Tuesday, December 27, 2011

It's almost 2012!!!



I have been on some sort of a blogging break for the past few days.  I was actually bored a few times.  We watched movies and did cool family activities, but when they were over (and I didn't have my laptop in my lap)...I felt a little bored.  I also had a bit of writers block.  Not sure what topics to approach.  A friend reminded me today of my goals that I have been mentally working on for next year.

I have been thinking of ways to decrease my stress and just plain make my life a bit easier.   Here's a few things that I will be working on or setting as my goals for 2012.


1.  More puzzles and coloring time.  It's so easy to overlook the educational benefits of puzzles and coloring.  The motor control issues that are being tackled as well as the visual perception benefits are numerous.  Not to mention the calming sensory issues.  And it's sure it fun to sit down with the kids and do these activities also.   I plan to incorporate more "learning" coloring pages into our lessons in when we are watching educational videos.  Such as while watching something for history or science, they'll have a coloring page that matches the topic we are learning about.

2.  Really start back up my workout routine.  I need to walk/run on our treadmill at least 2-3 times a week.  I would like to actually run outside 1-2 days a week, but since I am not a cold-weather runner....that may not happen yet.  But I really do need to get back into my routine, not for weight loss.  But to maintain my current weight and for stress management.

3.  Cook more meals and serve less processed foods to my family.  My diet is basically non-processed.  I do eat Boar's Head Lunch meat and Organic Blue Corn Chips.  I am working at cooking more of the foods the kids like from scratch and not allow them as much processed junk.  Of course, we do have one child completely addicted to processed foods and refuses to budge on the matter.  Crazy Autsim has him blinded to the goodness of foods outside of his comfort zone.  But our other son with Autism is at least making more of an attempt at eating "non" processed foods.  We are actually at 5 weeks of no fast food or eating out!!!!  No McDonalds or pizza orders!!!  The girls are fairly easy in this area and Joe is making an effort, even though he is wanting to stop at Taco Bell almost daily...lol.









4.  Stick to my lesson plans and not overcrowd my lesson plans.  I don't want to overcrowd the lesson plans with so much work that I feel like our week is a failure, even though we accomplished a lot!  I am working on this.  This week turned into an impromptu week off.  We have been working on small projects on the 50 states and a Character Study.  They still have music class also.  There are so many great projects out there for homeschoolers and there is just no way humanly possible to do everything that I would like to.  I need to work on this personality flaw so neither myself or the kids get burned out.

5.  Work on the quality and quantity of blog posts for our blog.  I would like to post daily, if possible.  But want to make sure the quality of posts is not forgotten.  This is another one of those goals.  But not sure how I will completely reach it or even start.  Guess we'll wait and see.

What are your goals for 2012????


2 comments:

  1. I usually pick a word or phrase to concentrate on for the year. Last year it was FOCUS. I focused on our schooling, I focused on my writing, I focused on healthy foods. I haven't quite settled on one for 2012 but so far I'm leaning towards ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS.

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  2. I have a few resolutions for the new year. I want to work out more. I am taking a dancercise class for credit at school. I also plan on eating less sweets and making and sticking to a schedule.

    BTW I really like your blog!

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