Seven Quick Takes on Coupon Codes Galore, Labeling Stuff, a New Podcast, and MORE!

:: 1 ::

I’ve got a few deals and steals to share, so let’s start with that:

• Want to take Jennifer Dow’s amazing 5 Elements of Classical Homeschooling course? Let’s hear it for 25% off!! It’s good from now until February 21, 2016! Use the code afterthoughts25 at checkout.
• You know how I love Grammar of Poetry and Visual Latin from Compass Classroom? Well, they’re trying out a new pricing model, and you might find that it really works for you. It’s called Monthly Subscriptions, and it’s pretty great, in my opinion. Why not take it for a test drive? If you sign up by January 26, 2016, you get the first month for only one dollar.
• And in case you missed it, entries are still open for a chance to win French for Children from Classical Academic Press. Not only this, but while the contest is going on, CAP is also offering a 20% discount on their French products. Just use the coupon code FFC2016 at checkout.

:: 2 ::

The best purchase I made in 2015 was a label maker. I am not naturally an everything-in-its-place person. In fact, my Things don’t always have Places. Even though my Pretend Life Coach is constantly telling me they should. When I decided to buy new bookshelves {because we were bursting at the seams} and reorganize my office {the room in which the new shelves would fit}, I made the decision to put labels everywhere. The shelves have labels. The cubbies I moved into the closet have labels. Everything is labeled.

This. is. huge. For starters, the act of labeling caused me to make a decision about where things would and wouldn’t go, and then sticking a label on it was a commitment on my part. That alone was good, but the long-term impact was even better. The labels reminded me of what I had decided, and kept me from changing my mind — I’ve realized that it’s this act of changing my mind about where things go that causes a lot of my clutter. So whereas before I would leave my camera on my desk because I wasn’t sure where to put it {for real … so embarrassing}, now I obey the labels and put my camera in its assigned location.

I am not tidy now. But the labels are keeping the level of chaos down to a more manageable scale. I still have to have everything out until I’m done with a project, but I can put it all away faster now that all the decisions about where things go have already been made.

I put off buying a label maker for years … so sad!

:: 3 ::

This month in 2012:

In which I attempted to include my preschoolers in our Shakespeare lessons … and was actually successful!

:: 4 ::

This week’s links collection:

• 3 YEAR-OLD TODDLER GANG-RAPED by many in Muslim Refugee Center by Pamela Geller
  • It’s not so much what happened {as horrible as that is}, but rather the response that concerns me: “There is no single cultural code to say what is good or bad behaviour.” WHAT???
• HOMESCHOOLING FAMILY SUED BY NEIGHBORS FOR ALLOWING KIDS TO PLAY OUTSIDE DURING THE DAY from Inquisitr.
  • Apparently, someone out there does believe in a cultural code, and it’s that children should be neither seen nor heard.
• What I’m never going to tell you about homeschooling by Elizabeth Foss.
  • As Mystie often says, we are not responsible for results. We are responsible to be faithful.

:: 5 ::

In case you missed the Facebook announcement, I should probably mention here that the Scholé Sisters are in the process of launching a new podcast. If all goes as planned, our first episode will be out one week from today! We’re very excited about it, and I think you all are going to really enjoy it. Our first episode will tell you all about it, so stay tuned.

:: 6 ::

Another big announcement I have is that Dawn Duran, Charlotte Mason mama and physical therapist extraordinaire, is going to start writing a monthly post here on the blog. Last year at the AmblesideOnline national conference, she spoke on Charlotte Mason’s use of Swedish Drill, and while I didn’t get to be present for it, I heard it was really great. I asked her then if she’d want to write for me here on the blog and explore the importance of physical education, the movement of the body, implications for brain development, and more.

Happily, she said yes, and her first post will appear next week! It’s really great, and I can’t wait to share it with you. 🙂

:: 7 ::

• Question: How do you do it all???
  • Answer: I don’t, and I’m basically including this question so that I can confess that I am woefully behind on email correspondence and if you’ve used the contact form lately, please know that I’m a big loser and I’m sorry.
• Question: I had a brief glimpse of your 2015 Reading list and books you have read but I can not find it now. Can you please direct me to it’s location?
  • Answer: If you mean the Book Awards, here they are. If you mean the list at the bottom of the page, it has disappeared into the ether and I’m very sorry! Please refer to “big loser” above.
• Question: Regarding pre-reading, do you think it best for me to be just a week or so ahead of my year 4 student, or should I be reading year 5 now to be prepared for when she gets there next year?
  • Answer: I have always been only about a week ahead, and it’s worked for me for eight years so far. 🙂 With that said, Year 5 is a little bit heavier than Year 4, so if you have the time, it might be worth it to pull a book from the list and start working your way through it … BUT … be prepared that you won’t remember it as well as you do the books that you are reading and then discussing right away with your child unless you do some form of narration yourself!