Mid-week Morsel: 2013-2014 School Planners

August is just around the corner.  Although I hate to cut summer short, it's time to start thinking about getting ready to go back to school. This can mean different tasks for different people.  For traditional public schoolers it means buying a list of school supplies, and perhaps new uniforms.  For homeschoolers it means planning your curriculum and lessons for the year. For us virtual schoolers it means choosing our children's schedules for the year.  One task we all have in common is getting organized.  Regardless of what type of school your children attend, they cannot be successful if they are disorganized.  Even if your children are pre-school aged, it's nice to make a plan to keep their education (and your life) organized.  To kick off the back-to-school month of August I'm linking you to a few school planners to help you get organized.  They are aimed at homeschoolers, but are very useful to any student or parent who wants to stay on top of assignments and grades.  The Home School Mom has a list of planners with descriptions of each.  Some are free, others are not.  Some are printable, others are software or databases.  Also, Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler made three printable planners.  One is free, the others are $5 each.  

How do you and your students stay organized during the school year?  Do you have a planner or system to share?  Let me know in the comments below.

Karissa

Mid-week Morsel: Boredom Busters for Work From Home Moms

The modern economy doesn't really support the one income family model.  However, many families, like mine, still choose to have a parent at home with the children.  More and more of these stay-at-home moms are running their own businesses from home.  This week's mid-week morsel is all about keeping your kids busy while you are productive.  Spark Plugging is a website dedicated to work at home resources for home-based entrepreneurs.  I found a wonderful article there listing 94 ideas to keep kids busy.  Whether you work from home for money, or just to keep your sanity, this list will certainly help reduce the number of times you hear, "I'm bored", this summer.

Karissa

Mid-week Morsel: New Year, New Calendar

Happy New Year!  The new year is always exciting.  It's a time for wiping the slate clean, and making a fresh start in every part of your life.  This week's Mid-week Morsel focuses on keeping your calendar for the new year organized and effective.  LifeHacker's Five Best Calendar Applications lists personal calendar apps for all platforms.  Appstorm offers 15 Cool Alternatives to Google Calendar; a list of applications for both personal and business schedules.  If you're looking to organize your whole family, Parents.com has simple ways to streamline your family's schedule.  Finally, if you're more of a paper and pen person, I have found many printable calendar options at CalendarLabs and WinCalendar.    What do you do to keep your calendar under control?

Karissa