Preschool Homeschool Cards

My youngest son has only just turned four. We decided early on that he didn’t need to do any sort of “curriculum” for awhile. Instead, we would let him follow his interests and we would spend a lot of time talking to him about what was going on, which brings in colors, letters, shapes, vocabulary etc. This also allows us time to label items in English, French and Arabic for him and expose him to quality t.v. shows and iPad apps in all three of his languages. However, he has been very jealous of the fact that his brothers have “homework”. It gave them the “privilege” of mom’s attention, first dibs on technology, etc. etc. So to help the situation – and to stop the constant question of “What can I do mom?”, I created these “homework” cards for him.

We printed them, laminated them, put magnet tape on the back and hung them on the refrigerator. As the day goes on, if he starts acting bored, I ask him to “pick a card”. He chooses what he wants to do using the picture clues and moves it to the right hand side of the fridge. Then he does his activity. Sometimes he lasts 5 minutes at the activity. Other times he lasts 50 minutes. He has no time limits, but is required to clean up one activity before he can pick another card.

The difference in his behavior since we started this has been phenomenal! He is now rarely jealous of his brothers’ homework, because he has his own. He spends a lot less time wandering around annoying those people who are trying to work, which makes life so much easier for all of us. And he is much more willing to do things he might not usually want to do, like calendar, simply because he chose it and it wasn’t Mommy saying “Let’s do this now.”

If you’re interested in using these choice cards with your children, feel free to grab them from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. They are a free download.

Where are the Homeschooling Materials?

As a classroom teacher, I always had so much “stuff” that I “needed” to teach.  So, when we decided we were going to home school our children while living in an RV, I had to re-look at what I really “needed” to teach – and then I had to figure out where to put it!

 

First, what did I absolutely need?  Books!  Although we got rid of a few English books, we kept the majority of our kids’ English books and purchased additional French and Arabic kids’ books so that the kids would have a lot of options for quality reading materials – both fiction and non-fiction.  Additionally, we purchased a Kindle Fire for our 2nd grader (the 5th grader already had one), so that he would have additional e-book options. 

 

We store pleasure reading books under one side of the dinette and in the three drawers in the boys’ room. 

 

Since we are homeschooling not only in English, but also in French & Arabic – languages that I am not a native speaker in, I felt it was very important to have curriculum books for this work.  This helps me make sure I cover all of the right grammar rules and keep the kids practicing skills like reading the directions and using important vocabulary. (In English, the kids mainly use materials that I make and sell in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.)  We keep these curriculum books in the boys’ “locker”, where they each have a shelf with their notebooks and textbooks.

Additionally, the boys have these white paper organizer totes that I picked up cheap at Target.  My husband screwed these down to their table and the boys keep their current pleasure reading books, their kindles, cameras, and headphones (as well as other random “kid stuff”) in these white totes.  After books, the next most important homeschooling supplies are office and art supplies like crayons, paint, scissors, pencils, etc.  We keep these supplies organized in ziploc bags, which fit nicely into this single drawer.  The drawer fits on the boys’ table in between their white book totes, and also provides them with a place to hold library books!

 

 

Rather than having a lot of manipulatives, we tend to use toys and games to help illustrate math concepts, and to allow our 3 year old to play with different concepts like taller and shorter or how many blocks long is that?  We also use a bunch of food supplies for math manipulatives – for ideas about this check out my blog post: Math Manipulatives from Your Kitchen. 

We keep the toys – wooden blocks, legos, soldiers, cars and marbles – in milk crates underneath our desk/table. 

 

We keep puzzles and games – pattern blocks, scrabble, perfection, and a variety of board games – underneath the other side of the dinette.

 

The last element of our home school supplies is technology.  As I already said, each of the big boys has their own kindle, which helps with reading, online research, watching their “listening videos” and the creation of some projects.  For projects that require a PC, the boys share a laptop (and sometimes use mine). 

 

Two random pieces of our organization process are: the boys laminated to-do lists, which hang on a bulletin board in their room, and the two kitchen timers that we use to set time limits on work – and play – time.

We are now officially finished with our first two months of homeschooling, and have really found the “swing of things”.  We have changed our organization over the past two months, putting the items that get used regularly in more accessible places.  Having these items organized makes the day go smoother and leads to more learning!  For more information about our home school schedule and our home school curriculum, check out this post from the beginning of the school year.

Free or Cheap Fun and Educational Activities for Kids

Being back in the United States has reminded me of how lucky we are to have such amazing programs available to us for free or cheap.  Between story time, home school classes, hikes, museum visits, and Junior Ranger badges, we have been very busy lately! If you are looking for field trip opportunities – for a classroom or a home school family or just an educational weekend trip, consider these options:

1.) Libraries:  Most libraries offer more than just the chance to check out books, they also offer access to computers and a myriad of different kids activities.  At the Cartersville Public Library here in Georgia, my kids have attended story times, a snake visit, chess club, computer coding class and Lego building day.  Some libraries also offer programs like book clubs and pairing up older and younger children  for buddy reading.  While you need a library card to check out books, most libraries don’t ask for your library card to attend these programs, making them a great “go to” field trip option for families on the road.  Most of these programs are free, although a few may require a materials fee.

 

2.) State & National Parks or Monuments:  Not only are state parks, national parks and national monuments great places to go and hike, they also sponsor amazing learning programs for kids. I have written before about the Junior Ranger program that the National Parks provide, but state parks provide lots of programs too.  Some, like Red Top Mountain Park here in Georgia, even have lists of home school and weekend classes.  My kids have attended nature story times, map reading classes, creative building sessions and art classes.  In addition, these parks often host weekend festivals with historical re-enactors or musicians.  Most of these programs are free, although a few may require a materials fee.

 

3.) Museums – big and small:  Museum admission is a great day field trip without anything extra, and that goes for the big, fancy museums and the small, local museums.  Recently, my kids and I talked about the Civil War, the creation of the Cherokee Alphabet, the economics of politics, the changes in the school system and the evolution of technology all during a visit to the Bartow County History Museum.  In fact, while I love large museums, sometimes small, local museums make for better field trips, since they are more focused and allow you to get in and see everything without having to rush.  (See my blog post about Making Curriculum Connections with Museum Field Trips.)  In addition to regular exhibits, museums often offer classes for home schoolers and special programs for larger groups.  Within the next month, my kids are signed up to take a class on art history, one on the civil war, and one on the life of colonists.  These classes require fees, although some may be included in the cost of admission and many are very reasonable ($3 - $10 per kid)

 

4.) Universities:  Many colleges and universities have outreach grants and special programs that allow them to provide classes and programs for those who do not attend the university.  Georgia Tech, for example, provides science classes for elementary aged students once a month – on a Saturday.  I have also attended Jazz concerts and exhibits on the Holocaust, all provided by local universities.  Some of these programs are provided for free, while others are available for a charge.

 

5.) Zoos & Aquariums:  Like museums, zoos and aquariums are often great places to visit for no special reason.  However, like museums, they also often offer special classes.  The Atlanta Zoo offers entire courses for home schoolers and specialized programs for larger groups.  Additionally, many zoos and aquariums offer reduced admission on certain days for home schooling families. 

 

As a road schooling family, one of the first things to do when you stop in an area, is to check out websites for the libraries, parks, museums, universities, zoos and aquariums in the area.  Often special programs will be listed on their websites.  Also, if you stop somewhere to simply explore with the family, ask at the desk, or check the bulletin board.  Often places advertise cool events, classes or festivals that are upcoming at their facility.

 

         

How’s Homeschooling Going?

 Recently, I’ve gotten some sweet e-mails asking me, so “How is homeschooling going?”  We have just finished our second week of homeschooling, so this is a fair question.  After 9 years of teaching in a classroom, homeschooling is quite different than teaching in a classroom.  Here’s a few observations from our first two weeks.

1.)  I was never the type of teacher who spent a ton of time standing in front of the classroom lecturing, but anytime you have more than 3 kids, it seems that you need to spend at least a few minutes a day talking to the whole class, being in the spotlight, the center of attention.  The way we are homeschooling, there is NO time like this.  The boys work at their own schedule, they plan out how and when and where they are working, and any talking time is one on one. 

2.)  Headphones are our second most important school supply (after pencils)!  With three kids in an RV, working on three different things (and me often working on my own stuff), it is easy for someone to get distracted (normally my 2nd grader).  So, we bought each person a pair of headphones and now my older two listen to music while they work and the youngest (He’s only 3.) can watch his French morning songs over and over if he wants to!

3.) Learning, real learning, happens everywhere and all the time.  Living in the RV gives us lots of time to observe ducks, geese, squirrels, bugs, trees, etc.  We talk about what we see, and random things they think about.  We talk A LOT, and often by the end of the day I am asking the kids for a bit of “don’t talk to me” time.  However, I really love the insights they have at the lunch table or walking to the bath house, and I truly love seeing them connect those things to their “formal lessons”.

 

4.)  I’m also not around many other adults, so I am learning to make sure I take time for my own socialization each day.  As an elementary school teacher, you think you don’t get any socialization, but those minutes first thing in the morning, passing people in the hallways, in the cafeteria, and after school are a lot more than what I get these days! 

5.)  We don’t have to do everything at once!  When there’s no official start and stop time, it’s easy to simply keep on with “we need to do…..”  I have learned to pull back, not try to fit in everything, and realize that the school day needs to end eventually.  I am also allowing for more time breaks in the middle of the day.  Oh, that’s right, we can go for a bike ride at 10:30 a.m., no big deal.  Swimming at 2:00 p.m. – sure!  Takes awhile to get used to, but it’s nice to have control over our schedule.

6.)  We’re doing okay!  The kids are getting used to working at home.  They LOVE having control over their schedule and they LOVE being able to take brain breaks when THEIR brain needs it.  They’re happy and they’re learning, so that’s all that really matters.

7.)  Oh, and I learned that this takes a lot of time!  Not as much as being in a classroom, but pretty much only b/c I have no commute, so if I when I fall behind in blogging, or getting those resources to other teachers on my Teachers Pay Teachers store, I have to tell myself that homeschooling IS teaching full time too!

 

Our Homeschool & Work from Home Schedule

On Monday we will officially start homeschooling.  For the last few weeks, we have been working on some various elements of homeschooling, to help the kids keep up their language skills, as well as to keep them busy while we waited for their toys to arrive.  (See this post about the arrival of our stuff.)  This trial time also gave me time to work out how our schedule should run, without wasting time that I had designated to their education.  From my previous classroom experience, I know that our schedule will probably change throughout the year, but here is our projected schedule for the beginning of the school year.

First, our weekly schedule.  Because we are working in three languages, we are trying to dedicate a day each week to each language.  So, our weeks should run like this:

Monday – English work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Tuesday – French work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Wednesday – Arabic work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Thursday – Finish whatever hasn’t been completed and work on Genius Projects (choose a topic of interest, research, create a way to share what you learned) with additional time.  My oldest is hoping to use some of this time to delve into his newest fascination – psychology and I’m thinking my 2nd grader, who works a bit on the slow side, will use this time to finish up.

Friday – Field Trips!!!  These will most likely relate to our country studies, but will also include volunteer work, national parks and a bunch of other cool places like museums and monuments that hold the boys’ attention.

Now, in addition to homeschooling the boys, I am also running Raki’s Rad Resources – my teacher resource business, so I need to be sure to have time each day to work as well as teach.  Here’s what our daily schedule will look like Monday – Thursday:


The To-Do List that you see on this schedule is a collection of activities that are on each child’s instructional level.  They include things like math book pages, writing stories, grammar exercises and researching their self chosen countries.  For more information about our curriculum, stop by my teaching blog – Raki’s Rad Resources and find our entire curriculum explained. 

National Parks = Beautiful Pictures and Lots of Learning!

The cameras went overtime this week as we visited three different National Parks. 

We started at the Grand Canyon:

 

Then, we went to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert in Holbrook, Arizona.

  And then we visited the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

At each National Park, the kids worked on a new Junior Ranger badge and have been pledging to protect nature, while they learn about earth science and archeology.  They are collecting the badges on their hats and the oldest has decided he wants to visit EVERY National Park – cool goal, huh?