Summer is Ending - Time to Get Organized

Summer is quickly coming to an end. I have been organizing our school room and think almost everything is ready for us to start back to school full-time. The plan is to begin with some light schoolwork on Wednesday, the 24th. Then, the following Monday, we will probably begin our studies in My Father's World for this year.

It has been a good, but very busy summer for me and the kids. Work for the "Principle" has carried on as usual, and we have not had a chance to schedule a family vacation yet for this year. But, if things go as planned, we may have some time away in September or October. This will be a change for us, as we usually do vacations in August, but the weather will be cooler, and some attractions we intend to visit will most likely be less busy. So, that will be a positive.

Road Runner had her 13th birthday recently. She had a "dog" party and invited a few homeschool friends (a handful is plenty, as its not as overwhelming for her) to join her in painting their faces, decorating dog tag necklaces, and decorating cupcakes to look like dogs. Of course, we all barked the Happy Birthday song to her, too. It was a lot of fun.

In the background of the picture above, you can see our daily CHORE CHARTS. For anyone looking for an inexpensive way to keep track of chores for each child, and even for yourself, this is what we are using. I have seen many different versions of chore charts, some of them very expensive. But, for us, these simply made and FREE charts are just the thing. Basically, we just need a daily visual reminder of what needs to get done, and this helps tremendously. So, if you are interested, go to DLTK's website and use their customizable charts to input what chores you want your child (or yourself) to get done each day. Then, print them out! Put them into a magnetic frame (I found ours on Amazon.com) and stick them on the refrigerator, or use a clipboard and hang them on the wall. As you can see, our kids chose a picture to go along with their own chart and then colored it in to make it more "their own." 

So, that's my tip for today! Hope someone can use the idea.