Confession: I am OBSESSED with my planner

I have a confession to make. I am absolutely OBSESSED with my planner. In fact I'm obsessed with all the printables from Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. I may actually have a fan girl crush on Tina. She's cheery, encouraging, down to earth, and as fanatical about organizing and color as I am. Plus her 7 Step DIY Homeschool Curriculum Planner is so customizable that you can't fail to create something utterly beautiful AND useful. The kicker? It's totally FREE. There are paid options, like the 2-page, color coordinated calendar spreads (only 99¢) and fancier cover options. She even has planner sets already preassembled, all you have to do is download and hit print! But I opted to pick and choose which forms I wanted so that it would be exactly what I needed, in the colors I love. It. Is. Perfect. I can't wait for our school year to start next month so I get an excuse to use it every single day! Did I say I'm a little obsessed?

I also follow Tina's blog, where she covers homeschooling, organization, and life in general. I never tire of reading what she has to say, it's like listening to a girlfriend. And the advice and experience of more seasoned homeschoolers is always appreciated.

But back to my planner...

I'll admit I did not follow Tina's recommendations to have it coil bound. I opted for a 3-ring binder because I know myself. I know I can be indecisive and will keep tweaking this thing until it truly is absolutely perfect. Besides, Tina keeps throwing me curve balls by releasing more great printables  that match just so perfectly and are just too pretty to pass up! I suspect Tina would understand, since she's all about doing what works for you. Next year, perhaps, I'll coil bind it, after I've had all year to decide what forms and in what order work best for me. 

But then again, I may just keep the binder because that allows me to add to it all year and keep a pencil bag full of my beautiful PaperMate Ink Joy pens inside!

Behind my pencil bag filled with my lovely colored pens, I've got a mission statement (to remind me what our long term goals really are here), Goals For the Year (for short term goals), and my Teacher's Schedule. 

Then starts my divider sections. One for record keeping, including Tina's fantastic, all in one page, full year Attendance Record and this year's Curriculum Resources planning sheet. 

Then comes my calendar section, which starts with a beautiful one page overview of the 2014-2015 School Calendar that matches the covers of my planner, followed by a 5 year Holidays list for reference, and finally my beautiful blue 2014-2015 school year 2-page spread of monthly calendars. The 99¢ was completely worth it for all the beautiful blues, greens, and purples. I absolutely love it. 

After that is my lesson plans section, using Tina's 180 page multi-student layout. There are spaces pre-made for three students, which is perfect since I have three kids! I've gone back and forth for paying for the prettier color version, but have decided for now this is fine for me.

Then I've added a section for resources, where I keep my library list, materials lists for various subjects, Tina's Memorization Work planning sheets, her field trip planning sheets, and Curriculum Planning sheets to get a head start on next year. This section tends to be a catch-all for things I reference frequently. Then I have a section just for notebook paper so I don't have to track it down when I need it. 

And front and back, Tina's beautiful covers, along with a little coordinating washi tape I've been covering everything with lately! Done - my beautiful, perfect planner! Absolutely in love with it! Thank you, Tina!

Why I'm PhiMom and Not LitMom: an Introduction

Am I the only one who has all their big thoughts in the shower? As soon as the water starts pouring my gears start turning and by the time I've hit the repeat stage of "lather, rinse, and repeat" I've invariably come to an epiphany or developed some project or idea I'd like to explore. I suppose I'm following on Archimedes' footsteps, as I think "Eureka!" with suds in my hair.

Today was no different, but today I decided to take those ideas and write them down. Welcome to the PhiMom blog! So, with no further ado, an introduction.

My name is Krystal, and welcome. I suppose a little background information is in order. I'm currently a stay at home mom and mother of three, a homeschooler, a reader, an organizer, and more importantly for the purposes of this blog, an armchair philosopher (hence the name of the blog, phi being the first letter of the Greek philosophia). Philosophy gets a bad rap in our society. As a course of study most people take the view that it falls somewhere between art and alchemy in practicality. I can't argue for its usefulness in the job market, but I would argue that its study is indispensable for the formation of a well-rounded, thinking individual. More than any other province of knowledge, it addresses what it means to be human.  Literature appears to do so, but when one digs deeper into literary criticism and formal literature study, what is under discussion? Methods. Style. Syntax, vocabulary, literary devices... The study of literature is the examination of the brush strokes, not the painting. Rarely is the question addressed whether the content of the piece is of any merit, whether the point the author is trying to make is correct, ethical, or touches on truth. That is the realm of philosophy, and that is where my interests always lay.

So I hope you enjoy the posts to come. You may expect a variety of topics including those touching on homeschooling, education, parenting, ethics, and even organization, but through it all I hope to peel back the surface of daily life for a look at the bigger picture, not the brush strokes.

Welcome,

p