One of our family traditions: I try to set out some fun surprises each school year that keep them motivated and make it fun. I also try to keep them to a reasonable amount of $$ and practical! I am not about things that aren't useful.
Each child's area--L to R-- includes:
**a new insulated water cup
**duck tape for book covers --see later post about why we do that
**a blank book for our first history project
**three new pencils
**a monthly/weekly calendar for their weekly lessons--see later post about these
**a .05 ticket to get them started for their Treasure Box prizes
**their own pad of sticky notes
**a thirty-one Cinch Sac--this has dual purpose for school stuff and our China trip
**Mentos candy--I like to get them one sweet treat since we don't let them have candy very often
**a random squishy, stretchy toy guy from the $1 section at Target--something to keep their hands busy while I read or when they feel the need to digit. These were a high hit. I almost took them back but am glad I didn't.
**a composition book with the cover they sewed with my mom for their Journal Jar activity--read about JJ later in this post.
This year I decided to revamp the school area even more. I have always loved to move furniture around and rearrange. I am usually ready to clear out and start over right when we finish the year.
For this school year I was looking forward to a few things:
1. having our school area looking more like I would want my house to look and less like Kindergarten blew-up in there
2. having our materials be less accessible to little people (Aunna will be almost 18 months when we get home)
3. adding in a few elements that create routine for my older three kiddos.
This is how those things rolled out...
the Before
{how we ended the school year}
On the desk and in the 9 slot organizer from Target I felt like there were too many things our little Aunna-baby could get into and pull off the shelves, which would cause frustration and distract from school. So in an effort to set us up for a win I decided it was time to rearrange to keep items more contained.
the After
{how we started this school year}
This dresser has been in our room (taupe), in the girls room (white), our living room as a TV stand (white) and now in the school room (white in need of a touch up). I love that the dresser also hides all sorts of fluttery-looking paper and office supplies. I finally found the baskets at Target for the top row of the dresser. It was tough finding ones that fit just right but also went with the color scheme I wanted. I have been saving gift cards from Target that I have received as gifts for about 2 years. They have come in handy with school and adoption prep.
Here is a peek into one of the bins. It hides things like the Kleenex box and also keeps our flash cards easily accessible.
We have a Journal Jar (the white tin above with little square punched design) where the kids pick out two journal prompts at a time (found on Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers). Instead of hearing complaints that they hate their journal prompt I decided to preempt that with choice. Sometimes you can avoid the whine by giving them reasonable choices to begin with. I tape the journal prompt they choose to the top of their page, they write the date and then their entry. The prompt they don't choose that day goes back into the JJ.
I have decided to have them journal twice per week. Journaling is such a good way to get thoughts on the page and can be a life-long practice. This also gives me time to get my personal Bible study and journaling done first thing. I read their journal entries after they finish and give them a +1 if it meets the criteria I set out. C-dub has to write 7 good sentences, Fashion Faith has to write 6 good sentences and Jumping Joy has to write 5 good sentences. When they have 5 days of good journal entries they get a .25 ticket towards items in the treasure box.
A few years ago my mom and I went on a quilt tour. We found a pattern for composition book covers. They ended up finding their way to the bottom of the project bin until this summer. Each of my kids made their cover with my mom. They had a little sewing tutorial with their nonna and now have a super cute cover for any composition book. With our trip to China around the corner I had in mind that the kids would journal about their experiences. I am totally counting our trip as school so I wanted to work in some elements that count but are also fun. By starting off the year with the journal prompts I hope that it flows when we are in China.
It's so fun using fabric for projects because although it is the exact same pattern they each show their personality. And of course Fashion Faith added a thirty-one flower clip to hers.
It has gone really well this week. For the first week I had them journal M, W, F and will continue during the school year on just M and W.
The black smaller tin above is what we call Twirly Treasures. We have been learning ASL for the past few years because I LOVE IT! (One benefit to homeschooling...we study it because I love it;) This year we are also starting Spanish through some local classes. Our family values learning other languages and about different cultures so I wanted to incorporate that even more this year. I made up flashcard rings of 20 ASL vocabulary words and 11 Spanish vocabulary words. When a child masters that ring of words they get to pick from the TT tin. Things they might find in that tin are .25 coupon, new pencil coupon, "pick one household job to take off your list for the week but still get paid for it" ticket, $5 gift card to Target (there are only three of those and no one can get more than one), "you get to pick diner" ticket, a piece of gum ticket...things like that.
Here is a sample of our flash cards for ASL and Spanish.
These Tiny Tins are hanging in the corner of the school area. There are 3 of them and there are also prizes in them. The prizes change each time and they have to pick a tin without knowing what they will get. They get to pick our of these tins when they memorize 5 verses. David is leading us in a new Bible curriculum this year when he is home on Fridays. His days off are Friday and Saturday since he is a pastor and works Sundays.
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