Work Bags

So with the never ending struggle that we are having with homeschooling I have decided to try something new with Jackson.  He has a hard time being motivated and although he is only 7 he still gets the concept of cause and effect and he knows his actions always have a consequence (good or bad).   I know that he is overwhelmed by the work load.  He is a lot like me in that aspect. If something is going to be really time consuming and even a bit challenging, I do not start it.  I wait. Sometimes I wait too long.  None the less I am a procrastinator and my son is starting, at a very young age, to show the same traits. So how can we fix this?  My friend, Emily, suggested that I let him work at his own pace.  Let him know what he has to get done by Friday and then let him work it out.  There is a system called the "work-box" system that, when it boils down to it, is your entire day planned out into little boxes, down to breaks, lunch and even nap time. 

Now I admit that I am obsessed with having things all organized.  I love to buy containers, baskets and boxes but really I do not have room for anymore in my school room.  So I decided to come up with work-bags that he can just put in his cubby everyday.  Also, instead of filling each bag daily I have decided to fill them for the week.  I apologize that I do not have photos yet, my batteries are dead in the camera (I will get some tonight).

Here is how I set them up for Week One:


Reading/Grammar
SSRW book and Assessment Book
Book 9 Reader (SSRW)
Instructions for the week written as a check list so that he can mark off each assignment as he finishes them.  There are certain assignments that require my assistance and those assignments are indicated.

Math
We are working on fast facts.  I noticed that he was struggling without a number line.  As his curriculum has been progressing he is beginning to really fall behind and his confidence in a subject that he is good at is dwindling.  So the beauty of homeschool is that we can stop and spend two weeks, or however long for that matter, on whatever he is struggling with.
So, 5 fast fact sheets
Flash Cards
Math Bingo game to be played with Mom.

Spelling
With SSRW we have one spelling test per day with 3 dictation sentences.  I admit that we have not been doing this like we should and his spelling words are super easy. 
Obviously I give the tests.


Handwriting
Handwriting without Tears Workbook
Instruction for the pages that need to be done. (We normally do 2/day so that would be 10 pages for the week).

Bible, Science, and Five in a Row are not in work bags because we are doing them as a group.  Today he chose to do all of his spelling.  He got frustrated after the 3rd test and said he was tired of spelling.  I told him he could stop if he wanted.  He was a little shocked that I said that.  I had to explain the concept again.  He is getting it slowly.  The key is that he has to do something everyday (unless he has finished all assignments).  I only sit at the table until 11 am. That is a good 3 hours that he has my attention.  He should be done well before that.  After 11 I am off doing other things.  Now, I will stay and help if he has used his time wisely and truly needs my help.  The other thing is that he must get everything done by the end of the day on Friday or else he is having school on Saturday and Sunday (if need be).  He will also miss out on video games on the weekend. 

We will see if it works.  I know that today was a lot less stressful for me.  As soon as he started to complain I just looked at him and said, "I am sorry that you are having such a tough time with the assignment you chose.  Maybe you should pick something else." He was shocked that I didn't yell! And he chose to just finish!  Who knew?

I will post pics of our work-bag system as soon as I get batteries. 

It's going

Well here it goes.  Homeschooling for us is not something that we do because it is the cool thing to do in our circle of friends.  It is something we do because this is what we feel the Lord wants us to do.  We are doing lots of new things this year including teaching Ellie and Charlotte.  We have also added several more things to our work load.  When someone asks "How is it going?" I have to answer, "It's going".  And it is.  It is just not the way I had planned. 

You see I am a planner.  Sometimes too much.  I had this whole system designed to teach my kids at the same time.  I had it planned out in 20 minute increments.  It was going to be great!  Too bad nobody told them!  The natives are restless and I know a lot of that has to do with not being able to leave the house.

Right now I am praying and asking for guidance.  Last week we missed math the entire week because Jackson's book was lost.  Come to find out, he had been hiding it and did not "find" it until he realized I was serious about the fact that he would have to pay me back.  I was so angry.  Troy wanted to spank him and I just wanted to send him away.  Instead we decided that he would have to get caught up on those 10 lessons (he has 2 per day) on his own time and there would be no reward until then.  He is still lolly-gagging around and frankly I am over it.  Today I told him that I was in a bad mood and that this was his one warning and then I would send him to his room all day until his dad came home. Needless to say he got right on his assignment. He knows I mean business.

Schooling with a two year old is hard and we are trucking along.  I am learning little tricks and so far many of them are working.  Most of the time Charlotte just wants to be held.  She wants to know that she is still important and then she usually runs off.  She loves her new puzzle and the new staking block thing that I got her. Yesterday she actually started putting together one of Ellie's puzzles.  It was a hard one and she actually got a few pieces put together!  I was shocked and proud of my baby all at the same time.

Ellie is the easiest and the most fun to work with.  She just gets it.  She is a perfectionist, though, and she gets frustrated when it is not right.  I am trying not to correct her too much because it puts her in a tizzy.  Really, she is 4 and doesn't need to be writing perfectly.  We are just doing PK activities!  But I do think she may be close to reading by the end of this school year (only because she wants to!).

So if you struggle with yours just know you are not alone!

Tot School

I ordered some new fun things for Charlotte off of Amazon.  I was looking for something fun for her while the big kids were having school time.  This what I got. 

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Stackable Nesting Blocks by GuideCraft

 

 

Bug Puzzle by Melissa and Doug

These should be fun for her.  She has already played with the puzzle.  She did really well with it.  We are working on the names of the bugs.  We can also talk about the colors of each one.  I have a video of her putting it together but I need to work on it before I can post it. 

Lap-booking

We are trying out Lap-books this year.  I did not know what I was doing.  Most of this was by the seat of my pants but I think it was more creative that way! And certainly less stressful.  I decided to make a little video of each lap-book.  We studied the days of creation and made something for each day. I wanted them to really remember each day and be able to recall them. I have to say that even my seven year old that hates to be crafty loved this project.  I am not sure what we will lap-book next but I hope it is as fun!  If you have any ideas I am all for them.  I know that they could be more informative but the way that I chose to do this one was a lot less planning and work for me! :)  I am sorry but the video will not upload.  I will work on it and get it fixed!

Redundant

I have been wanting to post an entry about this for a while.  Do you ever feel like your life is redundant?  Wake up, feed kids, clean dishes from last night, start laundry, school, lunch, sweep kitchen, laundry, finish school, take a nap (maybe if you are lucky), make dinner, hang with kids, brush teeth, bath time, bed time, up til 11 watching junk, wake up, feed kids, clean dishes from last night, start laundry, school.....you get the idea.  I don't want to leave out cleaning the litter box, feeding the animals, letting the dog out, letting the dog in, yelling at the kids to clean up, going in after them to do it right, mopping the floors, cleaning up spills, changing diapers (or now it is cleaning up accidents).  There are so many other things that I know I am missing. 

Don't get me wrong.  I love being a mom, wife and teacher.  Recently I have learned that it really is okay to take care of myself.  I have been doing this by running in the evenings.  It is a great release of all of the frustrations from the day.  Last night I just took off.  I usually run much slower.  It felt good. I was going really fast.  My legs were hurting in areas that had not been affected by my running before, but I didn't care.  It felt good.  I made it around the track quickly.  The wind that passed by my sweaty body felt FANTASTIC.  I could have gone forever.  But I couldn't figure out how to control my breathing at that pace.  So I eventually had to stop because I couldn't breathe. 

Where am I going with all of this?  Well as my life has been feeling redundant I have started adding some new things to it.  I started running.  Taking better care of myself. When the running became redundant I changed it up I ran faster and pushed myself!  So how can you make your life less redundant?  I don't know what works for you.  I know that for me this new phase of running has been good for me.  I don't necessarily like running, but I love the feeling it gives when it is accomplished.  I look forward to that feeling!

* I apologize for the way this is all over the place! I wrote this on two different days and my kids have been in and out!*

Losing weight

I have not posted anything about this yet because my before is soooo bad!  But I am biting the bullet because I have made great progress!

The before!  HUGE!  

12 lbs, 15 inches and 2 dress sizes smaller!

Please excuse the 2nd pic, Jackson took it.  I do not have two chins anymore!  But this picture shows that I do!  I am doing weight watchers and it is good.  I have also been training to run a 5K in September!  I will keep you all posted! :)

First day of school...

Today we had our first day of class at The Brown Academy.  Jackson is in 2nd grade and Ellie is in Pre-K but we are going to integrate some kindergarten mid year.  Charlotte started Tot-School today as well.

The day started well.  I was able to get some quiet prayer time in before the kids jumped into bed with me.  Surprisingly, Charlotte slept in until 9 am which was both good and bad.  Jackson and Ellie had a great breakfast and then we sat down at the school table to start our day.  We have changes in the rules and in the way our schedule is.  We also have a new reward system that the kids were excited about implementing.  Tight at the first break is when Char woke up.  She was ready for breakfast and the kids were able to go outside and play for 15 min.  They decided to swing.  I also took this time to get their first day of school pics.  They are funny because Jackson got dressed into pajamas today, Ellie doesn't match (go figure) and Char is in her panties.  Welcome to the flexibility of homeschooling!

Then we came back in and started again.  I took the approach that I would teach each child one at a time while the other had some other easy assignment to work on.  This worked well.  While working on reading with Jackson, Ellie colored her Bible story page and then read books in the reading corner.  While Ellie and I worked on reading/phonics, Jackson worked on handwriting.  Charlotte played with some pom-poms in a bowl that she scooped out with a giant spoon. I got this idea from my friends blog.  Charlotte loved it and Ellie even got in on the fun! The girls also worked on puzzles.  Ellie was able to piece together a puzzle by herself that she had never done before.  She was so proud!

All in all it was a good day.  It wasn't without its ups and downs.  Charlotte had 3 accidents which has got to be a record for her.  Then she spilled all of her chicken noodle soup on the floor.  It was everywhere!  Thanks goodness I have a dog that likes to eat off of the floor.  It made clean up easier! 

Now we are all relaxing and me? I am blogging!