Best Laid Plans

I'm a planner, and a list maker.  Always have been.  And as a former classroom teacher, my 'bent' is to make a schedule and then adhere to it with rigidity.  The bell rings and it's over, or it's lunch, or time to change classes, or whatever.  Therefore it stands to reason that one of my biggest challenges as a homeschool mom has been in letting go of THE BELL.  I have at times drifted, and reverted back to my former way of thinking and tried to make the kids stick to a very strict time schedule.  THIS NEVER WORKS.

"Ok kids, we are stopping right here in the middle of this exciting history lesson to...yes, you guessed it, have our handwriting lesson.  Forget Alexander the Great, get your pencils."

It just doesn't work.  Never has and never will.  And in truth, why would I want it to work in that manner?  The short answer:

For my own ease.  To make ME feel better.  Because crossing things off MY list makes ME feel like I've accomplished something.

But have I?  Have I really?

Yes, in life, my children will have to be on time for work (I require them to be on time to our schoolroom now), and yes, they will probably have times in their lives when they are required to follow someone else's bell.  But, right now, RIGHT NOW they are privileged to learn at their own pace.  When phones ring, cars break down, family members are sick, or LIFE just happens, it's not the end of the world.  When we are really enjoying the day's science lesson we are not required to 'finish up' so we can move on.  We CAN do just one more experiment or take a spur of the moment walk.  Do we always?  Nope.  In fact, most days we go with the flow of our schedule and plan.  But we CAN change if we so choose.  Education is integrated with life.  As it should be.

I am writing tonight because I am/was frustrated with our day not turning out as I planned.  Not EVERYTHING got checked off MY list.  On days like today I need to be reminded of the goals that Ben and I wrote years ago.  They are pasted into my planner and always will be.  We should probably revise them someday, but for now they give our home(school) a strong spine.

• Have a relationship with Christ
• Study and understand God's Word
• The ability to think for themselves
• Do anything or be anything
• Know how to find answers to questions
• Have solid relationships with others
• Question things
• A college education if required for their desired profession
• Be creative
• Be inventive
• Be men and women of character
• Appreciate music, art, and literature
• Cooperate with others
• Derive self worth from God not man

When I bring today's events into the light of our lifelong learning goals, my mind shifts.  Just as when I focus on heavenly things vs earthly things.  I can relax.  Still having a goal ( read plans/lists :), running for the prize, but resting in the knowledge that when things don't go as I planned they ARE going as He planned.

 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.  Proverbs 19:21

So tonight I am taking off my former classroom teacher hat and replacing it with my forever homeschooling one.

This happens often.  

Newness

I love it.  Everything is still new.  Books, supplies, attitudes.  New.  Hope it lasts ;)

General Science Experiment Number One Begins.  Exciting! Too bad he didn't feel the same way about the lab report!

Ben surprised me by making these nifty little posters of some of our household rules that we repeat ALL.  THE.  TIME.

The hard to see bottom rule is:  Schoolwork + Clean Room = Computer/TV

And finally, while the boys were at Scouts last night I made the clock in system that they imagined.  They wanted a Velcro clock in/clock out and they also wanted badges to wear like their dad.  Right now they are just simple pics (You know, in case I forget who's who :) but who knows what they will end up being.  I remember using a badge with Sonora in kindergarten for all sorts of things.  We're limited only by our imaginations.  Oh, and time.  And energy.  But, besides those, the sky's the limit.

~Hopeful

First Day of School

First Day of School 2012/13

We survived the first day of school!  We have not added in everything and we are taking a couple of subjects very lightly this week, but we did make it through without any revolts.  I'm going to say it again.  NO mutinous behavior!  It was a very busy, very long day due to a Co-Op meeting, but everyone seemed to sail through with joyous spirits.  As first days should be.  Praise God!  

Here are a few highlights.

Working on cutting skills

Starting a Poky Little Puppy Lapbook

Apparently the Poky Little Puppy is COMPLETELY Yellow 

Starting Apologia General Science

This kids thought that it would be fun to have a 'clock in/clock out' badge so these are the photos I took to make those.  More on those tomorrow.



All in all, I am overwhelmingly pleased.  I am, however, also overwhelmingly tired.  ~Blessed

Schedule Planning

A lot of work goes into planning our school year.  I will go into various aspects as the mood hits me, but this is what we did this weekend in anticipation of starting school tomorrow.

It is our daily (Mon-Thurs) schedule.  Every post-it is 30 minutes and we are trying to fit everything that needs doing into what looks like a crazy day.  I'm very thankful that our new Co-Op will be handling some of the subjects or I would probably be huddled into the fetal position at the end of week one if I had to add ONE MORE THING to this monster.

That said, this was a very good way for me to 'see' my day and squeeze in rest times, reading times, and just plain margin into our daily lives while attempting to reach our school goals.

Eventually our table filled and my excel work began, thus creating a pretty little color coded schedule of what we are all supposed to be doing.  Works for us, and the kids had a hand in planning their day :)

Here

The House Fairy

Guess who visited our house tonight?

THE HOUSE FAIRY!

If you have not heard of this lovely lady, she is the neatest invention since air conditioning! She visits your child's room once a week to inspect the room's cleanliness. If she likes what she sees, she leaves a small gift, if she doesn't, she just leaves fairy dust. She also generally leaves a note of some kind for the kids to enjoy. You never know when she will visit, so you ALWAYS have to be ready. My girls LOVE HER. She is a friend of The Flylady. You can find ALL about her HERE.

Here is what happened when she visited us this evening:

The girls were out shopping with their grandparents, so I think that The House Fairy seized the opportunity to check out their room.

Their eyes lit up when they realized that she had been in their room!


We saw evidence (fairy dust) of her entry at the window. This confirmed for us that The House Fairy DOES indeed have wings.


She must love tea, because she had a cup and then washed her own dishes...


She left a picture of herself for the girls, with a message for them...


The girls had a clean room, so they received a gift from her!


I have to say, I am just as excited as these two little girls! I got to enjoy their clean room, and I didn't remind them even ONCE this week to clean it!

If I could only get the boys on board...

Preschool Activity Box

Here is a familiar scenario at our house:

1. I find great ideas to use with preschoolers during school time (mostly from you wonderful homeschool bloggers!)
2. I think to myself...I will remember to do that...
3. I FORGET! Or I forgot WHERE I put that idea for reference...

So, a few years back, I started collecting those ideas with the intent of putting them together into a box that I could go to when I needed some inspiration. I needed all the ideas in ONE PLACE! Well, I FINALLY sat down to do that this morning.

Here's what it looks like:

I started with colored index cards and a card box with dividers.


I thought up how I wanted to divide my activities...here is what I came up with...


Now, time to add the activities...

If the activity needed directions, I usually just put it on one card, like this...


But, for the most part, I tried to do groups of cards like this...


I couldn't see flipping through thousands of cards looking for an idea during a school day. I needed easy, so less is best for me...

Now, when I find an idea I can take two seconds and just add it to a card!

A few WONDERFUL places to get ideas for keeping your preschooler busy during school time:

• 101 Activities to Do with Your Toddler
• This Page is FABULOUS! Tons of ideas and links to ideas...
• Article by Karen Andreola on Preschoolers

A few GREAT blogs that I know of for ideas:

• ABC and 123
• 1+1+1=1
• Totally Tots

If you know of any others, please share! I'm going to put links in my sidebar for preschool idea sites.

I think I might go play with my kids now...I have suddenly stumbled upon a few hundred great ideas :)