Our Homeschool Notebooks

I mentioned our "Homeschool Notebooks" in a previous post.  They are new to us, and yes, I totally made that name up.

I really wanted to teach each of the boys to work independently this year.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew I had to incorporate it somehow.  Doing so with Elias would be quite difficult, so I really had to work on his Homeschool Notebook.  Each child has a binder with their individual work in it.

What helps them work independently is their own Assignment Page, and they mark off their assignments as they finish them with a dry erase marker.  I have written on them with a sharpie and inserted the page into a page protector.  

Daniel and Samuel have sight word work in theirs.  Each week, they are working on the pre-primer, primer, and 1st grade Dolch sight word lists, and I have printables for them to do.  They reinforce what they are learning as they visualize their words over and over.  I LOVE seeing them do these, and I actually let them choose these online out of a few choices.  These are from a site I love as a former educator!  I am also having them do sight word sheets I created as a teacher.  :)

Elias' notebook/binder is quite different!  It's more interactive, and he uses his the entire time we are in the homeschool room. It's in three sections:  shapes, colors, and letters.  I found different printables online that were free or inexpensive to print at home, then I divided them into sections using labeled tab dividers.  I will say that I know how rough and tough Elias is, so I opted to print on nice, thicker paper - not cardstock - but it is of a thicker quality.

Elias does one page out of each section a day.  I am also coming up with other ideas and activities for him from my days of teaching Pre-K and Kindergarten to supplement.  I do believe I will add to the binder because he LOVES it.  

Here are the printables I use and found online.  I am so thankful and blessed by the women who created these!  What a blessing they have been thus far!  

Shapes:

Do a Dot Shapes Set 1 by Honey Homeschool Mama (small cost - totally worth it)

Shape Coloring Pages by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs (not shown)

Shape Trace & Color by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs (not shown)

Colors:

Color Dot Marker Words by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs 

Color Coloring Pages by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs 

Color Word Playdough Mats by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs

Color Preschool Printables simplified for Elias but created by Jenna Johnson

Letters/Alphabet:

ABC Do-a-Dot Marker Printables by Homeschool Creations

A-Z Do-a-Dot Worksheets by Confessions of a Homeschooler

ABC Coloring Pages by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs 

ABC Letter Find by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs

ABC Tracing & Dot Find by Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs

If you have any questions at all, please contact me.  I can take NO credit for this myself.  

Credits:

http://www.3Dinosaurs.com/

http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Honey-Homeschool-Mama

Homeschool 2015-2016 Curriculum

We've begun a new school year in our little classroom.  God had put it on our hearts during our oldest son's Kindergarten year that we needed to make changes regarding our family's education plans.  Just a few weeks after getting this impression, our middle son began having headaches, and things drastically changed for us.  It is clear now that though we thought we were making changes for our first born, God was leading us to do what was best for us all.  

We are now homeschooling, and though the days are not always easy, we fully believe the Lord has given us the direction we need for now.  With that in mind, here are the curriculum choices we have prayerfully made for our 2015-2016 year:

Daniel (Age 6) - 1st Grade

 

He excels in critical thinking, fine motor skills, and math.  We will focus on his reading and phonics this year because he does not enjoy them as much.  He is extremely energetic, active, and social!

Bible:  The Big Picture Interactive Story Bible

Math:  Saxon 1

Handwriting:  A Reason for Handwriting A

Reading:  The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (Lesson 50 and on)

Phonics:  Explode the Code 1 1/2, 2, and 2 1/2 (we did book 1 1/2 this through the summer; he's quickly finishing it up)

Spelling:  A Reason for Spelling A

Geography:  Evan-Moor Beginning Geography (Tuesday and Thursday)

Homeschool Notebook*:  Sight Words

Samuel (Age 5) - Kindergarten

He loves learning and asks every morning for us to hurry up to get to the classroom.  We will focus on his math and phonics this year.  He is extremely eager to learn and finishes his subjects in 2 hours despite how much I teach or extra I give him to work on!

Bible:  The Big Picture Interactive Story Bible

Math:  Saxon K

Handwriting:  A Reason for Handwriting K

Reading:  The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (Lesson 15 and on)

Phonics:  Explode the Code 1 and 1 1/2

Geography:  Evan-Moor Beginning Geography (Tuesday and Thursday)

Homeschool Notebook*:  Sight Words

Elias (Age 3) - Tot School

He excels in being busy and making messes.  We will focus on his fine motor skills, ability to sit, shapes, colors, writing his name, and starting to see and recognize some of the letters (mainly in his name).  He loves to cut, use markers, and all things involving paint!

Bible:  The Big Picture Interactive Story Bible

Math:  Shapes, Colors

Reading:  Alphabet

Handwriting:  His Name 

Homeschool Notebook*: Includes Shape, Color, and Letter Work in ONE PLACE

*I will explain this in a different post!

Just a Typical Snow Day...

The rest of our county is closed for a snow day (the 8th consecutive day, to be exact), but as a homeschooling family, we just PLOW on through since we are stuck inside due to freezing temps and ice-covered driveways.

This week, we moved to the kitchen table because our classroom has been so cold as the exterior room in our house. Plus, the flexibility and change are so nice.

Daniel (Age 5, Kindergarten) is busy learning to read. He is amazing me with how quickly he is catching on. Some days he gets frustrated easily, but other days, like today, he was determined to read. He sounded out his 9 sentences with such joy, and I was incredibly happy for him! He's working on sight words and focusing on phonics.

Samuel (Age 4, Pre-K) is reviewing/learning phonetic sounds of the alphabet, pre-primer sight words, and sounding out the beginning and ending sounds of cvc words. He loves to work and work!

Elias (Age 2) is busy cutting, gluing, making messes, and being made to clean them up. Such was today.

We've Only Just Begun (Curriculum and Choices)

The first week of homeschooling was probably the most rewarding thing I have ever done. No, really. It was extremely challenging and I wanted to raise my voice numerous times, but God supplied grace for my every need. I watched my children as they settled into our new environment, and they smiled each morning when it was time to go to the classroom.

Each boy has his own curriculum or set schedule to do each day, and although they range in age, we are at a point where some subjects can be learned together. I love sitting in the floor with them and helping sound out words or count out manipulatives and coins.

Daniel (Age 5, Kindergarten):

Daniel is a little over halfway through his Kindergarten year. At age 5, choosing curriculum for him was not difficult because after attending public school for 6 months I realized what might help him learn more efficiently. He is a kinesthetic, creative, hands-on learner who needs the opportunity to move, build, and touch almost everything. We are using lots of manipulatives  (magnets, tiles, dry erase boards, etc.) in addition to his curriculum.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Math: Saxon K
Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
Phonics: Explode the Code 1
Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting

Samuel (Age 4, Pre-K):

I wasn't as prepared for Samuel as I should have been because at age 4, he has an abundant love for learning. He would sit in our classroom all day! He is a visual learner and needs lots of pictures, graphics, art, and videos to help him grow. He thrives on drawing and writing in journals and loves to do pages in workbooks... page after page after page. However, I didn't realize that and didn't have enough! We're starting where we left off at Mother's Day Out and continuing the alphabet, phonics, handwriting, and math.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Math: Evan Moor Pre-K Math Skills and SOME Saxon K
Phonics: Get Ready for the Code A
Alphabet/Handwriting: "My Self Made Curriculum" that focuses on the letter of the week

Elias (Age 2, Tot School):

Now, this little buddy threw me for a loop the first day because he didn't really care a thing about the busy bags I had made (spent hours, lost sleep) for him. I knew I needed a new plan, but it had to keep him occupied and be beneficial and safe. That's when Elias kept mentioning glue sticks to me. I handed him one on the 2nd day with a piece of construction paper and a bowl of construction paper cut into 1 inch squares. He spent 1 hour gluing. He was happy, quiet, AND using his fine motor skills.

Bible: The Interactive Story Bible
Skills: Fine Motor (cutting, gluing, etc.), Behavior (sitting, obeying, kindness), and Identifying (colors, counting, saying ABCs)

I realize the newness will wear off in time, and they might not be as overjoyed as they get older. However, in this moment, I feel as though I am where God called me.

Calling Me... Home.

I have been called many things in my life, and in that time, I have also been called to do many things I wasn't quite ready or necessarily equipped to accomplish.  However, it was in the process of accepting the calling that I realized that God didn't expect me to have it all figured out.  He only wanted me to answer His calling.

Per His calling, I have knelt at an altar and begged for forgiveness of my sins.  I have ended relationships that He didn't approve.  I have walked away from friendships that weren't good for me.  I have resigned from what I thought were perfect positions because God had even better things planned.  I have started what-seemed-strange-to-others projects, felt burdened to make random phone calls, and was led to go from single to engaged in eight days to my pastor.  These things wouldn't have been possible without God.

I stand in a place of calling again...  except this time, God is calling me to a place that I already am.  I understand fully how weird that sounds, but the Lord is leading me HOME.

In 2008, He made it clear that I was to leave my wonderful teaching position to come home, but it didn't make sense to me at the time.  I wasn't coming home to babies.  In fact, I had just miscarried our first child.  I was heartbroken, but I realized His calling was more important than my understanding.  In my own will, I enrolled in a Master's program, but just in time, God answered that misstep of mine with a positive pregnancy test.  I stayed home with all three of our sons and have been blessed by that opportunity!  In 2013, as our first born was about to enter pre-kindergarten in his Mother's Day Out program, his director actually asked me to take on the position as the pre-K teacher.  While I didn't think anything of it at first, my husband and I knew God wanted me to, so I accepted the position.  I loved teaching my son and my friends' children!  I saw firsthand how important the younger years were and how valuable instilling godly traits into our children was in that first year there.

The start to this school year (2014) was no different.  I was teaching pre-K, and our second son was in my class.  Our energetic first born started Kindergarten, and I was so excited for him that I could bust, having been a former Kindergarten teacher.  It came as a surprise when he didn't enjoy school...  he focused intently on the behavior chart, the language and attitudes of others, and questioned his own self.  My heart became burdened.  I couldn't understand why he didn't love the thing I adored...  until I began to pray.

Our son would make statements about wanting me to be his teacher, wishing he was still in my class, using our dinner table as our "school" table, etc.  I didn't know where he was getting these ideas, but I began to listen to what he was saying rather than ignore them.  I also started listening to what God was saying.  He was making His ways clear and His paths for our family straight, but I didn't want to see them.

I continued teaching pre-K and sending our son to Kindergarten, but he'd wake in tears and come home with attitude and changed behavior.  I know without a doubt God was using these things to change my heart, because He knew how much this teacher likes school.  He was helping me to see that I needed to love my children and God's needs for them MUCH more.

Through the month of December 2014, I heard God calling.  He was calling me away from my treasured position at Mother's Day Out.  He was calling our family away from public school which I support as a former educator.  God was calling me home.  He was calling me to step out in faith to homeschool our children, trust Him with our education, and believe that He can help me to teach and train them diligently as instructed in Deuteronomy 6:4-7:

The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

So, I listened to the Lord.  I resigned from my position at MDO in January 2015 with the best response I could have ever imagined from our beloved director and friend.  I enrolled our son in a homeschool academy and purchased curriculum.  I informed his public school and teacher who were extremely understanding.  I have seen God orchestrate all of the details to perfection.

It hasn't been easy on my heart though, and I am sure the journey I have ahead of me will be a challenging one.  However, I have chosen obedience when I begin to question His plan.  I have decided to rest in His peace and let His Word comfort me when the idea of homeschooling becomes overwhelming.  The best place I have found in all of this is in the center of God's will, and for me right now, I realize that He is calling me...  to come HOME.