I have been asked to post pictures of our classroom. Since I just did all the floors upstairs yesterday, I figured now would be a perfect time to share pictures. It has taken me months to figure out a system that works for us. I had NO clue how to homeschool when I decided to keep Camden home. I think I am finally happy with our "classroom". I decided to add extra hours to our school week. I think Camden's attention span has increased some and he is more willing to sit longer. Some days we spend 3 hours in the classroom, some days only a half hour. That's what I love about homeschooling, there is no set rules.And, you can go to school with no shirt on and comfy pj bottoms! We can do what works for us. Last week and this week, we are working on the letter S. We of course had to make a strawberry ;). We have started a new reading program. (Thank you Nanna!) It's a lot of repetition which is very boring to a 5 year old as active as Camden!! I made him a chart and after each lesson he will get a sticker. At the end of the week if he gets all his stickers, we will reward him. We are going to start with 3 days a week to start. I have a feeling this will not be easy! But, I think this program is great and will be very good for him. I have finally figured out a great way to organize my day. The blogs I read have been so so helpful!! There is system called "workboxes". I have read a lot about them and it seemed like something that would really work for us. I have set it up "my" way but am still learning how. Basically, it's a set of drawers (I use 4 for now) Each day you add your childs school work to each drawer with all the supplies they need for that paper or project. This has saved so much time for us. Before I printed out all our work on Sundays and knew what we would do throughout the week, but it was never organized. This way, I fill the drawers each night with what we will do the following day. Camden knows to start the day with first writing his name on a card he has on his desk, then he walks over to drawer 1 and starts his day. When he finished he moves onto to the next drawer. When the drawers are empty, our school day is over. We get more done this way and I am less stressed preparing our day. What does Ailyn do while we work?? Well..... I try to put her down for a nap in the next room over. Her naps last 15-20 minutes. I try to start with the work he will need the most help on. When she wakes, she either sits on my lap or plays in her corner. I made sure the room is childproofed for her when she starts crawling around (Ailyn please wait to crawl) Growing up my favorite book was "The Monster At The End Of The Book", I bought it long before I had children so I could read it to my nuggets. It has been a favorite of Camden's since he was two. He can "read" the book word for word. For Christmas I found this DVD version of the book. He can read along with it. It is THE BEST EVER!!!! We watch it over and over. (Logan would love it) Thanks for asking me to share our lonnnng boooring days. It's so nice to know we have so much support!
I have been asked to post pictures of our classroom. Since I just did all the floors upstairs yesterday, I figured now would be a perfect time to share pictures. It has taken me months to figure out a system that works for us. I had NO clue how to homeschool when I decided to keep Camden home. I think I am finally happy with our "classroom".
I decided to add extra hours to our school week. I think Camden's attention span has increased some and he is more willing to sit longer. Some days we spend 3 hours in the classroom, some days only a half hour. That's what I love about homeschooling, there is no set rules.And, you can go to school with no shirt on and comfy pj bottoms! We can do what works for us. Last week and this week, we are working on the letter S. We of course had to make a strawberry ;). 
We have started a new reading program. (Thank you Nanna!) It's a lot of repetition which is very boring to a 5 year old as active as Camden!! I made him a chart and after each lesson he will get a sticker. At the end of the week if he gets all his stickers, we will reward him. We are going to start with 3 days a week to start. I have a feeling this will not be easy! But, I think this program is great and will be very good for him.
I have finally figured out a great way to organize my day. The blogs I read have been so so helpful!! There is system called "workboxes". I have read a lot about them and it seemed like something that would really work for us. I have set it up "my" way but am still learning how. Basically, it's a set of drawers (I use 4 for now) Each day you add your childs school work to each drawer with all the supplies they need for that paper or project. This has saved so much time for us. Before I printed out all our work on Sundays and knew what we would do throughout the week, but it was never organized. This way, I fill the drawers each night with what we will do the following day. Camden knows to start the day with first writing his name on a card he has on his desk, then he walks over to drawer 1 and starts his day. When he finished he moves onto to the next drawer. When the drawers are empty, our school day is over. We get more done this way and I am less stressed preparing our day.
What does Ailyn do while we work?? Well..... I try to put her down for a nap in the next room over. Her naps last 15-20 minutes. I try to start with the work he will need the most help on. When she wakes, she either sits on my lap or plays in her corner. I made sure the room is childproofed for her when she starts crawling around (Ailyn please wait to crawl)
Growing up my favorite book was "The Monster At The End Of The Book", I bought it long before I had children so I could read it to my nuggets. It has been a favorite of Camden's since he was two. He can "read" the book word for word. For Christmas I found this DVD version of the book. He can read along with it. It is THE BEST EVER!!!! We watch it over and over. (Logan would love it)
Thanks for asking me to share our lonnnng boooring days. It's so nice to know we have so much support!
