A New School Year For Us

     Here it is! The beginning of another year, and we are off to a great start (and I had today off from work so it worked out perfectly). The girls did all their work with little complaint (aside from my kindergartener throwing a fit after I told her to stop confusing my oldest by telling her the answer to 12-7 was 11 again and again).

    So far, my kids really like the dry-erase markers on the sheet protectors. They get to choose the colors of their dry-erase markers/crayons, and I think that really gives them a fun initiative to do the work. They can color in the sheets after they finish, too. Plus, it's super easy for them to erase any mistakes, no matter how big or small.

 

 

Kindergarten work

My oldest working on her phonics

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Changing Our Method

   

    So, last year our method for doing homeschool work was copy/print, copy/print, copy/print EVERYTHING. This took up a lot of paper and a lot of ink (and $$$). This year, to save on cost and wasted paper, we're slapping everything into sheet protectors. This way I can hand my kids dry-eraser markers and dry-erase crayons and let them work that way. Then we can wipe the sheet protectors clean and they'll be ready to be used again and again.

     On another note, my oldest is about to have her homeschool portfolio evaluation next week. I'm kind of nervous about that since this is something we've never done before. I know I'll be breathing a sigh of relief when that's over. Also, I'm kind of surprised we made it a whole year! :D Here's to a bunch more!

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Organizing Our Bookshelf

   

     ^ THIS is what happens when life and kids take over. Ahhh! A breeding ground for junk. Admittedly, I love organization but I hate the process of actually organizing (you know . . . cleaning). It's time consuming, the kids mess it up within minutes, someone complains that I threw away something they needed. Overall, it can be a frustrating process. 

    But boredom took hold and I organized our bookshelf anyway. The after results:

    Ta-da (ignore the top, it's late and that's enough organizing for now). So nice, isn't it? Well, for a little while at least. You can see I have a lot of "Making the Grade" books on the bottom. I put the homeschool workbooks and textbooks on the bottom left (I love Usborne books, too). My smaller two kids' books are on the bottom right (a lot of easy readers). My oldest's books are on the top. She loves Junie B. Jones, so she has tons of those. These aren't ALL of our books, but a large number of them. We do a lot of library books to save on costs, but my oldest really wants to make her own collection of books, so we're working on it.

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Today's Fun Adventure

     Today, I took the kids out to the nearby Playmobil Fun Park. It was our first time going and the kids had a blast! They sat for about an hour playing with all the tables of different themed Playmobil stations (princess, safari, knights & dragons, police, wild west).

     It was well worth the $1 person admission we paid today. Of course, the Playmobil store is conveniently located at the exit, so you have to walk through it to leave. In the end, we spent quite a bit more than intended (but the kids got some awesome stuff that will hopefully keep their brains busy and off the computer for a while, so no complaints from me). 

     Also, my little one's Kindergarten school books came today! Woo! Now I  have to actually sit down and put myself to work getting our plan together. We're going to start our  new year on April 1st. Eeeek, year two, here we come.

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Keeping Track Of Everything

     This year, I promise I will keep much better track on what we cover than I did this last year. If you've never homeschooled before, I really suggest starting the portfolio as soon as possible. It saves you so much trouble in the end (take it from someone who just finished putting together a portfolio full of jumbled up paperwork)! 

     Each state has different requirements for homeschooling, so of course check with your state's laws. 

     I'm going to get more into detail with our portfolio's in a later post -- I just wanted to share this quick reminder: if you haven't started one, or you haven't been keeping up with it, save yourself the headache and the frustration and DO IT NOW! You just need a binder to begin with. I made this cute portfolio cover all by myself. You can get it HERE from my Pinterest if you'd like to use it. 

     Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

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Oh, How Time Flies!

Caleb, Natalie & Haley

     My little rascals are all hitting that lovely schooling age. To be quite honest, I am for one am glad. I love seeing their different personalities emerge as they grow and getting to know who they are as people.

     They're a handful and I know we're going to butt heads during the upcoming school year quite a few times (especially now that there will be three of them instead of just one), but I wouldn't change it for anything. I love seeing them learn and I love seeing the progress they make each day.

     Hopefully I can share with you their big steps and maybe you can pick up some wonderful homeschooling tips! Anyway, thanks for stopping by!

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