Seven Quick Takes on Buying a New Planner, Cold Remedies, What’s Going on at Afterthoughts, and More!

:: 1 ::

It’s October, and you know what that means, don’t you? It’s time to buy my new planner for the coming year! Or, at least, that is what I decided, seeing as I’m turning over a new leaf. I usually wait until five days before the New Year, and then complain that I can’t find one I like. And I’m usually keeping a list of commitments to add to my new planner, once I get it. This year, I bought a new one ahead of time! Go me!

Because I use both a weekly/monthly view calendar as well as a bullet journal, I don’t need a fancy, detailed planner. In fact, fancy and detailed scare me off — it makes my life look too complicated and then I intimidate myself. A few years ago, I had a Blue Sky planner I really liked, but couldn’t find one quite like it in January. Amazon is carrying Blue Sky right now, and as a bonus they are in the 8.5 x 11 size that I love.

I thought this one was really cute, and also this one, but both of them have large, dark graphics that might get in the way of me writing all over the margins of my planner, something I do with great regularity. So I bought this one {pictured at right}. It’s still pretty, but the muted colors mean that I can still jot all my notes down without any images getting in the way. If you like solid colors, I thought this gray one had surprisingly pretty insides. 🙂

 

:: 2 ::

Unfortunately, I had occasion to stock up on this early in the week. Because I didn’t have any on hand, I missed my opportunity with my husband and Daughter Q. They had to fight it out the old fashioned way. But the others {and I} were able to avoid it. The key seems to be giving it at the first sign of symptoms, and I don’t usually realize something is going around the house until someone is already fully sick, you know? Either way, I’m now armed and dangerous for the season. This isn’t the only thing we use, of course, but it’s a good start for my winter medicine chest.

 

:: 3 ::

This week’s links collection:

• Shakespeare in Modern English? from The New York Times.
  • Say it ain’t so!
• Miranda Devine: Perth electrical engineer’s discovery will change climate change debate from Perth Now.
  • Shock: the sun affects the weather more than humans do.
• Poison Apple II: How Smartphones Degrade Learning from Psychology Today.
  • Fascinating! {HT: Mariel}

 

:: 4 ::

This month in 2012:

In October 2012, I rewrote and updated an old {now deleted} post about why Charlotte Mason didn’t approve of unit studies. When I was writing my talk on Charlotte Mason’s 20 Principles this summer, I revisited this post again, which is why I thought it was a good post to share. 🙂

 

:: 5 ::

This afternoon is the free Work the Homeschool Plan Webinar with Mystie and little ole me! It’s not too late to sign up {at least, I don’t think so}, and if something happens and you miss part of it, there will be a replay option. It’s live, people! This means that you can ask questions and stuff! I think it’s going to be great fun, so come on over and join us.

 

:: 6 ::

There are a few fun projects going on here at Afterthoughts behind the scenes. First, Ravi Jain {co-author of The Liberal Arts Tradition} is working on a guest post containing some practical tips on nurturing wonder in our students. Second, Pam Barnhill is also working on a guest post for the same series, this one an inside look at how her co-op has made changes based upon its reading of The Liberal Arts Tradition. She’s told me what they’ve done, and I wish I could move out there and join them!

Another project we’re working on {and by “we” I mostly mean Hayley because she’s better at this stuff than I am — I mainly cheer for her and spout my opinions on how it looks} is compiling all of this year’s volume of Newbie Tuesday into a totally awesome magazine-style PDF that you can either print or view on your device. It won’t be out until January {our last issue isn’t until December, of course, and we want it to contain all of 2015}, but for those of you who have been requesting back issues, this is going to be even better than what you were hoping for.

Finally, I’m still working on getting my other talks up and into the shop. Soon, soon, I hope! It always takes me longer than I think it will — and can you believe my children want to eat three meals per day? Totally unreasonable! 😉

 

:: 7 ::

Answering Your Questions:

•  Question: I have an 8-year-old starting AmblesideOnline. Should I start at Year 1 not to miss anything?
  • Answer: Honestly, I wouldn’t unless your child needs an easy year for some reason. If your child is already reading and narrating well, you could probably put her directly into Year 3, but if she’s starting a Charlotte Mason education for the first time, I’d suggest Year 2. The books are a little bit easier, which in turn makes it easier to concentrate on learning skills like narration, if that makes sense. You might want to check out my post So You’re Switching to AmblesideOnline. You can also give more detail and gets a whole bunch of opinions to guide you over at the AO Free Help Forum, if that is more your style. 🙂
• Question: Who is doing most of the reading in History, Geography, Literature, Poetry. … Is it I, during Circle Time? For those subjects is it basically reading and no journaling of any sort?
  • Answer: Who does the reading totally depends on your goals, your child, your family’s needs, etc. With my oldest child, I read pretty much everything aloud to him until Year 4. Part of this was me wanting as much bonding time with him as possible — he very much bonds through reading aloud together. He was able to read all of Year 3 aloud, but I read to him, anyhow. Looking back, I think I should have eased him into reading on his own, rather than simply starting Year 4 out with him reading almost everything himself — it was shocking to him. So, I think the ideal is easing our children in the process by turning over what can be turned over, when it can be turned over, with the exception of not handing everything over in Year 1 just because a child is gifted.While we don’t start written narrations in a Charlotte Mason education until around age 10, we do often add more than just reading and narrating aloud. So, with history, you might add something to a timeline. With geography, you might begin with a quick map lesson, tracing the part of the journey you are covering in the day’s reading {ahem … if you’re covering a journey}.
• Question: Does all their writing practice come from Dictation, Copywork, Grammar, Math?
  • Answer: In the younger years, yes, except for those children who like to write a lot on their own time {I’ve had two of those, actually}. I think checking out the Language Arts Scope and Sequence from AO might help. 🙂