I recently came across something that made me question why I keep doing what I’m doing for FREE… I didn’t question it for long as GOD reminded me that I once was the person who couldn’t afford even $1.00 for access to recipes or an ebook full of tips to help me with whatever situation I was facing.
Continue reading “Why Sharing Free Content Matters”
It’s that time of year again for us… time to get the next school year planned out. We technically finished up our 2025-2026 school year before Easter but I’ve been busy with the garden and such so I am just now getting around to making our new schedule.
It is always SO TEMPTING to take a few months off to just focus on this house but I know from past experience that this doesn’t go well and that it takes FOREVER to get a couple of the kids back into the school routine. You can read more about last year’s curriculum and routines HERE.
Having a little extra wiggle room in our schedule means that we can take off more time around the holidays and I can take a week off for new grandbabies too! We also love taking the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to just reflect on the reason for the season and it gives us time to do fun things with the family too.
A couple of years ago we switched to more of a Charlotte Mason-style approach and it was GREAT for the most part. We still have a couple of kids who just hate anything to do with math so that’s been a little challenging but we’re making progress. We’ve also really enjoyed using some of the FREE courses with Under the Home Homeschool, even though some of the YouTube links no longer work. They have a lot of great lessons though!
I will also be pulling some lessons from the Old Fashioned Education site. They have a TON of great resources and FREE printable lesson plans for every grade! You can also check out the Plain and Not So Plain Website for FREE resources and complete lesson plans!
I had a rainy day to gather my thoughts for the new year and I put that to good use. Last year, I also purchased a Montessori Curriculum for Shyanne so we will continue to use that with her, while including her in some of our other lessons too. Shyanne has LOVES being a part of our school routine and she has already completed the Easy Peasy All-in-One Preschool program. She’s also been loving the printable packets from Living With Eve.
I will say that last month went pretty well, and our home does feel a bit more KIND. This month, our theme will be PATIENCE. We will be looking at ways that we can be more intentional in showing PATIENCE to others through our actions.
Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” — Anonymous
I’m going to take a quick look at what we have planned for the month so you can get a little idea about how all of our systems work with each other.
My morning routine means that I check our calendar every morning, and here is what I am looking at:
I also like to review the chores at the beginning of the week, as we have them listed by daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
Daily chores are pretty automatic, but our monthly chores rotate by the day of the month… I try to keep things as easy as I can.
Some of our daily chores include:
If you click on the links, you can find more in-depth information about each task.
Some of my weekly chores are:
Some of the monthly chores this month are:
Some of the yearly chores for this month are:
Sometimes the kiddos are tempted to skip over chores, but it catches up to them later on when things break down or run out. We are trying to teach them important skills that they will need later on in life, skills that will hopefully make them successful in all that they do.
Today, I check my Homeschool Manager app for anything that I might not have added to the main calendar. I normally look over the next week’s schedule on Thursdays, after we finish our school work.
These quick changes will keep us from having a very frustrating week back to school… at least I pray it will.
This month, I will be focusing on adding Foreign/Alternative LForeign/Alternative Language anguage tasks to our homeschool routine, so I will look over those tasks to see what I can work in with our lessons.
The kids have informed me that they would rather try to learn Spanish again, instead of Hebrew so we will make that change in the next week or two.
Some ways we are doing this are:
We have a new devotional for the month as well – I did make it for 31 days, so it could be used at any time of the year.
I usually sit down to pay bills on Fridays.
I usually do this first, so I know what I have left to spend. My bill pay worksheet makes things much simpler as I can see what I have paid, and what needs to be paid.
I normally do my menu planning on Wednesday or Thursday. I print out a couple of meal planning sheets and a grocery list so I can fill them in as I look over our Spring Meal Plan.
Some of the pantry restock items I added to list are:
Some of the produce I’d like to buy for preserving:
In April, we were also able to stock up on some veggies and cabbage for pickled veggies and sauerkraut. These aren’t canned but they do last a bit in the fridge and help make meals a little more interesting. We also pickled some eggs have we have an abundance of them right now and they make great protein filled snacks!
If money is short, we can skip the restock and the preserving items until next month. I don’t like to skip things too often, but we do have our pantry pretty well stocked, and as long as we replace what we use, we should be fine.
I usually try to get feed and garden supplies once a month to cut down on the number of trips I make to town. The feed store is in the opposite direction of our normal grocery store, and I need all the space in the back of the van for feed, so I can’t really combine these tasks, or I would.
I go out to the greenhouse and garden just about every day, so I keep a running list of things that I need. I will also check my monthly list of tasks that need to be done. I went over my lists this weekend, and I have:
I need to:
Some of the tasks are also listed with my yearly tasks to make sure that I don’t forget them 🙂
I also check with the kids to see what animal feed we have, check that against my master inventory list, note down what we need in my phone, and then I will make time to go get the feed. I try to combine a few tasks during the same trip.
When I go to get the feed I will:
When I get home, I always have the kids unload the feed right away, mix anything that needs to be mixed, and put the surplus in the old freezer that we use for storage. Once the feed is taken care of, they will clean out the back of the van 🙂
I try to make sure to do this mid-week, as Fridays & Saturdays are a bit crowded at the Feed Store. It’s always a bit stressful when we get too low on feed as well, so by making sure we have a regular schedule, we can alleviate some of the stress and replace it with PEACE, as we know we have what we need. We can also use these tasks as ways to show LOVE to one another.
I also like to start a To-Do List because things always pop up that I can’t fix right away. I also find things when I am out in the garden that need to be taken care of, I will usually snap a photo and then add it to the list if it can’t be taken care of right away.
This is our list so far:
The list keeps growing and it will continue to grow longer the further we get into the year… hopefully, we can stay on top of it.
This is just a quick look at my weekly plans… I have all month long to work on some of them, and I will try to knock out as many as I can. I know that by handling the smaller things now, it will free up time I might need in the future for BIGGER and BETTER things. A little maintenance helps to keep things running nice and smooth… it also helps us to appreciate all that we have been BLESSED with.
I pray that you will find something useful in these links.
God Bless!
I will say that last month went pretty well, and our home does feel a bit fuller of JOY. This month, our theme will be KINDNESS. We will be looking at ways that we can be more intentional in showing KINDNESS in all that we do.
I’m going to take a quick look at what we have planned for the month so you can get a little idea about how all of our systems work with each other.
My morning routine means that I check our calendar every morning, and here is what I am looking at:
I also like to review the chores at the beginning of the week, as we have them listed by daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
Daily chores are pretty automatic, but our monthly chores rotate by the day of the month… I try to keep things as easy as I can.
Some of our daily chores include:
If you click on the links, you can find more in-depth information about each task.
Some of my weekly chores are:
Some of the monthly chores this month are:
We usually tackle one or two these every day or every other day to get them knocked out.
Some of the yearly chores for this month are:
Sometimes the kiddos are tempted to skip over chores, but it catches up to them later on when things break down or run out. We are trying to teach them important skills that they will need later on in life, skills that will hopefully make them successful in all that they do.
We are currently finished with our 2025-2026 homeschool year so we just do our Morning Meetings right now.
These quick changes will keep us from having a very frustrating week back to school… at least I pray it will.
This month, I will be focusing on adding Science tasks to our homeschool routine, so I will look over those tasks to see what I can work in with our lessons.
Nature is usually wide awake around this time here, so we get to spend a lot of time outdoors. This makes for the perfect opportunities to do some Nature Journaling. I also want to participate in the ONE SEED CHALLENGE on YouTube, so this would be a good time to get started.
April is also the month that Earth Day falls in, so this makes a great time to talk about stewardship of our natural resources.
Some ways we are doing this are:
We have a new devotional for the month as well – I did make it for 31 days, so it could be used at any time of the year.
I usually sit down to pay bills on Fridays.
I usually do this first, so I know what I have left to spend. My bill pay worksheet makes things much simpler as I can see what I have paid, and what needs to be paid.
I normally do my menu planning on Wednesday or Thursday. I print out a couple of meal planning sheets and a grocery list so I can fill them in as I look over our Spring Meal Plan.
Some of the pantry restock items I added to list are:
Some of the produce I’d like to buy for preserving:
If money is short, we can skip the restock and the preserving items until next month. I don’t like to skip things too often, but we do have our pantry pretty well stocked, and as long as we replace what we use, we should be fine.
I usually try to get feed and garden supplies once a month to cut down on the number of trips I make to town. The feed store is in the opposite direction of our normal grocery store, and I need all the space in the back of the van for feed, so I can’t really combine these tasks, or I would.
I go out to the greenhouse and garden just about every day, so I keep a running list of things that I need. I will also check my monthly list of tasks that need to be done. I went over my lists this weekend, and I have:
I need to:
Some of the tasks are also listed with my yearly tasks to make sure that I don’t forget them 🙂
I also check with the kids to see what animal feed we have, check that against my master inventory list, note down what we need in my phone, and then I will make time to go get the feed. I try to combine a few tasks during the same trip.
When I go to get the feed I will:
When I get home, I always have the kids unload the feed right away, mix anything that needs to be mixed, and put the surplus in the old freezer that we use for storage. Once the feed is taken care of, they will clean out the back of the van 🙂
I try to make sure to do this mid-week, as Fridays & Saturdays are a bit crowded at the Feed Store. It’s always a bit stressful when we get too low on feed as well, so by making sure we have a regular schedule, we can alleviate some of the stress and replace it with PEACE and JOY, as we know we have what we need. We can also use these tasks as ways to show LOVE & KINDNESS to one another.
I also like to start a To-Do List because things always pop up that I can’t fix right away. I also find things when I am out in the garden that need to be taken care of, I will usually snap a photo and then add it to the list if it can’t be taken care of right away.
This is our list so far:
It isn’t too long yet, but it will grow longer the further we get into the year… hopefully, we can stay on top of it. We are checking things off… a little slower than I like, but progress is progress.
This is just a quick look at my weekly plans… I have all month long to work on some of them, and I will try to knock out as many as I can. I know that by handling the smaller things now, it will free up time I might need in the future for BIGGER and BETTER things. A little maintenance helps to keep things running nice and smooth… it also helps us to appreciate all that we have been BLESSED with.
I pray that you will find something useful in these links.
God Bless!
I will say that last month went pretty well, and our home does feel a bit fuller of LOVE. This month, our theme will be JOY. We will be looking at ways that we can be more intentional in showing JOY in all that we do.
I’m going to take a quick look at what we have planned for the month so you can get a little idea about how all of our systems work with each other.
My morning routine means that I check our calendar every morning, and here is what I am looking at:
I also like to review the chores at the beginning of the week, as we have them listed by daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
Daily chores are pretty automatic, but our monthly chores rotate by the day of the month… I try to keep things as easy as I can.
Some of our daily chores include:
If you click on the links, you can find more in-depth information about each task.
Some of my weekly chores are:
Some of the monthly chores this month are:
We usually tackle one or two these every day or every other day to get them knocked out.
Some of the yearly chores for this month are:
Sometimes the kiddos are tempted to skip over chores, but it catches up to them later on when things break down or run out. We are trying to teach them important skills that they will need later on in life, skills that will hopefully make them successful in all that they do.
Today, I check my Homeschool Manager app for anything that I might not have added to the main calendar. I normally look over the next week’s schedule on Thursdays, after we finish our school work.
These quick changes will keep us from having a very frustrating week back to school… at least I pray it will.
This month, I will be focusing on adding Health and PE tasks to our homeschool routine, so I will look over those tasks to see what I can work in with our lessons.
Things start to warm up in March, and we can really get active around the house and yard. This is the perfect time for some Spring Cleaning, so we can discuss the health benefits of maintaining a clean home as well as the importance of staying active.
Lent also starts in February of this year (2026) so this would be a good time to learn about that, if you desire.
Some ways we are doing this are:
We have a new devotional for the month as well – I did make it for 31 days, so it could be used at any time of the year.
I usually sit down to pay bills on Fridays.
I usually do this first, so I know what I have left to spend. My bill pay worksheet makes things much simpler as I can see what I have paid, and what needs to be paid.
I normally do my menu planning on Wednesday or Thursday. I print out a couple of meal planning sheets and a grocery list so I can fill them in as I look over our Spring Meal Plan.
Some of the pantry restock items I added to list are:
Some of the produce I’d like to buy for preserving:
If money is short, we can skip the restock and the preserving items until next month. I don’t like to skip things too often, but we do have our pantry pretty well stocked, and as long as we replace what we use, we should be fine.
I usually try to get feed and garden supplies once a month to cut down on the number of trips I make to town. The feed store is in the opposite direction of our normal grocery store, and I need all the space in the back of the van for feed, so I can’t really combine these tasks, or I would.
I go out to the greenhouse and garden just about every day, so I keep a running list of things that I need. I will also check my monthly list of tasks that need to be done. I went over my lists this weekend, and I have:
I need to:
Some of the tasks are also listed with my yearly tasks to make sure that I don’t forget them 🙂
I also check with the kids to see what animal feed we have, check that against my master inventory list, note down what we need in my phone, and then I will make time to go get the feed. I try to combine a few tasks during the same trip.
When I go to get the feed I will:
When I get home, I always have the kids unload the feed right away, mix anything that needs to be mixed, and put the surplus in the old freezer that we use for storage. Once the feed is taken care of, they will clean out the back of the van 🙂
I try to make sure to do this mid-week, as Fridays & Saturdays are a bit crowded at the Feed Store. It’s always a bit stressful when we get too low on feed as well, so by making sure we have a regular schedule, we can alleviate some of the stress and replace it with PEACE, as we know we have what we need. We can also use these tasks as ways to show LOVE to one another.
I also like to start a To-Do List because things always pop up that I can’t fix right away. I also find things when I am out in the garden that need to be taken care of, I will usually snap a photo and then add it to the list if it can’t be taken care of right away.
This is our list so far:
It isn’t too long yet, but it will grow longer the further we get into the year… hopefully, we can stay on top of it.
This is just a quick look at my weekly plans… I have all month long to work on some of them, and I will try to knock out as many as I can. I know that by handling the smaller things now, it will free up time I might need in the future for BIGGER and BETTER things. A little maintenance helps to keep things running nice and smooth… it also helps us to appreciate all that we have been BLESSED with.
I pray that you will find something useful in these links.
God Bless!
Pollywog's Place Blog 