Small Space Homeschooling Pt. 1: Workbox system

I keep seeing all of these pictures of other families beautiful homeschool rooms, and I begin to daydream about all that I would do if I had an extra room to put all of our homeshooling stuff in.
 
We recently moved to a new state and are temporarily living in an apartment for at least the next year.  Since we have a lot less space in our new place, I've had to adjust how and where I'm storing stuff. 
 
First of all, I have our portable workbox system.  I'd love to have a cart to use for workboxes, but it just isn't possible with the limited space we're working with right now.  Instead, I use this Sterilite container with latchable lid.

Our Workbox contains:

• My Teachers Manual
• Student workbook
• A Spiral
• Daily folders for Squirrely Girl and Miss Bear (10 total)
• Our current lapbook
• 2 Clipboards
• Games for the week
• Manipulatives for the week

Daily Folders and Clip Boards:

We use daily folder in lieu of the workboxes due to space issues.  Each of my girls has a daily folder plus a clipboard that they use every day. 

 Here is an example of what I put in Bear's daily folder.  In one side she has her math sheet's for the day.  On the other side she has her handwriting work and a stack of flashcards what she'll be using to play a game that day. 

Usually math goes in the left pocket, and science stuff goes in the right hand one


 

Here's an example of Squirrely Girls Monday folder.  Since we do our science reading on Mondays, we usually don't have any work in the folder for that.  On the right is her four square card as well as her math worksheet.

The Expanded Form cards are in the right hand pocket.



 




I place any handwriting and Language Arts worksheets onto their clipboard the night before, and set it along with their daily folder onto the table so that it's ready for the next day.





 I usually reload the workbox and daily folders Friday evenings so that its ready for Monday morning.  This helps streamline our day.  Pretty much everything we need for our week is in one convenient place, so I'm not running around gathering things like a chicken with it's head cut off.

How do you organize your homeschool day?  I'd love to hear about how you make your day easier down in the comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 3 of MFW Learning God's Story

http://www.kidsofintegrity.com/

This week has been a rough one!  We've had a lot going on with our extended family recently, and stressed mama = stressed babies!  Squirrely Girl has also taken to lying, which is something we obviously are wanting to nip in the bud.  In our search for something to address this issue, I ended up stumbling upon Kids of Integrity.  It's from Focus on the Family, and is a site with lots of parental resources with some important topics.  We're planning on using the site as needed for character development, along with a few other resources. 

Learning God's Story

School work for the past week has gone well.  Much of the initial stuff is still review for Squirrely Girl, but she hasn't complained of boredom, so it's all good!  Can't hurt to cement the phonics rules in her mind in any case.

Bible:

Our verse for the week is Proverbs 9:10:

"If you really want to become wise, you must begin by having respect for the Lord."

We've all been working to memorize the verse and apply it to our lives.  We were also able to tie in our talk about obeying our parents and being honest with how we show honor and respect for God.  It was great! 

Both of the girls have been doing really well with memorization!  In all honesty, I wasn't quite sure how well they would do with this, but I can see that sometimes we really are just dumbing things down for them when it doesn't need to be!  They're little sponges, just waiting to soak everything up!




Language Arts:

Squirrely Girl and Bear have been working with short vowel sounds.  I went ahead and laminated the foursquare cards and added some Velcro for the sentences.  This way, they're more durable and can be used again and again!

Bear has been continuing to practice her ABC handwriting as well.  I'm still using highlighters to write out much of what she's writing, but her work is already much neater than it was a few weeks ago.  She also has gotten a lot better at matching upper and lower case letters together.

Squirrely Girl has also continued with her leveled readers, and has taken it upon herself to read books to Bear and Bubba in the afternoons as well!










Math:

This weeks topic was sorting and classifying.  We went ahead and went with the lesson plans, and Squirrely Girl ended up completing all of the worksheets from CBM for the week.  She really likes the expanded form cards.  A lot.  She has asked to use them several times after we've already finished school for the day, and has sat there using them. 

Bear did the hands on work for this week as well as some worksheets with comparing quantity.  We also got quite a few free printables from 3 Dinosaurs a while back that I had laminated, so she's been using those to practice counting and addition.

Bubba has been playing with lots of our manipulatives this week as well.  One of his favorite activities right now is to play with the magnetic letters on our front door!  

Science:

This weeks science topic was Flowers.  In addition to the reading and activity in the TM, we read quite a bit about flowers.   The kids really enjoyed reaching The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds.   

We also used this simple little game to remember the parts of a flower and talked about what each part does.  It's just a worksheet that we colored and laminated.  I wrote numbers on the back and the kids rolled dice to get a piece of the plant.

Art:

For Science/Art, we ended up making these great Season's collages instead of making a seasons booklet.  I went ahead and laminated them because I'm planning on cutting them apart and using them, along with plants and animal cards, for sorting.  I figure it will be a great way to include harvest times as well as hibernation.

How was your week? What fun things did your kiddos do this week?  I'd love to hear about your activities in the comments!

Circle Time

I love how our "circle time" starts our school day off.  It gets the kids into learning mode in a gently way, and I am able to knock out some of our books that we are reading together.  I love that we will be able to do part of our learning together before breaking apart to do age appropriate work. 

I had read numerous blogs about what they were doing for their "circle time", but none of them seemed to be exactly what I was wanting our morning to look like.  Then, I stumbled upon The Unlikely Homeschool.  This seemed to be just what I was looking for! Instead of the traditional circle time we think of with preschool, her family uses a "Start the Day Together Basket". 

I immediately fell in love with the ideas presented in her post, and went to work putting our own version of the basket together.   This is also where we keep the book basket books pertaining to the weeks topic.  I love that I have everything that I need for starting our day all in one convenient, portable place.

What does circle time look like for our family?

• I usually begin with a few songs. 
  These include hymns/worship songs, learning song, and game songs. 
• Following singing, we work on our memory work.This includes our verse for the homeschool year as well as the Proverbs we will be learning each week.
• We then read out of our devotional or bible storybook.
  
• Next, I read aloud from one of our read-alouds.This includes folk tales, fairy tales, poetry
• Then, we read a book about our science topic.On Mondays, we read from the Usborne Science books from MFW.  The rest of the days, we read various books about the topic from the MFW "book basket" suggestions and others we find.
• Finally, I go over any instructions needed for the day.

 

So, what exactly is in our Start the Day Together Basket?

Every week the contents of our basket change a bit since we are using this as our book basket as well.  I include books on topics we will be covering and some pertinent flashcards as well if we have them.  Even so, a few things remain in the basket.

•  Science with Plants
• Science with Water
• Things Outdoors
• Fun with Nature: Take-Along Guide
• The Big Book of 5 Minute Devotionals
• Folk Tales from Many Lands
• 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories
• Index cards with our memory verses on them.
• An activity to keep little hands busy.  (I really like these and these.)
   

As the kids grow, I'm planning on adding composer and artist studies along with map work in the mornings.  For now, this is just enough for a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old to handle.

 

 

Does your family have a circle time to start the day?  What all do you include during this time?

I linked this post to

Hip Homeschool Moms

The Pursuit of God

I recently read The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer.  I had actually never read the book before, but I had seen some great quotes from the book and decided that it was time to read it for myself.  And I'm so glad that I did!

I read the book on my Kindle, and if the pages of notes and the amount of highlighting I did say anything, its that the book is just wonderful.  Tozer's insight and writing highlights a way to a deeper relationship with God.  It's a book that I think can be of tremendous help to Christians that aren't satisfied with the status quo of Christianity today.

Having been written by Tozer in the late 1940's, the style may not be what many are used to reading, but I definitely think that it's worth the effort.  I loved how Tozer addressed the issues pertaining to the Christian's walk with God.  Each chapter also ends in a prayer, which I enjoyed. 

The Pursuit of God  isn't just some formulaic outline promising to bring us closer to God.  It is more an explanation of how we go about living this.

“We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can.” 

When Chris and I began dating, we wanted to be near each other all the time.  I wanted to know what his hopes and dreams were, what his favorite food was, and what made him feel happy and loved.  Through all of this, we forged a strong connection and grew closer and closer to one another.

It is the same with God.  When we become a Christian and are regenerated, we should desire to pursue a deeper understanding and relationship with God.  He has drawn us to himself, and now he is waiting for us to pursue Him just as he continues to pursue us. 

Over the coming weeks, I am going to be writing about each chapter in detail.  I'd like to share my thoughts about the writing as well as share how I find it applicable in my everyday life.

 

Please, join me on this journey!  Grab your own copy of the book, a cup of coffee, and let's pursue our God together!

2014-2015 Homeschool Verse

This is our second year homeschooling, and since Squirrely Girl is now a First grader, I am now doing something more structured.  I've already spoken some about our decision to use My Father's World curriculum.  I had seen it on quite a few blogs, and when I was researching curriculums I kept being drawn back to this one.  God has a way of weeding through all of the unnecessary stuff for us!

In addition to doing the MFW 1st Grade: Learning God's Story, my husband and I are really wanting to focus on biblical character training.  This led us to adopt a verse for the year.  Since our kids are still so young, we wanted to start them out with a good foundation on how we should act. 

So I sat down, bible opened before me, and prayed that God would lead me to the perfect verse for our coming school year.  As I began reading, I was drawn to Galatians 5.  I immediately knew that this was a wonderful verse for our family for the upcoming year.  With all of us trying to become more structured with our schooling, we are bound to have hard days where the tears flow and the frustration levels rise.  What better thing to cling to than our Savior's provision to handle all these things?!

 

 

With everything that I am wanting to include in our day--from the math facts and phonics lessons to the science experiments and cooking lessons--I don't want to forget to focus on what's truly important.  One of the most important reasons we decided to homeschool was so that we could "train our children in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6). 

If in my zeal to check off my lesson plans and cram as much fun, interesting instruction I can into their little brains I forget the weightier matters such as love and mercy, then it is all for naught.  God gave me these three little blessings to raise into people that love and praise Him with every fiber of their being.  How will they know unless I point them to the One who did it all? 

Above all, if my children learn nothing else this year, I want them to learn to rely on God and know that in Him we can be victorious in all things.  Through Him we are able to truly love, have pure joy, a peace that surpasses understanding, patience in all things, show kindness at all times, goodness in all circumstances, faithfulness in following Him, a gentle spirit, and self-control. 

To help the kids memorize the verse, I got the bible verse printout as well as the fruit basket printouts from Christian Preschool Printables.  I laminated the verse and hung it in our living room so that we would see it often throughout the day.  I also laminated the fruit basket pieces and used some Velcro to make a game for the kids to practice our verse.  We've played many variations with it, and already Squirrely Girl has memorized our verse.  Bear in well on her way to having it memorized as well. 





Does your family have a verse for the homeschool year?  I'd love to hear your story in the comments.

Week 2 of MFW Learning God's Story

 

Last week, we finished up our second full week of first grade!  Phew!    Both Squirrely Girl and Bear are loving it so far!  For the most part, we've been going along with the MFW Learning God's Story lesson plans, but I've added spelling lists, comprehensive reading, and math minutes for daily practice for Squirrely Girl as well.  Oh yeah.... and lots and lots and lots of reading!

We also began using our nature journals this week.  For now, the girls are using journals that we made out of cereal boxes.  I found the idea on Pinterest awhile back, and making them was a fun activity for the girls.  (Plus... you can't beat free!)






Pretty impressed with Squirrely Girl's drawing of a
Monarch Butterfly. 



 

Bear decided that she wanted to make a rainbow spider
because realistic ones are "too scary"!  

 




 






 

I'm really looking forward to doing nature journals this year.  Our family really enjoys art as well as the outdoors, so this is a great way us to put the two together.  I just know that our nature journals will be treasured for years to come! I can't wait to see what their work looks like by the end of the year!



How was your homeschooling week?  What neat things do you incorporate into your nature journals?  I'd love to see what other's are doing! 


 



First Week of Homeschool for 2014-2015!

Last week we started back to our full homeschool schedule.  We decided to go with My Father's World : Learning God's Story for Shania for First Grade.  Kenzie is following along and completing the activities she's able to do, with additional handwriting practices and basic math skills.  Cole, who will soon be turning 2, is doing a whole lot of coloring, playing, and fine-motor skills work! 



Shania (Squirrely Girl) -1st Grade
Kenzie (Bear)-Pre-K
Cole (Bubba)-Tater-Tot Tot School

We were doing a lighter school load during the rest of the summer, but we wanted to have part of November and all of December off for the most part to incorporate a lot of seasonal activities so we thought we'd start the school year a bit early.  Here's what our daily rhythm looks like.

Start the Day Together Basket

This is sort of our families circle time.  We usually start by singing a few songs together and praying.  I also have various flash cards that we use some days in our basket.

 

• Bible:
  My Big Book of 5 Minute Devotions by Pamela Kennedy with Douglas Kennedy if in the MFW schedule, or a story from 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories by Daniel Partner. 

• Poetry/short stories:
  Folk Tales from Many Lands by Hazel Gertrude Kinscella. 
• Science:
  This varies.  On Mondays, we read from one of the science books from MFW (Things Outdoors, Science with Plants, and Science with Water).  The rest of the week, we read from one of our other science books to dig deeper into our topic.  This week, we used Life In a Bucket of Soil by Alvin Silverstein and Virginia Silverstein and Fun with Nature: Take-Along Guide by various authors to learn more about things that live close to or inside the ground.
  
  
  
   
  
  
   
• Kids Choice:Each child takes a turn in choosing a book or two to read each morning.
• Calendar time. 
• Number of the Day

Language Arts

• Handwriting and Phonics:
  This week, and for the next week or so, MFW has worksheets for ABC handwriting practice as well as some phoneme blending worksheets for Squirrely Girl.  I also gathered some for Bear to do along with her.
• Spelling:
  Squirrely Girl then does her Spelling work.  This year, I simply downloaded a master list online for 36 weeks worth of word lists.  Each weeks list has 8 words.  Monday-Thursday she does different spelling practice pages, and on Friday she takes a test over her words.
• ABC Work:
  Bear continues to work on ABC words and colors the worksheets while Squirrely Girl is doing the rest of her work.
• Reading:
  Squirrely Girl reads the same three leveled readers daily for a week, along with any other books she picks out.  She also reads and fills out a reading comprehension sheet once a week.
  
                                   Math
• Math Lesson:We go over the math lesson, practicing together using manipulatives. 
• Practice:
  We then complete any activities or worksheets that are in the MFW, or some days we simply play one of our games (Like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Go Fish, Chocolate Chip Math, Math Bingo, or the Math-o-Matic game).
  
  
                                                                       Science
• Worksheets:
  Some days, we will do worksheets pertaining to the weeks topic.  I got some of these from various workbooks, the rest I printed off from sites online.
• Lapbooks:I sort of out together a lapbook of sorts to go along with this weeks lesson.  I include a lot of fill in the blank type work for Squirrely Girl to complete, and Bear has added some pictures of a few bugs that she colored.  I'm hoping that as the year goes on that Squirrely Girl will be able to put these together herself.  I am helping with at least the first few, especially since they are mostly handmade pieces rather than printouts.
• Games:I've put together a few games to review a few of our topics so far, and am hoping to make a few more.  This week, the girls played several rounds of the "Parts of an Insect Game".  We used dice, and they had to say the name of the body part before they could place their pieces in the correct place on their insect.  We had a lot of fun!|

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we may do some art projects, color, and play some more in the afternoon.  Before bed, we also read a Bible story from one of our storybook bibles.  Right now, we're using these two!

 

 That's what our day looks like as of now!  What does your homeschool day look like?