Monday, July 27, 2009

Another Week has Begun

This week was the first week that we were able to use our workboxes and have the school room more ready for school. It was great!! We have only done Monday, but I wanted to get some pictures posted of our system that I talked about last post. Kameron loved it. He loved seeing that he was almost done, and he was excited to see what was in the next box.
Here are some pictures of what our school area is. All the shelves will be filled with resource books, our books we have here, and most of the children's books. So it will be a wall of books!!

Lots of planning has gone into my system, so I make sure that I have it right for us. I am so in love with workboxes. I'm thankful for the Internet that gave me the resources to search it out and find the idea. I'm greatful to all of the fellow bloggers and homeschool families that shared ideas and thoughts about it. It is truly going to be a blessing in our homeschool journey. I used Target's awesome containers because they are stackable. Kameron is able to stack them after he gets done with each one. He stacks them beside the table we do school on. I don't have my strip ready yet, because I'm modify the design and making it more fun!! I have my box labels done, but still have to laminate those. I am going to make him cards that he will be able to have to ask for help, tell me he needs a break and a few others. I am so excited to get more things going with that. I love that I am better utilizing the things that I have.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Workboxes oh Workboxes

During my search for homeschooling ideas, I came across Workboxes. It is a shoe box system that uses 12 boxes to help organize the child's school day. You place lessons and activities into each box and the child works left to right and top to bottom to work through each box. I fell in love. I couldn't wait to get started. I bought my containers from Target and am using shelves built into the wall. I'm not following the exact format for the workboxes, but I am doing something that is going to work for us. My containers are green, and I plan on getting pink ones for my youngest. I love these containers because they are cute and the handle folds out so they can be stackable. I have searched many blogs and am so excited to start next week with our book, Meerkat Mail, and the workbox system. I have been planning out my lesson plans by numbering 1-12 to write down what is going in each box.
Homeschool Share, a free website that has so many resources and unit studies just added a new section to their site for workboxes. I was so excited to be able to check it out and get some ideas from it. I look forward to printing and preparing several of the items to use in our workboxes here at the house.
I have read that it is an adjustment to your school day as your child goes through each box, to help your child understand the order that they work through. But, once they get the hang of it, they thrive and do awesome with it. I will post some pictures of my area once I get it all set up. I have to finish painting the brackets for the shelves. I will finish that tonight and get my boxes set up Saturday evening. I can't wait!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.

Last week we rowed, How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to do the next book by the same author. We reviewed the book we read previously and went over the letter of the week. I introduced the new book and asked Kameron what he thought it would be about. In the story, the girl wants to make a cherry pie, but the bake shop is closed and she has nothing to bake in. She travels around the U.S.A. gathering materials to make the supplies she needs. I introduced 5 vocabulary words this week. As we read, every time he heard one, he was to point it out. That worked really well for him. I put cotton balls all around the kitchen and had him gather an armful of cotton. He estimated how many he thought it would take to make the oven mitts. He picked 39 cotton balls. Then we practiced measuring with a measuring cup. He learned 1 cup and 1/2 a cup. I colored the water red so he could see it easier. It was another great week.
I am taking a break for a few weeks because I have so many ideas and resources that I want to implement and get together. I think I jumped the gun, and got started before I was ready. I want to be the best that I can be at this, and I am just not as prepared as I want to be. I know I will never have everything there is to have, but I also know that I should be using the things I do have. I haven't used them because I am just not organized enough. I need to better organize myself and my school area so the things we need are close at hand. I learned several things in my 2 weeks of lessons and plan on adjusting and lots of list making. I have a ton of copies I need to make along with planning the lessons for the end of July and August. Before I start again, I want to have at least a month of lessons planned.

On another note, Kameron wanted me to read Hank the Cowdog to him one night. I read a chapter then searched I-tunes for the audio book of that book. I found it and spent the best 10 bucks in a long time. He laid on his bed for almost 45 minutes straight just listening to that book. He finished it the next day. I am now going to buy him a new book every few weeks and add it to my I-Pod. Gotta love technology!!