I have had a LOT of piles going on in our library … piles of books, piles of notebooks, piles of trash bags, piles of NEWLY purchased school supplies including Ticonderoga pencils! It always feels good to clean out stuff you know you’ll never use again, and it feels good to try some new things and some old faithfuls (like those pencils)! I snagged a pile of spiral notebooks because Office Depot had them for 1 cent! They let me get up to 10 of each color, but I think I ended up with 5 of each.
I started working on our new “I Can Write A … ” board on Tuesday.
I didn’t get to work on it again until today, and I LOVE the way it turned out. Here is a very poor-quality picture of the BEFORE including yet another pile that is now gone as of today!
The resource includes so many writing choices that I didn’t have space to put them all up on the board at one time, but I think that is a good thing! I am still finishing up the notebook with all of the full-size writing helps and templates, but I have it all printed out! I should add Joey doesn’t suggest putting all of the templates in a notebook, but I’m going to *try* it since I have just two students using this! I reserve the right to adjust as needed. 😉
Doesn’t it look so FUN!!!
I want to write some songs and articles myself!!! If you’d like your own version of the Interactive Writing Center, check out Joey’s store and the link {HERE}. And remember those BLANK books I found in the TarJay dollar aisle? Yes, I have a few of those in a basket at our writing table! What’s not to love?!
My next big project to tackle was our large table in our library that I had been using to pile stuff onto that I knew I HAD TO GO THROUGH before next week. Piling it on the table was my last-ditch effort to force myself to DEAL WITH IT ALREADY LOL! Here is what the table looked like this morning at 9 a.m.
Yeah. I know. A big mess. But do you see those pencil pouches and shiny pencils there in the lower left corner? Oh yes, that was my first order of business: to finish organizing for the PENCIL WARS. Oh, you thought homeschool students and their teachers didn’t have issues with lost pencils and lack of pencils when needed?
All I can say is this homeschool class has pencil issues. Ahem. Enter a FREE resource you can find at TpT in The Wise Owl Teacher’s Store: Winning the Pencil War.
I printed it all out and read the directions. It didn’t take too long to set it all up. I initially set it up for just our two 3rd graders, but then a certain Li’l Bit thought she certainly needed to be held responsible for her pencils so she got in on the action too. They were most excited when I show them some INCENTIVE to keep those pencils in the pouch when not in use! We shall see, but if their enthusiasm is any indication we’re on our way. A funny: the 10th grader from across the room: May I get treats if I keep up with my pencils?
After setting up a winning pencil system, I turned back to tackling the table mess. I had several notebooks with several years’ worth of receipts, school syllabi, attendance sheets, etc. in the piles.
I decided I didn’t need all of this in binders anymore as it is strictly for record at this point, so I put it all in 9×12 envelopes where it takes up a LOT LESS room and is hopefully just what I needed to keep (e.g. I threw a lot of their previous years’ school work out! Nothing important just papers).
I also updated my notebook with this years’ syllabi and basic info. about Curly, Li’l Bro, Li’l Miss and Li’l Bit.
Please ignore the fact I haven’t updated my cover … yet! It is a work in progress, but it IS organized on the inside!!! Speaking of organized, I got my desk more organized on the inside. I have all of my teacher books that I’ll be consulting this year in one shelf … YEAH … and I also have my God’s Little Explorers notebook all printed out and ready to peruse. I plan to get started on this on Monday as well. Oh and I got Li’l Bit’s Alphabet Notebook, which is included in the above resource, printed and bound as well ! She can’t wait to use it!
Since I switched things up to make room for our Interactive Writing Center, I moved our Interactive Calendar to the other metal bulletin board. It is now our Math board, and I love the way it has turned out!
A dear friend gifted us with a used, but like-new glider rocker. I decided to try to find a spot in the library for it, and so far it has been very well received. I admit it has been a great spot to have Li’l Bit curl up in my lap and listen to Momma read!
I STILL have one area to tackled this weekend, besides typing out our plans for the first three weeks of school … this pile has grown smaller but it needs to go A.W.A.Y.
That’s all! I hope your room organization is going well!
Homeschool Questions: What records do you keep for each school year? I am wondering what I should be saving from this year. It is our first year to homeschool…K5..not sure what is required to keep?
Shari, in TN, we aren’t required to send our children to school (or use one of the other legal options including homeschool) until age 6 years old. The cut-off is September 30, so in other words, I could technically not formally put Li’l Bit in school until 2015-2016, the year she will turn 6. However, she will definitely begin K next year because she is so ready. As for records, I depend on my lesson plans, which are currently written in a notebook but I’ll get them typed up eventually, for proof of what we do. I also keep a sampling of their work as well as a list of books we used. I would suggest you talk to some other homeschoolers in Texas, because some states do require a type of portfolio of your student’s work. I don’t know what the exact laws in TX are, but I’d do as little as possible if I were you since it is just kindergarten. Because it would be a nice keepsake for your daughter, you could always make a scrapbook or some other type of book documenting the year. Save some of what you’ve done (or take photos of it) and put it all together. One of the reasons I blog is to have a record of sorts of what we have done! 🙂 Once they reach high school when records count (for college), I am more structured. We also use a satellite school, which is part of the legal option we use to homeschool–TN has 4 legal options, and they keep records for me, which I can request at any time. I never have, but I will absolutely get them to make a transcript for high school. Does that help at all?
YES!! Thank you! I will look into what TX requires. We don’t have to put kids into school until 1st grade year but Zoe was too ready to not start. She loves school so this year really has been so far a good time. I know it gets more complicated when they get to older grades, but we’ll keep doing this as long as we can!!
Technically, Shari, we don’t have to start them until age 6, which most consider 1st grade. But if we teach them at home for kinder, they have to be tested if we wanted to put them in public first grade. There is always a catch here. TN used to very difficult to homeschool in, but it has gotten better. It is so good when they love school. Mine do for the most part, but there are certain things certain ones get frustrated with which I understand given their humble beginnings. Thanks for sharing!