iHomeSchool

So, I recently was able to combine my obsessiveness for organization with my knack for detailed lesson plans all in one place: Homeschool Planel's planner! I LOVE IT! (Did you hear me scream that from the mountain tops?) I LOVE IT! Yes, it was painstakingly difficult to get all of the different subjects, assignments, tests, chores, and the kitchen sink into this program, but now that it's in, I LOVE IT!

My homeschool teacher (really, my babysitter who checks in on us to make sure I'm not destroying Brandon and Sophia's future) told me that one of her other families uses it. I checked it out and had not seen anything else like it and jumped in with both feet. It is a program that plans each day and each subject, allows me to assign and reschedule with a click of a button (so we can go on that last minute field trip) and set-up for the whole year to tell me (and each kid) exactly what we need to do each day to get through an entire year of well-research curriculum in an enormous amount of subjects. Now, if I could only give this RAD checklist to my kids every day for them to check off their work...

ENTER SUPER NANA! She says, "I think we should think about getting the kids tablets for their homeschooling and I'd like to help with that." So, with one click of a button (and one heck of a Christmas present already bought and delivered), Santa came to the door today dressed like a FedEx man with these 2 beauties...

 No, not the kids... the new iPads! See, the kids had been testing out this program (and a few other apps and websites that we supplement with our books) on tablets using Fernando's older iPad (which he can't give up to the kids because he needs it for work) for a few weeks now and it was working like a charm. They go in every day and can do their independent work without asking. I can check and see how much progress they've made as they check off their assignments. I can stop them and teach a lesson to break up the independent work based on what new lessons we have for the day. They have access at their fingertips to research, take tests, watch videos and look up what an ahtlatl is! And they learn technology to boot!

SO, a big shout out to Brandon and Sophia's Nana and Lola (who gave them money over the summer that we saved for such an investment) for helping us take a HUGE STEP in the right direction with their education. Each day, as things fall more and more into place, I feel more and more like we've made the right decision. Now, let's get on to iHomeSchooling!