Here in MD, homeschoolers must be reviewed twice per school year. You can either go through the Board of Ed (BOE) or a private reviewer/umbrella group. I used to just go through the BOE, only had one "bad" reviewer in 7 years of going to them. (The lady "failed" us and marked our review as unaccepted and that we needed to come back for a 30 day follow-up. That never happened. Apparently this lady was "failing" a lot of people that day.)
But for the last 2 years of going to the BOE, we had the same lady reviewer. I did like her, and enjoyed the reviews.. until.. she started "offering" more and more suggestions. "You should try this"; "Maybe if you used this"; "You should be doing such and such", and so on. So I felt that maybe it was time to go to a private reviewer.
So last year we did. And I don't know WHY I waited so long. It has been SOOO much more enjoyable to go to a fellow homeschooling mom that has/is going through similar issues we do. I used to get stressed big time about BOE reviews. You know, that queasy/butterfly in the stomach feeling when you are going somewhere you DO NOT want to? No more! I don't stress anymore.
Until now! LOL I suppose that since this is our 2ND year of going through our reviewer, we are able to either come in for a review, or mail a review. So with DH's surgery I thought "Sure, I'll type up something and mail it in". Well it was harder than I thought. LOL I have no clue how to write it out. So I muddled through it this morning and finished it up for both kids before the mailman came. And it is off to our reviewer now.
I really hope it is OK. I'm going to be worrying about until I find out what she thinks.
*sigh* I have a terrible headache (not from writing up our review). I believe it is just allergies. I am so happy the weather has warmed up.. but this time of year about kills me. My nose & eyes itch nose stop. Both run faster than our stream out back. But I'll survive. :) Just not sure how much work we'll get done today....
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Monday, April 23, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
My Review: Amy Knapp's Homeschooling Organizer
OK, I am not the greatest at doing reviews, so I will try to do my best. ;)
I really wasn't sure at first how I'd like this. I use Amy Knapp's Family Organizer, and have for about 3 years now. I love it.. so wanted to give the Homeschooling Organizer a chance. I had also never personally seen the book, just saw it on Amazon, so I had added it to my Christmas list.
At first glance, I thought "Eh, nothing fantastic." Throughout January & February, I'd write in some things here and there. But it was until recently I decided we need a "plan". So I opened up my Homeschooling Organizer and got to it. The spaces are enough room for me to write in just about every subject I need to. On any given day, I can plan out for math, science, history, reading; all on the Lesson Planning side (left) of the book. Also on this side is a Grocery shopping list. Then you still have the days of the week side (right) to fill in for appointments, etc. and a To Do/To Call section, PLUS meal planning area. This all folds our into a 2 page spread, so you can easily see what is going on for the entire week.
The rest of the book is nice as well. In the front it has small "at-a-glance" calendars for August (of starting year, mine is 2006) until December of the following year (mine is 2007). Then the calendar and lesson planning, etc. pages begin with the starting year, August. You have a large 2-page spread of the months calendar. Then it goes into the planning pages & weekly calendars. Planning pages continue through August of the following year. Then you just have large 2-page calendars for the remaining months through December.
Additional pages in the back of the book include: Book Log; Chore Assignment Log; Personal Development; Grading; Field Trip Log Ideas; Completed Field Trips; Budget Planning (for the family homeschooling - includes materials for all children); Individual Budget Planning (for each child). These pages are reproducible.
I will be ordering my Homeschooling Organizer for next year as well. I think this is a great tool to help keep us on track. While I don't think I'd use it as a "regular" planner/datebook, as it is larger that my other one... I will continue to use it for homeschooling.
So, hopefully my review doesn't sound too jumbled. :) Enjoy!!
I really wasn't sure at first how I'd like this. I use Amy Knapp's Family Organizer, and have for about 3 years now. I love it.. so wanted to give the Homeschooling Organizer a chance. I had also never personally seen the book, just saw it on Amazon, so I had added it to my Christmas list.
At first glance, I thought "Eh, nothing fantastic." Throughout January & February, I'd write in some things here and there. But it was until recently I decided we need a "plan". So I opened up my Homeschooling Organizer and got to it. The spaces are enough room for me to write in just about every subject I need to. On any given day, I can plan out for math, science, history, reading; all on the Lesson Planning side (left) of the book. Also on this side is a Grocery shopping list. Then you still have the days of the week side (right) to fill in for appointments, etc. and a To Do/To Call section, PLUS meal planning area. This all folds our into a 2 page spread, so you can easily see what is going on for the entire week.
The rest of the book is nice as well. In the front it has small "at-a-glance" calendars for August (of starting year, mine is 2006) until December of the following year (mine is 2007). Then the calendar and lesson planning, etc. pages begin with the starting year, August. You have a large 2-page spread of the months calendar. Then it goes into the planning pages & weekly calendars. Planning pages continue through August of the following year. Then you just have large 2-page calendars for the remaining months through December.
Additional pages in the back of the book include: Book Log; Chore Assignment Log; Personal Development; Grading; Field Trip Log Ideas; Completed Field Trips; Budget Planning (for the family homeschooling - includes materials for all children); Individual Budget Planning (for each child). These pages are reproducible.
I will be ordering my Homeschooling Organizer for next year as well. I think this is a great tool to help keep us on track. While I don't think I'd use it as a "regular" planner/datebook, as it is larger that my other one... I will continue to use it for homeschooling.
So, hopefully my review doesn't sound too jumbled. :) Enjoy!!
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