As a homeschooling family one of the more frequent questions we hear is how will the children be socialized. Truly, this question often amazes me. Do they really think I lock them in their rooms, never let them out, and don’t talk to them? Or do they really believe that it can only happen with peers of the same age in a classroom? Socializing happens each and every day, with everyone they cross paths with, and the older they get the more it happens without me even there.

Take today for example. It started out rocky with a discussion on how they should treat each other, for many times the family members will be the brunt of the worst behavior. And then a reminder for the youngest that he has to watch the silly factor because that can get old. But then they left the house around 9ish and haven’t returned but for an occasional check in here and there. They have been playing with their friends, hanging out in trees, listening to music, and talking. The older ones of the group are now headed out to pick up Little Cesar pizza and some Gatorades, which will be lunch in the backyard for them all. (Yes, I offered a ride, but the bikes, skateboards, and roller blades seemed a better mode of transportation.)

To be honest, my munchkin socialize so much I’m beginning to miss them a little.

Update: an hour later my house is filled with voices, laughter, music, and the smell of pizza.

When I start planning for our school year, I plan the entire year out in advance. Currently I am typing out a few remaining tests (yes, I am still working on those), but once done I will begin. I’m actually excited to start that part.

I will sit down with the books and tests, and figure out how many pages we have to accomplish a day in order to get it done in the amount of time we have allotted. I am actually extending the time period slightly to 44 weeks. My reasoning for this is that I don’t want to rush through any of the information. If we plan on taking it slowly, we can always move faster if so desired.

My new “spiral schedule” excites me too. Once it’s bound it will be a notebook for me to keep the school schedule. I have one week on two pages, and areas for both munchkins AND Daybaby. Also a section for notes. Each subject has room for the assignment AND the topic those pages are on. This excites me too.

I guess I could have titled this post ”I’m so excited!” LOL But truly, geek that I am, I AM excited about doing this. Part of the reason I am forcing myself to finish the tests before I start planning. I could so excuse not typing the test until needed, but that’s not a good plan.

My frustration lies in the fact that Rosetta Stone is no longer allowing libraries to have their software in their databases. So THAT plan is now gone. I may want to purchase it, but I am waiting for a nonspanish speaker to look at it and tell me what they think of it. We didn’t follow the curriculum correctly last year when we had access to the database, so while I am leaning towards it, my mind wants just ONE more person to tell me what they think.

Nearly every year I have planned something outside of the “core” curriculum and many times it has not happened. I am hoping that everything I plan this year will work out. I am hoping that my new notebook keeps me scheduled, on top of things, and ahead of things. I hope that after I plan out the year’s schoolwork that we can stay on target, or ahead of it. I am hoping that my plans don’t get washed out to sea, but you know what they say about the best laid plans….

I am quite the declutterer. It’s how I try to be anyway, but when I get on a rampage nothing is safe. It has been said by my mother that if I let something stay in the house more than 6 months it’s a miracle. I don’t know if that is QUITE the truth or a BIT of an exaggeration. Either way, you should see the stacks of clothing in my closet this very minute that need to disappear. And there are three boxes in this very room that need to go up into the attic.

Now, boxes in the attic are another thing that can bug me. We haven’t moved in years, but the common joke was to laugh at the boxes that literally moved from attic to attic. What was their purpose? Now, SOME had a purpose. The Christmas boxes needed a place to stay 10 months out of the year. And these in this room that need to go up are old school years curriculum, and I save that as well. Because sometimes even a box in the attic serves a purpose.

The trick is to figure out whether or not what you are holding onto serves a purpose, or is just extra clutter in a corner.

Losing my blog made me seriously consider what I wanted this space for. Was it just a place to clutter up with thoughts and ideas to never be looked at again? Or was it a place to hold information that I didn’t want to lose? I would say both. There will be ramblings that I put out here and don’t think about again. There will also be information I want to save for one reason or another. So, it will be up to me to occasionally cull through everything and save what needs to be saved.

After all, sometimes the blank slate isn’t chosen but given. So I will appreciate the gift of it all and move on, because otherwise I will be stuck in memory lane wondering what was in those boxes that burned in the fire, even though there is no way I can replace them.

One fun thing that came out of it was this theme/skin/background. I absolutely love it’s whimsy and it was just what I was looking for. When I asked myself what I wanted to represent me on here, I thought of trees, birds, and flowers, with the occasional circle. Wala!! Scrible Scratch was where I found this, and she has quite a few other attractive and fun designs that you can have for free, as well as a design site (Chic Blog Design) where you can pick up something a little more individual.