Learning Room Open House - Part 2

Welcome back to our Part 2 of our Open House.  I really do hope that this "sneak peek" is helping you create learning spaces within your home for your little learners, homeschoolers or not.  

My Part One explained our pocket chart calendar and storage shelf from Ikea.  Here's that link, if you miss it.  Learning Room Open House - Part 1

Since then, I've added a Listening Station with CD+books for the boys to enjoy!  

In this picture, you see J's desk area and workbox bins.  I love that it faces a window!  Who doesn't LOVE working while looking outside.  Just something about a little sunshine that makes you happier!

These desks were a gift from my fabulous in-laws.  They grabbed them at their local school garage sale.  Pretty sure if you are looking for something similar you can find them on Craigslist.

Next to his desk, I have a box that contains books we've written.  

We also have our Field Trip Journal in this bin.  They love looking at their work! 

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On the wall hangs this amazing organizer from Ikea!  It actually has 2 more pockets, but I tucked those behind to make this fit on this specific wall.  This holds the boys "Just Right" books that they have been reading with me.  N's are on the right and J's are on the left...surprised I haven't labeled them!!  We refer back to these books every day, so it's great that they are visible and accessible to my lil learners.

Back at J's desk, actually inside his desk, you'll find this awesome plastic organizer that holds everything a lil writer might need.  And yes, it's from Ikea!  

And here's those flip-close lid storage bins, that I mentioned in Part 1.  They are clearly labeled and ready to go!  I can't remember where I got this cute labels...probably Pinterest.  But they fit perfectly inside each bin and I just used clear packaging tape to keep them in place.

Above our window sill full of supply boxes, you'll find J's Word Wall.  This is a great way to alphabetically organize all the words your little learners can fluently read.  He refers to this list ALL the time during writing and reading.

Working our way up, you'll find our Breakfast Menu!  

(another Blog topic that I can't wait to tell you about.)

Finally, we end up at J's Workbox cart...which is yet another blog coming soon!  If the idea of workboxes interests you, GOOGLE it, Pinterest it!  You'll find so much info on this homeschooling system.  After my Open House series, I want to share with you how we make this system work for us.

These carts are THE CHEAPEST at Sam's.  For some reason, they are almost double the price at crafting store such as JoAnns.   

On top of his cart, we have our writing station.  This holds paper, sentence strips, post-it notes for writing.  

And my favorite wall in our Learning room... 

My first "teacher frame" from my mother when I graduate college and a special Valentine from J that says..."Mommy, I love you when you do learning with me!"

Below are a few pieces of special art that I just love, for some reason...probably because of who they are from!  

Part 3 = Showing you my Mommy Message board, along with a few other spots in 

our Learning Room.  

Feel free to email or leave a comment.  Would also LOVE to see any pictures of your ideas...such inspiration!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones.  

Not-so-happy homeschooling day

Life is real!  Today was real!  Rather than blogging tonight about our Learning Room Open House part 2 - I felt led to open up alittle bit about a crabby day, a real day!

This morning, kids were up, happy and ready to go at 7:30am...like every morning - even on the weekends.  God Bless them!

Happy breakfast - check!
Happy Chores - check!
Happy MiniM - ummmm, BIG X!

I couldn't put my mommy finger on it!  Was it teething? ear ache? low fever from booster shots? Whatever it was, it wasn't normal.  And that makes it HARD on any mommy, especially a SAH mommy, and super-especially for a Homeschooing mommy!

I had all these wonderful things planned today - how could this be happening!

I laid MiniM down for his morning nap...ahhhhh asleep....for about 5 minutes!  Then woke up SCREAMING!!!  But in that 5 minutes, I was able to read a book about sedimentary rocks and get J&N started on a Science Experiment.

With a fussy baby on my hip, we finished that experiment.
With a fussy baby on my hip, we made lunch, ate lunch and even got an episode of Sign Time in.

About mid-day...things are looking better!  N and MiniM are down for naps. And it's Mommy and Me time for J.  We did get through a reading lesson, 2 workboxes and a writing lesson.
(And after typing this and reflecting...that's something to celebrate!)

So many times, we dwell on what went wrong rather than the small moments and quick blessings that happen during that "not so happy" day.
 
I'm gonna stop there!  Stop with what went wrong and tell you....

*I got to snuggle with N for 5 minutes and watch him drift into a happy sleep!

*I got to teach my 5yr old about "how REAL authors think and write" and sit beside him as he created a fabulous piece of writing!

*I got to listen to my 5 yr old talk about how Joy Cowley is the best author EVER and how he loves long vowel sounds better than short vowels.

*I got to rock a crabby baby for a solid 30 minutes, just me and him!

*I got to eat a snack (while responding to email) with my crabby baby, just me and him!

*I got to drive to a nearby park and search for our Rock Family and push 3 boys in 3 different swings in the Austin summer heat!

I got to experience 1 more day, at home, with my children.
I got to watch them grow, cry, love, play and learn!

Tomorrow is a new day!  

Tomorrow, I want to look for those small moments, those small blessings and enjoy each of them to pieces!

We have this hanging in our Living Room - maybe I should read it more often!

Happy Learning with your little learners!

Learning Room Open House - Part 1

My new friend and homeschooling Mommy, Jenny at Vintage Burlap Barn, blogged about her homeschooling room.  And her posts inspired me to do the same.  


A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the transformations that our Learning Room has gone through since we began schooling at home.  Check it out, if you missed it: Our Learning Room - est 2011

Like Jenny, I want to give you a tour of our Learning Room in small doses.  Sometimes seeing it all as a whole can be overwhelming...that's how I feel when I "pin" ideas off of Pinterest for Homeschooling rooms!  EEKS!  I hope you will take a piece from each of these posts and apply them to best fit you and your little learners.

So here we go....
Our Learning Room now is in the "eat-in" area that connects to the kitchen.  It's the perfect size for my little learners.

The first thing to catch your eye would be this area... 

I LOVE this pocket chart calendar.  And love it even more when I think of ALL the skills it's taught my lil guys.  Patterns, counting in English and Spanish, Days of the Week in English and Spanish, Months of the Year...possibilities are fun and endless!  Right now, we are counting down our vacation with airplane icons.  We "subtract one" each day for our countdown.

The shelf was purchased at IKEA.  Every bin is labeled!  Below the "Puzzle" bin are some great manipulative boxes.

I found these snaplid bins at Dollar General and bought everyone of them in all different sizes!  They are perfect if you have little ones like our MiniM.  He can't open them!!!  So I can still have my manipulatives accessible for the big guys but keep him safe. 

Here's a peek inside the "Letter Tool" bin:

"Letter Tools" bin - ANYTHING that has to do with ABC and letter learning goes in here.  Playdough letter stampers, Letter tiles, Magnetic Letters (stored in baby wipe container) and so on!

 J's Bin:

This is where the boys store their D.L.Notebook and work folders.

Moving on...Here's a great Leap Frog globe that I purchased off of Craigslist.  The boys love it and it's a GREAT reference!

And yes, that is the Texas Pledge!  Proud to be a Texan, yall!

The globe sits on this 3 drawer bin.  The top drawer is FULL of Math counters and manipulatives.  That's a dangerous drawer for MiniM.  He's not strong enough to pull it out and start digging...YET!

But he does have ownership of the middle and bottom drawers.

The middle drawer is all Magnets, big Magnets!  I have a great set of magnetic gears from Lakeshore Learning, Large number and letter magnets, shape magnets, LeapFrog Fridge Letter set and so on.  It's my favorite "go to" drawer when I am cooking.  I pull the drawer completely out, lay it in front of the fridge and away he plays!   

And the last drawer labeled just for him.  

  

 Here's a peek inside his drawer:

Inside MiniM's Toy drawer - Stackable pegs from Lakeshore Learning, Marbles in a tupperware to shake, mini book from Chick-fil-a, and yes...a Barrel of Monkeys!

I hope enjoyed this little slice of our Learning Room.  I love getting emails and comments about your ideas for lil ones!  Keep sharing!

Our tour will continue next week with: Workbox bins, supply boxes and Mommy's Message board!  

Happy Learning with your Lil Ones

 

Early Reading Assessments

I told you last night that I am a DATA DORK!  

When it comes to assessments, I long for some good data!  I love studying the results so that I can apply teaching strategies, based on that data, in our homeschooling program. 

It's a great way to reflect on your own teaching as well.

 As a Kindergarten - 5th grade Reading Coach, I went through intense training on proctoring and interpreting assessments.  

During this time, I would assess students on many different reading (skill) levels.  Our main goal was to find that "missing link" and work with teachers to move forward with student-specific differentiated instruction. 

With that being said, I pulled a few Reading assessments for my own kiddos.  

Today, I assessed both of my little learners using an Letter Knowledge assessment from this resource.

Using this assessment will give me a baseline and also identifies what I need to teach /focus on over the next few months.  

Before the assessment, I already knew J could recognize his letters (upper and lower) and need to confirm that due to our recent time off from homeschooling.  I was unsure about his Letter Sound knowledge when it comes to short and long vowels.

Here's a peek of what the completed assessment for J looks like.

I showed him this page.  He used a pointer to track his left-to-right reading progression.  I also assessed him using a lowercase page (not pictured)

Here is my data sheet and notes.

Based on this data, I need to review long and short vowel sounds for J.  There is NO reason for me to spend weeks/months on a Letter of the Week.  He doesn't need that.  

But he does need to become stronger with those vowel sounds because that might hinder his decoding during his independent reading.

My plan is to create a Phonemic Awareness/Phonics Workbox for him next week that reviews these vowel skills.

I am planning a few other reading assessments throughout the week.  

(Please leave a comment or email me if you are interested in what those might be for my 5 yr old)   

Because N is 3 1/2 years old, I needed to alter the delivery of assessment.

If I used the letter sheet above (that I used with J), that would be to overwhelming for this little guy!  So this is what I did:

I used lower and uppercase letter cards.  I explained to N that we were playing a letter game so I could see how smart he was.  

I showed him one card at a time, then made piles to help me record me data later. 

First we did Letter Recognition for upper and lowercase.  

Then, I asked him if he could play one more game using his letter sounds.  

And he was excited about that!

I didn't push assessing him on the 3rd column on the assessment record sheet which is "word that begins with that letter".  We will come back to that tomorrow.

Keeping it simple and not overwhelming was key!

Once again, if you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Assessment is important!  When done effectively, it can really guide your child's instruction!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones. 

Our schedule - as of August

We've taken an good month or so off from structured learning.  And with the new school year coming soon, I needed to reflect on our last year and prepare for this year.  

How did I start?...With our daily schedule.  

If we were to send J to school outside of our home, he'd be in Kindergarten.  So I wanted to create a schedule for us that would reflect that...but just has our sweet, homeschooling twist!

This is a SLOPPY COPY of our schedule...yes that's a coffee stain on the paper!: 

Did we jump right into this schedule?  Absolutely NOT!  We would have all freaked out...especially after taking some time off.  I am a BIG fan of gradually releasing!  It gives me time to see what works and what doesn't.  

2 weeks ago: 

I learned very quickly, that N (my 3 yr old) would rather get his calendar done first, before playing/Curious George comes on at 8am.  So I penciled in 7:45am for Morning calendar for N and Daily Learning Notebook for J.  It works beautifully, because MiniM can eat his breakfast (and most importantly, BE CONTAINED!) while the boys get that done.  Plus, MiniM is actively listening to us count, sing the days of the week and such.  

Sounds busy?  Yes it is...I'm not going to lie:0) 

Last week:

I tried "Circle Time" 2 ways.  

One way was in our living room with Mason "out and about!"...yep, that didn't go well. 

So the next day, I combined snack and Circle time...Perfect!  Mason is contained in his highchair, N&J are snacking and enjoying a great read-a-loud.  We were able have a mini-book club!  

This week:

I'm adding our 30 minute "Reading Block".  I haven't planned reading lessons for this week.  I am using this block of time to assess both boys, 1-on-1, on their Reading skills and strategies.  I am a DATA DORK so this week hold LOTS of excitement for me!  Once I have this data, I will be able to plan what I need to teach or reteach.

Next week:

If all goes well, we will add our Writer's Workshop block.

**No Math block?  I incorporate J's Math within his workboxes (future blog?) plus Daddy works with both N&J during the evenings.

Is this what our everyday looks like? Most of the time...but not always!  Life happens and we have to adjust. Or learning might happen differently and we have to adjust.  Ahhhh...the joys of homeschooling.

Happy Learning with your Lil Ones!

Our Learning Room - est. 2011

As our 2014 homeschool year is about to start back up after a month break, it got me think'n...when did I establish "our Learning Room"?  

When did we start tot schooling that led us to this amazing journey of homeschooling?  

So I went on a picture search to help me remember.  I couldn't believe what I came across!  These sweet boys are going up FAST...and we've moved ALOT!

Our first Learning Room evolved in a great house in one of my favorite neighborhoods.

Big J was 3 and lil N was just a tiny boy!  We held a weekly tot class at our home.  Kids and Moms would come over to learn and have fun.

This is me, Big J and a friend doing a sorting activity in our Learning Room area...April 2011.

After a few months, Big J was ready for more than a foldable Lightning McQueen table.  So my inlaws scored a few desks from a local public school garage sale.  And this is what our Learning Room upgrade looked like at the time.

June 2011

We were using our sliding doors as a ABC/word wall...yes, in our undies!

Nixon had his little area on our fridge.

All good things come to an end...after years of many memories at that home, we moved houses in

September 2012.  

At the time, I was in LOVE with our new house and new neighborhood.  It was a 4 bedroom which meant...a WHOLE room for just Learning!!!  A Dream Come TRUE, right?  

 Wasn't it so cute and perfect?!  But it really wasn't practical for our family.  My kiddos were/are little and this room was 2 rooms away from our kitchen/living.  I found that learning didn't happen freely while I was washing dishes or prepping for a meal.  I missed our Learning Room in our kitchen...call me crazy!  I am a BIG fan of kids reading, playing with stamps, glueing, cutting with scissors all while I'm cook'n.  

After that discovery that 4 bedrooms (for us) just wasn't what we needed...

And my wish came true!  

We moved houses AGAIN...one year later...one more kiddo later! MiniM joined us in July 2013! 

Here's our Learning Room (in the eat-in kitchen area) at our August 2013 home.

Little did we know, we'd move AGAIN!  This time it would be to another State!  

This is our current Learning Room.  

January 2014

January 2014

 I just switched things up and added some flare to our Learning Room!  My best motivator is a crawling 1 yr old that is discovering EVERYTHING.  I needed to re-think what we used and what we didn't.  Plus, the excitement that this "newness" has created in me and my children is super cool!  

August 2014

So if you homeschool or not...find a space in your home where learning can happen!  Lay out baskets of learning toys for your little learners.  Provide them baskets of books along the baseboards in your living area.  PLAY will lead to learning...I promise!

Be sure and "like" our Facebook page.  I post daily there.  

Happy Learning with your Lil ones

Psalm 128:3

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.

Successful Solar System Thematic Unit

It took us a good month+ but we DID it!  We created and learned about our Solar System!  And these 2 are still enjoying and asking for more!

We started with planet Earth and the Moon because that is something they can relate to at such a young age.  After that, we spent 1day per planet.  That morning, we'd read about it from our personal and library books, quick chat, make it, then let it dry.  Then late afternoon, we'd come back together and "share the pen" to write a 1 sentence fact about that planet.

 Just thought I would do a quick picture blog to share it with you.

We started with making the moon and our Earth using blown up water balloons, strips of tissue paper and watered down glue.  

We "shared the pen" to write facts about each planet.

Then we hung the planet (once it was dry) along with the written fact on the ceiling.

We used our 1979 Kitchen light as our "sun", then hung each planet as they were made.

N made an Asteroid Belt and was SO proud that he did it all by himself.

Hung the Asteroid Belt above the door frame to separate "rock planets" from "gas planets"

And the song!  Makes my heart smile when my kids learn through singing.  It's from Dr Jean CD (my hero as a 1st grade teacher!)

Here's a link for the lyrics.  

Planet Song by Dr Jean

Here's Mr 3 yr old performing it:

This lesson reminded me to find what your kids are interested in and Go With It!  

Happy Learning with your Lil Ones!

They whistle while they work:0) - Chores!

Wanna give you the run down on chores around this White House.  Seriously, they get it done, no whining, and BOY does it help this momma! 

When we first started chores, I had LOTS of whining.  But I keep the consistency and now it's just part of our daily schedule.  

Added bonus = you work hard, you get paid, you save, and you spend.  A great life skill in the works.  

(Thanks Jenny S. at http://vintageburlapbarn.blogspot.com/ for enlightening that topic for me)

Here's our system...it works for us!  We've used this system for about 1.5 years. 

I printed these charts off this fabulous blog:

Preschool Picture Card Chore Chart

Each card has a squared piece of Velcro on it that attaches to the Chart.

Some cards we use, some we don't...I've even printed others to work for jobs I need help with...like moping!  Yes!  Both boys love to mop!

Another Example: watering the yard...my 3 yr old LIVES for that job!  Yes, he comes in soaking wet, but done and had fun!

N = red (shorter); J = blue (taller) - hanging on pantry door bc we can see and everyday = consistency!

 While the boys are cleaning up the breakfast table, I slap these cards onto each of the kids chart.  Quick, easy and set up perfectly based on our schedule for the day.  If we have a busy morning, I only post 2 chores.  If we are headed out to dinner that night, we won't have time for "earn" chores.  They do get Saturday and Sunday's off.

*These boys have been "in training" since we moved into the house; and I can proudly say "I have released them!"  After showing and doing each chore; making sure they understand how I would like it done...these boys work together and get it done.  They know where their cleaning tools are and how to use them the right way!  Life is good...when you have good help!

  

(And of course they are rewarded...keep reading!)

J has brushed his teeth (ALWAYS the first morning routine)...he moved it down to #1 box.

I still have to help N brush up.  

 SHEET DAY! 

J takes off sheets and N tosses them into the laundry basket.  Team WORK!

I have added an old belt onto our basket.  N pretends he is a horse pulling a cart!

Working on Mommy and Daddy's sheets

Chore done!  Move the picture card done.

N's afternoon chore is to put up the silverware.

If they get ALL their morning, afternoon and "earned" chores done, I pay them a quarter.  

Usually once a month, we all go spend that hard earned money.  They already do a great job saving it also!  Soon, we will get into donations and giving.

**I used a selfie picture system with J when he was younger.  If that interests you, take a peek back at this post**

April 2012

And there you have it!  I would love to hear any ideas that you have about chores in your home!  Feel free to share in the comment section below!

Happy Learning with your Little Ones!

J & Mommy "Share the Pen" - Video Blog

"Share the pen" is a great way to model writing for your lil learner AND get them in on the writing action.

Here's a quick "share the pen" lesson I did with J (5 yr old).  

My observational teaching points were:

*use of finger spaces to separate words in sentence

*letter formation
*uses knowledge of letter sounds to create words

*stays focused on our 5 word fact that J decides to write 

We were writing a fact about the planet, Mercury (we've been studying the Solar System.)

That morning, we'd read some books about Mercury.  Before writing, I asked what fact he had remembered about Mercury.

He said "Mercury has a thick core" - the book had a great diagram of this and we actually spent a bit of time comparing Mercury to the different layers of an apple.  TEACHABLE MOMENT!!  Love those:0)

This clip is after J used the book to copy the 1st word in out sentence, "Mercury", onto the sentence strip.  It's my turn to write the 2nd word "has".

The next clip is J's turn with the pen.  Notice he uses his "finger space" (YIPPY!) and totally can write the letter "a".

 

Our next step to complete our sentence was to write the word "thick".  It was my turn with the pen, but J had to use the sounds in the word to help me write it out.  

*Watch my Mommy recap to see WHY I didn't push for writing t-h-i-C-k*

This clip is our final step ...  Rereading the sentence and add punctuation.  

AND you get a little taste of how I handle a little 3 yr old interruption.

Here is a Mommy Recap on the Whys? and What's next in J's writing.

**Quick tip when teaching a lil learner to write using sentences**

Talk about what you will be writing, then count the words in the sentence that you are planning to write.  For example:

The sentence we decided on was... "Mercury has a thick core."  So using my fingers, I modeled, while counting out the words..."Mercury" "has" "a" "thick" "core" = 5 words in our sentence.

Not to long, not to short for this Share the Pen activity.

Happy Writing with your lil learner!