A Little More Organized

People who know me, know that I like to be organized with my lists, calendars, notepads, etc. My home might not always look organized, but in my mind it is, and some day my vision will come true (and pigs will fly, right). Though, several times last year during homeschool I felt so unorganized. I'm sure I wasn't, but some days there was mad chaos throughout the house because I couldn't find a book or a lesson plan that I had printed out the night before, or my teacher planner notebook, or the kids couldn't find their homework because there was not a designated spot to put it. We have a area in our kitchen opposite of where our dishes and other kitchen things are (like the kitchen sink :_) located, and I have used it as a craft area, but now we also have our homeschool stuff there. Well, most of the time this counter is littered with items NOT related to homeschool, which frustrates me even more (let's just add to the chaos, shall we). Right now, the counter is cleared of junk. Hallelujah! I'm one step closer to being organized. I'm getting a little off topic, aren't I? Okay, "back on the bus."

One way that I try and stay organized for school is to have a planner where I can write down lesson plans, assignments, grades, etc. I, also, like to have everything in one place, so I can just grab the planner and go. The planner I used last school year was great, but wasn't big enough; and I was using one planner for both boys. I even had a special 4-ink clicky pen to distinguish each child. (Jealous, aren't you?) I used black ink for my oldest, and green for my youngest, and if they were working on something together I used blue. I know, sad, huh? Well, with me being SO organized (chuckle), I kept losing my special clicky pen, which the whole world just stopped when that happened, so I thought this year I would do something different.

I had read somewhere to use a binder for each child, which I thought was a good idea. But, as I was thinking (uh,oh), I realized that I spend a lot of time on the computer (A LOT), so why not have my planner online. Brillant! So, I went to http://www.homeschooltracker.com/ and downloaded their Basic Edition homeschool planner. I am able to keep track of attendance, grades, assignments, reading logs, field trips, etc. It seems like I'm really going to be able to stay organized with this system. I have a calendar with the school schedule already laid-out, and I can quickly glance at any date or assignment and know what needs to happen for homeschool. So, I'm really excited about this, and hope that it's one less thing that I have to worry about keeping track of in my house. I just have to remember where the laptop is located. ;P

Oh, and did I mention that this planner was FREE! Great, huh?

Happy organizing!
Cindy