We are officially on summer break part one, to be followed by a few weeks of Lewis and Clark and Greek Mythology, and then summer break part two.

We aren’t going anywhere special, or doing anything to extraordinary, especially not when compared to the grand move we made last summer. Not that I wouldn’t like to travel, especially to somewhere cooler, but it just isn’t in the budget.

I’d like someday to own a nice motorhome and travel around the U.S., there are just so many fabulous places to see and things to do in this wonderful country of ours. I’ve always wondered though what do you do if you need motorhome towing? That’s got to be really expensive. Do they have people that do that in the middle of nowhere? Cause, I promise you that’s where I’ll break down.

Guess there’s not much point in worrying about it right now, dreams don’t need tow trucks, just a little imagination.

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A few weeks ago I was followed a link in one of my homeschool group digests to a new homeschool record keeping software, Homeschool Day Book. I was impressed with the length of the free trial, 30 uses, and decided to give it a try. I must admit that so far I am fairly impressed.

It is quick and easy to download and setup, and the menu options are clear and easy to navigate. I found myself entering current schooling information and then working back to enter basic attendance for the rest of the school year. I’ve still got about 4 months of data to enter but I can see how to use this to plan and schedule for the next school year.

I like that is simpler and more direct than some of the other programs I’ve tried and that it is something that I can install and use on my own computer. The reports that are included are decent and provide a fair overview of your school day, week, month, or year; and can be done for one or multiple children.

I wish that it had an attendance report that would print out the days attended or perhaps a calendar page with days attended highlighted, as this would make it easier to fill out my state’s required attendance form. My other big wish would be for some type of gradebook function, while not every assignment and activity we do is graded it would be nice to have a place to track the grades I do give, as it would make this a one stop record keeper for me.

I would recommend the Homeschool Day Book to anyone who is looking for flexible record/time keeping that is reasonably priced, $39. You won’t believe how quickly you are on the path to organized using this wonderful tool.

*After completing this review I was offered and accepted a free licensing code for the Homeschool Day Book. Any opinions stated above are my own and I have had no outside influence. To see my full disclosure policy, please click here.

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We got to talking about the value of money the other day and somehow got to the discussion of what the real value of the paper dollar is. Our girl was surprised to learn that our perceived value of something and the items actual value can be two very different things. So instead of talking about dollar bills and gold bullion I turned the conversation to her stuffed penguin collection. I asked her what we paid for them and if she would now sell them for that same amount, her response, no way! She could see that how much she loved the penguins affected how valuable she thought they were. Then I asked her if she had a jar of tomato sauce (yuck she says) that cost you a dollar and a half to buy, would you give it away for free? Sure she would, cause she’s never going to eat it so it has no value. Funny how these conversations just happen, they are definitely one of the funner parts of homeschooling.

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We’ve had a big outdoor kind of week, with lots of outings and field trips. I’ve really enjoyed some of the quiet outdoor moments like reading in the courtyard at the library. Miss Muffin enjoyed checking out the flowering trees and investing the animal track tiles that are scattered around the courtyard.

The nature center was a big hit as well, it’s amazing how unfrightened she was of the geese. They are quite territorial right now as they are busy nesting. We get free investigation backpacks to explore the park with and they really are a blast.

Now that good weather is here I plan to continue taking advantage of our outdoor opportunities and enjoy the fact that we are still a few years from high school requirements, teen attitude, and the search for acne solutions.

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I’ve been making a lot of learning games for Miss Muffin lately, I put them in a file box sorted by subject. When she was in public school last year they refereed to these as learning centers, extension centers, or just plain centers, online I frequently see them called file folder games, here we mostly call them fun.

I’ve used premade templates for all kinds of file folder games and centers, some free and some paid; as well as turning some lapbooking units and worksheets I’ve found into this hands on learning format. Miss Muffin can play with them anytime she wants and check her answers in the answer key at the back of the box, then she just plunks them in the done folder and I disassemble, erase, and refile them so she can do them again another day.

I’ve struggled with what I should label this box, but since she has so much fun and shortly I’ll need to start a second box I think I’ll just call them her entertainment centers.

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I must admit that the grand prize for UBP10 a brand new Toshiba Satellite L505D-ES5025 has me dreaming of portability and the ability to work on my blog and homeschool materials on the go. I love doing both of these things but since we only have desktops I am tied to our office when I work and create. I personally, would even consider something smaller, like the toshiba netbooks, as I think the ability to stick one in your purse or small backpack would be a great thing.

I’m not the only one lusting after a laptop either. My mother has often said that she would love one for those days when her health doesn’t permit her to sit a the computer, or for those days when the office is 15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house making it uncomfortable for any living thing to be there. For my mother the larger version is probably a necessity as she needs the larger viewing area.

I’m sure Miss Muffin would love one as well, not that I would ever let her get her hands on it, I want to be able to find it when I need it. I’m not holding my breath that we’ll win one, or even be able to afford to buy one in the near future, but it sure is fun to dream.

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We are wrapping up the end of my second grade plan and starting to implement some changes going forward into third. I’ve been making some file folder games and Miss Muffin just loves them. I’ve put eight hanging folders in a cardboard filebox to store them. She can play any game she wants, any time she wants and when she’s done she can place them in the “Used” hanging folder and I scramble the pieces back up and refile them.

I’ve used some templates and full games from File Folder Fun, a great free resource. I’m also starting to create my own games as I need some that work at a third to fourth grade level. I’m also looking at My File Folder Games for some of their ready to print games at the third and fourth grade level.

The only other thing to consider is what to do with any unused second grade stuff I have. Some could be used in the future but the rest I’m not sure. I guess I could a site that will sell used books and perhaps make a little back.

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