Craighead Forest Playground

Craighead Forest actually has several playgrounds but we've been sticking to the one with the splash pad.  This past Sunday we accompanied Bobby to the park, and while he ran the kids and I played on the playground.  It was such a nice day so the park was super crowded.  That didn't deter my kids though.  Shiloh spent the majority of his time on the swings while Hannah & Sammy played on the "Ninja Warrior" obstacle course.  Amos was just all over the place.  Sammy occasionally came over to play with Shiloh. 

As we started to head toward another playground, Amos saw a cute little puppy that he wanted to pet.   The owner gave him permission so he plopped himself on the ground and played forever with the cutest little black puppy, who clearly adored the attention.  We played for a short time on another playground then decided to head back to the car.  Amos found another dog to love on.  Now the kids have puppy fever!

2016-2017 School Year

I've been enjoying everybody's classroom pictures and back to school pics on Facebook so I thought I'd write a post about what we're planning this year.

I've spent the summer searching the web for school organization tips and teaching ideas.  I want to branch out this year and not be so by-the-book.  We're still using My Father's World and this year it's From Rome to the Reformation.  I'm using the teacher's manual as a guideline but I don't want to be so strict as I have been in years past.

For science we're studying the human body in depth.  That should take a good part of our year.  I'm the most excited about science.  I feel like I've not done the best job in this area in the past and I'm determined this year will be different.  There will be some fun experiments and I'm going to by the Explore It Human Body with Squishy Insides so we can have some good hands on, visual lessons.

History will focus on just a small chunk of history and I'm really excited about using The Story of the World.  Hannah does really well with history but Sammy tends to get bored easily so this is going to be a day by day process of eliminating the boring sections (I'm looking at you Streams of Civilizations!)

In our Language Arts we'll continue with Primary/Intermediate Language Lessons, Spelling Power and Writing Strands.  Nothing new from last year.  As we were getting ready to move a friend gave me a ton of home school books and I wish I could have kept them all, but sadly, I gave most of them away.  I kept a few that I thought we would come in handy and just remembered them the other day.  I found Charlotte Masons Simple Language Lessons that has 15 lessons which should be a good simple review.  We're doing that to ease into the year before jumping back into the Primary & Intermediate Language Lesson books.  Pray for peace and patience - lots and lots of patience!- as Sammy starts Writing Strands this year.  Writing is not his thing and there were many tears shed last year over simply copying sentences.  I can't imagine what I'll get when he, gasp!, has to write creatively!

Math will be Singapore Math with a mixture of practical math and flash card practice.  Practical math is cooking (making cookies, helping with supper, etc.) and money (savings accounts, balancing a check book, etc.)

Here's a look inside my lesson planner as well as some extra things that we're trying this year...my pictures are weird because the lighting in our house is frustrating to work with.  

I made photo copies of the lesson plan pages so I could highlight and mark out what we are or are not doing.  

A rough daily & weekly schedule - not set in stone but to keep us from doing too much & getting overwhelmed.

One new idea I had this year, and that I feel will keep me organized, is a Month at a Glance page in my calendar section.  It has sections for Goals, Supplies, Activities, Reading List, Field trips and the Artist of the month.  I was inspired by one of Alicia Hutchinson's planning pages from Investing Love.  She has a down load & print Lesson Planner for only $7 but I've always printed my own.

Each child has their own section in my lesson planner and each section has a  blank lesson planner that I fill in as we complete work, their Latin or Greek word list and their Spelling Power list.  At the beginning of each child's section is a Goal worksheet for the year.  We sat down together, talked about strengths and weaknesses and decided on three personal goals for the year.  Then we each signed it.  

This is Sammy's Greek word list, the top is the list of words and where to find them his book.  The second list is the definitions so that I have  a quick reference when helping him study or making quizzes.

I found it easier to photo copy the pages from Spelling Power since I have two kids in two different sections and I didn't want to mark up my entire book.  I highlight the words that they missed and when they get them right I record the date so I'll know to move on to new words.

Here are just a few pictures of the actual lesson planner pages.  I still aim for 180 days even though Arkansas doesn't have a set number of days or weeks.  I made these on the Mac and printed them.

This year the kids have individual reading logs that they are responsible for keeping track of.  There are enough pages for them to record 20 books and once they've completed their 20 books they get to go out for Andy's Ice Cream (a local favorite) with the parent of their choice.  This log also teaches them the difference between fiction/non-fiction as well as different genres.  We can also look back at the end of the year and see how long it takes them to read a book, how many chapters, pages, etc.

The kids are required to read at least three books on their 2016-2017 book list.  

Another helpful idea I found was an assignment book for each kid.  It's a simple spiral notebook that I will daily record what they need to accomplish for that day.  Once they've checked off everything they are free to play their Kindles, watch tv, etc.  This seems like a lot of work but it took me maybe 20-25 minutes to write a weeks worth of assignments for each kid.  When Amos joins us in "real" school it will obviously take a little longer.
But this way Hannah & Samuel will know what to do for their independent work without me having to sit and tell them.  If it's a lesson I want to work with them on, I mark 'With Mama' so they know to come and find me.

And lastly, a look at our home school "organization."  All of the kids school books are on a bookshelf in the boys room for easy access.  Each kid has two work boxes (so to speak) with their personal school books.  They have their spiral notebooks, math workbooks, Writing Strands and Language Arts books.  Then there's the history & science books that we will use together.  And clearly there are a few random toys that need to make their way home where they belong.

We have another bookshelf in our bedroom and I just keep my planner book and a few others for easy access (and because there's really no room on the other shelf.)

I have a few more ideas that I'm working on -like a Writing Basket filled with stickers, markers, stamps, etc. to make writing more creative and fun for the kids.  Once I get those things done I'll write another post.  This blog is basically my journal & photo book rolled into one.  It should be neat to look back in years to come and see what things I've changed and what I kept because it worked.  I need a second brain to help me remember!