Grace Christian Homeschool: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Reflecting Back on 2012 - Popular Posts

Budget and Bills Binder

*****update: 2016 Budget Sheets are now ready!*****

One of my goals for the New Year is to stay on top of our budget. Inspired by what else - Pinterest. So, after being inspired I picked the one that would fit our needs the best.

Here is out Bills Binder.

Inside - I purchased 2 of these folders from Staples. In the clear one is where I place our bills when they come in until it is time to pay them. The blue one will be for deposit receipts and things that can't easily be hole punched.

Tabbed sections include our budget, monthly calendar, and tabs to file the bills once they are paid.

I couldn't find a calendar that had what I wanted on it so I made my own. Here is where I will list the bills and mark them off when they are paid. I can also keep up with balances and watch them go down!

Free Printable Budget Calendars - click here. Here's to 2013!

Motivated Moms Planner Winner!

Congratulations, Jewel! You have an email waiting for you!

I hope this planner will be as much of a blessing to you as it has been for our family!

Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Homeschool Mother's Journal - End of 2012 Wrap-up

Christmas Break begins! Merry Christmas!!

In my life this week…

We are still battling some sickness. We all will get well and then someone will fall ill again. As of right now, everyone is feeling better. Praise God!!

In our homeschool this week…

We finished up Week 14 of My Father's World CTG, reviewed our first 12 weeks of Classical Conversations, and had our annual Polar Express party.

Our favorite holiday traditions are…

baking

Jesse Tree

countdown chain

visiting Santa

Polar Express party

What’s working/not working for us…

We have completely dropped MFW CTG science and we are just using CC's science for now. I just wasn't crazy about the experiments in Genesis For Kids.

All other subjects seem to be going well!

I’m busy planning…

our next 12 weeks of school

our 2013 budget

setting up calendars and cleaning schedules for the New Year

I’m grateful for…

The Motivated Moms planners! Since February, we've used this and it is so simple and easy to get chores done. See my review, get a discount code, or enter for a free giveaway here.

I’m praying for…

Complete healing and health for our family. No more sickness and coughing to go away!!

See other journals here and wrap-ups here. Cheers for 2013!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

2013 Is Coming And Cleaning Never Ends! (giveaway)

As a homeschool mom of 3 busy children, house cleaning is sometimes left in the dust - literally! On any given day, if you show up uninvited, you will find some things out of place. Our home is lived in and I'm really okay with that. I do like knowing that cleaning is being accomplished though. I feel like it is a part of my job as a stay at home mom but also feel that everyone in the family must do their part to make our household run smoothly.

Since February of this year, we have been using the Motivated Moms planner consistently and I love it! I downloaded the e-book version first and loved it so much I purchased the ipod app as well. Chores are broken down for you on a daily basis. You don't need to keep track of what needs to be done when. The planner does it for you! You can complete the chores normally within an hour especially if you delegate like I do! I just write the child's name beside the chore I'd like for them to do that day. We usually complete the daily chores before school and the chores listed by day are completed in the afternoon. You can see here where I simply added who I wanted to do what. Simple and fast! Chores are often hard to get done but this makes it work much easier for us.

E-book versions

The Motivated Moms printable chore list is an e-book that you download and save to your computer. You can then either print the full year out at once, print a week at a time or just view it on your computer. I printed mine during my school planning sessions every 12 weeks. If you love to check off boxes then this is a great tool.

I love the e-book version because I am a hand written paper planner gal.

App Versions

As I mentioned earlier, I was such a fan of the e-book version that I decided to add the ipod version to our repertoire as well to help motivate the kids. They love clicking on their done chore and watching it disappear (it actually drops to the bottom but it feels so freeing :). I might - just might - try using the ipod app exclusively this year since it allows you to assign chores to people as well. Each person is color coded - love! I can add in my own tasks for them to do. I can save on ink costs and time because it's all right there just waiting. I think I can, I think I can. :) Seriously, if you are looking for customization, I think the app version would be the best choice.

With the app you get 15 months of programmed tasks (over 10,000 of them) spanning from October 2012 to December 2013. In addition, you can add unlimited custom tasks and assign tasks to people and rooms.

Key features:

• All tasks in the average home are planned out for you throughout the year
• Ability to add unlimited custom tasks
• Check off chores as they are done and they drop to the bottom of the list out of your way
• No major cleaning days or Spring Cleaning week, do just a little all year around
• Daily items and those that come up less frequently are scheduled for you
• No need to remember when you last changed the a/c filter or dusted the living room – just do the tasks as they come up; the app keeps track for you.
• Tasks can be assigned to people and rooms and sorted accordingly

You can move items to other days if there is a conflict. The application also gives you the ability to “hide” items that don’t apply. Don’t have a pet? Just hide the “Feed Pets” chore, then “unhide” it later if you get a pet part of the way through the year.

Want to be reminded to read your Bible each day? Motivated Moms will help you read through the Bible in a year. Don’t need the bible reading plan? There is a setting to turn off the scheduled Bible readings so you won’t see them in your list.

My thoughts

You know what I think I love the most about this planner? The simplicity. It doesn't have pretty borders or fancy pages. It simply has what needs to be done. It also has lots of different versions available suiting the needs of every household: half pages, full pages, daily Bible readings, no daily Bible readings, print version, and apps. Want to give it a try for yourself? Try out the lite app versions for for free for ipod/iphone/ipad or android or the 2012 - 3 month e-book planners for $2.

Discount Code For ebook version

For 2013, the app versions are available for $7.99ea. The e-book versions are available for $8ea. If you use the code GRACE and purchase your planner by 1/4/13 you will receive $1 off the e-book version.

Giveaway Details

Susan at Motivated Moms has also been so generous to my readers and is giving away one of the 2013 Motivated Moms planners. Just follow the steps below for your chance to win - your choice of e-book version or ipod/iphone/ipad app! Giveaway ends 12/31/12 at midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Disclaimer: I was given a free 2013 ipod app of Motivated Moms in exchange for my review. I purchased my own planners for 2012! I am also an affiliate with the company since I love them so much!

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