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31 Days of Dinner Ideas for December With Linked Recipes for Busy Homeschool Nights

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

December 31 Days of dinner ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Can I hear a drum roll? We made it! You stuck with me for a year long project that will give us LOTS in return. This month is the last month for the year long series and I have the 31 days of dinner ideas for December with linked recipes for busy homeschool nights ready!

Back in January, I encouraged you to come along and menu plan with me by menu planning for 31 days instead of 7 or 14 days. Too, by focusing on your weak area, you’re using menu planning to help you, not overwhelm you. Think of which meal brings you the most stress and plan it only. Don’t over organize.

For example, I chose dinner ideas because it normally is the weak area for most of us. At the end of the homeschool day we’re tired and need dinner to practically make itself. Right?

Even though we still have to prepare dinner, it can be so much more engaging and enjoyable knowing ahead of time what we will make and also knowing that we have every ingredient on hand.

In addition, by menu planning longer than 7 or 14 days, it gives you time to focus on more important things like lesson planning and homeschooling.

Though it make take an extra few minutes to plan for 31 days, I reap so much more. A few tips I remembered as I planned is that I stopped looking ahead in the month to see when I had field trips planned, when the Mr. was going to be off work and if we had a co-op planned.

Simply listing 31 dinner ideas doesn’t mean I cook each one in order, it does mean that I can select which ones I want to cook for the week and which ones I want to skip or substitute.

The bottom line is that my brainstorming work for dinner ideas, which is the hardest part is already done for me.

Did I mention 12 months of dinner ideas and about 371 recipes for the year in my recipe book eases homeschool stress?

It’s so worth taking time each month to do this and instead of stressing out over this, we simply made a plan each month this year.

Now, we will reap the benefits all next year and the year after and so on because we have a plan in place. In the future, you can substitute recipes and that is easier to do than trying to think of 371 dinner ideas.

Did you benefit from this? Did you grab each month? I have a few months in the beginning of the year that I need to link, but you have all these ideas at your fingertips.

What other year long projects would you like us to do together?

Download here December 31 Days of Dinner Ideas.

Grab the other months here:

January dinner ideas along with an editable menu planner
February dinner ideas
March dinner ideas
April dinner ideas
May dinner ideas
June dinner ideas
July dinner ideas
August dinner ideas
September dinner ideas
October dinner ideas
November dinner ideas

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

2018 Two Page Per Month Calendar For Your Homeschool Planner

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

2018 Physical Year Glamorous Calendar. Get all 12 months for this calendar geared toward the academic year @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Rolling out my first color choice, which is glamorous for the 2018 two page per month calendar, I’m excited to have it out so early.

If you’re like me, you want to have calendars for at least two years in your planner.

Curriculum Pages for Planner

Too, keep in mind all of the options for the two page per month calendars are kept here at Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers.

Today, though I have what I call the glamorous 2 page calendar. It’s glamorous and beautiful, which is how I like all my forms.

Look at these details to see what you get.

Two Pages Per Month.

  • 25 pages.
  • Like my academic year 2 page spread calendars, you get a full year with this download.
  • You can use this calendar to add to your home management binder, my forever blog planner or to your 7 Step Homeschool Planner.
  • 12 months. Begins January 2018 and Ends December, 2018.
  • Color Calendar
  • Digital .pdf download, you print.
  • Boxes are bigger on a 2 page per month spread so that you have more room to write important appointments for both school and home.
  • Purchase one this color and purchase one another color for your second planner.

TOS

Important: READ THIS FIRST.
Before you email me asking where your download link is or tell me that it is not working, read this to ensure that you get your pretties timely and that you don’t pay for something and not get it.

• All my products are digital. You will not receive a physical product for anything in my store. A digital physical year calendar does not mean a physical product or calendar.
• Downloads are INSTANT. When you pay, you will receive an email with a download link INSTANTLY. Depending on your internet connection, the email could be just 30 seconds or so, or a bit longer. The point is it will be soon, not a week later,etc.
• The email with the download link will go to the email you used for paypal. If you used your husband’s paypal, your downloads will go to that email. Please check that email and your spam before emailing me telling me you can’t find it.
• Please put my email tina @ tinasdynamichomeschoolplus dot com (of course substitute the right symbol for dot) in your address/contact list so that your product does not go to spam.

MY GUARANTEE: To treat you like I want to be treated which means I know at times technical problems may cause glitches, so I will do everything possible to make your experience here pleasant. I value your business and value you as a follower. I stand behind my products because they are actual products I use and benefit from too. Though I cannot refund purchases after you have been given access to them, I will do what I can to be sure you are a pleased customer.

You can grab it today for .99.


Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

If you want to see the other options for the two page per month calendars, then go to STEP 2.

step-2-of-the-7-step-free-homeschool-planner-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Homeschool Organization – Why You’re Still Drowning in Clutter

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Homeschool Organization - Why You're Still Drowning in Clutter @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Getting rid of the kids is one option for homeschool decluttering. (okay, okay). Today, I’m sharing homeschool organization – why you’re still drowning in clutter because understanding why we save things helps us to part with them.

The Big Four Barriers to Homeschool Decluttering

Telling you that I have a regular routine to declutter and why you should too won’t have one ounce of meaning or motivation to you unless you understand why we all keep clutter.

On top of that, homeschooling just adds another layer of stuff to what we already have in our home.

Before we can address workable solutions, we need to conquer our fears, which are the barriers to homeschool decluttering.

Look at these four reasons why you can’t let go of clutter.

ONE// The one day thinking.

It for sure is the most crippling mindset, which is one day I will need it.

TWO// It may be worth something one day.

This is especially hard for us as homeschoolers because a lot of us by nature are frugal or thrifty, but can that be misguided thriftiness?

THREE// My ________ (insert family relative here) saved it for me all these years or gave it to me.

My mom and I are real close, but unlike me she saves everything. She had things from my high school and elementary years which were sentimental to us both.

However, she didn’t just have a few things, but tubs and tubs of them. I have no room to store them, but I am thankful for technology today because I am able to capture numerous photos of them.

FOUR//  It’s worth too much to just throw away.

The somebody, somewhere in the world will be able to use it that can’t afford nice things is another mindset setback for decluttering.

You and I both know as teachers that before we can correct negative behavior with children or find a solution to their problem we have to understand and identify the behavior first. Decluttering our homeschool is similar.

Confession time. Which one are you or do you want to silently stalk here? That is okay too because I will be addressing each of these barriers in upcoming articles with solutions and tips.

You won’t have to wait too long for some help, look at these articles right now.
5 Homeschool Things to Toss By the End of Summer, Top 10 Tips for Maximizing Space in (Really) Tiny Homeschool Spaces and How a 31 Day Menu Plan Makes You a Healthier, Better & Smarter Homeschool Mom + Free Editable Planner.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

31 Days of Dinner Ideas for September With Linked Recipes. Rock Your Homeschooling!

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

September 31 Days of Dinner Ideas. Rock your homeschooling! Grab this super helpful linked recipe ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Today, I have the 31 Days of Dinner Ideas for September With Linked Recipes ready for you.

If you have been following along with me when I started this year long project in January, then by the end of the year, you will have a ‘recipe book’ that fits your unique family and you’ll rock your homeschool. Why? Because while homeschooling, our family’s health matters and we can have it all.

Academics, laid-back lifestyle and meals that are designed with our family’s likes and needs as priority makes the homeschooling lifestyle feel like we have it all.

Look at my rules for 31 day meal planning.

  • They need to be meals my family will eat foremost. Fancy meal planning is not our aim, but to use ingredients that are as healthy as we can get with the time we have on hand to prepare meals is my goal.
  • The dinner ideas are made with my family’s needs in mind. For example, my boys and husband are meat and potatoes kind of people. However, with my husband’s heart healthy needs, I have never cooked just those kinds of meals. I will, however, have them occasionally. For example, things like salisbury steak and onion gravy are spread throughout the year and served every once in a while, but chicken and seafood are main staples.
  • In addition, I use to take longer to meal plan because I thought I had to match up meals to days that we took field trips or days that we were out of the house for doctor’s appointments. Now, I just add in easy sandwiches and crockpot meals each month and choose from one of those recipes when planning for the week.
  • Too, having 31 meals at my fingertips doesn’t mean I have to follow that each day. I tend to be a rebel so I will change my meals around within the month or even within a week, but having 31 days of dinner is a sanity-saver because I have them ready in front of me.
  • Planning each month, I will have created a ‘recipe book’ of food for 365 days of food that my family will eat. Why waste my time with food that my family will not eat?
  • In addition, when my 31 day plan is done early each month, my focus then is on obtaining the healthiest and freshest ingredients possible and making some of my own like cream of mushroom soup instead of buying ones packed with sodium and other things we don’t need.

Download here September 31 Days of Dinner Ideas @ Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Grab this month’s menu above and if you need some more ideas, grab some of the other 31 days of dinner ideas.

January dinner ideas along with an editable menu planner
February dinner ideas
March dinner ideas
April dinner ideas
May dinner ideas
June dinner ideas
July dinner ideas
August dinner ideas

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

5 Homeschool Things to Toss By the End of Summer

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

5 Homeschool Things to Toss By the End of Summer @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

If I lived in the perfect world of just organization, I would ideally label one box give away, another box labeled to keep and another one to throw away or recycle. But I don’t live in that world because I need to homeschool too.

Homeschool organization is quite different than having all day long to organize, which of course I would love but it won’t happen as long as I homeschool.

Why Homeschooling Simply is of Lasting Value?

Because my time is limited, tossing has always been my go to option. Unless something will bless a homeschool family right away and in a large way, clutter multiplies if you don’t get rid of it soon.

Too, because we are sharing living and learning spaces, a lot of the things I do at the end of summer spills over into my home organizing.

I find that back to school or the beginning of a school year, after I have chosen my curriculum is a great time to take a peek at my home to see what I need to toss.

Look at 5 homeschool things to toss by the end of summer…

ONE. Toss old food, containers and items from your pantry. Mark containers clearly.

Toss old spices and food items @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

toss old containers

When I need to make room for food that my family will eat because their likes and dislikes have changed, I find that cleaning out my pantry for the new homeschool year gets me ready.

It’s hard to cook well when there is a mess to begin with. Take time to toss what you won’t eat this next year or take it to the food pantry for others to be blessed by.

Then, get rid of containers that make it hard to see what you have on hand when ready to cook. I love see through containers and I mark them clearly (no corny pun intended) so I know what I’m grabbing when time is rushed.

TWO. Toss recipes that you do not use.

You know I have mentioned before that though many apps exists for recipes, I like to put my recipes in a 5 inch binder.

Homeschool-Organization-Are-you-Collecting-Cookbooks-or-Recipes_thumb.png

I don’t like my hands touching my devices while I’m cooking. And with page protectors I can turn the pages easily in my binders and wipe them off to sanitize them.

It’s the way I roll and so I always try to go back through my 365 recipes for the year and toss ones that just don’t make top marks with my family.

THREE. Art projects. Do you have some of these lying around the house?

Perish the thought that I don’t keep every crafty piece of art that my sons have done, but I don’t. I would be living under a suffocating pile of heap-o-junk.

A long while back I had to have a reckoning with Tina Day. I was in homeschooling for the long run, which meant I had to make some hard and fast decisions about art projects to keep and which ones to not keep.

toss old art projects by the end of summer @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I do cherish each one and take several pictures of each project.

How to be Happily Homeschool With What You Have and not With What You Don’t Have

And though I do love free cloud storage, I prefer to use a huge external hard drive because I don’t want to rely on free cloud storage that may come or go.

I use the Toshiba 1TB portable external hard drive because it has tons of storage (1TB) is slim and I can travel with it. I take lots of pictures of our projects through the years and store them on the hard drive.

FOUR. Sorry, but I don’t pass on nasty broken crayons or map colors to the younger siblings.

Unless I have a preschooler in the house, which chunky crayons are for, each kid gets brand new crayons or map colored pencils.

Even younger kids are smart enough to know that they are getting second hand crayons and they don’t want those old nasty things.

I guess you could have a party with the crayons and melt them all to make an art piece but then you’re back to needing to store that project.

FIVE. Toss or tear down old science projects. Recycle if you can.

I say toss loosely here because sometimes we can use the same parts over when we have built something previously.

Toss or recycle old science projects @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

We have loved every contraption and gadget we have made through the year but the end of the summer is a great time to part with them and make room for new creations.

We break them down and keep only the parts that look like we may be able to use again.

Those are just a few of the things that I am happily sorting through.

What about you? What do you toss or recycle by the end of summer?

Also, look at my article, How Can I Achieve Simple Homeschooling and Get Organized – Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.