Pictures of the New School Room

My husband and I realized a few months ago that the kids had really outgrown their cool desk we made from Eliza's old drop side crib.  Thank you pinterest.  They loved it but were getting too big to use it.  They were in each other's way, and their legs no longer fit underneath.  In addition there was no room for them to do centers on the floor.  Simultaneously we realized that they no longer used the train table downstairs and that the play room, used to be my dining room, which housed the chinchilla was not working and needed an overhaul.  It finally occurred to us to make the upstairs the play room, and the downstairs the school room.  We moved some of the cabinets from upstairs down and Rich made a desk top across them.  We painted it with a pretty tan colored chalkboard paint and voila, school room with room on the floor, room for a desk for me, and room for their lego table.  Well, there was room for that only after we decided to give the chinchilla to our next door neighbors.  Silly but just taking care of that sweet rodent gave me so much stress and the inability to keep that area clean that I just couldn't do it.  She is well taken care of and we get to visit her often, but I don't have to sweep up poop on a daily basis.  Without further ado, pictures of our much used and enjoyed new school room.

The lego/building table.  The kids play with tinker toys, mega blocks, legos, marble runs, and other building/creating toys here.  There are supplies underneath, and empty bins to house current creations.  We have some books with ideas and lego machine making directions here.  Shown on top is CJ's two new sets from Christmas, the World of Warcraft set that he plays with daily and the Cars huge building set which is in progress.

Next to that we have the bins of building toys, play food, Mr. Potato Head, trains, blocks, puzzles, cars and trucks and other toys.  Then a sling bookshelf full of leveled readers, different from the larger sling bookshelf full of picture books in our living room, and the giant basket of little golden books in the upstairs playroom, and the large shelf of childrens' books in the playroom and each of the kids' rooms.  Needless to say, we LOVE books in our house.  Next to the books is Eliza's dolly carriage.


We have some great posters on the wall.  The human body came in a Magic School Bus Human Body kit that we are working through.  We have a poster on the Water Cycle I stole from a school I worked at somewhere, and a great poster on pollinators from a friend.  We also have artwork from the kids' Home Art Studio lessons DVD showcased on the walls.

 Here is the desk Rich made.  It stretches from one wall to the other under the window.  It has a space for each kid's stool, and the computer tower.  We have a swing out arm for the monitor.  There is more artwork from the classes they took at Florence Griswold Art museum shown, a winter landscape painting and an abstract style sculpture.  Plus an abacus that CJ got for Christmas.

 Over here is my desk, with the radio/cd player/ record player/ computer speaker thing.  I keep my homeschooling binder here with lesson plans, and a notebook where I keep track of what we have done.  I store our science kits and upcoming materials under the desk.  I love finally having a space to work on things while the kids do their independent school work.

 We also have a chalkboard for lessons and playing, and there are writing utensils, chalk, crayons, etc in pretty much every room of the house.  THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!!  I am getting a little tired of stepping on crayons, but it is hard to complain when Eliza is writing a book as a companion to Harold and the Purple Crayon titled Harold's Best Friend.

We are loving this new set up, it makes it easy for me to be accessible to the kids and productive at the same time.  I can be making lunch and only be a few steps away if they need me, which makes it much easier to fit lessons in whenever we want to.  The organization makes it easier for me to plan and not forget about materials.  Plus it is still a fun play room full of educational opportunities for play.

We often congregate in the evenings when the kids are in their jammies to have them read to us and read our night time books.  We build together in this room.  We build legos, tinker toys, and most importantly we build a love of learning, a sense of togetherness, and special family memories.  What a great place to rest on our homeschooling journey.

New Year's Resolutions:

This has been a rough year.  Money issues, health issues that kind of took over my life, and a plethora of other garbage began to run the show.  Not any more, I am not letting all the junk take over.  In this spirit I have made resolutions that will improve my life overall, and the lives of those who are important to me.

1) Practice yoga weekly
2) Spend time outside with the kiddos every day it is not dangerous to do so.  Was doing well with this until the negative wind chill today
3) Spend more active time with the kids
4) Pay closer attention to my own health
5) Be more intentional with lesson planning and lesson implementation
6) Continue to organize and simplify our home
7) Blog weekly here and in Peace, Love, Laundry and Food!

First let me start off with last year.  I didn't know how sick I was and how it impacted my daily life till it hit crisis stage in August.  While I still don't have a clear diagnosis I have shed almost 50 pounds, lost the pain that had been plaguing me, and in general feel so much better.  Blogging seemed like an unattainable goal last year, this year I am excited about it!  In addition, now that the kids are a little older I can have them read quietly or play a game, allowing me time to blog.  I love that they are grown up enough for that, but I also hate it.  I miss my toddlers, my babies.  Now Eliza is so tall I have trouble picking her up!

A lot has changed in our homeschool journey.  We spend a lot of time at museums, the library, nature center, and aquarium.  We have a new school room downstairs that I will post pictures of next week.  I know I have said that before, but I really mean it this time!  We use our binder and I have a homeschooling binder to help me.  I also have a great spreadsheet of goals for the year.  If anyone know how to post a link to an Excel spreadsheet I would love to share it with you!  We have been really just flying by the seat of our pants with learning in 2013.  The kids learned so much, and so did I, but this year I want more of a plan, not more structure, just more organization of thought.  I want to study Egypt.  There is going to be an exhibit at the CT Science Center next month called Lost Egypt, and I am so excited.  First let me tell you how much use we get out of that membership.  The kids LOVE the place and so do Rich and I.  We go at least once a month, and our membership this year also got us free into Old Sturbridge Village twice and enabled us to bring a few friends to the aquarium for free.  Great investment in our education.  Anyway, Egypt, a topic that has interested me since I was Eliza's age.  The kids are looking forward to it.  I am going to integrate map skills, pyramid science (we have a kit), art and crafts, we will sculpt canopic jars and build pyramids, read books, learn about pharoahs, mummies, mythology, religion, and we will do it all together.  I am giddy just thinking about it!

We always have a huge emphasis on science.  Yesterday we did several activities, all of which the kids journaled in their science notebooks.  They write and draw a hypothesis and results.  We did the mentos in soda in the snow, a kit a friend sent with polymer spheres, and acid base chemical reactions.  This sounds more complicated than it actually was, it was simple and fun, and they learned a ton!

My goal with this blog this year is to chronicle what we do a little more, get some new ideas and share our love of learning.  I will be diligent about posting more pictures and step by steps, and really share what our homeschool journey is about!  Thanks for reading :)  Next week a peek inside our "new classroom" and some of what we have done so far this year.

Update

A lot has changed as the kids have progressed in their schooling.  We are embracing a very eclectic mix of traditional schooling, unschooling, Montessori elements, inspirations from Waldorf and many other types of homeschooling methods.  On a fairly daily basis the kids are responsible for their "binders" which includes a few activities to be completed with their dry erase crayons on page protectors.  There is a calendar to fill in, graphing the weather, writing the date, day of the week, number of that day in words, filling in a digital and analog clock for the time they are working, a thermometer in Celsius and Fahrenheit, and drawing appropriate clothes for the weather.  They also need to roll a die that has a die inside, essentially two dice in one, and make a number sentence.  They recently started doing negative numbers in those.  They never cease to amaze me with what they know.  In their binders I usually put a reading page/activity, a math page/activity, and a coloring page/activity.  Some days this is all done in 15 minutes, other days a couple of hours depending on their moods and attention level.

In addition to their binders we take frequent field trips.  We currently have memberships to Mystic Aquarium, thanks to an amazing Christmas present from my parents, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, the CT Science Center, the Florence Griswold Art Museum, and we have a reciprocal children's museum membership through the Children's Museum of Southeastern CT.  We take all kinds of trips, and we take advantage of free classes through Otis library and the Connecticut College Arboretum.  The kids are finishing up a second session of science for homeschoolers through the CMSECT and we just joined CHEER, CT homeschool educators east of the river.  We are involved in a book club at the local homeschool store, the Curriculum Coop, one of our favorite places, God bless the McClearys for opening it, and are trying to become involved in a larger net of homeschool families.  I find the support of other moms and dads invaluable.

We also try to spend as much time outside as possible, and in physical activities.  Rich built the kids a mud pit in the yard, in addition to their swimming pool, water table, sand box, sand and water toy, and all the other crazy big toys they have out there.  We are also in the process of building a large outdoor scrabble board on our stone patio.  We take lots of hikes and did a service project as a family of setting up a Ranger Rick family geocache trail in Bozrah.  We are also getting into letterboxing this year.  We encourage a lot of nature play, and nature observations.  This is one reason we love Denison.  We spent an hour one day on one of the trails observing a vernal pool.  Before we became members I didn't even know what a vernal pool is, but it is a water feature that is seasonal.  Mostly occurring in the late winter to late spring, and it is a crucial type of wetland that is critical to many native species of insect, amphibians, and reptiles, as well as small creatures like fairy shrimp.

One of the other things that has changed is my keeping track of stuff.  I keep some major work from them, or things that really showcase something they have learned.  Daily I write down activities that they did that constitute school, even if it is only puzzles, playdough, and the magnet center.  I have been keeping track of their interests, and made a spreadsheet of what I want to accomplish by each grade level.  Unfortunately I am a little over my head as they charge far ahead of where I expect at every turn.  At some subjects they are in a second grade level, but there are still so many things they can't do because of their age.  It can be difficult to find appropriate materials for them.

We have tried to set up the house to be as conducive to learning as possible.  Rich built the kids a lego table, we have a marble run out on the train table, they have science learning centers, as well as books available, we take frequent trips to the library, and buy educational toys and tools all the time.  When we hear about good opportunities we take advantage, which is why we are often busy.  We went on a super discount day to Old Sturbridge Village, we took part in CT trails weekend, and CT Open House day, and we have crazy discussions at mealtimes.  One morning over family breakfast, we had a lesson on molecular and chemical structure.  I told Rich a joke I read on facebook, "Two men walked into a bar, one ordered h2o, and the other said I will take h2o too, the second man died."  Rich laughed and we had to explain that the molecular change between water and hydrogen peroxide changed it so much that it made it deadly.  We looked at microscopic pictures of the two molecule chains and the way they are written.  Quite a learning experience.

I will post pictures soon, as I really want to use this blog to capture memories and talk out my plans for the continuation of this crazy amazing adventure.  It is a marvelous journey to be sure, one that really is just beginning in earnest.  Can't wait to see where we go next!

It has been such a long time since I updated here, and so much has been going on.  Long story short we have had so much happen in our lives that this fell by the wayside along with any structured instruction.
 
We had to evict our tenants, who were family members.  We spent a month cleaning up from them, and trying to make repairs.  We got new tenants in this summer, and have been steadily working on our side as well.  We have turned our downstairs bathroom into a pantry closet, and our kitchen closet now has pots and pans and such, like a giant cabinet.  I now have a sink in my kitchen!  Which is amazing!!!  It saves me so much time, and I love it.  Next up is to put a bathroom in the old pantry.  We also have had a lot of work in the garden, which has also fallen by the wayside in the past few, ridiculously hot, weeks.  We have been harvesting some, but a lot of the plants have had troubles this year.  Next year will be better. 

We have been making frequent trips to the Science Center, CJ's new favorite place.  We had coupons and just decided to go one day, and the kids loved it so much we bought year passes.  We go at least once a month and the kids look forward to it so much, and it always teaches them something new.  It helps drive our science instruction by showing us where the kids' big interests are.  Last week we went to Southwick Zoo, and the kids thought that was amazing too.  They prefer zoos and museums to carnivals and amusement parks.  The Southwick Zoo, though, also has some kiddie amusement park rides, and they let you bring in your own food.  I would love to go again. 

Rich and I went to a homeschooling conference, but were underwhelmed.  We went to a few workshops, only one of which I thought was a good use of our time.  It talked about book discussions, and how to get kids to really get the most out of what they read, and what we read to them.  It was practical and appropriate information, unlike several other workshops.  We did enjoy the vendor area, which gave us some ideas on building and buying curriculums.  I still haven't decided if I want to buy one or not.  The kids are ahead on what they need to know by grade level, but physically are not.  They can't do all the writing associated with a first grade curriculum, but are beyond what most kindergarten curriculums include.  So we are still deciding.  For now, I am building what they need, and doing it as we go.

We instituted a new routine recently.  I prepare some activities or worksheets they can do independently each day.  I put it all in a binders on their desk with whatever they will need.  Each day after breakfast and cleaning their rooms they do that independent work while I do some chores and clean up from breakfast.  This gives us more time to do fun things together like board games, and crafts.  We still try to go to the library once a week, do computer work, listening centers, and cooking projects. 

It has been such a crazy crazy spring and summer, but we are all looking forward to this "school year".  I don't think we are going to be taking summer breaks as most schools do.  The kids love learning, and over the summer kept doing science projects, brainquest workbooks and other learning activities on a daily basis.  I just felt a little out of control with it, no planning ahead, no thoughts as to my goals.  From now on I want our learning to be a little more intentional.  Next week I will post some ideas and plans I have for the year, along with some of our resources.  Thank you for joining our homeschooling journey!

Kids in the Garden

So with several days of nice weather we decided to play outside and prep the garden beds for planting.  It was of course a lot of work, which we wanted the kids to take part in.  They weren't too keen on the weeding, so I told them the story of the Little Red Hen.  That is the tale where the hen plants, harvests, and grinds the wheat alone, uses it to make the bread by herself because her friends didn't want to do the work.  Of course they wanted to eat the bread and she told them no, since they didn't work at all at making it.  Both CJ and Eliza didn't need me to explain the story.  They told me that meant they needed to help weed in order to help do the fun stuff like planting the seeds and eating the vegetables.  They understood that it is important for them to be a part of the work.  After that they weeded almost an entire garden bed by themselves, and did it so well.  The whole rest of the time we were out there, they helped us by bringing us tools, turning the water on, and helping in a myriad of ways.  I love that I didn't even have to explain the reason I told them the story, that they were intuitive enough to understand the story as it was told. 

It is amazing to me how fast this year is going, and it is so full of memories like this.  Every day they learn so much and become so much more grown up than I can ever expect.  They are so happy, healthy, smart, and hard working.  They get so upset when we don't have time to do school activities in our school room.  We always do something.  We have listening centers, computer work, library, art projects, cutting practice, lacing practice, all kinds of prewriting activities.  We do play dough, coloring, even yoga most days.  They just crave learning, and it makes me incredibly proud and happy.

Pictures of Our Updated "School Room"

I know these are long overdue, but as things get crazy I forget to take pictures, then it is a mess and I don't want to take pictures.  But alas here they are.

This is where we put more bookshelves.  These are only part of the kids' books.  They also have many in their rooms, and downstairs in the living room.  Also a couple of the new cabinets, which I LOVE!  They hold their centers, educational toys, puzzles, craft items, and any other learning material I or they can think of.  The space on top also holds crafts in progress and centers that are often changing.

More with the cabinets and drawers.  They can now get their own paper, crayons, puzzles and stencils.  I can also get to my laminator, three hole punch and post it notes so much more quickly and easily.  One drawer holds their educational videos and tv games, as they call them.  Another holds their cds and listening center activities.

Here we have our fire safety posters, an amazing Coral Reef Food Web poster, thank you Megan! and a center I made to introduce them to money, showing most of the American coins and bills. 

Our new calendar, thanks to Tiffany, who always finds us cool stuff at Staples.  We write up our appointments, keep track of the weather, and what our special projects/themes are for the week and individual days.  This helps keep me on track.  On the small gray board I wrote everything we try to do daily: alphabet, counting, writing our names, coloring, calendar, practice our phone number and address, etc.  Whatever we feel is really important.

This is our rotating nursery rhyme center.  I took this amazing book of printables out of our library called kindercenters, and they are all kindergarten skill centers based on nursery rhymes.  I change them every two weeks or so, and it is a great independent activity for them.  This one is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and it focuses on patterns.  The kids love it.

So that is our new and improved work space.  I have spent a lot of time organizing it in a way that is easy and efficient. I find it is so much easier to teach and learn when the space is conducive to it, and all our materials are easy to find.  We have been getting so much accomplished since we improved our space.  I also love having several independent and educational activities at hand for the kids whenever I am busy making dinner, doing laundry, or any other things that require my attention.  It has made a huge improvement to my ability to manage lots of things at once, as all us moms need to.

I have on my to do list this week to post pictures of the school room and update.  It has been crazy lately.  I have been doing a lot of reading about homeschooling and sort of figuring out where to go from here.  I realized why I hated teaching in public school, because it doesn't teach children the way it makes sense to teach children.  I love being able to adapt our learning to the styles and needs of the kids, and encouraging independent learning.  It is sort of like a mini Montessori.  I am so thankful to have the ability to do this, and to feel like the whole reason I went to school for teaching culminates in my confidence to teach my own children.  Teaching license isn't needed to teach your own kids, but for me it really made me feel like I could do it, I really had the confidence to make the attempt.  Best decision we ever made!  More later in the week on pictures and specifics of what we have been learning.  :)