On Monday, April 4, the kids had to take their annual state-mandated achievement test. The results, whatever they may be, do not affect the parents’ right to homeschool their child in Arkansas. However, it is the law, and I want to teach my children that we are law abiding Americans. The test only takes a few hours, but it sort of messes up our entire day.

And, when Monday is off, it throws off the whole week. You know what I mean? It’s hard for me and my OCD self to keep going when the week gets off to a weird start.

I was also kind of in a rut with our homeschooling efforts. I felt myself feeling worn out, sluggish and less-than-motivated the past few days. So, I decided to declare this week our “spring break”! 🙂 We have enjoyed staying up a bit later, sleeping in a bit later, and spending the days outdoors! I have enjoyed cleaning out some closets, wiping out some cabinets, and getting organized.

My name is Valerie, and I’m a chart addict. I love charts. I love lists. I love crossing things off. It’s true.

One thing I’ve been wanting to do, is create a goal chart for my kids. We have some of the A.C.E. goal charts, but they are small and rather difficult to write in, especially if you want to add more detail than page numbers. Since we often enhance our materials, we need more space than what is given on the goal charts. I wanted something that they could use, without much assistance from me. I created THIS CHART using a template on Microsoft Works. Perhaps it would be a help to you, as well. The terms “Word Building” and “Social Studies” are particular to A.C.E., so I created THIS CHART to be suitable for other curricula. (You will need to download these in order to view them.)

I also used THIS TEMPLATE and created my own grocery list! It’s more of an inventory, really, so that I won’t have to copy everything down every week. We often use the same products over and over. I arranged my list according to the way my grocer’s aisles are set up, from back to front, which is how I usually shop. I hate backtracking through a store! Again, maybe it’s just my OCD side talking. 😉 I also deleted many things that we don’t use and added some that we do. For instance, the original template called for “Lamb chops”, but I’ve never even eaten lamb chops, so I don’t cook them. I also never buy anything from the “Service Deli” in a store, so I deleted that section as well. All in all, I made a lot of changes to make it my own. You can download the template for free and make it work for you.

Today, I’m planning to do some more cleaning, such as bathrooms and floors, and catch up on my grading! Tomorrow, I’m getting my hair cut and highlighted. Saturday will be laundry, more cleaning, and preparing for the Lord’s Day.

Off to get my list, 😉