Ready to Road School? Planning and Prep - Blog Post Part1

My husband and I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time!  We’ve come to Colorado for many years now…with and without babies!  Nothing bad about having babies on vacation and we enjoyed those moments for sure.  But we always said…”when MiniM is 3 years old, potty trained and taking less naps, let’s DO THIS!”  

Do what?  Take our sweet family, our school and hit the road.  

Last year, we brought a good chunk of learning with us.  Check out my past posts here: 

A Homeschooling Vacation - Part 1 - The Planning

A Homeschooling Vacation - Part 2 - The Learning

But this year, my husband and I decided to explore a little more before landing at our family cabin for a few weeks.  And I promise to share our adventures with you later.  (if you haven’t “liked”/followed us on Facebook/Instagram, be sure and do so.  I post there daily.)

But before that, I want to share ... 

How I planned for such a big homeschool adventure?

Here are 2 key points to keep in mind when you start to plan.

~ pack light (learning materials) Blog Post 1

~ use the world as your classroom Blog Post 2 - coming soon

Packing light:

I made sure that I brought along reading materials that didn’t take us lots of space!  For example, our Jesus StoryBook Bible has pages of stories versus packing a handful of read-aloud books.  

I subscribed to Scholastics Weekly Reader (months before hand) and received enough of these awesome materials to pick and choose from.  I made sure that they were relevant to what we were doing or doing to do.  For example, the seasons aren’t very spectacular in Austin Texas, but we were about to see the colors of Autumn throughout 2 of the states we’d be driving through.  So I made sure to pick out Weekly Readers that supported “the changing of the leaves”, pumpkins and cooler weather.

I am NOT a big fan of workbooks and worksheets, but road school is the perfect time to use them.  

Individual notebooks were a great way for me to organize what workbook pages my Kindergartener and 2nd grader would be using.

And I knew that if the ‘big boys” had these, I’d better make one for littlest learner.

If they had a way to organize their work, I needed the same.  And this is what I came up with.

This is just an expandable file folder.  And it held just about everything that I needed it to!   If it didn’t fit in this or their notebooks, it didn’t come!

I made sure to bring along some Legos and a few of our favorite board games that might fill in the gaps for Phonics and Math.

Just for FUN - I also printed and packed scripts for "Reader's Theater".  This activity is GREAT for learning in the car.  Each family member is assigned a part in "the play".  We read and practice the script in the car until we are all fluent and comfortable with our parts.

THEN...we perform it either at a picnic area or on the deck of our cabin.  Or maybe for the squirrels at the campsite.

This single folder held Math lessons for both J and N.  I made copies from one of my favorite resources (Instant Math Centers)

I focused on using Calculators with my 2nd grader and simple, fun addition practice for my K kiddo.

 And for copy work, art and handwriting, this resource is FUN and perfect!  I chose this Draw, Write, Now that uses Animals and Habitats for pond and river animals.  Because if we are going to be surrounded by these animals, why not learn how to draw them!

And that's just about it!  Be sure and check in next time...I'll tell you all about how I planned to "use the world as our classroom"!  It took ALOT of research, but every minute we spent researching, where we would stop and what we would learn, made it SO WORTH IT!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones!

From dining room to learning room - Part 2 - purposeful wall space

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links for products I recommend. I don’t link to anything I haven’t purchased myself or fully support!

I probably over think the placement of our homeschool items and supplies.  I can also get a little OCD about closets, toy bins and even silverware.  So I'm going to claim that it's a gift and I'm not afraid to use it!

Creating Purposeful Spaces

 When I was a classroom teacher, I really want to make sure that every space was purposefully used and utilized by 20+ kiddos.

Here's one of my favorite Reading Corners in my 1st grade classroom.  Cozy, Comfortable and Purposefully used!

  

So this "gift" has been a great addition to creating purposeful spaces within our homeschool.  

My last post was all about repurposing that LONG Ikea shelf.  If you missed that post, check it out here:

Part 1 - Repurposing THAT shelf

Today, I want to take you over to the window wall in our newly, transformed Learning Room.  Windows can be a great place to hang charts, map and/or create a clothesline of kiddo's art work or school papers.

That cute apple banner, I bought from Target in their $1 bin and thought it would be a fun accessory to start off September! But in the past, I've hung the children's work up there, like in this picture.

 During our 2 week Olympic study, we would hand finished products that reflected what we had learned that day.

I simply used a piece of yarn, 2 small cup hooks (screwed them into the window frame) and mini clothes pins or paper clips.  I like using the mini-clothes pins (or paper clips) because they are light in weight.  FYI:  The larger clothespins sag the line and sometimes flips the papers upside down.

When you lose wall space because of a large window, you have to find ways to use it!
Here's another idea for hanging things from your mini-blinds.

We use this map just about everyday!  So I bought these hooked clips from Ikea (click here for Ikea website)  The hook can swing around your mini-blink strings or the mini-blind itself.  And you have a simple way to display charts, maps or even more work.

Moving on down... the window sill is a great way to display special books.
If books are visible, they will read them!

I flirted with the idea of drilling holes into this small Ikea picture frame shelf but I came up with a different idea that I am thinking I will like even more!

Do you know what a "base shoe" is?  It's the piece of what that completes the look between your baseboards and floors.  It looks like this.

I am thinking of nailing a "base shoe" along the length of my window sill to create shelf-like ledge to display our library books.  This base shoe will help balance the books so they can lean up against the window and not slip off onto the floor.  I hope my thinking makes sense.

And I'll be sure to post a finished picture of what that all looks like.

Another option that I've thought about would be this:

I just need to see which project my husband is ready to take on.  I'm unsure about the Ikea shelf being strong enough (and centered) if we can't screw the shelf into the wall studs.

So many crazy ideas, just for books!  But I keep reminding myself..."it's all about creating purposeful spaces that make learning easy and accessible!"

So that's a wrap on creating purposeful wall space!  I hope that I've inspired you to try one or all of these ideas.

The next blog post will be the other wall in our Learning Room...the one you can see in the picture above that holds our calendar.  So be sure and check back then.

Until then...Happy Learning with your Little Ones!

From dining room to learning room - Part 1 - Repurposing THAT shelf

Back in January, the baby officially became a big boy!  No need for a nursery when you have a big boy in the house. AND 3 boys, at the right age, that can easily share a room.

That nursery became an office...My very own homeschool office!  In the past (at other homes), I had always converted a closet into my office.  I had never had a WHOLE room!!! How exciting, right?

*Side note - we have been in this house over 1 year.**

At the time, yes, it was exciting.  But that office quickly became a LARGE closet aka cutely, decorated storage unit.  It was the room that I would go to only when I need to grab the document that I had printed from our wireless printer.  I even told the cleaning lady not to worry about cleaning it!  Say what!?

A lot of this stuff wasn't getting used in our homeschool.  Which led me to set some goals that needed to reflect the use of materials and space.  And I simply started by asking these questions:

1)Where do we learn and play the most?

2)Are my resources and materials being used? Why or why not?

3)How can I create a new space without buying any new furniture?

And this is how I answered them:

1) We learn the most downstairs in the kitchen/dining table, couch or outside.

2) Nope!  My resources and materials are scattered all around the house.  Some are upstairs and some are downstairs.  Some are in the office and others are in the laundry room.

3) Could I thoughtfully reorganize my materials based on the types of storage that I have aka not buying any thing.  I could start by bringing everything downstairs (furniture and supplies) and see if it will work.  If it doesn't, get rid of it!

We started by turning out dining room into our learning room.  We brought down the long shelf for storage, adjusted the table to help utilize wall space and work space on the floor.

And then...I brought down ALL that had been stored upstairs that wasn't getting used!  Scary huh?  This took me a good day to get through it all.  It was a Saturday and the boys enjoyed some Daddy time while I went on a reorganizing redo!

 I also had to remember that I didn't have a baby anymore!  So the markers (washable), playdough, paint and such that had been sealed up and placed high could now come down.  

See these past posts on how I organized our last homeschool space at a different house.  

Open House - Part 4

Open House - Part 3

Open House - Part 2

Open House - Part 1

 And TAAAADAAAA!  Here's the finished product.  THAT shelf went from storing stuff to being used!  

I am a BIG fan of giving kids the freedom to use anything they'd like to learn with.  So I wanted this shelf to be all theirs!  The baskets are clearly labeled (I made them using Google Docs/Drawings).  And the boys even helped me put the label on each box.

We also turned this GREAT Ikea storage into our Art Cart!  It can roll around, inside or outside.  The kids can use ANYTHING, as long as they ask first and help clean up!

And I think the easy way to show our new and improved shelf, is by showing you this picture:

Will it look this perfect in a month or two?  YES!  And why?  Because I have trained my kiddos on where everything is and how to return it back to its spot!

As a former classroom teacher,  I led a successful classroom bc my kids felt valued to use any of our materials, as long as they used it with respect and as long as they returned it for the next person to use.

So that's exactly how I run OUR homeschool!  **Keep in mind that you have a different homeschool!  I hope this post inspires you to adjust your ideas to fit what works best for YOUR homeschool space!  But if it's a desire of yours to eventually create and keep an organized space, like this, set some small goals!  Try keeping just one area organized, then add another in a few months.  Include your kiddos!  That always makes a big difference for me!**

Come back and visit next week when I take you to the other side of our new learning room.  And from there, I'm going to show you our NEW STEAM CLOSET!!!!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones!

August 2016 Homeschool Highlights!

I am going to try my best to post a monthly blog that highlights what we did in our homeschool!

2 reasons for this...
#1 My readers get a peek inside our month and I hope it inspires you to try some new, fresh ideas.
#2 I get to reflect on WHY I homeschool and get to take note of all the fun ways we learned that month.

So here we go!!!

Our August Homeschool Highlights

We took storytelling to the car wash!

This kiddo FINALLY learned his colors.  I just needed to make it FUN and with something he loves...trash trucks!

We learned about the Olympics!

We made torches using LED lights and battery

We made Brazilian Bread for Fun with Food Friday!

See this post for Recipe for Pao De Queijo

We got REALLY excited about writing Olympic Facts!

We made a shooting range using strings, cups and straws!  Part of our Olympic study!

We dissected Owl Poop at 8pm on a Friday night.

We discovered how tricky it is to write labels for Carnivore and Herbivore.

We had fun at the Thinkery Children's Museum for our #TechTuesday afternoons.

We made new friends at our Lego Club with the elderly.

We captured a GIANT spider in the kitchen and turned him into our pet for 2 days.

We chased the trash trucks around the neighborhood!

We learned the power of meditating on a rainy day.

We learned and we learned it all together! 

Happy Learning with your little (and big) ones!

Homeschool Moms! Connect with your "co-workers"!

About mid-summer, I was crying on the couch to my husband.  I was frustrated, scared and worried about our 7-year-old!  I was emotionally drained as his mom AND his teacher.  We had made the decision to consider putting him in public school...

I didn't sleep that night!

My heart slowly melted as I laid there, that night, thinking how could THIS be happening?  How could I fix it?  What if his 2nd-grade public school teacher assesses him and confirms that he SUCKS at writing, comprehends math on a 4th-grade level and can read like a 3rd grader.

What in the world was I going to as his mom AND as his teacher?!

Rewind 10 years ago, when I was a classroom teacher...

Every teacher HAS one of "those students".  The one that drives you crazy, keeps you up at night, isn't putting their best foot forward in your classroom.

And as teachers, we'd ALWAYS run down the hall for help.  Maybe it was a teacher that was next door, teaching the same grade.  It might have been a mentor teacher that was assigned to you for support.  Or maybe the school counselor that is a genius when it comes to dealing with "that student".

Yes!  I was the turkey - and the pilgrim to my left was one of my support pillars as a teacher!
We cried, laugh, yelled, and high-fived through our 2 years of teaching together.

As homeschool moms, we don't have those teachers down the hall or those professionals just foot steps away.  So what do we do?

Many times, I have chosen to keep quiet and would just wait for another day.

Yes, we have our husbands (aka our homeschool principals).  And mine is great at supporting, listening and offering advice.  But there's one thing lacking from this amazing man...emotion.  And that's NOT his fault!  The majority of husbands probably have a hard time understanding our fears and frustrations as a homeschooling mom.

And when that disconnect happens between you and your principal, we have to connect with our "co-workers".  Those moms that were graciouly given to us by God to support us during our down times.  The moms that know you and know your children!

So I snuck out of bed and jumped onto my email.  I began thinking of "my tribe".  The handful of moms that know my heart for homeschooling, they know my 7-year-old and they know how to pray HARD!

Side note: After searching for pictures with these moms, these "co-worksers", I noticed we don't take enough pictures of US!  So many of you are missing from my picture stash! However, I have a million of my kids with yours...but none of us!)

I wrote a simple email letting them know the situation and asking them to PRAY!  I needed support and the next day my inbox was FULL of positive replies!  And to my surprise...they had ALL had this same thought, at some point, during their homeschool journey!

"Just give up and try public school!"  It's one of our favorite threats!

But they all reminded me that homeschooling our children is a calling. It's a calling for our God-given purpose in life.

These women have been placed in my life at the perfect time!  (Thank you Jesus!)  Just like the amazing moms that I had in my life back when Mommy's Little Learners started.

 

Just like the moms that WILL be placed in my life when I have teenagers.
(Don't even want to picture my boys as teenagers!)

When God knows your heart has a homeschooling mom, he sends you your "co-workers".  They aren't down the hall or next door to your classroom, but they are just a text or phone call away!

So my challenge to you as a mom, homeschooler and blogger...USE this amazing network that God has designed for you!  Don't be afraid to ask for help and/or prayer.  Don't be ashamed to post a REAL picture of that REAL situation that's going on that day!  We all need each other to make it through this journey!  We need to rely on our "co-workers" during this homeschool career.

To end this post,

J is still at home with us.  August 23rd, the first day of school, came and went.  Have things gotten easier...some days, yes and some days, nope!
But I have BIG plans for us and can't wait to tackle another school year with this awesome learner!  He was the first born that gave me the desire to homeschool in the first place.  I can't just give up!