Our New Office/School Room

A while back the thought dawned on me to combine our office and school room on the 3rd floor. We hope to have at least one more child so we want to have an open bedroom on the 2nd floor for him/her (them). Here are some pictures of how it turned out. Some of this was already done and some is new (Lee's desk and office stuff and the new school table - our old kitchen table).

A view of my office corner and the school boards.


A view of the new school table - our old kitchen table and school closet.

A view of Lee's office corner.

Another up close view of my office corner.

The new school desk.

The closets. The one on the right houses our school/craft/scrapbook stuff. The other one is Lee's.


Some of our decor.

Inside the closet - that is my scrapbooking stuff and Luke's art stuff.

Inside the closet - all of our homeschool resources.

Inside the closet - our supplies and manipulatives.

I LOVE THIS ROOM!!! LOTS OF SPACE, BOTH DESKS, A BIG SCHOOL TABLE, AND EVERYTHING IS SUPER ORGANIZED (FOR NOW AT LEAST).

Daily Schedules

Since school started back last week, we have slowly been getting into a routine/rhythm. Going into a new year, I never quite know what our schedule is going to look like, but being completely OCD, I try my best to plan it out and then tweak as necessary. This year has been no different.

I thought that school would take 3-4 hours, but after starting have realized it will only take 1 1/2 - 2 hours (maybe a little more if the subjects get tougher), so that really changes our previously planned schedule.

I know that I always enjoy looking at people's schedules to figure out ways that might work for our family, so here goes:

MONDAY
7:00am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and do our morning routines (Lee - get dressed, make lunch) (Ashley - get dressed, make bed, start laundry, make breakfast) (Luke - get dressed, make bed)
7:30am - Luke and I eat breakfast and Lee leaves for work
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and eats breakfast (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Play with the boys
9:o0am - Go to the library
10:00am - Nathan goes down for a nap - Luke and I do homeschool
HOMESCHOOL TIME
10:00am-10:15am - Bible
10:15am-10:30am - Handwriting
10:30am-10:45am - Reading & Spelling
10:45am-11:00am - Math
11:00am-11:15am - Science
11:15am-11:30am - History
11:30am-11:45am - Geography
11:45am-12:00pm - Spanish
Of course every subject doesn't take exactly 15 minutes, some take more, some take less. This is just a rough overview. If we finish early, we just hang out until lunch time.
12:00pm - Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Play with the boys
2:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

TUESDAY
7:00am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and do our morning routines (Lee - get dressed, make lunch) (Ashley - get dressed, make bed, start laundry, make breakfast) (Luke - get dressed, make bed)
7:30am - Luke and I eat breakfast and Lee leaves for work
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and eats breakfast (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Play with the boys
10:00am - Nathan goes down for a nap - Luke and I do homeschool
HOMESCHOOL TIME
10:00am-10:15am - Bible
10:15am-10:30am - Handwriting
10:30am-10:45am - Reading & Spelling
10:45am-11:00am - Math
11:00am-11:15am - Science
11:15am-11:30am - History
11:30am-11:45am - Geography
11:45am-12:00pm - Spanish
Of course every subject doesn't take exactly 15 minutes, some take more, some take less. This is just a rough overview. If we finish early, we just hang out until lunch time.
12:00pm - Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Play with the boys
2:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

WEDNESDAY
7:00am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and do our morning routines (Lee - get dressed, make lunch) (Ashley - get dressed, make bed, start laundry, make breakfast) (Luke - get dressed, make bed)
7:30am - Luke and I eat breakfast and Lee leaves for work
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and eats breakfast (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Play with the boys
10:00am - Nathan goes down for a nap - Luke and I do homeschool
HOMESCHOOL TIME
10:00am-10:15am - Bible
10:15am-10:30am - Handwriting
10:30am-10:45am - Reading & Spelling
10:45am-11:00am - Math
11:00am-11:15am - Science (Every other Wednesday we don't do Science)
11:15am-11:30am - History (Every other Wednesday we don't do History)
11:30am-11:45am - Geography
11:45am-12:00pm - Spanish
Of course every subject doesn't take exactly 15 minutes, some take more, some take less. This is just a rough overview. If we finish early, we just hang out until lunch time.
12:00pm - Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Play with the boys
2:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Leave for church
5:45pm - Eat dinner at church
6:45pm - Bible classes at church (Nathan gets his bottle in the church nursery)
8:00pm - Drive home
8:30pm - Get the boys ready for bed and bedtime for the boys
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

THURSDAY
7:00am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and do our morning routines (Lee - get dressed, make lunch) (Ashley - get dressed, make bed, start laundry, make breakfast) (Luke - get dressed, make bed)
7:30am - Luke and I eat breakfast and Lee leaves for work
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and eats breakfast (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Go to Co-Op
9:o0am - Co-OP
12:00pm - Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Drive home from Co-Op
1:00pm - Nathan naps - Luke and I do homeschool
HOMESCHOOL TIME
1:00pm-1:15pm - Bible
1:15pm-1:30pm - Handwriting
1:30pm-1:45pm - Reading & Spelling
1:45pm-2:00pm - Math
Of course every subject doesn't take exactly 15 minutes, some take more, some take less. This is just a rough overview. If we finish early, we just hang out until lunch time.
2:00pm- Nathan is still napping, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

FRIDAY
7:00am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and do our morning routines (Lee - get dressed, make lunch) (Ashley - get dressed, make bed, start laundry, make breakfast) (Luke - get dressed, make bed)
7:30am - Luke and I eat breakfast and Lee leaves for work
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and eats breakfast (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Play with the boys
10:00am - Nathan goes down for a nap - Luke and I do homeschool
HOMESCHOOL TIME
10:00am-10:15am - Bible
10:15am-10:30am - Handwriting
10:30am-10:45am - Reading & Spelling
10:45am-11:00am - Math
11:00am-11:45am - Geography Projects
11:45am-12:00pm - Spanish
Of course every subject doesn't take exactly 15 minutes, some take more, some take less. This is just a rough overview. If we finish early, we just hang out until lunch time.
12:00pm - Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Play with the boys
2:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

SATURDAY
7:30am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up and make breakfast
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and we all eat breakfast together (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Play with the boys
10:00am - Nathan goes down for a nap - free time for Lee, Luke, and me
12:00pm - Lee, Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Play with the boys
2:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and Lee and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

SUNDAY
7:30am - Lee, Luke, and I wake up, get ready, and make breakfast
8:00am - Nathan wakes up and we all eat breakfast together (I clean up the kitchen while he eats his Cheerios)
8:30am - Leave for church
9:00am - Sunday School
10:30am - Worship
12:00pm - Lee, Luke, Nathan, and I eat lunch
12:30pm - Drive home
1:00pm - Nathan naps, Luke naps/rests/has quiet time, and Lee and I have my down time (or do some dinner prep and/or chores)
4:00pm - I feed Nathan a bottle and Luke has video game time (he can earn up to 30 minutes a day)
4:30pm - Bathe the boys
5:00pm - Play with the boys
5:30pm - I cook dinner while the boys play
6:15pm - Family dinner
6:45pm - Family playtime (Nathan gets a bottle sometime before bed)
7:45pm - Get the boys ready for bed
8:00pm - Bedtime for the boys (Sometimes Nathan goes to bed earlier, sometimes Luke goes to bed later)
Lee and I have a flexible time until bedtime
11:00pm - Lee and I go to bed (that's the goal at least)

My Son Started Kindergarten Today

My son started kindergarten today. On my sister blog to this one, you can see pictures of his 1st day as well as pictures of our school room and what we are using for curriculum this year.

Check it out:
http://organizedhomeschooling.blogspot.com

:)

My Tentative Schedule for Next Year

Yes, I am crazy scheduling fool. I just love having a schedule for my family and myself. It keeps things running smoothly knowing what is going to happen. I am always thinking of new schedules and ways to organize. Since I have been picking out and planning our homeschool next year so much, I have been working on a tentative schedule for next year.

Here is my plan as of now (of course it won't go perfectly and it is subject to change before then):

This also assumes Nathan is on 2 naps a day still (Luke was on 2 naps a day until 18 months)

7:00am – Ashley wakes up, showers, and gets ready
(If Luke is awake he will hang out in our room and watch cartoons)
7:30am – Ashley and Luke go downstairs and get breakfast ready
8:00am – Nathan wakes up and we all eat breakfast together
(clean up after)
8:30am – Boys play while Ashley does 1^st floor chores
(THURSDAYS – Leave for CO-OP if we get in)
9:00am – Bathe boys; Get Nathan ready for the day; Luke gets ready
9:30am – Nathan goes down for a nap or plays for a little bit while Luke and Ashley do 2^nd floor chores
10:00am – HOMESCHOOL TIME (Nathan is definitely down for a nap)

HOMESCHOOL TIME:
10:00am – Prayer and Pledges (American flag, Christian flag)
10:05am – Bible
10:30am – Reading
10:50am – Handwriting
11:10am – Spelling
11:30am – Math
11:50am – School is done; straighten up school room

12:00pm – Make and eat lunch together (clean up after)
(THURSDAYS – Done with CO-OP if we get in –
Eat lunch out or picnic)
12:30pm – Play outside with the boys (AKA PE for Luke)
2:00pm – HOMESCHOOL TIME (Nathan is down for a nap)

HOMESCHOOL TIME:
2:00pm – Science or Social Studies
2:20pm – Electives
(Piano Mondays, Art Tuesdays, Spanish Wednesdays,
Art Thursdays or Fridays (depending on CO-OP)
2:50pm – School is done; straighten up

3:00pm – Rest time for Luke and Ashley
4:00pm – Boys are up; Feed Nathan dinner and Luke snack
(eventually both will have snack)
4:30pm – Play
(5:00pm Wednesdays – Go to church)
5:30pm – Ashley cooks dinner
6:15pm – Family dinner time (clean up after)
6:45pm – Family playtime
7:00pm – Nathan bottle and get him ready for bed
7:45pm – Luke gets ready for bed
8:00pm – Both boys in bed;
Ashley exercises and takes a quick shower
9:00pm – Relax until bedtime
11:00pm – Be in bed

Once Nathan drops that morning nap, we will have to do some changes (perhaps if he is like Luke and naps 4 hours in the afternoon we will do all of our school then). I know it will all work out.

PS If we get into the CO-OP, we will just do reading, spelling, math, and handwriting 4 days a week (double up our last 2 lessons of handwriting into one day) and do Bible during our afternoon homeschool time.

Homeschooling – Kindergarten Curriculum for 2011-2012

Since I had some readers who enjoyed my previous homeschooling blog entries, I thought that I would share our homeschooling plans for next year for Luke. He is going to be 5 ½ when we start kindergarten in the Fall.

Here is what we are going to be using:

BIBLE – Daily, 20 minutes
Bible Truths K by Bob Jones University Press
This curriculum looks awesome. There are 15 units that cover the Bible start to finish. Each day you read Bible text, learn doctrinal truths, character traits, and catechism, sing songs, and pray. You also memorize 25 Scripture verses throughout the year. There is an activity book that goes along with some of the days and I will probably add some supplemental crafty things as Luke loves that.

READING – Daily, 20 minutes
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading by Peace Hill Press
We have been working on this book this year and we will just keep going where we are at. I highly recommend this book to teach your children how to read. We won't have a set lesson plan as we are working to master reading skills. If we have to work for 2 weeks on one lesson that is fine and if we get done with 2 lessons in one day that is fine.

SPELLING – Daily, 20 minutes
All About Spelling, Level 1 by Marie Rippel
This curriculum looks great. I looked and looked for a great spelling curriculum and most of them were just lists of words. This is an actual hands-on, mom works with the child, and they work for mastery, not memorization only. I think it will be a lot like the reading in that we will just be working at whatever pace we need to for Luke to fully get it.

HANDWRITING – Daily, 20 minutes
A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript A
We are using Handwriting Without Tears K this year and I like it so the only reason I switched to A Reason for Handwriting is because each week you work toward writing a whole Scripture verse. By Friday he will have written the letters and words and be ready to write the whole thing. I think that is a great way to incorporate more Scripture. I am also hoping to have him memorize that week's Scripture verse.

MATH – Daily, 20 minutes
Horizons Math K and/or 1
We are using Horizons Math K right now and I love it. It has very colorful engaging worksheets. We will not finish it before next year starts because I am trying to not just zip through it as I really want him to understand the concepts. It will be like reading and spelling, going at our own pace. I would like to at least finish the K so that when we start 1^st grade he will be working on or starting 1.

SCIENCE – 2 or 3 times a Week (alternating with SS), 20 minutes
The World God Make (K) by Christian Liberty Press
I am really excited about this curriculum. I looked at tons of options and to me they were all too much for a kindergartner. They will be great down the road, but I want to just introduce Luke to some general aspects of science at this age. The curriculum is all about Creation. As we go through each day of creation (AKA a unit), there will be Scripture reading, Bible verses to memorize, science projects to do, and activities. I think it will be a great introduction at this age.

SOCIAL STUDIES – 2 or 3 times a Week (alternating with Science), 20 minutes
History for Little Pilgrims by Christian Liberty Press
I felt the same way going through SS curriculum as I did science. I wanted something that focused on a general view of history. This is perfect. It starts with Creation and goes through history to our current time looking forward to Jesus' return. It has a good amount of information for a pretty simple book. Again, there are Bible verses and learning activities (including a cute coloring book). I think it will be a great start to history and geography.

ELECTIVES – Daily, 30 minutes
PIANO – 1 day a Week (Monday) – Alfred's Basic Piano All-in-One Book for Kids
Each week I will sit with Luke and review and teach him a lesson. Of course we can spend more time if he is having trouble with something. He will also be practicing during the week separate from our school day.
SPANISH – 1 day a Week (Wednesday) – Teach Them Spanish K by Frank Shaffer Publications
This is a great introduction to Spanish. We will learn greetings, numbers 1-10, colors, classroom objects, family members, food, clothing, and places.
ART - 2 days a Week (Tuesday and Friday or Thursday if we don't get into our CO-OP) – The World's Greatest Artists Unit Study by Erica (Homeschooling Blogger)
http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2011/06/worlds-greatest-artists-unit-study.html - FREE TO DOWNLOAD
Luke absolutely loves art. He loves to create and he really enjoys looking through a book we have of art for children. I am hoping that this unit study will be fun and educational.

PE – Daily, 30-60 minutes
PE will be just being physical, whether it is a park playdate, a jump house playdate, a fastfood/playplace playdate, playing in the backyard, riding bikes, or focusing on a sport (basketball, baseball, football). If it is yucky outside and we don't have an indoor playdate planned, we will play the Wii or something.

CO-OP – Weekly (Thursdays) – 3 hours
We are registered for the waiting list of a great co-op in our area. They meet at a church and do chapel time and then there are two class times. The kids do two classes, moms serve one hour and a Bible study one hour, and they have nursery for Nathan. This would be a great way for Luke to maybe do a couple of different classes and meet some friends.

Dr Seuss Week

I know that a lot of my readers are homeschoolers or are interested in how we homeschool, so I thought that I would share something fun that we are doing.

This week is Dr Seuss Week. Dr Seuss was born on March 2nd. So we are doing a bunch of fun things related to Dr Seuss. We are reading some of our favorite Dr Seuss books - The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, Fox in Socks, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham - and doing coloring sheets and crafts and other fun things related to the books.

I will be taking pictures and will share with you guys at the end of the week.

Today we are doing The Cat in the Hat. We read the story, colored his hat, did a "spelling test" with "at" words, are going to do coloring sheets, and are going to play tic-tac-toe with cats and hats.

Other fun things we are going to do:

Hop on Pop - coloring sheet and hop on daddy
Fox in Socks - coloring sheet and tic-tac-toe with foxes and socks
Grinch - coloring sheet, door hanger, Grinch mask, and make ornaments for a tree
Green Eggs and Ham - coloring sheet, tic-tac-toe with eggs and ham, and attempt to make green eggs and ham

I love homeschooling!!!

Homeschooling a 3-4 Year Old

In keeping with my previous post, I thought that I would share what I did to homeschool preschool Luke when he was 3-4 years old.

My goals were:
1) That he would read the Bible (a kids' Bible) through and learn about the characters
2) That he would learn his letters - what they were, how to write them, and what they sounded like
3) That he would learn his numbers 1-9 - what they were, how to write them, and how to count to each number
4) That he would learn his shapes - what they were, how to draw them, and what things were the shape
5) That he would learn his colors - what they were and what things were that color

I decided to do 26 weeks of school:
We read 2 Bible stories and did a coloring sheet and/or craft each week
We did one letter each week - traced and wrote them
We did one number each couple of weeks - traced and wrote them
We did one shape each few weeks
We did one color each few weeks

I got a ton of learning workbooks for letters, numbers, shapes, and colors and photocopied them (so I could reuse them or make multiple sheets if he wanted to do extra). I just grouped the worksheets by category and put them in the order we would do them. It was pretty organized but also pretty flexible. I also went through his Bible and printed coloring sheets and craft ideas from the Internet. We also talked about each month and holiday and had coloring sheets and crafts for those as well.

It was a great way to start school as we didn't do that much and most of it was pretty simple. The goal wasn't perfection but getting a start for future learning. We also read, colored, did Play-Doh, did fun crafts, and did puzzles and games a lot as well.

I hope that has helped. I would love to hear how you homeschool your 3-4 year old.

Homeschooling My 4-5 Year Old (The Year Before Kindergarten)

I did a post a while back about homeschooling and how I organize our homeschool space. It seemed like people enjoyed it, so I thought that I would take the time to break down what we are using for Luke's 4/5 pre-Kindergarten curriculum.

Curriculum can be so overwhelming. It's hard to know what is right for your family/child. It can be expensive. I am currently trying to figure out what we are going to use for kindergarten and it always takes me forever. I look at it all, think about what our goals are, think about what method we will use, etc. Even when I get it and start using it for a few weeks, it seems crazy, but once we have settled in, I am usually pretty pleased with what we are doing.

This year for 4/5 pre-K we are using Sonlight's P4/5 Core program which includes tons of great books (lots of reading aloud), learning skills workbooks (that focus on motor skills, listening skills, memory, and other learning skills), a Bible and Scriptures to memorize, and lots of creative ideas for further fun/study. It's broken down into 36 weeks (requirement for schooling) and can be done for 4 days a week or 5. We usually do 3-4 days a week (I just combine).

We also use Horizons K for mathematics. I love it because I am big on him learning math skills. It came with two workbooks and we are going to finish one this year and most likely do the other workbook next year. We do math 2 days a week (we do one worksheet each day).

We also use Handwriting Without Tears K for handwriting. I think it is pretty good, but I think you could achieve the same goal with some lined paper. We do one number or letter each week (that corresponds to the math or CORE). We do handwriting 2 days a week. We do the HWT page one day and he does a row on lined paper one day for review. The math has writing numbers so he writes a lot.

We also use Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It's broken down perfectly. You start with short vowel sounds, then consonant sounds, then long vowel sounds, then blends, etc. I love it because it is simple, has cutesy ways to remember stuff, and does a ton of review. We do reading lessons 3 days a week. The book is pretty big so we are going to just keep working through it until we are done. I have a plan to do 3 lessons a week but we can cut down if he needs more time to learn some concepts. I highly recommend this book!!!

Basically our schedule is:
Monday - CORE, Reading
Tuesday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Wednesday - CORE, Reading
Thursday - CORE, Handwriting, Math
Friday - CORE, Reading

When we need to combine, it works well because we do 2 days of CORE, Reading, Handwriting, and Math.

School takes less than an hour. I like that for preschool because he doesn't need to sit at a table for more than one hour doing worksheets and reading. He also spends a lot of time coloring, doing crafts, doing projects, playing with Play-Doh, and playing games (lots of memory games). We also read a lot.

I hope this has been helpful for those of you who might be interested in homeschooling.

I will do another post about our plans for next year (Kindergarten). As of right now, I am planning to keep working through Horizons K mathematics, Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading, and work on handwriting (probably just going to do lots of writing especially as he learns how to read more and spell words). I am not sure what else we will do, but I do plan to do projects for Science and Social Studies. I am also thinking about joining a Co-Op one day a week. I've heard of a great one that sounds really good. We will see.

I would love to hear how you homeschool your 4-5 year old preschool student.

Organized Homeschooling

I know that homeschooling doesn't really fall under the umbrella of homemaking, but it is one of the things that I am passionate about and takes up my day. I thought that I would do a post about how I homeschool (organized, of course).

Luke is almost 5 years old. I have been officially homeschooling (as in using worksheets) since he was about 4 years old. Before that he learned through living. This year (his last year before starting kindergarten) we are following Sonlight curriculum. We do the CORE P4/5 which covers history, science, language arts, social studies, and learning skills. We read a ton of books including the Bible everyday. It's awesome curriculum. I love it because it is all set up and organized for 36 weeks of curriculum which is what is required down the road. We also do Handwriting Without Tears K, Horizons Math K, and Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading.

Since I am the type of person who has to have everything organized, I sit down for a few hours and put all of my curriculum together and make a nice chart to follow. I find that if I do it all at once I get through the stress and then I just pull what I need each day. I know when it becomes more intense, I will probably have to do my lesson planning by quarter or month or week even, but for now, I just do it once for the year.

Here is our homeschool spot in the bonus room:

My awesome mother-in-law gave us this great table and chairs to use. It's perfect because the table has a leaf to make it bigger or smaller and 4 chairs. Right now it is pushed against the wall to give the kids more play room, but down the road we might pull it out as God-willing we have more kids to homeschool. That is my precious son, Luke.

This is our bulletin board:

We use this to post what we are working on for the week. The top left is our number of the week (eventually that will be our letter of the week). The top right is where we put Luke's picture of the day's Bible story. That was the Tower of Babel. The bottom right is where our Bible verse for the week as well as Luke's picture of it goes. In the middle we have a compilation sheet (we just finished our short vowel sounds so he made a nice picture of them). In the bottom left is our basic schedule. Above that is the letter of the day (we are reviewing sounds letters make to prep for reading). I can't possibly put all of his work up there, so we pick the main stuff. His math and learning skills worksheets go in a pile on the shelf.

This is one of my shelves for homeschool materials (this holds our current curriculum):

It has all the books from Sonlight as well as our Horizons, HWT, and OPGTTR stuff. The shelf below it holds our daily folders and Sonlight binder.

Here are our daily folders:

We have five folders (one for each day of the week). On each folder I have a rundown of what we do on that designated day (ie Monday is CORE P4/5 and Reading, Tuesday is CORE P4/5, Handwriting, and Math). In the folders I have all the worksheets (math, handwriting, and learning skills) we will use on that day for the whole year (I paperclip them by category so they are easy to pull from).

Here is what the table looks like before we start:

I lay out the Sonlight binder, our daily folder (today we are doing two days since I have a medical test tomorrow), blank paper for drawing, markers and crayons, and our Sonlight books.

Here is my Sonlight binder:

It tells us what books (stories) we are reading, what learning worksheets we are doing, as well as our Bible verse and song for the week. It also has creative ideas to expand our learning.

Here is Luke coloring a picture of the Bible story we just read (Abraham):

Here is Luke doing a learning skills worksheet (coloring in the lines):

Here is Luke doing a math worksheet:

The reason I am a homemaker isn't to keep my house clean or meals on the table every night. The real reason is so I can be with my children everyday raising them to be Godly people who have strong morals and teach them as well. I love homeschooling. I hope you have enjoyed a peek into how we homeschool.