My so-called bullet journal

There's been a lot of buzz about bullet journals lately, and I will admit that I haven't look it up so I'm not entirely sure I know what one is.  I'm guessing it's some sort of checklist, but in a notebook/journal?

Anyway, I've never been a checklist sort of gal, mostly because looking at a long list of things to do tends to overwhelm me.

However.

I made some goals this year not only for myself, but also for our homeschool.  But since it's not an official homeschool year yet (being just kindergarten), I haven't really been on top of making sure things get done.  It's been a bit relaxed - which can be a good thing - but not when I skip Izzy's reading lessons 3 days in a row or forget to play our folk song two weeks in a row.

Of course, skipping those things aren't going to ruin my children and they're still young so it's really not a biggie.  But, the purpose of me including these things is to ease our way into year one of AO in the fall.  There's going to be so much that's new that I feel it would make the transition easier by going ahead and getting our feet wet a little bit.

So, enter my so-called bullet journal.  (I guess it really can be called a journal because it's in a notebook and I haven't torn out the page.)

I figured I would make this bullet list for one week at a time.  The top half of the page has the weekly goals that I would like to accomplish with Izzy (and Addy for most of it, too).

On the left are the read-alouds.  These do not include all of our read-alouds, but these are the ones I definitely want to get to and the ones we usually read in the mornings (except for The Wizard of Oz) along with a Bible story and some poetry/rhymes.  For example, you can see that I would like to read one chapter of Old Mother West Wind this week.  The books are in no particular order - it doesn't matter the day I read the book or which book I pick first.  When I read a chapter, I'll check it off and we're done with it for the week.  This will also give us a taste of how we will read books when we officially begin AO - spread out and savored instead of wolfed down without tasting anything.  (I honestly don't know if my husband ever tastes his food because he eats so fast.)

The Wizard of Oz is the only one in which I have more than one chapter.  I guess I would consider it our "free read."  We usually read it in the afternoons or at night.

At the top right are the art/music boxes.  This is where I'm really inconsistent and need something to hold me accountable - hopefully it'll be this!  I have one box for each which means we'll listen to the song, or look at the art print, once that week.  We usually do this during lunch.

Same idea with the cooking, nature walk, and art time - once per week at least.  I originally had a goal of daily art time, but that hasn't really worked out so I scaled waaaaay back with a goal of once per week.  My kids are just too concerned with running around and playing and pretending than sitting down and drawing.

Lastly are Izzy's reading lessons.  I'm striving for doing these with her 5 days per week (hence the 5 boxes).  Now I know formal reading lessons are not necessary before age 6, but Izzy has an interest to learn to read (but it's not like a beg-me-everyday-to-teach-her-to-read interest that I've heard other kids have) and we're only spending 5 or 10 minutes on each lesson, so I think we're good.

Now to the bottom half - my goals for the week.  I posted the picture again so you wouldn't have to keep scrolling up and down.  These are a mixture of mother culture and household tasks.

I have 5 books going right now.  The Daughter of Time is an AO forum book discussion book so there are certain chapters to be read each week.  Les Miserables is another book discussion, but it's an unofficial one so it's a very light discussion.  I've never read LM, and honestly wasn't planning to anytime soon, but someone on the forums suggested reading it together, I thought why not?  The Count of Monte Cristo is a book that I've been reading since last year and my goal is to get through 3 chapters for the week.  Stepping Heavenward another 3 chapters (actually now I'm down to two chapters left), and The Pursuit of Holiness 2 chapters.

On the right, I have a goal of working in my nature journal once per week and taking a bath.  Yep, you read that right.  We've lived in our house for 4 1/2 years now and I think I've only taken like 5 or 6 baths.  I like to take baths (even though it always makes me think of Chandler on the show Friends when he was disgusted at the thought of taking a bath, saying you were just "stewing in your own filth."), but never thought I had the time.  It was really because I never said to my husband, "Hey, I'd like to take a bath.  Would you mind watching the girls?"  Now I do.  And he says, "Sure."  So there we go.  Plus, I always take a book with me so I'll be able to check off two boxes.  Whoop, whoop.

Lastly are my weekly cleaning goals.  Ugh.  I don't like to clean (does anyone?) and, as a result, I need a system to hold myself accountable and a way to tell what I have and haven't done.  I have the main cleaning areas to be done each week listed.  No particular order in which to do these - I'll just do something that needs to be done and check it off.  (Of course, if the bathroom gets super yucky before the next week, we'll deal with it.  Actually it's getting high-time to teach Izzy to clean the bathroom, don't ya think?  I mean, she'll be 6 in three months.)  Notice the kitchen is not on there.  That's because the kitchen is cleaned everyday.  I do not like dirty dishes in the sink or on the counters or a dirty floor (I just don't), so we take care of that right after meal times.  And, the girls help clean the kitchen with us.

This list took me about 5 or 10 minutes to put together and it's in one of those cheapo 70-page notebooks.  Quick and cheap.  That's how I like it.

Okay.  That's it!  We'll see how it goes!

Do you have a system for holding yourself accountable to get things done?

Mother culture convictions

Last week I posted about some of my mother culture goals for this year.  

Well.

I don't know how many times I have written something on this blog, hit publish, and then conviction comes around and hits me in the face.

First, though, let me explain what mother culture is to those who aren't familiar with that term.  Mother culture refers to the growth of a mother as an individual, outside of motherhood and the many duties of being a wife and keeping the home.  Some activities suggested for mother culture are reading good books, taking walks, drawing - basically pursuing interests.

But I must ask myself a question.  What kind of growth am I looking for?  I think we should all ask that question of ourselves - get down to the nitty gritty.  What is it all for?  Am I looking for growth just for the sake of growth?  To become knowledgeable about life?  To feel worthwhile?

Not long after I wrote the above post, I felt...selfish.  Mostly about the reading part.  I kept asking myself, Why?  Why do I need to read so many books?  Why do I need to join a book discussion?  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those things.  God gave us this life.  He gave people a talent for creativity and producing things for us to enjoy - like books.  And He wants us to enjoy our lives, which includes enjoying what other people have to offer us.

I like to read; it's enjoyable.  A good book is a pleasure.

But a good book can also be a distraction.  So can spending the time to draw and write in a nature journal.  Or blog.  (ahem.)

I came across this quote the other day from the book Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss:  "All my pleasures are innocent ones...But these things distract me; they absorb me; they make religious duties irksome."

Life is so full of distractions, we all know this.  And when we choose to pursue interests or make goals and then take the steps to carry out those things, we must always stop to consider our motives.

What are my motives?

As a Christian, my desire is to
Draw close to God.
Grow in Christ and His holiness.
Lead my children to Christ.
Set a good example for my children.
Serve my husband.
Love.

I have a ways to go; most of us do.  It is a life long journey, I'm sure.

I do like to read.  I like to blog - it's a way for me to reflect and to share.  And those things are not sins, unless...unless they become distractions; unless they overtake me or consume me; unless they are for all the wrong reasons; unless they cause me to be continually diverted from Christ, from prayer, from seeking Him.

I must be so very careful, because it is so very easy to fall away.  It is so easy to get tangled up in and focus all of my attention on these distractions, and...forget.

So I must pray, always, that my motives are pure.

I must pray, always, that God will lead me in His wisdom and sanctify me.

And I must believe with all my heart that God will do these things that I ask.

Yes, my motive is to grow, like mother culture encourages.  But I must choose wisely - what to read, when to read, what to do, when to do.  Because my motive is to grow in Christ.

Here's to mother culture in 2015

I've been thinking a lot about mother culture lately, mostly because it's been a talked about topic over on the AO forums.  This Parent's Review article gives a pretty good explanation of mother culture, and it got me thinking about my goals not only for this new year, but also in the case of mother culture.

(I'm also working on another mother culture post about why it's so important - my humble opinions, of course.  Stay tuned!)

So, without further ado, here are my mother-culture-goals (in no particular order):

1.  Read more consistently.
I've always loved to read, but I honestly can't remember when I stopped being an avid reader.  I know for sure I haven't been reading on a regular basis since I had kids.  However, since I started researching Charlotte Mason's methods of educating, I've been picking up a book more often than I used to.

My goal is to have around three or four books going at all times - a nonfiction, a fiction, a spiritual-based book, and something else (maybe another fiction or education-based).  I've sort of begun reading books this way, and I really like it.  It prevents me from flying through a book, without digesting or reflecting on what I'm reading.  I've also found that this method keeps me from being chained to a book that maybe, in a specific moment, I'm just not in the mood for.  I'm more likely to pick up a book if I have a few options.

2.  Join a book discussion.
This is sort of a spin-off of #1 in that joining a book discussion will hopefully keep me accountable to read consistently.  Another reason is that I think being involved in a discussion will help me to become a better reader.  I grew up reading a lot of twaddle (I loved The Babysitter's Club!), and was never used to reading deep, quality books.  I think reading other's thoughts and seeing how they discern ideas and information from books will be really helpful, and interesting.

The first book discussion I'll be involved in will be on the AO forums.  We're starting The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.  I haven't received the book in the mail yet, but I'm really excited to start it!

3.  Begin a weekly nature journal.
I have two reasons for this.  First, I'm planning to begin year one of the AO curriculum around September with my firstborn, which means we will be officially starting nature study with her own nature journal and everything.  I would like to begin one now so that I can introduce her to nature study, as well as find a rhythm and develop a habit and a love for all things outdoors.

Second, I just want to.  I have a genuine desire to discover more about God's creation and hopefully discover more about Him.

4.  Continue a commonplace notebook.
I put "continue" because I just began one!  I have three entries so far, ha.  For those of you who aren't familiar with a commonplace notebook, it's like a journal in which you record ideas, quotes, mottos, etc., that stand out to you from what you read.

There are so many people much, much wiser than I am, and when I find a nugget of their wisdom, I want to be able to remember it, or at least have a place I can go to to find it again when needed.  Awhile ago I began taking notes when I sit down to read my Bible, and have found that it helps me tremendously to retain more of what I read.  Plus, there's just something about the act of writing things down that encourages more reflective thinking about what you're reading.  My hope is to share with you some of my commonplace entries in the future.  Here's a good explanation of the value of a commonplace notebook.

5.  Read Charlotte Mason's volumes.
I highly doubt I will be able to read all of CM's volumes - there are six - in one year.  I've actually already started volume one, but am definitely not reading it regularly (I don't think I've read it in probably two months).  I do want to read her works - what I've read so far has been very intriguing, and since I have chosen her method of educating my children, I figure it should be a given that I read them.

I don't know if I'll continue volume 1 or move over to volume 2.  I think volume 2 has more information about raising children which would be more applicable to me at this stage of my life.  Or I could read through the topical series.  Or I could read through the summaries first.  Hmmm, I haven't decided yet.

6.  Memorize scripture.
This really should be first, if this list were in order of importance, but it's not.  Anyways, I've talked before on this blog about how I consider myself a fairly new Christian - only within the past two years or so have I taken my faith seriously and begun stepping toward growth.  I read my Bible almost everyday (ugh, maybe my goal should just be to read my Bible everyday), but I would like to take it a step further - not because I think I have to, but because I want to.

Memorizing scipture holds it deep within our hearts.  It gives us something to meditate upon and to grab on to in times of stress or temptations.  Yes, we have Jesus to grab on to and He is always with us, but God talks to us through the scriptures.  I believe reading the Bible is first and foremost in discovering God and developing a relationship with Him, and I think memorizing scripture will help to deepen that relationship.  In the near future, I'll post my first official selections.

Well, that should do it!  Do you have any specific mother culture goals?  Please share!