Tami Fox

More About China

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Tami

Today we learned more about China. We talked about the items manufactured in China and their agricultural products. The list was surprising to us. Any land that is available to farm in China is planted and harvested. We also talked about mining and other natural resources of China. We made Chinese paper lanterns and read “A Pair of Red Clogs.”

Our evening meal tonight was Lo Mein Chicken, Rice, Egg Rolls, Clear Onion Soup, Fried Crab-flavored Chips, and Kimchi Flavored, Dried Seaweed. I took pictures of our meal preparation. We are enjoying our time together in the kitchen.

Tackle It Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

What do you need to tackle today? We move to Zone 1 – The Front Porch, Entry Way, and Dining Room today. I have some things I need to tackle in these areas the rest of this week. I want my front porch and entry way to be inviting and welcoming. Somehow, it is the area that gets the least amount of attention.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Look over your lesson plans. Have you planned too much stuff for your children? Or possibly, do you need to add more? I find that once we start school, I have a reality check where I add or remove things from our plans that are not working. Even after 15 years of homeschooling, I still find books that don’t work for us for one reason or another.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Zone 1 – Front Porch, Entry Way, Dining Room – Check the flower beds and flower pots around your front porch. Toss dead stuff, and add some fall plants to your list for your errand day.

Family Fun: Take your children for a walk.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at the Launch Pad that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Let’s Learn About China

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Tami

Today we started a unit study on China. We are going to spend this week studying about China, and then we will learn about some of the other countries in Asia. I have lesson plans to study one country per week for 30 weeks this year. Here are some of the things we learned about today.

We located China on our globe.
We colored a picture of the flag of China and filled in an informational sheet about China.
We listened to The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack.
We watched a video on the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Great Wall of China. We used Google earth to look at the Great Wall from the air.
We watched a video on how rice is made.
We worked on passports with different information about China, and we put stickers on our papers.
Dinner tonight was Chinese food. We made stir fry chicken and vegetables, rice, and egg rolls. We used chopsticks to eat our dinner. We had fortune cookies for dessert.
Tonight we will read some stories about missionaries to China.

Enjoy the pics I took today. We had a great time learning together. Dinner was delicious! A friend of ours makes egg roll kits, and we use her pork filling to make the egg rolls at home.

Make it Happen Monday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Make It Happen Monday

How are you doing with your routines on a daily basis? Are you doing the Weekly Home Blessing Hour in 70 minutes or less each week? If you are having difficulties establishing your routines, I want to encourage you to take small steps and move forward. If doing the Weekly Home Blessing Hour is too much to do on one day, split it up over the week. Whatever is holding you back, find a way to make getting organized happen in your home. It is much easier for me to care for my home because I have decluttered with the boys on a regular basis. We have less cleaning and maintenance because we have less stuff. It’s very freeing to declutter. Last week my husband bought our first new-to-us bed. While setting it up, one of our sons moved our old bed to his room, and his brother moved that bed to HIS room. So we essentially set up three beds in three bedrooms simultaneously. This would have been a much harder process if we had a lot of clutter in our rooms and under our beds. While we did some minor decluttering, the main thing we did was sweep and mop where the beds were located before setting up the new beds. I had extra clean sheets on hand, so we all had fresh sheets that night, too. Decluttering and cleaning in small steps works. You can Make It Happen!

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Even during the school year, I do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Monday mornings with my children.)

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

If you haven’t started school, do you have your plans and schedule ready? We are on week 5 of our new school year. Things are settling in for us. We are starting a new unit study on learning about the countries around the world.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Living Room – When you are doing your Weekly Home Blessing Hour today, take a few extra minutes to dust all of the light fixtures and baseboards in the living room.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Throw It Out Friday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Today, let’s throw out a little more stuff that we have collected. Since we are working in the Master Bedroom, I want you to declutter at least 2 pair of shoes. If you have a large shoe collection, you might want to get rid of more than 2 pair. My biggest area of shoes is my running shoe collection. I try to keep it tamed down, but I am going to declutter 2 pair of running shoes and one other pair of shoes. The whole goal with decluttering is to have less stuff to keep up with and keep organized. That will help with time management because you aren’t trying to organize all of your stuff. You will just have less stuff and more time for other things besides cleaning.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play with your kids. Enjoy the end of summer.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom – declutter at least 2 pair of your shoes. Have your children do the same.

Family Fun: Have a water balloon fight or water wars with your children today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Taking Care of Yourself Thursday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Are you taking time each day to take care of yourself? Are you eating healthy foods, getting enough rest, and exercising? If you say you don’t have time, re-think that. You need to make your health a priority, so you can take care of your family. I put myself on the back-burner during some very stressful times, and now I have health issues that I deal with every day. I am better than I was, but I make sure I take care of my health every day. It took some time to figure out where to fit exercise into my day. I run every day early in the morning before our school day starts. I have also exercised in the evening. If it’s a particularly busy day, I had walked in the afternoon with the boys while they rode their bikes. The point is that I make time each day to exercise for at least 15 minutes. I do a weekly menu plan, and that helps me eat healthier. The boys have learned to cook, and that has helped them try new foods and eat healthier, too. If we are eating healthy foods, we are healthier and go to the doctor less often. Many moms use the time at night after the children are in bed for “me” time. You need a good 8 hours’ of sleep each night, and it is important that you schedule time for rest, too. You can’t burn the candle at both ends and not pay for it with your health.

What can you do today to take care of yourself?

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Do something fun and engaging with your children. They will remember it.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master bedroom -Today, I want you to check under your bed and clean out under there. I will be doing this with a little more detail than you will be doing it because my husband bought us a new bed today. It will be delivered tomorrow. I typically do not keep many things under our bed. The main thing will be tearing down the bed and sweeping and mopping under it. I will likely go ahead and wash our bedding, too. So we will have fresh sheets on our new bed tomorrow night.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Peaceful Morning Wednesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

A peaceful morning begins the night before. Many of us have had crazy, loud, chaotic mornings. I can say that I have had my fair share of them, but I don’t have them very often now. The biggest difference for me has been to have an evening routine established. This routine helps me get ready for the morning physically and mentally. I check the calendar to see what we have to do the next day. I shine my sink, so I get up to a clean, empty sink. I clear off hot spots in the kitchen. I set up the coffee pot. I lay out anything I might need first thing the next morning. I have my clothes and shoes laid out. If this sounds like a lot, it really isn’t that much once you get used to doing it every night. I don’t think about it too much now because it is just a routine that I have established. When I do these things, my morning starts off so much better. I don’t feel behind from the moment I get up. If I have children who get me up in the middle of the night because they are sick, we are not tripping over stuff that is laying around the house. There are may variables that can happen in our lives, and you can have more peace by establishing a good evening routine for yourself. You can work with your children on establishing an evening habit, too, but you need to get control of your habits first. Change for your family will start with changes in you.

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

We are adding back subjects to our school schedule each week. How are you doing? Don’t overdo it the first few weeks. Enjoy homeschooling. Don’t let it stress you out.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom – Declutter 7 items from your closet and donate them while you are out today. Have your children donate 7 things from their rooms, too.
Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.

Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out. I am in the habit of checking for free activities that are going on while we are out doing errands.

When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Transform Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

What do you need to transform in your life? Do you need to transform your home from CHAOS to organized? Do you need to transform your mood from pessimistic to optimistic? Do you need to transform your homeschool from doing lots of paperwork and busy work to hands-on learning to ignite a fire for learning in your children? Think about. Do some journaling. Make some goals. Transform your life for the better.

The boys and I are adding back some more subjects this week and next week. We are going to do a country study this year and eat our way around the world. Along the way, we will read books and study each country. I will do some blogging as we work our way around the world this year. School can be fun, and I enjoy learning with my children.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Check the loss leaders at your local office supply stores. Many of them have cheap school supplies this week. I saw several items for 1 cent. Just go in and get the sale stuff. Don’t get caught up going down all the aisles.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom – Let’s clear off the top of the dresser today. Move things around and make it pretty. Ask your children to clear off a flat surface in their rooms, too. Set the timer.

Family Fun: If the weather is not too hot, go for a walk with your children.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Decide on a place in your house where you can put things for the next day. The FlyLady calls this your Launch Pad. It is usually close to your main entry of the house. You are going to use this every night.
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Motivational Monday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Motivational Monday

Let’s motivate our children to love learning. One of my goals as a teacher is to ignite a love of learning in my children. I do this in many ways. We study things that interest them. We use hands-on learning for science and history. When they show a talent, we expand on that through lessons and experiences. When they are adults, I want them to still love learning and know how to find the answers to their questions. One of the most encouraging things my daughter ever told me was that she was thankful she was homeschooled, and that I taught her how to read, research, and write a paper. If you are starting school this week, remember to have some fun, too. School does not have to be all work. We are still on a modified schedule this week. We will start all of our subjects next week after Labor Day. If you have any homeschool questions, please send me an email.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Even during the school year, I do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Monday mornings with my children.)

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

Do you have everything ready to start school, or have you started school?

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Master Bedroom – Today, I want you to clear off your nightstand. Have your children clear a flat surface in their room. Set a timer.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Free Friday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

As we are coming close to the end of summer, it’s time to think about having a free day. You’ve been working and preparing for school. You’ve been getting your home in order. So tomorrow, plan a free day with your family.

Free from projects around the house
Free from electronics and screens
Free from planning you school year
Free from doing stuff for others

Have a whole day of fun with your family. If that does not work with your husband’s work schedule, pick a day that will work and have a free day. Everyone needs a day off from the demands of life. Your children will remember this time. End the summer playing and enjoying time together. I can tell you from experience that this time passes so quickly. Two of my children are grown and have moved out. It takes a lot more effort and planning to have a fun day with all of my children. So take advantage of this time you have with your children while they are young and still at home. I try to make those moments count with the four children I still have at home.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Play with your kids. Enjoy the end of summer.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Bathroom or one other room – take your duster and go around the light fixtures, along the ceiling, and around the baseboards.

Family Fun: Have a water balloon fight or water wars with your children today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour