Menu Plan Monday

Breakfast:

Saturday Pancakes, Bacon, Milk

Sun-Fri  Continental Breakfast (HM Instant Oatmeal, cereal, muffins or bagels, crockpot casserole or boiled eggs, crockpot baked oatmeal, fruit, milk, juice)

Lunch:

Saturday Potluck Leftovers!

Sunday

• 1: Crockpot Stroganoff, Egg Noodles, Peas, brownies
• 2: Roast Chicken (save 1c and make broth), Carrots, Potato, dump cake

Mon-Fri: Sandwiches, Snack, Fruit/Veg

Dinners:

1. Beef & Bean Oven Taco’s, Salad
2. Lentil Sloppy Joes (double and freeze), oven fries, relish tray
3. Spaghetti (sauce in freezer), Salad, Garlic Toast
4. Ma Nelson's Hamburger Soup (brown 10# of meat freeze 9), Bread, Relish Tray
5. Chicken and Dumplings, Bread, Relish Tray
6. Tatertot Casserole (make 2 or 3 and freeze), Canned Corn, Applesauce
7. Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Pineapple
8. Papa Murphys, Relish Tray
9. Homemade Pizza, Relish Tray
10. Crockpot Debt Kickin Beans and Rice, broccoli, fruit salad
11. Crockpot Lentil Rice casserole (from freezer), broccoli, fruit salad
12. Christina’s easy Lasagna(make sauce and freeze 2 portions), salad, garlic toast
13. Snack Supper- Chip and Dip Night (lays and ranch dip)
14. Snack Supper- Mexican Night (rotel cheese dip and tortilla chips)

Joy Homeschool Books of the Week

Rainbow's Pick:

Mountain Wedding by Faye Gibbons

 This book is about two families. Both families' children are constantly quarreling. The parents decide to get married, and the wedding is crazy. It takes a swarm of bees and a run-away wagon to get the both the parents and the kiddos to say "I do". I like this book because it reminds me of my family! 

 

 

Batman's Pick:

The Boy on Fairfield Street by Kathleen Krull

It was a cool story that told about Dr. Suess' childhood. The most interesting part was learning about how he wrote most of his books.

Robin's Pick:

McGillycuddy Could! by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Migillycuddy Could! is a about a Kangaroo going to a farm and not being able to do what a Cow, a Roosters,  a Hen, a Sheep and a Duck can do. McGillycuddy learns that he can help the duckling be safe from the fox. I like this book because its really funny.

Superman's Pick:

Even Steven and Odd Todd by Kathryn Cristaldi

I liked learning about Even and Odd numbers in this book.  In this book your intruduced to a super organized Even Steven and a more laid back Odd Todd and how they are so very different. It was a very fun way to introduce Even and Odd numbers!

Pinkie Pie's Pick:

Kangaroo's Adventure in Alphabet Town by Janet McDonnell

Pinkie Pie really enjoyed searching for letter "K" sounds in this book. She loved all the letter shaped houses. Vixthemom thought this book was really sweet and loved the mother saying "That's okay, we all make mistakes"

Feeding 9 on a Dime: Soup

"We are making Boy Soup Mom!"

How to make soup in 3 easy steps 

Or How to Use up Your Leftovers Like a Pro

 

Simmer your Veggies:  

First drizzle your soup pot with olive oil, butter or coconut oil and saute 2 to 3 cups of veggies for  a few minutes. I like to use Garlic, Onions, Carrots, Celery to start adding potato, squash, zucchini and peppers for different flavors. This is a good time to scour the fridge for leftover veg to toss into the pot

Add your Protien:

Next add a cup or two of any type of cooked protein you enjoy! Ground Beef, diced roast, cooked chicken, bacon, cooked beans are all wonderful additions! Another great way to use up the fridge leftovers! One steak can become a meal for 9 when diced into a soup! I have even crumbled a slice of meat loaf into a soup!

Add your Broth:

Then add 3-6 cups of broth with 3to 6 cups of water and seasonings like Salt, Pepper, Bullion, Cayenne pepper, Italian seasonings, cumin and whatever sounds good! Broth is easy to make yourself with a crock pot, chicken or beef bones, garlic, carrots, celery, onion and a little salt. Just simmer for 8-10 on low. Box, can or bullion broth is fine as well. Tomato sauce or diced tomato can be added at this time.

Add your Starch:

Finally add your starch and cook through! Pasta, Rice, Potato, Barely, and Quinoa are some great options to thicken up a soup! Simmer for at least 20 min to allow the flavors to meld together nicely. During the last 5-10 minutes you can add Kale, Spinach or other greens if you like.

Always serve with a hot crusty loaf of bread and a nice spread of real butter!

1.  

Feeding 9 on a Dime: Menu February 2014

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday	Granola or Cereal *fruit, milk	Roast Veggies Dessert	Snack Plate
Monday	Muffins *fruit, milk	Leftovers or Soup and Sandwich	Soup Chicken Soup Beefy Mac Soup Hamburger Soup Potato Soup WW Bread!
Tuesday	(baked) Oatmeal *fruit, milk	Leftovers or Soup and Sandwich	~Casserole~ Chicken Rotel Rice Dirty Rice Tatertot Casserole Steamed Veg
Wednesday	Waffles *fruit, milk	Leftovers or soup and Sandwich	~Beans~ Lentil Taco’s Bean Bowls Black Bean and Beef Taco Chili  All the Fixins
Thursday	(baked) Oatmeal *fruit, milk	Leftovers or Soup and Sandwich	~Pasta~ Spaghetti Chicken Cheddar Ranch Pasta Steamed Veg
Friday	Granola or Cereal *fruit, milk	Leftovers or Soup and Sandwich	Pizza Finger Salad
Saturday	WW Pancakes Bacon *fruit, milk	Leftovers or Soup and Sandwiches	Fish Hot Pot Fish and Baked Potato

*Snacks: Cheese stick, popcorn, fruit

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Why a School Room?

In the beginning of our homeschool journey I wanted my house to be a home and our school to be at the kitchen table. I kept a small shelf or cabnet with our supplies and we just cleaned up each day. Over the years the bins of books for each student, teachers manuels, supplies, maps, computers, printers, CD players, co-op materials and so forth took over. The kids needed space to spread out.

We tried using the couch and floor but I found productivity went way down for us. And I didnt want little TV Trays all over the house. Then the Lord blessed us with a larger Parsonage with a basement large enough and brightly lit enough to have a real  school room! Then I located some school desks for $2.50! So now our school room has a large Mom Meeting table, computer desk and seven little desks and everyone is happy!
Inside the kids desks they have pencils, their weekly binders and some textbooks. They also keep drawings and projects. On top we've taped some number and letter strips for those who need them still. On the wall we have our whiteboard and maps. We have shelves for the numerous books we have accumulated over time. And a large sofa for spreading out with a good book or watching your Math DVD. We love the space and Mom loves to leave "work" when she clocks out for the day.

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Have a Plan and Stick to the Plan

When we first began homeschooling 8 years ago I had only 3 children and used a traditional textbook/workbook style where planning was very simple. My curriculum company sent me homeschool lesson plans and nice little work books that were simply do the next page.  I just did a number of pages in each workbook and read a number of pages in each "spine". I picked this curriculum because it was what was reccomended to me by my daughters preschool. It seemed solid and simple enough. But it was extremely boring!

The second year of homeschooling I played around with different types of homeschooling. The textbook model was boring and I wanted to have FUN with my daughter, so we experimented with Charlotte Mason ideas (for
those of you who dont know, its all about short lessons and great books mostly) using Ambleside Online, Five in a Row, Sonlight, Simply Charlotte Mason and eventually just free styled using "good books" and reading a lot. While this was nice and a great bonding time in our homeschool it often left me lazy not getting much done, making excuses for not "having
school" on any given day for any given reason and The Husband was seriously doubting our decision. Not that these curricula had anything to do with that. It was more me finding myself as a teacher.

By our third year of homeschooling I added in a second student and a philosophy that went beyond the textbook model. After much prayer I  felt that just reading "good books" with no plan of action wasnt going to help me keep consistent in our homeschooling or have any type of order. How would I be sure everything was covered? How would the younger kids get what they needed? After much research I felt drawn to the 4 year history cycle and decided that I needed a curriculum that would guide my way and offer some consistency. I also needed something that combined students and was developed by someone who knew more about education than me. I bought Adventures in My Fathers world for my then 3rd grade daughter and 1st grade son. That was the year we started with Math U See as well. It was great! I had direction and a plan! The Husband was very pleased because he began to see consistency in our homeschool.

In our 4th year I added another student to the mix and began to get very overwhelmed. I learned that the look say way of teaching reading didnt produce the best spellers so I choose to use My Fathers World Kindergarten along side Exploring Countries and Cultures, and I cried! These two hefty manuels, boxes of books, homeschool laws and thr
ee little futures were looming over my head! How was I going to do this crazy homeschool thing? Was I nuts?

So I made an excel spreadsheet. It sounds hilarious now, spreadsheet? What? But no really. I made a "plan". I started to map out each student and each subject and what our next year would look like. This was great because I could see what was working, what wasnt and how much I was projected to spend the following school year. I could also see what I needed for each student coming along. Now 5 years later Im using that same file changing it as I go.

I've learned to change how I teach the same book to each child instead of buying a new thing for each one. My oldest two children got tailored curriculum for them because I just bought something new each year. My youngest 5 will get tailored curriculum for them because I just change the way I teach them till I find a way that works for them. No more buying the latest and greatest item out there, unless something truly isnt working for us and so far the only thing thats gotten any change has been our spelling and Im very happy with what we are using now.

I've also learned how to tweak My Fathers World to work for us and how to combine the different programs. I've never used every single part of a My Fathers World year in one year. I've used it all but in different ways each year. My Fathers World is just a skeleton for our school. 

Having a good solid plan helps me see where Im going and where I've been. It simplifies things for me. I have a good list and no question as to what I need for the upcoming year. I know what I will need to spend and therefor how much to save and Im not wasting money trying new things just to go back to the old. I know my curriculum well, so I know what to expect and its easier to teach the younger kids and then Im only learning new things for my oldest. Having a plan also makes homeschooling cheaper for us as we reuse curriculum and teachers guides for future students. 

Seven Days of Homeschooling Seven: Creating a Rhythm to Your Homeschool

 Its been such a wonderful blessing to have our years planned out for us with such a strong biblical foundation with My Fathers World curriculum. When we first began this curriculum I scoured the internet for other M.O.M.Y.S.(Mothers of Many Young Siblings aka Moms with Kids close in age) using My Fathers World. And while there are quite a few of us out there we tend to be too busy to blog about it. The one thing I love about My Fathers World is that it combines all of my children in 2nd through 8th grade in one nice package! But when I first looked at the Exploring Countries and Cultures grid I cried! It just felt like so "much" and I still had to teach each of the children individually in Math, Spelling, and English not to mention little ones on down the line in Phonics!  Often times I felt overwhelmed and behind, like a chicken with its head cut off running from desk to desk trying to meet everyone's needs. The more I asked around and searched the web I began to find some really great scheduling tips to make the homeschool year have a nice rhythm and the longer I homeschooled them the more natural it came to add one or two students each year. Its never been EASY just became natural over time. I'll save you the time and searching by listing some of the tips and ideas for giving your homeschool some rhythm.

This is a shot of my "schedule" made with Post-its so it can easily be changed when something doesnt work for us

1. Use your current routine as a guide. Most families by the time they begin homeschooling have some regular flow to their day, for us that would be breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, with nap immediately following, Dinner at 6, bed and bath at 8. A wise lady on a forum for Mothers of Many shared that she scheduled her school around these type of time posts and we latched on to that idea. Every school day we read our Bible and have Breakfast. At lunch we read our History and Science. At naptime we have Art, Music and Read Alouds. Between breakfast and Lunch we have our individual studies and between lunch and dinner we have chores and play time. Pretty simple! But remember as your children grow and change so can your routine.

2. Keep small idle hands busy! Small people who are not occupied with school work will get into a ton of mischief. Like the time a 4 year old let the 2 year old out of the house because "he wanted to play outside" in the cold winter and he was only wearing a DIAPER!. Things get broken, written on and strewn all over the house when Mom is occupied teaching the older ones. So keep them busy. Schedule their day by rotating activities. In our home that means little ones watch a preschool show after breakfast then come down stairs to play with some Laurie Puzzles or color quietly. Then just before lunch they can play in their rooms quietly. I just keep them rotated and a timer set to remind me to check in with them every 30 min or so. This is not a rigid schedule for them, just a natural flow from one activity to another. The timer is there for me so that I dont get wrapped up in what Im doing and forget to check in. Just teach them to stay quiet while you are having school.

3. Naptime or Reading Hour. Never ever give up naptime! Everyone needs a break from the 1 year old to the Mama! So if your not sleeping your in your designated spot reading or staring at the ceiling. :) Its just a time to relax and kick up your feet. We begin Reading hour after our Lunch and Read Aloud session,  clean up and Music, Art, Science time.  

4. Mom Meetings! Every day I meet with each of the children for a Mom meeting. For my oldest its pretty short, just enough time for her to turn in assignments for me to grade and get her assignments for that day. Mostly a check in and Q and A time. Then I move on to each of the younger 4 in school spending 15-30 minutes with each one as they need help and instruction. My Kindie and 1st grader get a bit more time as they are still in the need-mom-next-to-me stage. My 3rd grade son still likes to show me each assignment as he finishes it. I usually briefly glance but do not "grade" it till our next Mom Meeting. I even have a Mom Meeting for each of the littlest ones. For the 1 year old who still takes morning naps thats a song and rocking before his nap. Then the 3 year old gets a preschool workpage and some letter/color/shape review.

5. Student assignment books. Each of my oldest three have a student planner where we write out their assignments for that day (during Mom Meeting). These are priceless as they KNOW what is expected and I REMEMBER to check what they have done the day before. We also write in when Co-op, birthdays or planned school breaks hit as they like to be kept up to date. 

6. Bells and Whistles! I have an alarm on my phone that reminds me of important times through out the day. It rings at 6:33 a.m. when I need to get up and Matthew 6:33. It rings at 8:00 a.m. for Bible and Breakfast. It rings again at 11:30 a.m. when I need to come upstairs, wake the baby, check on the littlest guys and start our lunch. It rings one more time at 3:00 when everyone needs to get up from naptime and begin our afternoon chores. I also have an alarm preset for 20 min before Wednesday and Sunday Night church so I remember to begin to round up the troops and get out the door.

7. Light and easy Fridays! Usually we have school 4 days a week using Friday as an unscheduled light and easy day. On Friday we will do our Mom meetings only using the rest of the day for our Homeschool Co-op, Grocery Shopping, or play days. Sometimes we have school on Friday because another day needed to be light and easy for a doctor appointment that couldnt wait or other event that couldnt wait till friday and thats fine as well. Our schedule is set up in such a way that we accomplish a full weeks worth of work in 4 days and those 3 day weekends are awesome!

8. Be Consistent. The hardest lesson I had to learn was about consistency in homeschool. My first years I would base weather or not we had school that day based on how much I was up with the baby the night before or how pretty the weather was outside. And while that was a nice, laid back approach to homeschool it didnt equal much curriculum being covered or offer much confidence on the part of The Husband. When we did have a full school day it was often met with groaning. One day I just woke up to the fact that much like eating and sleeping, school was a necessary evil and in order for us to succeed we were going to have to be consistent. Homeschooling is my job and I clock in every day Monday through Thursday at 8 a.m. and clock out at 2 p.m.  Once we began to look at school this way the groaning went away and I find less excuses to "not have school today".