Here and there I’m getting it done.
Like this morning. Was supposed to be at church for a very special service including a baptism.

Instead, I’m home with one little girl who is doing great (and was going to sit on my back for the baptism and then come back home with me), and another bigger girl, who woke up with a tummy ache in the night and got sick early this morning.

All in a day’s work for Momma, huh?!

So as some little girls were sleeping, I was planning some more. Here is my notebook complete with a one-page attendance sheet for the year from this site.

I have updated my Notebook. I need to use it more frequently this year to remind myself of what I’m supposed to be doing, and also what is coming up. It will eventually contain our Field Trip log completed. It also contains my own schedule (because I need to be a better time manager and hold myself more accountable). At the moment, I’m not downloading it, but if several of y’all insist I just might.

OK, the above photo gives a peak at it, but I don’t think you can see it really well. Basically, I’ve got my day planned with some cushion built in. This is still quite general and just a goal of what to do in the AM and what to do in the afternoon, and what NOT to do. 😉

My notebook also contains Year-At-A-Glance Schedules for each of the children (still working on 1st graders). You can see a sample of the 2-page document here. I use white copies for my notebook and color code them (accd. to family color) for our dear children’s notebooks. This basically shows the resources we will use this year from reading books to read-a-louds to science texts and language assignments to electives.

Here is a sample of the front page of the Year-at-a-Glance:

And the front page of the Weekly Schedule (which I need to update for this year, and will be tweaking with more DIRECTION). 😉

Then I made out a NEW checklist this year for the older boys: a DAILY schedule. Some people need some more accountability. I may not use it forever, but for this season, it will be a directive NOT a suggestion. 😉 These photos show the front page of the Daily Schedule, the front page of the Year-at-a-Glance page, and the beauty of their color-codedness.

My current to-do list might be a mile long, and the laundry is just getting done as it piles up, but I really need a solid plan in place or things can unravel quickly. We also will most likely be walking through open-heart surgery with baby girl during this school year, so the more I have laid out the better.

I will be doing modified versions of the Year-at-a-Glance and Weekly Schedules for the 1st graders. I think I’ll stick with our 9-pocket system for them to follow along daily. I want to still keep it reasonable for them and mostly fun. They are doing great, so I’m confident they will learn tons more this year. When I look back at all they learned this year, I am simply astounded. And our big boys test results came back. Let’s just say the Principal was VERY, VERY happy with the results (and Momma’s tail feathers might have fluffed a bit). It is not something we hang our hats on, but it did confirm where we thought they were … and where we need to continue working.

Well back to planning. Now I’m re-motivated and my two girls are both asleep again!