books. We have been in dire need of bookshelves for a couple of years, and, thankfully, my mom recently gave us some cedar lumber that belonged to my dear Dad. So hubby and the boys are planning on making new cedar bookshelves as a fall/ winter handicraft project.  I can't wait to see how they turn out!  :) 



But back to the books. Our children will be in yr10, yr8, yr7, yr6, and yr3 this year.  Here is a peek at some (not all) of their books, in no particular order. As I mentioned above, we in the organizing stage, so the books are here, there, everywhere! But here are the ones I could track down.  ;)





 We have Kindle books, too, and some online readings, as well. But I really want the children to have hard copies of the books. So I make sure that they each have hard copies of some of their books.

Now for scheduling...for the past 3 years, I have printed the AO weekly schedules. But this year, I decided to try the pdf versions of the schedules. They are smaller and use less paper and ink!  :) And I have the entire term on one page. I like that. If I need to look ahead for some reason, I can easily find the info on the chart. Now, will the children like them as much as the other schedules? That remains to be seen. Hope so.

I also print the Composer study, Hymn, Folksong, Shakespeare, and Plutarch schedules so that I don't have to keep going back to the AO website to look them up.



For Artist study, I print a copy of the painting and place it under our clear vinyl  tablecloth. 
It's always in view so the children become very familiar with it.   I also have a way of Keeping our Artist study, for those who may interested, but more on that in another post.

Now for the binders..we have previously used these folders (one for each child), which contains their schedules, maps, calligraphy paper, etc.
But the folders became worn, as you can see, and by the end of the 2nd term, they were overflowing with papers.

So I decided to buy each child a binder this year...
 Now, there is plenty of room for all their AO stuff!   And they had such fun decorating their cover pages.

Each child gets a new Nature journal this year. (There is nothing quite like a fresh, new Nature journal, is there?) I got these from Wal-Mart. They are smaller than the ones we have previously used. But the children picked them out, so I went with their suggestion.

Of course, my children aren't the only ones who get all the goodies at the beginning of the new school year. I get a treat, too. And this year it's a hard copy of the Charlotte Mason homeschooling series! All six volumes! No more highlighting on the Kindle! No more endless note-taking!
Happy homeschooling! :)

"All your children shall be taught by the Lord, 
And great shall be the peace of your children."" ~ Isaiah 54:13


12 comments:

  1. Looks like quite the collection of great books!

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    1. Yes it is, Kendra and that's not all of them! Looking forward to new year. :)
      Hope you and yours are doing well.

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  2. I want to do school at your house this year, just so I can read some of those books! :)

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    1. Of course! There is always room.for one more student...or 3 if you include the girls. ;)

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  3. Ahh! I love planning and the new books and such! Thanks for sharing your post! :)

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    1. I agree, but the most fun is on tje way- beginning a new year of AO! :)

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  4. Oh, memories of the good old days! Planning and prepping for the upcoming school year. I miss those days!

    Arguing About Slavery is in my top 10 favorite books of all time! Loved that book. My youngest dd and I read it together out loud spread out over the entire year, once or twice a week. I am quite sure you will love it. From the very first paragraph it grabbed our attention and kept us hooked throughout. On some days neither one of us could speak, we were so lost in thought after the reading.

    Year 10 is a very good year!

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  5. Good to hear from you, Linda. I am looking forward to delving into Arguing About Slavery. But for now, I am pre-reading Churchill's Great Democracies. And I am captivated - I can't put this book down! :)
    Definitely looking forward to the other books for yr10, as well. Thanks so much for the encouragement. :)

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  6. Wow! You have quite the range of students! :)

    Did you get all of CM's volumes at once!? How fun! I'm jealous! ;o)

    I love the name of your blog, btw. :)

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    1. Yes, Catie, 5 different AO yrs keeps me on my toes. :)
      I did get all the volumes at once. They are used, but like new - with only a few highlights and markings inside, so as far as I am concerned, they are new. :)
      Thanks for stopping by today.

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  7. Very organised, Lisa! I've always done composer, artist etc on the hop. It's interesting reading blogs from your part of the world - the long summer break and the September start up. We break over Christmas & the new school year starts at the end of January. I do like having CM in hard copy!

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  8. Yes, Carol, my CM hard copy is already well marked and fast filling up with marginal notes.
    Glad you stopped by for a visit. :)

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I love to hear from my readers, and your thoughts are welcome. And I try my best to respond to each and every comment. :)