Hard Wear

This time of year homeschooling is all-consuming.  I kicked the kids out of the basement a few weeks ago and hung curtains to disguise the new things I was doing to freshen the space.  Last year we studied the Medieval period and the Age of Exploration always feels like a let down to me.  Jimmy is joining the crew this year and teaching a child to read is one of the most time-consuming teaching tasks there is.  We needed to be ready and inspired.  That's a lot of work in prepping the classroom and the curriculum.  I thought about going into all of it, but it's too much for one post, so hardware now, software later.  This will give me the opportunity to have tested the software for more than two days anyway.

These are Jimmy's shelves.  He's four, so technically he's in preschool.  I'm doing Kindergarten curriculum because he is so darn ready in every way but motor skills.  Motor skills I can work around, but working on kindergarten work with a 4-year old means remembering his attention span is a bit shorter, so you have to have wiggle time of all kinds and sorts.  Lucky him he's the last of six, and I've learned some tricks.  A nice display of a reasonable amount of toys is always good for this age. They can decide what they want quickly and clean it up quickly--on good days. Coloring pages and educational computer games or apps are great too.  Never count out participating in the fun subjects like science and history.  Jimmy took his turn rolling the balls down the ramps with everybody else.

We are off on our voyage.  Oriental Trading Co. offered this wallpaper for 32 bucks.  It has set the mood.  Every chance they get my kids are grabbing a bean bag and taking off in their imagination.  The bean bags were from Wal-Mart and are great bang for the buck.  This kind of grand gesture lets my kids know that we love them and really care about their school work and making it fun. In this case it didn't cost that much either.

  This is my desk where I work with the kids either individually or in small groups.  It's just right for the job.  The new set of drawers is streamlining classroom communication and grading.  Each child has two drawers in their favorite colors.  The top one is for picking up materials I want them to use.  The bottom one is for turning in the work they've completed.  The last two are for me to store photocopies, worksheets, etc.  On the white desk I also put out four manipulative bins that are mostly geared toward Jim but do attract the interest of the others.

The bins are the kid's lockers.  I have files in them in their favorite colors, one for each subject.  They also have their pencil cases and crayons, etc. in the front.  Wal-mart had great clipboards with a storage space.  It's not the same as my blue thing, but close enough.  Years of watching Mom haul one around has them pre-sold on using theirs.  We watch videos from The Teaching Company, so a video corner is a necessity.  Okay, Okay, I'll admit the blue bin under the white desk houses vintage Nintendo games, but it's only for the weekend, really.  The table we picked up at a school auction and those mid-century modern designs just keep on going.

The rocking chair is the first piece of furniture I bought for myself.  Since I was still single I was a very focused young woman.  The shelves behind the chair have our second set of The Great Books--you can't have just one--and a selection of fun books.  I've since added bins of toys for older kids, and the upper shelves are for art materials.  The three exercise balls are my new way of helping my wigglers stay on track.  They can sit on a ball instead of a chair as long as they keep working.  Hasn't worked yet, but Pete keeps trying.

I love teaching my kids and I'm just about over the hump.  All those years of trying to manage an infant or toddler while trying to meaningfully engage with my older children has left me extra capacity for this second half.  It's going to be a great year, and I haven't even talked curriculum yet.