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Homeschooling

V Planner V3- GS-QP Grade Scale, Quality Points

May 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
S-Sheet- Set Grade Scale
An article describing how to use the worksheet GS-QP in V Planner V3. GS-QP refers to Grade Scale and Quality Points and it is the sheet where the grade scales are made.

V Planner Video: FIX: How To Unlock a Drop-Down List - Easy

April 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How To Unlock a Drop-Down List - EasyUnlock A Cell
Sometimes I forget to unlock the cells into which I have placed dropdown lists. My most recent embarrassment is in V3 where I didn't unlock any of the Master/Override list cells. 4/28/2013

V Planner Video: Tip: How To Expand the Height of the Rows

April 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How To Expand the Height of the RowsMake Rows Taller
How to make the rows taller so that all of the contents are displayed. Example shows lesson planner "Block1."
4/28/2013

V Planner Video: What is a Beta V Planner?

April 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
What are the Beta Planners?What does Beta Mean regarding the V Planners?
Beta means "don't use this planner, play with it; learn how it works"
4/28/2013

V Planner Video: Which V Planner am I Using?

April 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
Which V Planner am I Using?How to Know!
This short video goes over how to tell which V Planner that you are using.
4/28/2013

More Printable Graph paper

April 2013 - Math > Paper
spelling beeTo the original graph paper page I have added 10 more sizes. These papers have gray graph lines with black dividing lines. The graph is divided every 3, 5, or 10 squares. Two sizes are made with both regular and wide margins. One special file is designed for a small garden.

Spelling Bee Award Certificates

April 2013 - English > Spelling
spelling bee Two files - the Spelling Bee Winner and the Spelling Bee Champion. The Champion file is the year-end award for the child who won the most spelling bees. The Winner file has four certificates per page that you would sign, date, and hand to the winner of each spelling bee.

V Planner V3 - How to Use the Master/Override Drop-down in the Lesson Planners

April 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How Lesson Plan Columns are Handled in the PlannersApplies to V Planner V3.
A new feature in V3 that allows you to either set a system (Date or Number) per planner or set a system (Date or Number) per subject.

High School Diploma - Sans Border

March 2013 - Homeschool Planner
diplomaRequested - The diploma pictured here, but without the border. It is a typeable PDF.

Handwriting Paper with Colored Rule and Yellow Stripe Paper

March 2013 - Handwriting > Paper
yellow stripe handwriting rule paper New Yellow Stripe handwriting rule papers in 5 rule heights and in horizontal format.

Using the Bump Column to Create a Lesson Plan Sequence for the Date Planners

March 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How Lesson Plan Columns are Handled in the PlannersApplies to all planner with a bump column [March - 2013]

9mm Filler Paper with Images

March 2013 - Penmanship > Paper
9mm Filler Paper with ImagesThe printable filler paper on this page feature a rule height of approximately 9mm. The rule is blue with pink margin lines and the outside margin line is olive. All but one file feature a small image at the top of the page. Each paper has a header that reads: by: and date:

How Lesson Plan Columns are Handled in the Planners

March 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How Lesson Plan Columns are Handled in the PlannersThis video explains how the 3 columns of lesson plans are handled in the planners. Please watch this video before adding lesson plans to the S-Sheets. [March - 2013]

How to Use the Char Planner

March 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How to Use the Char PlannerHow to use the Char Planner - a planner in which, if your computer uses a character map, line breaks may be added after each lesson plan. [March - 2013]

How to Use a Special S-Sheet for the 2nd Semester

March 2013 - Homeschool Planners > V Planner
How to Use a Special S-Sheet for the 2nd SemesterHigh School V Planner- How to set up a special s-sheet for the 2nd semester [March - 2013]

Cube Templates and How-To Pages

December 2012 - Art > Crafts
cubes- my son and I Word templates that may be used to create paper cubes with pictures. Each template makes a certain sized cube, there are 7 sizes. Use the cubes for education or to make photo cubes.
How to Pages: Working with the Pictures
Pre-folding and How to Cut the Cube
Folding the Cube

Gift Tag Page Changes

December 2012 - Art > Crafts
christmas tags 2 There are 3 new pre-made gift tag sheets, two are suitable for Christmas. The blank tag template has been redone to make it better. That's a pitiful description.

Spicy Popcorn Recipe and Recipe Card

December 2012 - Household > Recipes
christmas tags 2 The Spicy Popcorn page will be new to most of you. Today I updated the instructions to reflect exactly how I make the popcorn; I've been making it for years, and I added a 4x6 recipe card in the Microsoft Word formats of - DOC and DOCX.

Blank Undated "Dated" Calendar

November 2012 - Calendars > Monthly
Dated Undated Balnk Calendar Calendar shown here is an example of using the calendars. This is an undated "dated" blank monthly calendar. The blocks that should contain dates are bordered and the month and year is noted on the bottom of each page.

Fantasy Fudge Recipe and Recipe Cards

November 2012 - Household > Recipes
christmas tags 2 Fantasy Fudge from the Kraft Marshmallow label - Our family's been making this particular fudge for decades. The recipe is online and I added recipe cards, a pdf of 4 small cards and the typical 4x6 recipe card size in doc and docx.

13 Meals - The Repeating Meal Method of Meal Planning

November 2012 - Calendars > Monthly
13 Meals - a method a meal planning 13 Meals is a method of meal planning for a month that I started doing a long time ago. I based this method on the repeating meal. This method is best when a shopping list is also made as this typically saves money at the grocery store.

The Category Method of Meal Planning & the Running Records

November 2012 - Calendars > Monthly
The Category Method of Meal Planning - There are several ways to plan meals and ways to not plan meals. This page explains Meal Categories, which basically, is a record of meals. If you like keeping records, then this record of meals is something that you can refer to during those large parts of your life when you do not plan meals, you just make them.

Menu Planner

November 2012 - Calendars > Monthly
Menu Planner A menu planner in two colors - black and white, and blue and white. This planner allows you to keep a running record of meals and it has the typical menu planner files to go with it. Part of this menu planner is based on my category method of making meal plans.

Vertical Monthly Notebook Calendars

November 2012 - Calendars > Monthly
One Page Ruled Monthly Calendar Of course calendars continue to occupy work and I can't seem to resist making new calendar styles. This new style is a one-page monthly calendar that has ruled lines, most of which are dated.

Month on a Page Household Planner

November 2012 - Household > Full Sized > Month-on-a-Page
List Top - Month on a Page Calendar I came across a file that I had forgotten about. It is a "Month on a Page" type of calendar. This one is called List Top and I have a non-dated version of it at Calendars > Blank Calendars. Anyway, I made a whole lot of dated "List Top" calendars.

Printable Undated Calendars

November 2012 - Calendars > Blank
Printable Undated Calendars Requested: Blank Calendar in the Blue Calendar style and the Frame Calendar style. These files are placed on the Blank Calendar page at Calendars > Blank

Printable Horizontal Monthly Calendars

November 2012 - Calendars > Horizontal Monthly
Printable Horizontal Monthly Calendars The only dated "wall" calendar that I have was expiring this year (and I just removed it from the page) and I made another wall calendar to take it's place. It's made in the same style as the Colonial Set.

Homeschool Attendance Records

November 2012 - Homeschool Planner > Administrative > Attendance
over the river and through the wood fileAttendance H - an attendance calendar that can be used for several children. I made 3 versions of this new attendance calendar - one for 2 children (1 page), one for 4 children (2 pages), and one for 7 children (3 pages). I am calling it Attendance H because it prints horizontally.

Prepositional Phrases

November 2012 - English > Grammar
over the river and through the wood file While working on the page, Prepositional Phrases, I added files for the Thanksgiving song by Lydia Maria Child: Over the River and Through the Wood. The pdf version has a ruled right side for anything that you deem useful.

3-Year Calendar

November 2012 - Calendars > 12+ Months
3-year calendar that prints on one sheet of paper 3-Year Calendar - Someone requested a 3-year per page calendar a few days ago and so I made the calendars and now they are online.

Easy Grammar - Preposition Bingo & Lists

November 2012 - Homeschooling > Games
Easy Grammar - Preposition Resources - Bingo and Lists Someone asked for a certain list of prepositions today and that led me down a bunny trail that ended with making preposition lists and a short, maybe very short, preposition bingo game that uses the prepositions from Easy Grammar grades 3 and 4. All files, game and lists, are found at this link.

Colonial Planner Attendance Calendar

August 2012 - Homeschool Planner > Administrative > Attendance
attandance calendar I was recently updating the files for the 2-page dated attendance form when I realized that I needed to make one more for August - one that included January in both the 1st and 2nd semesters. Our homeschool year typically started in August and the 2nd semester started in January. Once in a while the 1st semester used part of January. So now we have a 2-page attendance calendar with two Januaries.

Nature Journal Tabs

January 12, 2009 - Homeschooling
how to make the nature journal divider tabs Oh WOW! Something new in Homeschooling. It's a how-to page that tells you how I made the subcategory and category divider pages for the half-sized nature journal / field book!

Blank Game Cards

Homeschooling » Games
how to make the nature journal divider tabs At "Game Cards" you will find a whole slew of printable game cards in many sizes, you will even find round ones. To make your cards nice, I've included printable back designs and some cards which have a fancy border.

For a homeschooler who has this big web site full of printable files, I have not written many articles that are direct and personal about homeschooling. Throughout donnayoung.org you will find indirect homeschooling articles that say such things as - here is a file, print it, and you will find some direct ones such as where I show pictures of one of our nature journals and the articles that tell how to make homemade handwriting lessons. Although there are only a few just-about-home-ed articles here (at this time) many of the indirect articles are written to assist you or to inspire you in some small way regarding teaching your children or keeping up with the assorted things that you have to do in and around your home.

Articles

The links below will take you within this section as well as all over my web site. To return to this page, use your back button or if you have been exploring the web site, use the Homeschooling link that is at the top of every page on my web site. The link will not be blue if you are in a different section, but it will still bring you back to this page. donna young's homeschool links

Composition Book Handwriting Lessons - Handwriting
It tells how to set up a composition book for homemade lessons. I did this as a cursive handwriting refresher for my youngest child.

What is Weighing Grades? - Homeschooling » Articles
Just what is that anyway?

Homeschooling Musts for the Kids - Homeschooling » Articles
This is a few pictures of my cat getting ready for his school day and being a good listener and an overall good student. sure donna

Why Teach at Home and Who Are Homeschoolers - Homeschooling
Who are we? We could be anyone, that is about all you will learn at the link above.

How to Make a Sticker Book - Homeschooling » Articles
I used sticker books, among other methods, for positive reinforcement when the children were young.

The Doom of A Homeschool Schedule - Homeschooling » Articles
Don't let the title fool you, homeschool schedules are good.

Nature Journal - Homeschooling » Science
Page one of several pages showing pictures of one of our nature journals.

Homemade Handwriting Lessons: Manuscript and Cursive - Handwriting
Those two pages have information that require using a word processor and a font, both can be free, the fonts are, the word process could be one that you already have or one that you download.

Family Boot Camp - Homeschooling » Articles
I wrote about the boot camp I did on occasion and here is a quote- "Family boot camp is a goal oriented event that lasts for 5 days or more. Boot camp must have clear objectives."

An Idea to Study Words and Make a Word Book - English
I wanted my children to understand the tiny differences between words of similar meaning and came up with "The Word Book". This idea is spread over two pages, An Idea to Study Words- the idea behind the book and Make a Word Book- the "How-To" with printable files and instructions.

New to Homeschooling

Are you are a new or somewhat new homeschooler seeking ideas and information about getting organized? If so I will link some of the pages that might be useful to you.

Homeschool Planning

When homeschooling, you will make all sorts of plans. Below is a list of things you might need to plan.

You will decide and organize what your children will study each year, unless you use a boxed curriculum [what is boxed curriculum?What is boxed].
Planning is sort of a tiered beast where you will: pointdecide what to study, pointbreak it into lessons, pointdecide how often to study it, pointwill it be slotted by time of day or will it be anytime during the day, and pointthen the lessons can be recorded in a planner. This is not as hard as it sounds. In some cases, you will purchase a book with lessons, math is a good example, and simply do the next lesson when it is time for the subject.

You will make lesson plans, unless you buy curriculum that can come with pre-made plans and you buy those too.
Making lesson plans does not have to be a tedious task. I've written several how-to's showing simple plans and expanded plans and they all start on this page: How To Make Simple Lesson Plans for Homeschool

It's a good idea to make menu plans
It really is a good idea, and one that may not happen, but give it a try to see if menu plans will save you time and money. Menu planners can be printed from: Household Planners For the Kitchen

It's a good idea to make chore plans
If you already have the chores divided up between family members, then you are all set in this department. If not try it, make some repeating chore lists for your children to see how that works out. In my case, my children were more likely to do household chores if the chores were written on a list. Household Planner Refills and if you have MS Excel, you might want to try my XLS Chore Chart Maker.

Chances are, you will continue to take care of things that you currently take care of such as appointments.
For that you will need anything from a simple monthly calendar to some complicated electronic gizmo of your choice. I can help with the calendar and household planner

Making a Homeschool Planner Book

From donnayoung.org you can print a free homeschool planner book. I don't know why anyone would buy one, but I have linked Commercial Planners as well. Back to free- I have all kinds of homeschool planner forms, after all; I am a genuine homeschooler and I know what I liked having in my planner.

  • Commercial Planners - A page of linked commercial planners
  • Planner Guide - Several pages describing homeschool planner types
  • Lists - Forms for lists of things such as books. According to feedback, I do not have enough of these
  • Administrative - Your the administrator, you know what's here, right?
  • Lesson Plan Forms - Forms, all types, for your lesson plans
  • High School - High school forms, suggestions, and lists
  • Extra - Notebooking forms, grids, cover sheets, and forms for your homeschool meetings
  • Sets - Be sure to look here before printing a planner. This is where I place matching sets.
  • Homeschool V Planner An XLS file

Encouraging Children to Write

The writing activities that I made up for my children may or may not help you with your reluctant writer. My children didn't seem reluctant to write, but on the other hand; I used my home made writing lessons for them when they were young and they always enjoyed doing them. I've put them online and you can read about them at:

Ease Into Writing: Timed Writing - This was a back to school activity that the children did the first few weeks, but it can be used any time.

Who Needs an Illustration, Sentence Building Activity One - We did this activity every year for a while. It seems ridiculously easy, but it incorporates dictionary skills, vocabulary, and grammar. The beginning sentence structure used in activity one is: Subject | Transitive Verb | Direct Object.

Who Needs an Illustration, Sentence Building Activity Two - This is similar to activity one (above) and the difference between them is the sentence structure. Activity two uses this starting sentence structure: Subject | Intransitive Verb

Donna Young

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