Tuesday, January 28, 2014

There's an app for that?!?!


Hey Moms!

This blog post is for all of you out there who like to use apps to make life a little easier.  I have found a couple that look like they could really be useful, but in the interest of full disclosure I have to tell you that I have never used either of the apps that I'm going to share with you today.  They simply appeal to my desire to streamline things in life that are important. . .like chores, allowances, making lesson plans and keep grades. . .but sometimes get put on the back burner.

iAllowance is an app that will allow you to manage each of your children's finances and teach him/her about saving and spending money.  You can pay the allowance in actual money or you may pay with the reward of your choice and the app keeps track of how close each of them are to reaching their goals.  You create the chores and the rewards and you can also choose to let your children manage their own accounts or you can use parental control so that you are entering the information.

You can create reports of any of your children's banks and rewards and e-mail them to yourself to be printed.  If you use a dropbox.com account you can have all of your info saved on the cloud!  This app costs $3.99.

Homeschool Helper is an app to help you with managing an unlimited number of students, personalize your subjects and grading scales for each student, track lessons and grades for each subject and much more.   You can also create book lists, field trips, manage lessons (bump/copy/mass delete), track attendance, calculate grades, manage task lists, reports and more. 

This looks like a pretty amazing app for a homeschooling mom.  You can watch a short 3 minute video of some of it's uses here.  This app costs $4.99.

I'd love to hear about some ways that you use technology to streamline or enhance your homeschooling.  Please tell me about some apps or websites that you use.

Happy Homeschooling!
Tina

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

February Parent Workshops

Thank you for completing the survey that Tina and I sent out.  Based on the results of that survey, we have planned some Parent Workshops for the month of February.  

The first will be the evening of Monday February 10 from 7:00-8:00 pm.  This is for moms and dads.  Dads will be hearing from Joe Hoye, Dan Olson and Jim Skartvedt about the role of dads in homeschooling.  Moms will be working with AEA Consultant, Tina Wahlert on higher order thinking and questioning.  In order to make it very practical, please bring an example of your curriculum.  Childcare will be provided.

We have also planned 2 Thursday morning workshops for moms.
On February 6 at 10:00 at the HSAP room, 3 experienced homeschool moms will share some of the strategies that worked for them and offering encouragement to you.

On February 13 at 10:00 at the HSAP room, Jessica Fincel from our district's technology department will be sharing some practical educational websites and apps with you.  Feel free to bring your own laptop or tablet if you have them.

During both of these Thursday morning workshops, Tina and I will have activities planned for children in the gym.  Brown Bag will follow at 11:00.

Finally, we have planned a Mom's Night Out for Thursday February 27 at 6:00.  We will meet at Rancho Grande for supper and sharing of ideas.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

And Now the Cold Stretch of Winter...


Winter can be breathtakingly beautiful...


Winter can be fun!  

But some days, winter is just hard...





And long...


 And sometimes you get a little stir crazy... 


And some days you have cabin fever...


So here are a few links and ideas to help you get through the long winter...


Come to the YMCA for a homeschool family swim this Friday January 17 from 10:00-11:30.



















Inspiring blog by Ann Voskamp on How to Draft an Ideal Day & Get New Habits Down












How about a date night!



And last, but not least; an oldie but a goodie!
Build a fort, snuggle up with hot chocolate and read some books:-)

Happy Winter!
Linda