#1 Get the lay-out lists for the grocery stores you shop in
Near the front entrance of most stores is an aisle list for the most common ingredients. You’ll want this so you can put your shopping list in the order the items appear in your store. If a store doesn’t have one, take time to go through the aisles noting the numbers (if any) and what can generally be found there. You can also do this with a grocery shopping app.
#2 Create a master shopping list
If you did your meal plan on paper, you’ll now combine totals for all ingredients needed to make the meals on your plan. In other words, you’ll know you need 8 pounds of chicken breast total for the month. You may wish to create a paper grocery list that is organized according to the aisle layout you obtained.
If you’re using a digital meal planner like Plan to Eat, the shopping list will be automatically generated for you. However, depending on how you entered the recipes, you may find that some of the ingredients aren’t listed for the correct aisle. This is where your aisle list can come in handy! Make sure all items are categorized properly so you don’t have them listed in different sections.
#3 Finish creating shopping list
To save the most time possible, you’ll want to have a master list of non-food items to purchase as well. If you don’t know how many items like paper towels and laundry detergent you purchase in a month, make note of the date you purchase them next and the date you run out for future planning. When you know how much of something you need each month, you are better able to take advantage of coupons and sales for bulk shopping.
If you don’t feel like being that organized, you can continue to organize the shopping list for your meals and just add these extra items to your weekly shopping list as needed. Your weekly shopping list will be much smaller with the advance shopping you’ll be doing.
#4 Shop and put items away
When I do monthly shopping, I go to two stores and have multiple carts. I need a clean vehicle and a helper or two. I definitely need space cleared for storage and lots of help to put items away. I recommend shopping when you have the most energy! If you’re using coupons or shopping sales, make sure you have everything you need organized. Oh, and don’t forget your purse! Yes, I have done this.
When you’re done, you will have saved lots of time in the upcoming month and probably money, too!
Whether this will be your first year of homeschooling or you’ve been at this a while, you won’t want to miss this incredible resource.
So many homeschooling books are the advice of one homeschool mom, who writes in detail about one approach. But what if that homeschooling mother is nothing like you?
The Big Book of Homeschooling IdeasClick here to view more details is like getting advice from more than 50 homeschooling mothers on topics ranging from preschool to high school. This book will grow with you as your homeschooling needs change and there are bound to be authors who seem to be writing just for you. I would have loved to have had this resource at my fingertips when I started homeschooling!
The chapter I contributed
I did the next best thing and authored a chapter on a topic near and dear to my heart: starting a homeschool co-op. Few aspects of my homeschooling have had as dramatic an impact as co-ops. I would love for you to consider my experience and the step-by-step instructions I share for how to start a co-op that will be a blessing for you and your children.
Why you’ll want to add this book to your homeschooling library
Even if you have no need to start a co-op, I know you will find something of value in this book that is over 500 pages long! You can check out the table of contents before you buy. And because it’s digital, it won’t take up four inches of precious bookshelf space!
As an author, I’m an affiliate for The Big Book of Homeschool Ideas, but I would recommend it anyway. $10.99 for over 500 pages of homeschooling ideas? Yes, please!
Which chapters are you most looking forward to reading?
Last week we got our core, or primary curriculum, organized for the upcoming year. This week we will take on our elective studies. This could be subjects like art, home ec, or music.
#1 Set up system of organization
You may have organized your materials during the planning challenge. If not, you will take the time to complete any preparation required to teach these subjects. For example, I have to print the Hoffman Piano lesson materials and add them to my children’s binders. These binders have my children’s names on them and are added to their individual crates on our bookcase.
#2 Research
This is the day to do research for ideas or materials you need to make your elective subjects excellent. For example, if you are using a home ec curriculum, you may be able to find an appropriate video teaching kids how to bake bread on YouTube. Be sure to keep your research organized. I recommend Pinterest and Evernote if you prefer digital or a binder/file system if you don’t.
#3 Plan
Create a simple plan for each subject, unless your curriculum has done the planning for you. In this case, you may wish to delete any activities you don’t like and add activities to replace them you discovered during your research. Remember, this is one of the blessings of homeschooling. You decide what to teach!
#4 Shop / List Materials
Purchase any needed equipment or supplies needed to teach elective subjects or add them to your list. Be sure to read the Special Study Prep challenge for more on this. You may wish to delay purchasing basic school supplies until they are on sale or have no sales tax (if your area has this weekend).
As we get ready for a new school year, the Build Your Own Bundle sale is a great opportunity to pick up a wide range of digital books, curriculum, and homeschooling helps at an amazing price. There is something here for everyone! I love the option of choosing what you need so much that I signed up as an affiliate for this sale. Some of the options that stand out to me are:
Math Mammoth materials (we’ve used them and loved them)
Homeschool scheduling forms
Writing Through the Bible (a great idea)
Christian Keyboarding (I need to make sure my kids aren’t hunting and pecking like their dad!) 🙂
Notebooking resources (there are so many topics to choose from)
We Choose Virtues materials (a great way of helping kids understand and implement character traits).
For one week only (July 21-28) save up to 92% on bestselling homeschooling products, including MANY on Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 list!
The bundles are AMAZING, including products such as Learning Language Arts Through Literature, A Child’s Geography, Character Concepts, Picture Smart Bible, Math Mammoth, and more! There are SO many incredible products to choose from, all bundled up in grades/themes OR you can “Build Your Own!”
Our “Build Your Own” bundles offer you the opportunity to select a certain number of products with a retail price of $19.99 or less for up to 80% off! We have MANY items to choose from, including Cathy Duffy Top 100 Picks! When you purchase a combination of any 2 “Build Your Own” bundles, you will get the 3rd one at 50% off!
Buy more & save more! Purchase 2 “build your own” bundles and get the 3rd one 50% off! See site for details.
You will also find the following pre-assembled bundles with saving up to 92% off retail: Tot/Pre-K Bundle, K-3 Bundle, 4-6 Elementary Bundle, Middle School Bundle, High School Bundle, Charlotte Mason Bundle, & the Homeschooling/Homemaking Mom Bundle!
He gave me a completely different vision of what it means to discover and then develop my children’s talent.
Honestly, I’ve been looking for skills that will make the judges of America’s Got Talent cry, and when I haven’t found them, I’ve felt exempt from talent education. Jonathan helped me see that this view of talent training doesn’t honor God and shortchanges my children’s future.
I worked through the How to Discover and Develop Your Child’s First 100 Hours ebook with a focus on my 14-year-old and have been really happy with the results. My son has a “talent” for tennis and drum, but I was surprised to discover that these interests and abilities are more likely hobbies that will continue to enjoy in the future. Drum may be a way for him to serve in a church, but his interests in money and rules, together with having an uncle in personal finance, has convinced me that business coursework is something he should explore in his first year of high school.
I liked this course so much that I wanted to promote it as an affiliate. You can check out Jonathan’s talent education course and his How to Showcase Your Talent on a Blog course at this link.
I love the idea of having kids write a blog as a means of developing their talent. As a passionate blogger and a homeschooler who is crazy about language arts, I think the idea allows students to learn many things at once. Jonathan’s course could be part of your language arts studies or another high school course. My kids don’t know it yet, but they’re going to be blogging! I’ll post the links to their blogs here when they’re up and running.
By core curriculum, I mean either a complete curriculum, like My Father’s World, or core subjects like math, language arts, science, and social studies. This could be a busy week or an easy one, depending on what curriculum you are using in the next year. We will go through the same process we went through with special studies, so we are organized early.
#1 Set up system of organization
You may or may not need an organizational system for each subject. If you didn’t do the planning challenge, you may need to make sure lessons are noted in your child’s planners and books are accessible to him.
#2 Research
This is the day to do research for ideas or materials you need to make your core subjects excellent. For example, I will be researching videos to add to my Mystery of History playlist on YouTube. I have to get busy on Volume II. As with special studies, you may want to see if someone has done the work for you, coming up with crafts, videos, songs, experiments, etc. to go with your chosen core curriculum. Organize your research digitally or using binders / file folders.
#3 Plan
Plan each subject, if necessary. I say “if necessary” because many subjects can be taught as written in the curriculum, with no extra planning necessary. If you need to plan in detail, consider creating an undated plan that you can add to a dated planner one week at a time. Nothing is more frustrating than creating all these dated lessons, only to get off schedule. Again, keep it simple. It’s much easier to add ideas than it is to delete them and still feel like you’re on top of your schooling. Extra time allows for some delight-directed learning, too. I love it when we do history and the kids ask to spend time learning more about a subject.
#4 Shop / List Materials
Purchase what you need for core curriculum now, if you haven’t already. Things lab kits and craft supplies are appropriate here. Be sure to read the Special Study Prep challenge for more on this. You may wish to delay purchasing basic school supplies until they are on sale or have no sales tax (if your area has this weekend).
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
