Teacher Student Conferences {Our} Homeschool Style

I remember Parent Teacher Conferences when I was in school, and when my own kids were in public school. It was an opportunity to get either days off of school or get out of school early for a few days. Oh! and of course to hear the progress of the students. Yes... It must have been a lot of work for the teachers! Each of my classes usually had at least 30 students {that's why it took days to cover everyone}. Homeschooling only two can be really easy {sometimes}. There are only two 'stacks' of assignments to look at and assess. And there is only one set of parents to confer with {heehee}.

This post contains affiliate links*. See Disclosure/Policies.

Back in June I planned a lot for the year. The most in depth was for the first term, 12-weeks. I knew I would have to revise terms 2 and 3 if I did more than just tentatively plan. I used Evernote this year, along with print-outs of the schedules in hopes to keep myself more organized. {You can click the image and see it larger, if you'd like. This is for Lee but Fox's looks just about the same.}

So this is how our conferences went. We had one-on-one time. Lee was first with her print-out and me with my Evernote on the Fire. We discovered that we'd 'forgotten' to schedule Ourselves into the weekly readings. And we also discussed the books and scheduling for her Editing studies. I'm not entirely sure how out-of-date the The Copyeditor's Handbook*  is at this point, but I still think it will be useful. The same with The Elements of Editing by Arthur Plotnik*. I think that I will also add in Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor*, but it will be a more 'at your own pace' book. 

With Fox, we'd forgotten to 'find' the book Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper for natural science/nature study. I had it on the computer somewhere before I cleaned it and thought I saved all important files. That one was apparently a fatality and didn't make it. When I went searching for it for the Kindle, the only ones I found were terribly formatted. Finally I downloaded it as a pdf and put it on the Kindle Fire. Also we've missed working on Francis Bacon essays. I'll admit and tell you that I think this has been mostly my 'forgetting'. I tried to work with Lee through the essays when she was in 9th grade and we quit. I am almost dreading them now with Fox. The final thing we had to make a spot for was Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves by Roy Maynard* {that's the Kindle version and it is beautifully formatted even though it might be noted otherwise in the reviews and on AO's site- trust me}.  Both the essays and Maynard's book I am going to have to get Spark Notes or something. I don't want to short change Fox by my inability to understand what I want him to understand. 

With both of the kids, they had their planner {Lee has an actual planner, Fox writes things down on lined paper for now; his planner* is on its way!} with completed subjects/assignments. We went through and matched up the weekly assignments as planned to see where we are in reality. For both, they are fairly caught up but for what I mentioned above.

And just a side note: We use Well Planned Day planners. We've used the yearly student*, the family homeschool*, and the 4-year high school planner* {Lee's high school years}. Right now, the older 4-year high school planners are on sale. The 2010-2014 planner is only $7.98! Even if you only use it for one year- that's quite inexpensive for a planner like this. Or until Saturday, Sept. 7, HEDUA is having a sale- 30% off family planners*. Use coupon: wpd30

And yes, those are affiliate links but I really like WPD planners. Really like them. 

School has been going along well, even with a few glitches and hitches. My next step is to start making their Term 1 Exams. Ambleside Online has both Y8 and Y10 exams online, with keys, but I will have to come up with some of my own material since we are not using everything from AO. Almost everything.

I guess I know what I will be doing for the next few weeks. I think I am looking forward to it as much as I am dreading it lol. 

Great Finds Online (Homeschooling)

There are a lot of great ‘deals’ available thanks to the great inter-web (lol, that’s a term my dh uses). Here are just a few that have been brought to my attention that you might enjoy/be able to use:

Register to Win Diane Flynn Keith’s Basic Building Blocks for Success! Sign up now for a free audio seminar titled How to Get Started Homeschooling, and be entered for a chance to win the program Basic Building Blocks for Success.

For more information on this resource click the button- to register to win, click HERE.

Diane Flynn Keith is a well-known homeschool advocate, having home schooled her own children and she is the creator of Clickschooling.com (as well as Carschooling.com, the website by the same name as her book). Many homeschoolers know her by name and consider her information a good resource.

Diane Flynn Keith also is associated with these other resources for homeschooling:

   

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Need to get organized? Right now the Well Planned Day Planners are on sale- 60% off!

We use these planners in our homeschool and absolutely love them. This is a wonderful value for the product. Check out the selection at the Well Planned Day for 60% off all planners.

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Free ebook from Simply Charlotte Mason, The Way of the Will.

Using the words of wisdom from Charlotte Mason, this book helps us to find the difference between “I want” and “I will.” The book is 54 pages and available in different downloadable formats. It isn’t just about children, either. Every person has a ‘will’ that dictates how we do things in our lives- understanding this helps with our own actions. It is also important for our children- to help them have a strong will as opposed to a weak will.

Check out the website article for more information on this free ebook from Simply Charlotte Mason.

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Free mp3 download- What Does the Constitution Do? –thanks to Five J’s.

EducationalRap.com is offering a free download of their rap song set "What Does the Constitution Do?". This is one of their Rhythm Rhyme Results ‘products’. The download includes four versions of the song (normal speed, slowed down, missing words, and karaoke-style), as well as the lyrics, worksheets, and answer keys.

From EducationalRap.com:

This song teaches the contents of Articles I to VII of the Constitution. It explains the structure of the US government including Congress, the executive branch, including President and Vice President, as well as the Supreme Court and its justices. It also discusses state's rights, Constitutional amendments, and approval of the Constitution. The teaching materials at the bottom of the page, including videos, lesson plans, worksheets, and activities help teachers and homeschool parents generate teaching ideas for the song topics. Students will better understand Articles I to VII of the Constitution.
This social studies song is suitable to help teach the US Constitution and Constitution Day to elementary school students (4th grade, 5th grade and 6th grade), middle school, high school, home school, and college classes.

Well Planned Day Homeschool Planner 2011-2012

Back in January I decided to preorder the 2011-2012 Homeschool Planner from Home Educating Family Publishing. 

I've been using The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's printable planner since last year some time and I really like it. I like that you can choose which forms to print, and that they can be typed into and then printed (and saved!). But there were so many times I was out of printer ink...

I would end up getting out a piece of paper and drawing the form, penciling in what I wanted typed. It works just fine that way but really, I don't want to take the time to do it!  No. No, I do not think it laziness. (LOL) I think it is simply a matter of budgeting my time better (yes, laugh with me on that one wink).

The Well Planned Day Planner is so...well, pretty. I finally received it the first of April. I wanted to mark it up immediately but that really didn't make much sense. It is only April...school is out for us in May....June is a break month... first of July we start back. Who knows what could happen between now and then. The best laid plans of mice and men... anyway. I did write a few things in it. I couldn't resist. 

Let me just get this in here really quick: I would so SO like it if there were an option at ordering to customize this. I have two kids. There are pages for up to four kids. Not too big of a deal. I can use the extras for when/if I mess up. Another feature that is really nice but unnecessary for myself is the Shopping Lists. I have my shopping list pads all over my house (unfortunately, they don't always end up telling me what I need to buy for the week/month- they sometimes make it to the hands of my children, who love paper, any kind of paper) and honestly, I do not use them. Fortunately, the shopping lists are just one page a month. And the Report Cards in the back. Don't need that either. I print them out (so they look more official, I think).

Plenty that I do like about this planner, though! The Class Plan is great. I try to keep the receipts for items (books, paper, textbooks, etc) that I purchase for school but I've only managed to really keep tabs of the textbooks or set curriculum that I purchase. I often forget about the other books that are great to have anyway but I would probably not have grabbed them if I weren't homeschooling.

The Class Plan has a spot for putting down the publisher/title/source along with the purchase price and date. That I am liking.

I enjoy the articles interspersed throughout the months of the year. I have gone through and read a few of them already. It will be nice to come to them on their set months as well. 

Each week has a catechism. 

There are also Progress Reports and Attendance Reports (sorry no photos of those pages...). There is a lot more to like about the Planner. I really love the colors. ;)

I'm hoping that having this already here and available whenever I need it will help with my planning next year. Lee will be a freshman- gasp- in high school and I need to make sure I keep good records and stay organized. 

Of course, I will still use many of the features of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Planner as well. It is so full of everything. Even though I am liking the Well Planned Day Planner, it doesn't have near as much as the TOS Planner.