The Family Celebrations Challenge: Week 18

The Family Celebrations Challenge: Week 18

birthday party ideas, graduation parties, wedding planning, organized celebrationsMy oldest son is graduating from high school and I have a big party to plan. We also have a family wedding and two birthdays coming up. And don’t forget about Mother’s Day and Father’s Day! Even if your family celebrations are planned for later in the year, this is the week to get a head start on them.

#1 Review your calendar

What family celebrations do you have coming up this summer and throughout the rest of the year? Do you have any milestone birthdays coming up?

When planning for occasions, consider celebrations that still have to be planned like showers. If you have family out of town, now is the time to find out their availability. We are scheduling my son’s graduation party to coincide with his godmother’s visit home for a wedding, for example.

#2 Discuss preferences

Getting organized means not making assumptions. We may assume Grandma wants a 70th birthday party, when she wants to take a family trip instead. Having discussions ahead of time can avoid hurt feelings and ruined budgets. This is important when planning Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations, too.

#3 Plan parties

I love to plan parties. We’ve enjoyed so many fun parties over the years. I will write up the creative birthday party ideas we’ve used another time, but I encourage you to have celebrations. Parties are memory makers and are worth the time and reasonable expense. One of the things we have done to control costs is ask family and friends to bring food rather than gifts.

Party planning is a great opportunity to get the kids involved. Let them express their creativity in planning with you or in making decisions (within reason). Stumped for ideas? Follow the Party Fun with Kids board on Pinterest. If you have an extended family celebration, be sure to allow everyone to feel included. My mom helped me cook for several birthday parties and seemed to really enjoy it.

Greeting card kit

#4 Organize cards and gifts

Family celebrations wouldn’t be complete without cards and gifts. This is a great time to have the kids make the cards you need for the year.  A kit like this could get their creative juices flowing. If you’d rather not make cards, this Paper Magic kit includes an organizing box, so your cards are ready to go when you need them. If you like even less work, I recommend Send Out Cards which allows you to get reminders of family occasions and send cards right from your computer.

When it comes to gifts, you can certainly make treasures like scrapbooks if you start early enough (like now!). My best suggestion for being organized with gifts is to choose a standard gift for occasions like weddings, bridal showers, births, and baby showers. You’ll save time deciding and you can even save money, watching for the prices to drop before you buy. If you are interested in gift suggestions for kids’ birthdays, be sure to check out 60 of the Best Christmas Gifts for Kids. Finally, I love the mGifts app on iTunes. Sometimes I find a great deal on a gift, but I don’t know who to give it to at first. The app (and a gift storage area) allow me to stay organized.

What family celebrations do you have coming up and how are you getting organized for them?

Here is this month’s printable get-organized homeschool calendar and a list of previous challenges.

May 2014 Get Organized Homeschool Calendar

Organized Homeschool Challenge

Week 1: Daily Devotions Challenge

Week 2: Daily Routine Challenge

Week 3: To-Do List Challenge

Week 4: Memory Keeping Challenge

Week 5: The Decluttering Challenge

Week 6: The Organized Computer Challenge

 Week 7: The Marriage of Your Dreams Challenge

Week 8: The Confident Parent Challenge

Week 9: The Extended Family Challenge

Week 10: The Bring on the Spring Challenge

Week 11: The Spring Cleaning Challenge

Week 12: The Organized Easter Challenge

Week 13: The Serve the Church Challenge

Week 14: The Chore Challenge

Week 15: The Organize Your Finances Challenge

Week 16: The Curriculum Challenge

Week 17: The Friendship Challenge

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Unfading Beauty

Unfading Beauty

Learn how you and your teen daughter can enjoy unfading beautyI asked my friend, Sharla Fritz, to share this guest post with my readers in honor of her new book that will be such a blessing to young women. I’m pleased to say I am giving away a copy. Be sure to enter before you go.

“Hey Mom, can I buy this mascara?”

“Can I get this lip gloss? I’ll use my own money. Pleeeease?”

“Will you ever let me wear makeup?

When I was thirteen, these were the questions I pestered my mother with constantly. After reading teen magazines, I was convinced that makeup was what I needed to be beautiful. Just a little mascara, a bit of blush, and a dab of lip gloss and I would be able to look like the models on the glossy pages I read over and over. A few cosmetics were all I needed to make everyone at school like me—to make me like me.

Plenty of Products

Judging by the thousands of beauty products available, I’m not the only one who has ever had those thoughts. During a quick trip to the drug store today, I stopped to browse in the makeup aisle. I was astounded by the number of mascaras available for sale. Under the Maybelline sign alone I counted twelve different colorful tubes of the stuff. Almay had five. Cover Girl had thirteen. In all, I found 73 unique products guaranteed to enhance my eyelashes!

That doesn’t even take into account all of the other items offered in the cosmetic aisle. We can buy products to make our cheeks appear rosier, our eyebrows darker, and our lips shinier. Thousands of choices are available to buff up our appearance—our physical beauty.

But even when I looked up and down all the aisles of the store, I couldn’t find any products to help me enhance my inner beauty. I didn’t see any gels or lotions to help me develop a beautiful heart.

True Beauty is Inside

Which is sad, because that’s the kind of beauty God wants us to have.

In the book of 1 Peter, He tells us:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV 1984)

Now I don’t think that Peter was telling these women that it was wrong to fix their hair or wear cute clothes. He isn’t saying we shouldn’t wear makeup or put on a necklace. I think he was telling them, telling us, that the latest hairstyle or the trendiest wardrobe isn’t what makes a girl lovely. True beauty comes from inside.

God tells us that instead of 73 tubes of mascara, instead of hundreds of cosmetics, there is only one thing we need to be truly beautiful: a gentle and quiet spirit.

What Does a Gentle and Quiet Spirit Look Like?

You’ll be relieved to know that a gentle spirit doesn’t mean being a timid, pathetic person. A quiet spirit doesn’t mean we have to sit in a corner all day never talking to our friends.

The word used for gentle in 1 Peter 3 means having a graceful soul. If we could buy a jar of cream that could give a gentle spirit, it would enable us to accept what God is doing in our lives. It would help us to trust that God knows what He is doing, even when we can’t make any sense out of it at all.

The word quiet in this passage describes a peaceful heart that is not upset by chaotic circumstances. A bottle of this kind of quiet gives a tranquility that isn’t dependent on having a perfect day. It’s like the one person who manages to remain calm and clean during a cafeteria food fight.

Although there aren’t any products available in the cosmetics aisle to give us a gentle and quiet heart we don’t have to lose hope. God is more than willing to give us the grace we need to be able to hold His hand in trust when we start to question what’s happening in our lives. He gives us His Spirit to quiet down our chaotic hearts.

I think our heavenly Father seriously wonders why we expect bottles of liquids and tubes of gels to give us worth and beauty. Because He has already done that.

God has made us beautiful.

Sharla Fritz is the author of Divine Makeover: God Makes You Beautiful, a new book for teens and young women designed to help them discover their beauty in Christ. She speaks to hundreds of women each year about experiencing a makeover of the soul. She lives in the Chicago area with her pastor husband where she loves to hunt for fabulous fashion finds at local resale shops. You can connect with Sharla at www.sharlafritz.com.

Enter the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of Divine Makeover and enter to win a makeover basket by May 1 here.

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The Friendship Challenge: Week 17

The Friendship Challenge: Week 17

Build your kids' and your own friendships this week of the Organized Homeschool Challenge. Start planning a May Day surprise!I worried that I wouldn’t have enough friends and neither would my children when I was deciding to homeschool. Today we are all blessed with wonderful friends. I don’t think we could have continued to homeschool all these years without them. This week, we will work on establishing friendships and strengthening those we have.

#1 Plan activities with kids’ friends.

If you already have friends and acquaintances, now is a good time to make plans with them. Often, adult and kid friendships fade simply because no one takes the initiative to plan a get together. This is especially true over the summer.

Some of the things we have done in the summers to keep friendships strong include camping together, having regular barbecues, and vacationing together. Ask the kids what they would like to do with their friends this summer and even into the school year.

#2 Discuss options for new friends.

One of the best choices we made was to participate in a homeschool P.E. class. I had learned from veteran homeschool moms that this was the best way for kids to make friends and they were right. Ask other homeschoolers how they have established friendships for themselves and their kids and take their advice.

Of course, friendships don’t all have to be centered around homeschooling. Your church, neighborhood, and extracurricular activities are also opportunities to make friends. Don’t wait for someone else to make the first move. Invite people to your home and see if you click. If not, try again. Discuss people you’d like to approach as a family and pray about it. God may suggest a friendship that you hadn’t considered.

#3 Plan mom activities

I have never felt guilty for being away from my family to spend time with my girlfriends. I need that time to be the best wife and mother I can be. My friends have helped me see that my struggles are typical and have given me wonderful, godly advice as well.

Being in a homeschool co-op and attending homeschool P.E. classes have given me the opportunity to talk with my friends. But we have taken it a step further by going out to celebrate one another’s birthdays, going out as couples, and as I mentioned, taking family vacations together. Participating in a moms’ Bible study and women’s retreats at church have also been ways to connect with friends.

Discuss potential activities with your friends for the summer and ideas you could use throughout the school year.

#4 Plan a May Day surprise for friends

One tradition I really miss is May Day. When I was a kid, we would put baskets of goodies together (usually for a neighbor), put it on their doorstep, ring the doorbell, and run away before we were caught. Once when I did this, the woman caught me before I could get away. She proceeded to chew me out for pulling a prank. When she looked down and saw the basket, she started to cry.

Despite my neighbor’s bad reaction, I love the idea of surprising people. Talk with the kids about how to surprise a couple of their friends. Here is a May Day basket printable the kids can decorate and fill with flowers or candy. This May Day basket with flower centers made from candy would be easy for the kids to make as well. These candy-filled flower cups would be a great surprise for kids or moms. Your mom friends would love a basket of flowers ready to plant. These printable tags are a beautiful addition to whatever May Day surprise you’d like to plan.

Follow the Organized Homeschool board for pictures of these and other May Day ideas.

 

Follow Dr. Melanie’s board Organized Homeschool on Pinterest.

Here is this month’s free printable organized homeschool calendar for April 2014 and a list of previous weeks’ challenges.

Get your home, family, and homeschool organized this month with this free printable calendar.

Organized Homeschool Challenge

Week 1: Daily Devotions Challenge

Week 2: Daily Routine Challenge

Week 3: To-Do List Challenge

Week 4: Memory Keeping Challenge

Week 5: The Decluttering Challenge

Week 6: The Organized Computer Challenge

 Week 7: The Marriage of Your Dreams Challenge

Week 8: The Confident Parent Challenge

Week 9: The Extended Family Challenge

Week 10: The Bring on the Spring Challenge

Week 11: The Spring Cleaning Challenge

Week 12: The Organized Easter Challenge

Week 13: The Serve the Church Challenge

Week 14: The Chore Challenge

Week 15: The Organize Your Finances Challenge

Week 16: The Curriculum Challenge

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Week 16: The Curriculum Challenge

Week 16: The Curriculum Challenge

How to choose curriculum for next school year now.

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with curriculum as homeschoolers. We love shopping for new books and materials and enjoy the excitement that generates, but we hate having to make final decisions for fear something won’t work.

This week we will take some steps to ensure the best curriculum decisions possible.

#1 Evaluate Current Curriculum

First, make a list of everything you’re using this year, leaving ample space under each resource.

Second, write what you like and don’t like about each.

Third, get your children’s feedback. Sunrise to Sunset Homeschool has created a great free questionnaire to give our kids for use in evaluating curriculum.

Fourth, Home-school.com recommends making a list of characteristics of your ideal curriculum for each student / subject.

FinallyThe Curriculum Choice shares some great resources for deciding whether it’s time to change curriculum under “Changing Curriculum.”

#2 List Next Year’s Needs

You may have some new curriculum needs for next year. You may simply need the next grade level of a curriculum you like. Or you may need a completely different curriculum if you have a child entering middle or high school. The same is true if you are planning to study a new period of history or a different field of science. If you are going to tackle new unit studies or new electives, you will also add these needs to your list.

Meet Penny shares a free list for curriculum needs by student that may be helpful.

#3 Research New Curriculum

After you’ve made sure you don’t already own the materials you need (wondering why I’m making this point?), it’s time to study your options. If you have an older student, ask for their help. They may enjoy doing the research or choosing from options you’ve pre-selected.

The Curriculum Choice’s Ultimate Guide to Choosing Homeschool Curriculum will be helpful during this step. My approach to researching curriculum includes:

  • Reading reviews online. I check Homeschool Reviews, Cathy Duffy Reviews, Rainbow Resource reviews, Amazon reviews, and individual blog reviews.
  • Talking to fellow homeschoolers. I honestly do this all year long. I ask friends what they’re using that they love and ask to take a peek. If you don’t have local people to ask, inquire via a homeschool Facebook page like mine. You’ll get lots of feedback!
  • Getting a hands-on look at a conference. I really appreciate online samples of materials, but sometimes it just isn’t enough. There’s nothing like paging through books to help make a decision.

#4 Create a Shopping List and Buy if You’re Ready

You may need to do this as part of step #3 if you’re going to a convention. If you are planning on attending a curriculum fair, try Donna Young’s shopping list for this purpose.  The Unlikely Homeschool provides a simple shopping list that works well for online purchases. You could also create a Curriculum Shopping List board on Pinterest like Tiffany Scott did.

Remember that you can save a lot of money by buying used. I share the best places to buy and sell used curriculum in this post. Curriculum vendors often provide savings codes in late spring through summer, so make sure you’re on their mailing lists.

Have you started your shopping yet? I have!

Be sure to follow the Organized Homeschool Pinterest board for more curriculum reviews and resources.

Here is this month’s free printable organized homeschool calendar for April 2014 and a list of previous weeks’ challenges.

Get your home, family, and homeschool organized this month with this free printable calendar.

Organized Homeschool Challenge

Week 1: Daily Devotions Challenge

Week 2: Daily Routine Challenge

Week 3: To-Do List Challenge

Week 4: Memory Keeping Challenge

Week 5: The Decluttering Challenge

Week 6: The Organized Computer Challenge

 Week 7: The Marriage of Your Dreams Challenge

Week 8: The Confident Parent Challenge

Week 9: The Extended Family Challenge

Week 10: The Bring on the Spring Challenge

Week 11: The Spring Cleaning Challenge

Week 12: The Organized Easter Challenge

Week 13: The Serve the Church Challenge

Week 14: The Chore Challenge

Week 15: The Organize Your Finances Challenge

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The Ultimate Guide to Classical Conversations Resources

The Ultimate Guide to Classical Conversations Resources

The best resources for Cycle 1, Cycle 2, and Cycle 3 of Classical Conversations in one place.

I shared my enthusiasm for using Classical Conversations Foundations materials independently in my post entitled, Why Classical Conversations Should Be a Part of Your Curriculum. My enthusiasm and my readership have grown since I wrote that review. I have discovered a vast array of fabulous ideas for enriching Classical Conversations learning whether you are studying at home like I am or you’re part of a community. Because I am easily overwhelmed, I wanted to simplify by compiling a list for myself of the best resources available. I thought it might help my readers, too.

 

I have grouped the resources into the following categories: general information, organization & memory helps, cycle-specific, and subject-specific (which includes Challenge and Essentials). I hope these resources will help make a great curriculum even more of a blessing for you.

General Information

Company Resources. The best place to go for general information about Classical Conversations (which I will refer to as CC throughout the post) is the primary website. There you will find a store where you can purchase materials, help locating a CC community in your area, CC Connected (a forum where CC users share ideas), and much more.  This video shares more information about what a CC community is all about. Even more beneficial would be attending a local meeting in your area. CC has their own Pinterest account which you can follow to find new products and more. The founder of CC, Leigh Bortins, has also recorded many podcasts relating to CC that you can enjoy in the archives.

Reviews. You may be interested in reading reviews of CC after you’ve visited the website. I’ve already shared the link to my review, but I also recommend an interview on The Homeschool Sanity Show I did with a parent and tutor involved with CC. Mary Prather of Homegrown Learners, one of my guests, shares her own review here. Several users share mixed reviews on The Homeschool Mom. Nurturing Learning shares what she likes and what she doesn’t. The best place to get reviews is your local support group if you are thinking of joining a community.

Used Materials. I have had people ask where is the best place to buy used materials if they want to use them at home as I do. My favorite site for this is Homeschool Classifieds. You can also try Leigh’s List and check my post, The Best Places to Buy or Sell Used Homeschool Curriculum.

Books. You can find books by grade level at Exodus Books. Meagan DeLong’s Pinterest board has links to Bloggers’ book lists for Classical Conversations.

Tutor Materials. Lighthouse Educational Supply sells science and art kits for CC tutors.

Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC General Info on Pinterest.

Organization & Memory Helps

Weekly Ideas. Beth at Classical Conversations at Home gives weekly suggestions (that correspond with the CC community schedule) for supplements to your CC memory work that you can use at home. Teaching Boys  and Half a Hundred Acre Wood share how they organize curriculum and schedules around what is taught in community.

Planning. Using the following posts as guides, you can organize all the great ideas you get for each week of CC. Melody at And Here We Go, Mama shares an organizing tutorial with CC newbies. Her approach is very comprehensive and includes putting relevant folders in a hanging file organizer on the wall.  Not Consumed also recommends weekly files for teachers and parents alike and includes a weekly memory printable in this post. She shares how she organizes her review and timeline cards here. Nurturing Learning gives instructions for setting up a memory box. Half a Hundred Acre Wood shares free weekly planning pages for CC to use instead of (or in addition to) folders.

Organizing a Notebook. I haven’t been using a notebook or CC notebooking with my kids, but I want to. The following links will help you join me. Not Consumed offers suggestions for setting up CC notebooks, with the most important one being to print forms well ahead of time! Half a Hundred Acre Wood offers a plethora of free printables for your kids’ notebooks in every subject. (Make sure you have plenty of printer ink!)

Displaying Memory Work. The memorization of key information is what I love best about CC. There are memory work printables linked in the last section for student notebooks, but what is out of sight can be out of mind. These are some great ideas for keeping memory work on display. Not Consumed and Half a Hundred Acre Wood share how they use a tri-fold display board to showcase memory work. Monilynlu shares a smaller memory board perfect for small spaces. My Child I Love You shows off this gorgeous display of framed memory work. Half a Hundred Acre Wood shares the option of using a large dry erase board with the week’s timeline cards incorporated. Taylor West set up an impressive timeline wall with all her cards.

General Memory Helps. And Here We Go Mama created a mini book of memory work that can go mobile. Not Consumed uses this door hanger to help track the memory work that’s been done. J K Dewey shares this fun Jeopardy game idea for review.  Try this Pictionary Review Game from A Nurse’s Wildflowers. (She has the kids draw the timeline cards as they go). Quizlet has flash cards for CC cycles.

Timeline Memory Helps. This video uses hand motions to go with the Veritas timeline cards if you are still using them as I am. A girl shares the new hand motions for weeks 1-12 of the timeline in this very professional video and for weeks 13-24 in a second video. Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC Organization & Memory Helps on Pinterest.

 

Cycle 1 Resources

Although CC has been studying Cycle 2 during the 2013-2014 school year, using CC independently means you may be interested in Cycle 1 resources any time. If you’re studying with a community, you can refer to this list during the appropriate year.

Planning and IdeasHalf a Hundred Acre Wood offers planning pages for Cycle 1 as well as link-ups where you can get ideas from lots of other bloggers. Also see her Cycle 1 Resource list hereKim Sevier has a very large idea board on Pinterest.

Memory Helps. Wisdom and Righteousness sells memory work lap books for Cycle 1.

Book listsA Growing Violet shares a read-aloud book list for Cycle 1.

Videos. This playlist includes many different videos specifically to enrich Cycle 1. April of Stories of Our Boys shares BrainPop videos that correspond with Cycle 1.

Bible. This video reviews the Exodus memory work.

Grammar. This video reviews helping verbs covered in Cycle 1. Jaki Glenn shares this cute idea for using hand cut-outs to remember the weekly helping verbs on Pinterest.

Geography. A girl points out each area for Cycle 1 memory work in this video. And Here We Go Mama shares her cute geography review book for Cycle 1. CCing it One Day at a Time shares her picture flash cards for geography.

Fine Arts. Nurturing Learning shares lesson plans for use with Drawing with Children for weeks 1-6.

Science. And Here We Go Mama recommends this science curriculum as it corresponds to the latter weeks’ science memory work of Cycle 1.

These science worksheets on Etsy look great.

Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC Cycle 1 on Pinterest.

Cycle 2 CC Resources

Planning and Ideas. You can purchase Teaching Plans  for Cycle 2 from Sola Gratia Mom and lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning. Life Your Way offers free printable Notebooking Pages that include history, science, geography, and Bible copywork. Don’t miss Becky Tanner’s Pinterest board and Home Grown Learners Pinterest board full of Cycle 2 ideas. Cross and Quill Media offers a list of resources by week as does Magistra Mommy.

Book lists. Life Your Way shares a Cycle 2 book list as does Half a Hundred Acre Wood.

Videos. This playlist contains videos appropriate for all of Cycle 2.

Bible. This video reviews Ephesians memory work. Our Homeschool Experiment offers Ephesians 6 resources for study.

Grammar. Grammar Memory Songs are available for Cycle 2. This grammar video play list was created for this cycle as well.

Science. This playlist features science videos for Cycle 2.

Fine Arts. Nurturing Learning shares many Great Artists resources appropriate for Cycle 2.

Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC Cycle 2 on Pinterest.

Cycle 3 CC Resources

Planning and Ideas. Paula Sloan shares Cycle 3 ideas on her Pinterest board. Half a Hundred Acre Wood shares a thorough list of Cycle 3 resources and a list of supplemental resources.

Videos. This Cycle 3 play listthis one, and this one cover all subjects. You can use these to create your own playlist of favorite videos.

Bible. This video provides John 1 memorization help. This video provides the same memory help in Latin.

Grammar. Classroom Freebies makes this verb tense printable available that works with Cycle 3. I created writing prompts for Cycle 3 that can really enrich kids’ learning.

History. The IEW U.S. History writing lessons go well with Cycle 3 history.

Geography. This 4D U.S. puzzle would be a great addition to Cycle 3 geography.

Latin. This Latin video goes with Cycle 3 Latin work.

Science. The My Body science book dovetails nicely with Cycle 3 science. This body puzzle would be an excellent adjunct to your lessons. This video covers the first few weeks of science.

Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC Cycle 3 on Pinterest.

CC Subject Resources

Latin. This is a list of Latin tutorial videos that can add to your Latin studies. This Latin declension song video and these conjugation aids are also a great help. Kayt D has a large Pinterest board dedicated to CC Latin resources.

Math. Nicole Lopez has a Pinterest Board for CC Math.

Geography. CC Happy Mom has produced geography song videos that will help the kids memorize their geography faster. Kid World Citizen has a thorough guide to map vocabulary that will enrich your geography studies. Triumphant Learning sells a geography field guide that also works well for Challenge A.

Essentials. This video gives an overview of the Essentials program. This video on irregular verbs is an Essentials resource. Allison2524 shares a video playlist for use with Essentials. Michelle B explains how to set up an Essentials notebook in this video.

Challenge A. This Pinterest board by Ann Sydnor has resources and ideas for Challenge A.

Challenge B. Jill Pettis has a Challenge B board with ideas of interest. Challenge 1. Kimberly Wallace has a Challenge 1 board on Pinterest.

Follow Dr. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6’s board CC Subject Areas on Pinterest.

I would love for you to subscribe or follow me on Pinterest for more Classical Conversations goodies and ultimate info.

Be sure to check out the other great Ultimate Guides at iHomeschool Network.  

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Week 15: The Organize Your Finances Challenge

Week 15: The Organize Your Finances Challenge

Learn to manage money as a family and get your homeschool organized!We often underestimate our children’s willingness to get involved in meeting family financial goals. With America’s tax deadline looming, you may be thinking it’s time to organize your finances. This week we will spend an hour doing just that.

#1 Set a family goal

If you’re a family that has a comfortable income and aren’t interested in saving for something for your family, consider saving for a charity that is important to you. Kids and adults, too, like to donate money for something in particular, so ask about special needs. But you may already have a financial goal in mind like getting out of debt, saving for another vehicle, or a trip. Regardless of your goal, you’ll want to get the kids to buy into it. I love Dave Ramsey’s money books for kids and his finance course for high school students. Dave does a great job of helping kids embrace the goal of good stewardship.  Reading a biography of George Muller as a family will remind everyone that God provides. Be clear about the amount of money you need to save to meet your goal.

#2 Identify Wasteful Spending

You don’t have to meticulously monitor your spending for months to identify money wasters. First, look over the last couple of months of account statements for credit cards and your bank. Look for service payments you aren’t really using like cable or a home phone. Second, consider ways your are spending more for things you do need. Are you shopping at a more expensive grocery store? Are you paying higher fees for memberships that you could get cheaper elsewhere? Could you take a lunch on trips out rather than buying? Finally, discuss as a family what you spend money on that you would be willing to sacrifice: new clothes, expensive gifts, movies out? Pray that your discussion wouldn’t cause conflict and encourage everyone to consider others’ needs before their own.  Money Saving Mom is a great resource for ideas on trimming spending.

#3 Identify Ways to Increase Income

You may be able to meet your goal simply by eliminating wasteful spending, but more likely you will want to find ways to increase income. If you have a charity goal, consider a fund raiser. My kids have loved setting up lemonade stands and bake sales to raise money. If you’re needing income for a family goal, pray about adding work hours or making employment changes. If you’re interested in blogging as a business, be sure to check out my interview with Jimmie Lanley on The Homeschool Sanity Show. Kids can pet sit, babysit, mow lawns, or referee before they are old enough to work other jobs. Teens can get a traditional job or might start their own business. The money kids earn can help contribute to the goal, especially if the kids are motivated to help. If working more isn’t an option, consider selling items you no longer need on a rummage sale, Ebay, Craigslist, or Amazon. For example, I describe the success I have had selling my used curriculum on Amazon in this post.

#4 Create Tracking Systems

To help everyone stay motivated and accountable, you will want a tracking system. A large wall thermometer with a picture of the goal at the top like this one is a great visual tool. If you want each child to work toward their own goal, this free printable from Parenting Fun Every Day is just the thing. I absolutely love this Savings ATM toy from Young Explorers. It would absolutely make saving fun for the kids. It isn’t inexpensive, so it would be a great gift to request from a grandparent. As an adult, you may need more help tracking your spending and savings. I love the resources available from Crown Financial. They offer everything from a counselor to money management software. Need help organizing your bills and you don’t like ebills? Check out this monthly bill organizer.

What financial goal would you like to pursue as a family?

Be sure to follow the Organized Homeschool Pinterest board to get these finance ideas and others.

Here is this month’s free printable organized homeschool calendar for April 2014 and a list of previous weeks’ challenges.

Get your home, family, and homeschool organized this month with this free printable calendar.

Organized Homeschool Challenge

Week 1: Daily Devotions Challenge

Week 2: Daily Routine Challenge

Week 3: To-Do List Challenge

Week 4: Memory Keeping Challenge

Week 5: The Decluttering Challenge

Week 6: The Organized Computer Challenge

 Week 7: The Marriage of Your Dreams Challenge

Week 8: The Confident Parent Challenge

Week 9: The Extended Family Challenge

Week 10: The Bring on the Spring Challenge

Week 11: The Spring Cleaning Challenge

Week 12: The Organized Easter Challenge

Week 13: The Serve the Church Challenge

Week 14: The Chore Challenge

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