Slow and Steady Wins the Race

At least that's what I'm telling myself after my first official school planning day! Even though it doesn't look dramatic, progress WAS made:

• My first task is always setting out my weeks, my calendar. I map out when we'll start and end the school year, and plan our breaks and holidays. Nowadays I include a master schedule consolidating the dates for our homeschool, the boys' school, VCU, and even the local public school (It's handy to know when the neighbors might be ringing the bell!). After much labor Tuesday night, I see that this year we'll have about 32 official weeks.
• With the calendar written, I'm able to map out some finite subjects (books we use from beginning to end in one year) like grammar and science. And yesterday I did organize the weekly grammar pages. Althouth that was only a 10 or 15 minute project, it's still encouraging to see something written down. Today I'm planning to tackle more of that nitty-gritty outlining.
• I spent much of the day cleaning the school room. It's a more dynamic space than my desk (previously known as the black hole), so the piles weren't as deep, but I still managed to unearth some ancient treasures: thank you notes (waiting to be sent) from November 2008, Lenten crafts, "composted" papers (old enough to just glance at and toss in recycling), and some medical records from January.
• I exchanged multiple emails with the members of this year's writing co-op, and started looking through my newest IEW materials. We have several important details to iron out, but I'm excited about starting. The accountability of a co-op is so helpful in getting me to follow through with what I already want to do.
• I started writing out goals/subjects/ideas for my three students. Rebecca won't be five until November, but she is ready for a full-fledged kindergarten experience.
• I looked through a few catalogues and was happy to confirm that I don't need to buy much to be ready for this year. A benefit of fifteen years of homeschooling: I already have a lot of supplies!

Today will be about setting goals and dreaming big, about all the things I'd like us to accomplish this year. Then I'll tackle the reality and see how much I can get on paper. And I think I need to be specific, especially with the fun, non-core subjects. It's one thing to say we'll do craft projects every Friday and another to map out which ones when. The latter takes more work upfront, but otherwise my enthusiasm rarely carries the day all year.

I thought I wasn't going to post Small Successes this week, but I do believe this post qualifies. To see the achievements of other moms, go here.