Never say never because look at where we are today!
We put Ness in preschool this past year and Im not going to lie, there were times where I thought preschool was the best thing ever. Sage is a very easy child if he is alone, as is Zael. Its when they have their Ring Leader/Ness that chaos break out (Sage is like me and Ness is like his dad...of course..lol). But at the same time it was a major pain brining him and picking him up plus he didnt seem to be learning anything. He would bring home worksheets with a bunch of scribbles (always black or blue..?) or crafts that I KNOW he had no hand in making (trust me, I have crafted with this child). There was nothing wrong with the school or his teacher, but Ness didnt seem to be flourishing and plus it was a lot of money. THEN we found a house that we really really want (want to buy our house) and decided that we needed to start saving the money.
On top of all that the public schools in EBR are not great (cell phones are allowed in schools now? Insanity!)
So thats when I decided to do a Homeschool Trial run! Ness is only 4.5 so if we do preschool (starting in Jan.) and its a total bust I havent screwed him up too badly. Then we will move on to Plan B, whatever that is.
At first homeschool totally overwhelmed me. I thought about joining a Classical Conversation Co-op (which we may still do next year) but Mr. "Ants-in-the-pants" didnt seem to do well. Maybe he will when he is older.
Then I found this: http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week
Total God-Send!
This lady's style is right up my alley, its very organized but all very fun and diverse. Its a lot of work, and a lot of printing but I have had fun! I got a laminator (woot!) and have been laminating up a storm (we will be using this same curriculum again with the other boys). It has been several weeks of work but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I figured this blogpost would be helpful because we have very limited money and even more limited space (right now). So I have cleared out a wall that will become our "School Wall" with a bulletin board, calendar, weather, sight words, days of the week, and whatever else Ness is interested in at the moment. (Hopefully potential buyers can look past that).
My main problem was figured out how to organize all the paperwork. So I have several "lightbulb" moments (usually in the middle of the night) and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
One idea that I really like that we are doing (as we are aiming towards Montessori Style), is the Workbox System. Basically there are boxes for each day of the week (I prepare the week before) and each morning after our Circle Time (school wall stuff) he will go and get whatever is in that days box. Those things will be put in "centers" (as he gets older those centers will be named) and then he will be able to choose the order in which he wants to do them. This will be helpful too because Sage may be doing some too and they can rotate activities. I love this curriculum because most things are games/puzzles/"sewing" that can be used again and again (laminator baby!).
Another problem I had was that we dont have a school room right now so every time we did an activity I was running around the house and gathering stuff which would leave a mess and that stressed me. SOOO a good friend that saves weird stuff had given me all of these puff containers (and since baby #3 is an animal with food we will have EVEN MORE puff containers in our future) and that became my answer! Hello free organizing! Im keeping them on a rolling cart that can be easily moved (has all the other supplies too). (I got a label maker and these plastic bins from a really awesome garage sale)
The last, and biggest problem I had was figuring out I was going to store all the flashcards and weekly curriculum. After thinking about it for a long time I decided on a file box (why I didnt think of this sooner I have no idea). So all of my laminated flashcards as well as extra worksheets are in this box. Plus the curriculum and the games/activities that go with it. My plan is that once a week of work is done all of it will go into my file box to be used again next semester for Sage. I will mark stuff that will need to be printed again in my Curriculum Guide binder so I can easily find and print next year.
There you have it folks. Ness is SO excited about starting. We will probably start the week after Christmas, he wants to start now but I still not ready!! Updates soon!
In other things, we will probably be certified for Foster Care in the middle of January, we are really praying that we can be headed towards the other house at that time. We are so cramped right now! I have plans for a huge school room with a side play room for the little ones while we do school. I would also love to start up a Montessori Co-op.
Christmas is next week! Gotta go work on laminating!
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment