We start back to (home)school tomorrow and we are so excited! The kids have seen the new big boxes packed full of our exciting new curriculum rolling in and are ready to dive in! So am I! I love doing school with the kids. It suits our life and personalities so well. It is a blessing to get to do life this way.
I started getting organized and getting the homeschool room prepped a few weeks ago. At the end of the last school year I took everything down and put everything out of sight and away so the kids (and I) would have a real break from "school". So I had a lot to do to get everything back in shape.
Yay for the first big shipment from Timberdoodle and CBD!
A few shipments in between...and then finally our last shipment from Sonlight! (I don't even have any earthly idea what is going on with KJ in this picture. She looks like a feral jungle child. Gaw. "Yep....that's what happens when you homeschool!" I can hear the critics now!!)
How cool is this? Leave it to a curriculum supplier to even make the box a cool project. Thank you Sonlight! There have been hours of play with this box.
Now down to the nitty gritty. The majority of our curriculum comes from Timberdoodle. I love love love this company. Actually I love all the companies we get curriculum from or I wouldn't use them. Ha. But Timberdoodle was my first homeschool love and we went back with them this year for a big portion of our curriculum. Last year I bought a full-grade kit. I was disappointed in the reading so we ended up ditching it about a month or so in last year and switched to another program. So this year I chose to go a la carte.
We are doing All About Learning for reading for both boys. Although we haven't officially started it yet, I've been preparing it and reading through it and I LOVE IT! Oh my goodness I think the boys are going to like this so much better!
We are doing Horizons for math and penmanship. Sonlight puts together an awesome manipulative's kit for Horizons Math and so I ordered the math from them. I love how nice and tidy it is in it's cute little handy box. Thank you very much!
For science I ordered a kit and some additional fun stuff to add in from Timberdoodle.
For geography we are using Beginning Geography, Geopuzzles form last year and are waiting on our first shipment from Little Passports. I think that is going to be a real crowd-pleaser with my crew. I looks so fun!
History: Bede's history of Me and Us from Timberdoodle.
Arts and crafts: Kiwi Crate and other stuff that is totally not my forte but I try super duper hard for the kid's sake. Gag.
That was all of the main curriculum. I also have several fun "thinking skill" books and activities for all three kids. Jude and Katy Jane will work with the MagnaTabs, mazes, puzzles, cutting books, Haba smart fellow pegging (from Timberdoodle) and age-appropriate math and handwriting.
Now to our school room! We do most of our actual work at the kitchen counter. It is big and low so it nicely accommodates 3 sweet little students around it plus me. And they are able to sit comfortably in chairs instead of stools...when they actually sit...which is not often. I have what we will need handy beside me on top of the counter and also in the cabinets below. This has worked out well for us because I can be close-by for questions but also get lunch ready, start dinner, do dishes, whatever.
HOWEVER! This year I am making a big push to do more of our school in the actual school room. Crazy, no? Maybe that will work, maybe it won't. But it sounds like a great idea. Plus, with how I have the boy's schedules, I think it will benefit them to have their own quiet work space where I can teach them individually without interrupting the other. We'll see.
This is the "library". It is where some of the books are, extra curriculum, and everything else that needs to be stored...art supplies, busy bags, crayons, etc.
More books and charts.
Family rules and memory verses.
Here are their cubbies. They store their workbooks and folder in these so they can quickly grab them out in the morning.
In James' cubby:
Jude's cubby:
Katy Jane's cubby:
In their notebooks I have divided out the subjects that don't have workbooks or that are reproducible workbooks. I make a copy of the week's work and put it in their folder. This is James' with handwriting, geography, and test practice.
The kid desk.
My desk.
I don't' know if my kids have inherited my bizarre love and obsession for school supplies...but I'm thinking yes. Which makes the first day that much MORE fun! They will get these on Tuesday before we get started packed full of fun, colorful new supplies.
What a blessing, joy and privilege to "train up these sweet children in the way they should go". (Proverbs 22:6). Today I was looking at some pictures of Jude when he only hours old. I thought how much I would love to go back and hold that tiny little baby one more time. And then it occurred to me that very soon they will be big and I will look back at pictures from right now and think how I would give anything to go back and love on those sweet little ones. So I am purposing to make the most out of every experience and moment. It is not always easy...there are challenges to homeschooling 3 so close in age...even to just parenting 3 so close in age. But I'm thankful the Lord has allowed this sweet time in our lives and know He will bless it. I know there will be bumps and course corrections and adjustments but my prayer is that we all grow closer to each other and the Lord as we learn together about the world He has given us. I'm so grateful that I get to be there with them as they make these fascinating discoveries. I'm so thankful that I get to see their little faces as they grasp new concepts. What a joy!
I started getting organized and getting the homeschool room prepped a few weeks ago. At the end of the last school year I took everything down and put everything out of sight and away so the kids (and I) would have a real break from "school". So I had a lot to do to get everything back in shape.
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| It's gotta get worse before it can get better |
We are doing All About Learning for reading for both boys. Although we haven't officially started it yet, I've been preparing it and reading through it and I LOVE IT! Oh my goodness I think the boys are going to like this so much better!
We are doing Horizons for math and penmanship. Sonlight puts together an awesome manipulative's kit for Horizons Math and so I ordered the math from them. I love how nice and tidy it is in it's cute little handy box. Thank you very much!
For science I ordered a kit and some additional fun stuff to add in from Timberdoodle.
History: Bede's history of Me and Us from Timberdoodle.
Arts and crafts: Kiwi Crate and other stuff that is totally not my forte but I try super duper hard for the kid's sake. Gag.
That was all of the main curriculum. I also have several fun "thinking skill" books and activities for all three kids. Jude and Katy Jane will work with the MagnaTabs, mazes, puzzles, cutting books, Haba smart fellow pegging (from Timberdoodle) and age-appropriate math and handwriting.
LogikSteet for thinking skills...SO awesome. It's so much fun, they don't even know they are learning. Inchimals for math...again so. much. fun. Scrunch map...why not!? It just looked fun! (All Timberdoodle of course).
This is the "library". It is where some of the books are, extra curriculum, and everything else that needs to be stored...art supplies, busy bags, crayons, etc.
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