It's That Time Again!

It's almost time to hit the books again, so that means I'm in super planning/organizing/creative mode...and if you know me, you know I am LOVING it! I spent the first half of the summer break organizing and de-cluttering my house, but you couldn't tell it today if you walked in my front door. The table and counter tops are covered with books, papers, scissors, velcro dots, hole punchers, and dirty dishes because I have tossed my household duties to the side for the sake of school. I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel though... finally! Toby is officially in preschool this year, so I have been inspired by abcs, 123s, and circle time activities. I've been reading blogs and getting ideas for weeks now. Preschool is so much fun! I have our appliances and furniture labeled, which has definitely raised some eyebrows when people walk in my living room! Toby is a little sponge though and he is absorbing all these letters and making the connection that letters make actual words. It is so fun for him to be able to "read" what the labels say. What a joy it is to see those wheels turning in his head! I'm so happy to be a part of that.

I found this awesome blog called Homeschool Creations that has tons of great ideas, which I will be using of course! When I worked in daycare one of my favorite times with the kids was circle time every morning. We would sing songs and talk about the weather and the calendar. Well, with two kids in school you can't really make a circle, but I still call it that. I needed some way to organize it all, so when I saw her idea for a morning/calendar board I was all over it. I followed her links to other home school blogs and came up with what I think will work best for us. I finished it this morning and filled it in with examples.

We always start our day out with the pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible, so I just stuck the little flags on the side. I don't know if you can see that details very good, but I love the idea of using money to make the date in the bottom left corner! I need to get a red marker, a blue marker, and a green marker for the top left corner so I can match the Math U See colors for the hundreds, tens, and units for the day of school. I put our school motto in the center that I got from Charlotte Mason, which is "I am, I can, I ought, I will" in a sheet protector. I typed it up to recite for a good positive affirmation to start our day. I put everything on hooks so it made it possible for me to stack several sheets behind our motto to be switched out as needed. There's a page with the bass and treble clef notes, complete with the clever sayings to help with memorization, and several pages to help teach skip counting. I also plan on putting Lorelai's scripture and poetry memory on the board to go over as needed. One other feature that I totally love is Toby's letter of the week. I am going to use the Songs for Saplings cd to teach a memory verse for each letter. I am also in the process of making a posterboard for Lorelai's "word wall" but I'm not finished with it yet. I will have to post as I go along, but time is running out because Lorelai wants to start school August 1 "to get ahead." I think she may be almost as excited as I am!  

Well, all this creativity inspired me to do a project that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I remember when I was in first grade, my teacher sat me in front of a lamp and traced my silhouette. I loved the colorful twist that Family Fun put on this tradition so I fashioned mine after theirs. The only real difference is that I just took a picture of their profiles and printed out a copy the size I wanted. I already had the frames so I just spent a couple of dollars on the paper and put it together in about an hour or so.