Our JANUARY HOMESCHOOL Plans!

I love fresh starts, whether it's a new week, a new month, or especially a new year. This one feels especially exciting because we haven't really had "normal" since before Oliver was born. He was born in September and because of how long it took us to get him sleeping much at night, we were in survival mode until we were well into the holidays. And as much as I love the holidays, there's something nice about getting back to the routine of life after so much excitement! 

My main plans for our homeschool days are to prioritize reading aloud, help Ashtyn practice piano and typing, and help Parker progress with reading. I also want to spend lots of time with the kids playing and learning. 

With our activities, I want to keep them simple still (Oliver is sleeping better, but babies are still a lot of work!). I choose activities from areas like science, art, math, games, physical activities, and social studies. On Fridays, the "activity" is chores, so I plan the activities for Monday through Thursday. 

Monday, January 3 

Since it's winter and we are bound to have snow for awhile, I thought we'd start off the month with a snow-themed week. 

The first activity I want to do is have the girls measure a melting snowman. You make a mini snowman and measure him, then bring him inside and hypothesize how fast he will melt. Then you measure him each hour or half hour and see how long it takes him to melt!  

We've actually done this activity before and the girls really enjoyed it. I think they'll have even more fun with it this year since Santa brought them each their own measuring tape. 

Tuesday, January 4 

A fun simple activity is to paint in the snow! You put food coloring and water in a little bottle for the kids to spray onto the snow and make pictures with. I know all three girls will love this one. 

 Wednesday, January 5 

A fun activity I have wanted to do with the girls but never have is make Snow Candy with them. This recipe uses maple syrup, so we can tie it in with the story from Little House on the Prairie about the sugar snow they have. 

Thursday, January 6 

And finally, I'll help the kids make snowman names. This is a simpler activity that doesn't involve bundling the kids up and cleaning up snow off the floor when they come inside. I think we'll need that after the other activities I have planned this week. 

Monday, January 10

Something I've been learning more about recently is Game School, which is helping kids learn through playing games with them. I love this idea! I found a fun math game I can play with the kids called Roll to 100. I found the rules for it here. 

Tuesday, January 11

This day I'm planning a Paper Doll craft. I got little cut outs of a girl from the dollar store, and I'm going to give it to the girls with markers, paper, and scissors. They can decorate it, make clothes or accessories for it, or do whatever they want with it. 

Wednesday, January 12

A couple months ago, Ashtyn did an online science class and during the class, they did some experiments. We didn't have the materials to do the experiment with them at the time and by the time I got the materials, it was the holidays and we were busy doing other things.

I want to do the experiments this month. Ashtyn will be so excited! The first one we'll do is make Glow in the Dark slime. You use a highlighter, borax, water, and glue. Then you put it in black light and it glows and bounces. 

Thursday, January 13

Today, I thought we could do a simple and fun spelling/physical activity. This spell-your-name activity is one I found on Pinterest. I think all the kids will have fun with it and it will help reinforce for Rylee (who is currently learning how to spell her name). 

Monday, January 17

This year, I want to learn about some different countries with the kids. I thought these Children Around the World worksheets would be a good way to do it. We can watch some YouTube videos about the country, find a recipe to try from that country, and fill out these papers about them. I think the girls will really like it and we can choose one country a month until we run out of worksheets. 

Tuesday, January 18

A simple and fun drawing activity is this pizza printable I found. They can put whatever toppings they want on it and I think the kids will have a lot of fun with it. The link I had saved on Pinterest isn't working, so I'll just print the picture for the girls. 

Wednesday, January 19 

The experiment this week is called Dinosaur Toothpaste. You use hydrogen peroxide and dish soap with yeast to make it foam up and can add food coloring for fun. 

Thursday, January 20

Today is going to be a playdoh day! The kids love playdoh, but since it makes such a mess, I don't get it out often. I like to plan to get it out at least once or twice a month. 

Monday, January 24

Today, I wanted to play board games with the girls. We got some fun games for Christmas from different family members and I thought we could try some of them out!

Tuesday, January 25

Today I'm planning a drawing day. Ashtyn and Parker really enjoy drawing tutorials, and I have some on Pinterest that will be fun for me to do with them. 

Wednesday, January 26 

The final experiment from the class is simply using baking soda and vinegar to fill up a balloon. It's a classic. 

Thursday, January 27

This is the last day of school before Ben's birthday, so I'm planning on helping the girls each make a card for him. They love being able to give something to him on his birthday. 

Monday, January 31

The end of a month/beginning of the next is usually pretty busy for me, so I thought I'd do a simple activity that the girls can do independently if I need them to. I think they'll have a lot of fun with these Disney coloring pages. 

I think we'll have a lot of fun this month taking it easy after a busy season of holiday activities! I'm excited to relax at home together and get back to our regular routine again. 

A Christmas Testimony

When all the temples shut down because of Covid, I was sad. Ben and I had only recently started getting to the temple regularly and I missed the influence in my life. 

They were shut for a long time, so long that I started to forget what that influence even felt like. 

About a year after they shut down, Ben's cousin got sealed in the temple with her family and we were invited. We made the three hour drive, through construction and running late, but we made it in time. We went up to the temple, walked into the entryway, and I immediately felt that sense of peace that comes from being inside the temple. 

Because it had been so long since I'd been in the temple, it was incredible to me. I didn't even need to go all the way in and sit down to feel the difference. The peace washed over me, a peace I hadn't even realized I had been missing. 

I am so grateful for the gospel and for Christ's love. As we near Christmas, I wanted to share my testimony of the Savior. 

I know that Jesus Christ lived on this earth, and that He lives still. 

I know that Christ was born to Mary, of the Holy Ghost. I know that He is both the son of man and the literal Son of God. 

I know His life was the perfect example for us. He loved all, even those who it might be hard for us to love. He cared for those who needed it most. In each instance, He chose to do as His Father would have him do. And everything He did, He did out of love for God and love for us. 

I know He has called me to do His work here on earth. I know that He will strengthen me as I face trials and give me the capacity to love and serve as He would have me do. Even when it's not easy, I know He will be there with comfort and peace. 

I know that He suffered and died for me. Because of His sacrifice, I can live again, with God and with my family. I know that He atoned for me. He suffered for my sins and imperfections. Because of Him, I can repent each day, and continually strive to become like Him. His atonement strengthens me during hardships. I know He is always there for me and loves me. 

I know He loves me personally, but I also know He loves each of us here on earth. He will always be there for us. He is the only way to make it back to God and the one who truly understands what we are going through, no matter the circumstance. I am so grateful for all He has done for me and I love that I can celebrate that each year at Christmas. Each year, we get a new chance to show our love and gratitude for Him by being a little better than we were the year before and by truly loving and serving those who are around us. 

Merry Christmas! 

My 2022 Bookish Bullet Journal!

 Every year for the last few years, I've created a bullet journal for my bookish stuff. I keep track of the books I read, reading stats, video ideas for my bookish YouTube channel, and writing stats. Making the pages is something I look forward to every year and today I wanted to share them here. 

The first page of my bujo is this calendar spread. I note the big events for the year here as well. 

Each month is color coded throughout my bullet journal, so light blue for January, pink for February, etc. 

The next page is my book log. I leave many pages after this blank for me to fill as the year goes on. 

In the month's color, I write the book title, author, my star rating for it, and the date that I finished it. I also number them here, so I can easily see how many books I read that month. 

After my book log is a page to list my three favorite books from each month. I fill it out at the end of the month and this makes it easier for me to narrow down my favorite books at the end of the year. 

The left page is a spread I use to write down actual numbers for the month's stats (throughout the month I use tally marks as I finish books). The right page is a visual representation of how many books I've read for the year so far. I fill both of these out at the end of the month as well. 

This is my stats page and one of my absolute favorites! I have a graph at the top for a visual representation of how many pages I read each month. I also keep track of female/male authors, star ratings, age category of the book, what format (i.e. audiobook, ebook, etc.), readalouds with the kids, genre, TBRs, series, how many books I bought, and some other goals I have. 

Each year, I pick out 36 books that I really want to get to. I try to spread the books across different genres and age groups. I keep track of it with the page on the left. Once I finish a book, I simply color in the square. 

The page on the left is books I'd like to reread soonish. I usually pick 12 (one a month) and sometimes read more than that throughout the year. When I read it, I color in the square around the book name. 

This is the spread I use to keep track of series. I have the series I am in the middle of, the series that I've started but that the author is still writing books for (so I can't just finish them yet), series that I want to start, and series that I've read a book from that I'm not sure I want to continue but also might. I am finally making progress on paring down how many series I am in the middle of. 

The page on the left is my spread for classics. I like to read 6-12 classics a year. The column on the right is series that I want to read that I haven't yet. The column on the right is series that I loved so much I want to reread them. The circles indicate which ones I'd like to read. Again, when I finish the book, I color in the square next to it in the color from the month I read it during (so if I read in January, I color the square light blue). 

The page on the right is a comic book page. My brother Jon started recommending different comic books to me when I got into the Marvel movies. so I keep track of those here and try to read 4-6 a year. 

This is my new releases page. I don't have a lot right now, but last year, I had only one page and ran out of room as I heard about new books throughout the year. This year, I gave it two pages.

This is where I keep track of books I want to read aloud to the kids. This one was also one page last year, but since I ran out of room, I expanded it to two pages this year. 

The books at top are the ones I'd like to prioritize (there are 12, one for each month). The ones at the bottom beneath the space are ones we've already read that they enjoyed so much I want to read them again or get the audiobook. 

This is my page of books that I have wanted to read for a long time but haven't put on a TBR list yet. These are the types of books that, if I see them on sale somewhere, I'll buy them.

The page on the left are books written by authors I follow on Instagram. Most of them are Indie authors or authors published through small publishers. 

The page on the left are authors that I want to read more books by, but that I'm not ready to commit to reading all of their books. 

This spread takes up a few pages. These are authors I want to read all of the books they've written. The squares that are green I've already read.

The page on the left is a place for me to keep track of the authors who I've read all their books. They go on this page once I color in the all the squares on the previous spread. I try to keep up on any new releases from these authors as well. 

This spread also takes up a few pages (I didn't take a picture of them all). I have the nonfiction books I want to read organized into some different lists. Since joining BookTube, I haven't read as many nonfiction books and I thought putting them somewhere I can see them will help me read more.

This is another spread that takes up multiple pages (again, not pictured). These are all books that I've read and liked enough to want to buy them. 

After those bookshelves end, I have some blank ones for books that I buy that I haven't read yet throughout the year, in case I buy some to read. The bottom of the right page is where I keep track of my book spending. The top of each month is how much I budgeted to spend and the bottom is where I put how much I actually spent. 

This is my library book catalogue spread. In the center, I write down the name of the book I borrow (in the color of the month I borrow it). The right columns are where I put the due date (and new due dates if I renew the books). The very left hand column is where I mark when I finish reading the book.

Last year, I started giving someone a book each month and really liked it. This is where I keep track of who I give it to, what book I give, and mark when I actually give it. 

The left hand page is a spot for me to keep track of children's books I buy. This is a new spread I'm trying out this year. 

This is a spread is for writing, YouTube, and Instagram. I keep track of stats from writing group, my personal blog, YouTube, Instagram, and word counts. 

This is my main writing stats page. I keep track of weekly word counts, writing goals, what project I'm currently working on, and how far I am in that project. The squares at the bottom of the page are where I put my yearly writing goals that I'm working towards. 

 

This is my writing streak page. I try to write every single day and it's really satisfying to fill in all the squares. 

The right hand page is my notes on writing craft. The left hand page is where I put ideas for YouTube, writing, my personal blog, and Instagram.

The left hand page is where I put notes about my target audience. The left hand page is where I put ideas about next year's bullet journal. 

There are a lot of pages between this spread and the last, for any notes I have. 

This is my spread for my scripture reading. I started this page when President Nelson asked us to read the BOM by the end of the year and have loved using it since. 

This a page for my favorite quotes from books. I write the quote in the color from the month that I read that book. 

This is my spread for my yearly goals. I have reading goals (like reading 6 classics) and goals for writing and social media. 

This is my yearly stats page. I use the monthly stats I keep track of to fill this out at the end of the year. 

At the end of my bujo, I have a four page spread for each month. 

On the first page on the left, I write down the name of the book and the page count. Then I add up the page count at the end of the month and average out how many pages per book I read. I also write the name of the books I buy and get rid of here. 

On the bottom left, I keep track of my trajectory for writing and YouTube and look to see if I need to make any changes to put myself on a better trajectory. 

The right hand page is a calendar. Here I mark and color in what Instagram photos I share, what YouTube videos I post, and which blog posts I write. At the end of the month, I write down how many views my YouTube videos have. 

The next page is a monthly TBR. I have ten books I want to prioritize and then five more that I might want to get to. Underneath that, I write down some writing and YouTube goals I want to focus on for the month. 

The column to the right is where I keep of stats for the page on the left. 

The page on the left is where I keep track of all the unread books I own. I have a category for physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks. I like to try to keep the amount under 15 (though I don't always succeed) and I like to have read all the books I own in January by the end of that year. 

I have the same spreads for each month and that's the end of my bujo :)