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My "Original" 180 Day Planner Page – Now Editable

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Thank you for all of your comments on the giveaway going on right now. I have enjoyed hearing from you. If you didn’t enter for a chance to win the history lover’s basket, it ends tomorrow.

Go to the link below to enter:

“A Tisket, A Tasket, A Back to School Basket Giveaway & Blog Hop”

Also, you know I am always working on other things. One thing that has been long overdue, I feel anyway, is to explain about my original planner page as I call it.

I get asked all the time why my planner in my pictures are so much thinner than one printed off by somebody using my planner pages. Though I try to be as specific as  I can on my blog page, it can easily be overlooked that I use a “1 day per page” lesson planning page and not the 2 page per 1 day spread.

Many times new comers to my blog will pick the 2 page spread per 1 day instead of the 1 page per day. I even waffled for a while before I offered the 2 page spread because I didn’t want to send mixed signals.

In other words paper planning should be streamlined.  There is no way any one planner,  printed or on-line, will ever be perfect, but over planning and bulky are not good either.

Lifting the veil of mystery on what subjects to cover even through to highschool equips you to plan better. There is no secret, below is what you cover in each grade for a good part of your journey.

Lesson Planning Page Sample TDHP 5.3.2013

The 4 components of language arts are always going to be: grammar, reading, writing and spelling as I have shown above.  So when creating my original form I stuck with the subjects that would be used longer by you and filled them in. I have done this because I have no desire to create a bunch of useless forms with blank lines.

I explained on page 4 of my blog on my comment to Tracy that for a very short time you have different subjects than those that I have typed on my original lesson planner page as shown above.

However, there are always exceptions to the rule and that is for a few short years in the younger grades you will do phonics and crafts, etc.  Too, in high school you need the ability to adjust as your teen’s interests grow. So flexibility can be needed during those times.

Each year has been different for me too. Sometimes you need the flexibility to focus on more or less subjects and different subjects.

Picture for Step 4. TDHP Original 180 Page 1 Page Per Day EDITABLE

Can I hear a drum rolllllllllllll please ? Now, I have created my form making ALL of those fields editable for you.  Look above at all the hot pink areas and that is the area you can type in.

This way if you are starting out you can type in exactly what you need to cover each year. If you are going to mix things up this year, you can create the unique subjects you want to cover.

This download is 2 pages but the first page is a “LEFT” hand page and the second page is a “RIGHT” hand page.  Both pages are editable but you may have the same subjects you cover each day. If you want to cover alternating subjects then put one set of subjects on page 1 and another on page 2.

I think it is easier to print 60 or however many you want of page 1 and then to put them back into the printer and print the second page on the back side.

Also, two pages are better for you to fill in than 180 editable pages with the same subject and so that is why the download is just 2 pages. All you need is a right hand page and left page and you print off as much or as little  of a year that you want to.

Download 2 pages HERE. Page One is a LEFT Hand Page and Page Two is a RIGHT hand page. More than likely you will fill both pages in with the same subjects that you will cover each day OR if you want to alternate days, then fill in with different subjects. But this is ONE page PER DAY ALL KIDS  ON ONE PAGE.

I hope you enjoy the new editable form of my “original” planner. As always you get my forms first and when I have time I will upload to my blog.

31 Days of New Bee Homeschooler Blog Boot Camp 6.5.2013 Blog Sidebar Button

Also, I wanted to remind you of one more thing and that is my 31 Days of New Bee Homeschool Boot Camp on my blog begins tomorrow. I know not everybody that follows me is a new bee, but I hope too that you will find some encouragement from this series even if you are a seasoned homeschooler.

I promise to be sharing other things too during that time. Can you help me to spread the word for this new series?

Hope you luv the new form and I will let you know the winner of the giveaway tomorrow!

Hugs and you know I love ya,

Turquoise Pantry Updated + Printable Pantry Label Love

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

 

I have been in love over the past couple of weeks with my updated turquoise pantry.  You know I told you I have my own pantry. Well almost. It is a second pantry because I really like having a separate place that I can keep what is needed for when I cook. Since it is separate from my main pantry which is for the kids’ snacks and cereal, etc., it allows me to find what I need and organize easier when I menu plan. Also, I keep my salad stuff in here because I love a good salad as part of lunch.  My main pantry is small and I have the room so I really like organizing my food this way. What do you think about the change? I am in love with my new baskets.

Kitchen Pantry Update

If you want to see how it looked before, you can see it here. A small change, but one I love.  Okay, now to what I purged, kept, used elsewhere, bought and made.

I purged my cooking utensils. Though we grill outside during the summer quite a bit, I didn’t need all of the cooking utensils I had. I do wash my dishes so I figured I could purge the cooking utensils and I did. I got down to one container.

Did I tell you that I use flower pots for storage? They come in way more colors than a utensil caddy, are normally cheaper and you can find them in bigger sizes. The orange chevron flower pot I found at Ross and fell in love. I used the yellow ones in my kitchen elsewhere. My clear containers are OXO. I know they are expensive but I love them because of how they all fit together. They just about make you measure and plan before you buy which is the way to do it.

But the biggest change has to be my green baskets from Hobby Lobby. The green baskets change the look and are the right size that I need. Since I use this more like a cooking pantry I was not looking for big or deep baskets. I ended up keeping the original turquoise baskets on the very bottom. I got them from Target but this is also where the Mr. keeps his protein drinks and I like to keep my cleaning stuff handy too like vinegar and napkins for the table. So it worked out better to have something bigger at the bottom.

Well I take that back, maybe the biggest change was that I finally got to label. Unless I label, a project is not finished. Remember I told you that labeling is always my last thing to do because I like to use something for a while before I label to be sure I like the lay out. Take your time when organizing and before you label to be sure you like the set up. I looked at my set up for months before I decided that I wanted different baskets.

I got the labels here for you that I used, but I am going to give them to you in two formats.

Download Pdf Copy Here.

Download Picture Format or Png Here.

One format is a pdf but the other is a  picture format because I want to show you how to fill in the labels that are PERFECT for you. You may or may not have the same items to label that I have. Also because this is my cooking pantry you may want to do your main pantry or you may need several of the same thing. So instead of me deciding your font & color like an editable pdf, I want to show you how to make your own using part of what I give you.

This tutorial is in Word because it is easy and also because a lot of us have some kind of word processing program we use.  Here it is step by step.

Open your Word Document. Copy and paste the picture file in your program after you download it from this blog post. Use the Picture Tools Format and click the picture to pull it out some and position it on your page. Get her straight on your page.

One more tip to be sure it fits, fills your page nice and is big enough on the page is to use Page Layout and change the margins to narrow. Then pull the picture by clicking on it to cover more of the page. Check the bottom of your page to be sure you are not off the page. Be sure it covers as much as it can without going off the page and you should have labels that are nice and big when you finish.

Click on the Insert Tab and insert a Text Box. I just use the simple text box. After you click on it, then use the cursor to position that box over your first label. Move it there by dragging it in place. Oh, and be sure to delete all the text in that box. Just highlight the text and hit delete.  The text should go away and your box should stay and be empty if you did it right.

Now we need to get rid of that ugly black line. Right Click on the box and go down to Format Text Box. Look for Line and click the drop down button and scroll down to No Color, Click Ok. Now we don’t have a border around the text box. It has an invisible border.

Now the fun part. Take your time to make your font and color choice. Put your cursor inside of the text box. Be sure you are on the Home Tab and click down to choose a font. I just chose the first pretty one I saw in my menu. If you need your print larger make it larger.

I chose Artistic from my fonts and I chose the color blue and typed my first label. Isn’t that pretty?

Instead of going back through all of this again to make the rest of them, just right click the first one you made and copy it. Then paste it somewhere on your page. It doesn’t matter where. Just grab the copy and place it on the next label. Type in your next name or label. Keep doing that for each label. You can create as many color combinations as you want to. I did two. You can change the color for every label. Easy, peazy, diy and you get exactly what you like.

One last thing to share with you is how to attach them. I get all my labels laminated. It doesn’t cost but a few bucks and it so worth it. You don’t want it or need it very thick so even a home laminator works fine for this. As far as attaching them I prefer to use Scotch fasteners that come in a roll. I use a roll so I can cheat. I cut off a long enough piece so that I can reposition the circle as needed to get it balanced with the rest.  In other words repositioning the circle on the container up or down using a longer piece of strip, giving it a nudge or two gets the labels close enough to looking balanced without measuring each label on the container up and across.

My house is not perfect but I enjoy it and don’t want to spend 30 minutes finding center. I take more care with how far up or vertical I go but not across. Scotch has been better over the years because they are known for being sticky and holding. So brand matters to me in this.

By using velcro too, you can switch out containers anytime you want to and use another label. I try not to label containers “permanently” unless I am for sure it will have the same content for years which is why I like velcro because I can switch containers and use it for something else.

Cut out the circles on the gray line or cut the gray line away.  The label looks cleaner when it has an outside edge that is white and the only way for me to show you that was to put a gray circle around it. That’s it, all done.

I will print another set of labels to store in my Home Management Binder so I can have them handy. Are you doing a small project or two in conjunction with updating your Home Management Binder this year? I am lovinggggggg my new pantry updo.

Hugs and love ya,

 

Updated Holiday reference pages for curriculum planner

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have been moving along nicely trying to get the whole planner moved over to my new blog and creating the headers for each page. The header above is the new one for the blog page Step 5a. I think they tell more what each has on it for new visitors. What do you think?

So far I have these pages completed on my blog for the planner;

7 Step Curriculum Planner – Please Read First

Step 1. Choose A Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step 2. Choose Calendar/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives    About 99% done.

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages

Step 5a. Choose Unique Forms JUST for You

In between I am still working on updating my printables.  I updated the reference pages for holidays and I have 2 color choices. I really like these pages because it has 5 years of holidays on one page. No, it doesn’t have all of the holidays on there and I have been ask why this or that one is not on there, but it has the major holidays so it works for me. I find it real useful for planning purposes in my planner. Download your copy below and I will have it up on my blog soon.

Download Orange Lime Luv here

Download Turquoise Lime Luv here.

 

Hugs and love ya,

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Home Management Binder and Printable Bank Accounts Information Page

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I am working on my Home Management Binder. Also, look at my Free & Easy DIY Home Management Binder.

I probably should say I am updating it little by little this year instead of making it just a spring project.

One reason is that I have more forms that I want to go in it.

So  instead of overwhelming you  me, I had decided this year I would add the forms slowly. Too, I have the new cover and have slowly been updating the forms to match it.

Home Management Binder and Printable Bank Accounts Information Page

One form I figured out I needed right away was a bank accounts information form.

This new form has space enough for 4 accounts.

I will need to print two myself because we have more than 4 accounts, but I don’t like to crowd my forms.

Four accounts is all that would fit comfortably, look balanced and still gives you enough room to fill in.

Home Management Binder Editable

By the way it is editable. But I am especially proud of myself this time around because I was able to take time and fiddle with my new program that allows me to make editable pdfs for you and learn a few things.

One feature I wanted as well was the ability to not have to retype information after I saved it. Guess what? I think I figured it out.

Download the Free Bank Form on my Home Management Binder Page

I always depend on you though for feedback as you use them too.

However, the way this feature works is that after you make a change you have to re-save it using another file name. For example, when you download it, it is saved with one name.

Then when you fill it out, I believe you have to save it with another file name. Then still with another name if you add more changes.

If you get a chance to play with it, let me know because I have the full adobe program which allows me to do these forms so I need to be sure it’s not playing differently with me because of that.

I know I say figuring techy things out is not my first love but I have to admit I do love them occasionally when I find them useful.

I hope all that made sense and you let me know how it works on your end because I will take time to go back and do all the forms with that update added to them. It sure would save us time as we filled them all out.

It’s kind of nice to have the new bee workshops behind me for a break and the co-op done so I can focus on getting some of my projects done. Also you know how much I like to take off the whole month of December so I school right through the summer.

I do school somewhat lighter normally, but not this year, I am sticking with a full schedule. There are some changes coming ahead on some other things, but I will save that and tell you about next them month.

Homeschool Review: Lone Star Learning: Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 & Free Notebook Cover

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Curriculum collecting junkie that I am, I thought I knew just about all of the homeschool friendly vendors that hail from my home state, the Lone Star state.

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So I was plain giddy to review Set 1 of the Science Vocabulary Pictures from Lone Star Learning because I had not heard of them. I know this is not suppose to be a review of all the products they have, but you’ll have to take a peek at their other products.  They are so swoon worthy.

Look at this Create-A-Folder. Can you say digital lapbook? I just had to take my time looking at everything on their site while I waited for them to ship me the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

When the vocabulary word cards arrived, the first thing I did was to try to get as many of the Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 cards in a picture for you as I could. There are 40 cards in each set and they are not small either. They are 5.5″ x 8.5″ and in full color.  I am so pleased with the quality of the paper and how durable they are because I know they will hold up after much use.  We could not put them down as we wanted to go over each one and study the pictures.

I think the biggest reason I was so tickled to review these cards was because I wanted to say: FINALLY!

Finally, somebody gets the way that a lot of children learn and that is visually.  I feel teaching vocabulary is not just about writing tons of sentences over and over again as if only using it in a sentence is going to demonstrate mastery of the word and the definition. It makes me think of an example I share a lot in my workshop about teaching a foreign language. If a person does not understand a foreign language, then will showing them more words by flashing them faster in a flashcard set make them learn quicker? Will just displaying a word on a page with the definition make them suddenly “get it”. It’s crazy, but even seasoned veterans do this when we teach our children vocabulary. We write a word on a page along with a definition but provide no visual association. So the point I make in my workshop is that the age old method of learning a foreign language is picture association. I believe that learning vocabulary is like teaching a foreign language. Picture/word association makes the connection for a learner.

Then my praise for this product doesn’t stop here as I recall another struggle in my journey when I taught Mr. Awesome to read. Showing him the “A” flash card, explaining the short a sound and pointing to the “apple” was so much for him to take in. It is like he had too many mental steps to take to get the letter/sound association. Until I switched to alphabet letter people that were “objects or pictures” as one unit, he didn’t make progress.

So what I noticed immediately about the Science Vocabulary Pictures was that the word and definition are “one” in picture form. The word is not on the front and the definition on the back. You can decipher the meaning of the word from the shape or picture form of the word. I was elated and kuddos to Lone Star Learning for promoting products that our children can actually learn from.

I think it’s important for you to know too that the definitions come with the package but they are all on one card size page. It is more like a list or reference tool for you. If you are thinking about your child copying the definition, the text is not real big on that one page.

If you want your children to have the definition strips and work with matching them up to the word, you can purchase them separately like I did. They are shown here above with the vinyl pockets that I did not get.

The definitions come on a page style with 6 strips per page. I appreciate that because then I can decide if I want them laminated or not.  I will show you in a minute though what I did with these sweeties because you know I have to organize and store them.

We started using the cards right away. Because we were studying the Inuit and about the Arctic, the vocabulary cards worked right into our unit study.  The activities we focused on at the beginning was to sort the words and understand their definition in how they related to the Inuit and the Arctic. So Tiny sorted through the cards, grouping them into two piles.

One pile we focused on immediately because it was related to our Inuit and Arctic study and the second pile I saved later because it was not as relevant to our immediate topic.

Another day we focused on including all of the cards to learn but we used them to try to form acrostics as they related to our unit study. He was tickled to get the word I C E from the cards. If you have not worked with your children a lot on teaching vocabulary words or are coming to that in your journey, then check out the free section that is called Conference Handouts . It has several free downloads but the one titled Vocabulary gives you some tips on how to teach vocabulary.

Before I show you how I am storing the Science Vocabulary Pictures, I need to mention to you that because of a shipping mistake we received the Target Vocabulary Set 1 originally instead of the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Though we both know that any vendor is not required to let you keep a product when a mistake is made, Lone Star Learning did let me keep this second set of vocabulary cards.  It is rare when I am speechless but I was because of the generosity of Lone Star Learning. It sets a tone for customer service that means a lot to me if I do business with somebody.

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I was as equally impressed with the Target Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1 as I am with the Science Vocabulary Pictures. The Target Vocabulary Pictures are math vocabulary words presented visually like the Science Vocabulary Pictures. You know I told you we use Math U See for part of our math program and all of my boys, including my high schoolers, had to play with these math cards when we got them. Both sets of cards lends themselves to games like matching. We took 7 of the cards turned them face down along with the definition and then Tiny tried to see if he could match the definitions. Learning is suppose to be fun, hands-on and interactive and Lone Star Learning makes that possible.

We focused on learning the Science Vocabulary Pictures and their definition since there are 40 in the set and we will be working more with the Target Vocabulary Pictures for math more because they are 57 cards in the set we got. I have a complete unit for both math and science with these two sets.

If I could change some things about this product or should I say the description of the products I think I would focus on using the term visual learner. The website says in several places for their digital products that they help with students of special needs.  Maybe so. However, I feel we live in a very visual world and technology is catching up with that because of how many of us use an iPad in our school and use more online resources than ever before.  I don’t feel we should ever do away with print or paper as I have always said I am a paper girl living in a digital world. But using a term like visual learner to explain their products, instead of focusing on special needs only, encompasses a lot more us who have strong visual modes as part of our learning style. I think it is best to learn through many modes and visual needs to be seen as more than just for special needs.

Also, I had emailed them a question I had about my product and they informed me that they have been doing some website revisions but I feel, it would be easier to navigate the products if they had more uniform product names. I wasn’t sure if that was being worked on or not. Maybe because of my need to organize but I feel the Target Vocabulary Pictures should match in product name to the Science Vocabulary Pictures. Target Vocabulary makes me think of words in general and not math concepts. I may have overlooked the Target Vocabulary Pictures about math just because of the title. A term like Math Vocabulary Pictures makes it easier to remember. Though each math card may not have pictures on them, each word is presented in a visual manner, so the term is pretty consistent with the Science Vocabulary Pictures.

Now if I get to dream of new products on the site, I would wish for sets of cards that would be theme or unit based. I love, love, love the fact that the cards are not grouped by age level or grade but by needs. Would it be a stretch to wish for a “rain forest theme only” set, a “chemistry theme only” set or “plant theme only” set?

Because these two products are keepers in my home and because we will be using all of the cards for a while longer, I needed a place to organize my newest babies. I thought about Avery’s Protect and Store Mini 1 inch binder that is 5.5 by 8.5 inches . You mean not everybody  keeps binder sizes in their heads and dreams about what they can store next in a binder? Weird.

Organization heaven. The math cards fit right into the storage pocket on the left side of the binder. Then, I purchased some Avery sheet protectors and added two Science Vocabulary Pictures to each page, front and back. It is the perfect tool for storing these beauties.

The definition strips I purchased separately fit in the pocket and we can concentrate on the ones we want to learn each day by matching them up, taking them out of the pocket or leaving them in so they can be memorized. LOVE IT!!!

Then I had to make a pretty cover so it matches my school room decor. Would you like a free pretty cover for your notebook? I used the title Science Vocabulary Pictures since our focus is on the science.

Download here a front cover, a binder side insert, and a back cover for your mini notebook.

I hope you love the cover. Here are some quick facts at a glance in one spot about the Science Vocabulary Pictures so you can locate them easily.

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Product Name: Science Vocabulary Pictures, Set 1

Website:  Lone Star Learning

Price: From $29.99

Grades/Ages to use it for:  They are not arranged by grades but by sets. Again, I love this part. Look over each set to determine what your needs are. So you have an idea though about grade level they are intended Grades 3-8.

Type of Product:  Available in 5.5″ x 8.5″ full color, coated cards that show the word and its meaning in picture form. Digital products available too.

Accessories you will love:  Vinyl pockets, Vocabulary Definition Strips, and Vocabulary Spanish Word Strips.

Customer Service: My question emailed to them was answered quickly and thoroughly the next day.  My experience in customer service was excellent.

I already purchased the definition strips and know that I will be purchasing more items from Lone Star Learning. Overall, I was delighted with both of the products I received and would highly recommend them to you if are struggling to teach your children science or math or if you don’t want to begin to struggle. Again, be sure to look over all of their products. I have my wish list going already and I can’t help but say that I am proud to give you a shout out about this vendor from my home state.

Hugs and love ya,

{Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.}