School Stuff

PREPARING FOR SCHOOL!

Samuel starts school next week! I can hardly believe it!

We worked out a schedule for homeschool days. It feels good to have that part planned. I like a detailed schedule...and then I like the freedom to deviate. :) This is what our Mondays and Wednesdays will look like. Fridays will be flex days or free days if he's got all his school work from the week done.

All the kids will get the benefit of learning some of the things Samuel's learning, like the phonograms, pictured here. I think there are about 70, and the kids memorize the phonemes for each letter or letter group, along with cues, like, "we may not use this at the end of English words," or, "can be used at the beginning of any consonant after the first one." It seems pretty complicated to me, but surprisingly, after 2 solid weeks of practice, Samuel knows most the cues pretty well. Even Isaac has been walking around saying things like, "What G spell? G say /g/, /j/."


This is an idea for occupying Elijah and Isaac that I got from the time management session at Veritas. Each of the blue bins contains special toys or learning items (mostly new for the boys) that can only be taken out during schooltime. I will let them choose 3 or 4 bins each day to use while I'm working with Samuel. Some of the things inside the bins are: big stamps with stamp pads, wiki sticks, tinkertoys, items for cutting and pasting, geoboards, sequence cards, letter tiles, dress up stuff, matchbox cars and action figures.

Also for Elijah and Isaac, there is the regular playroom stuff: a closet full of games, cards, blocks and puzzles. Plus a bookshelf and a toybox!




I'm getting Samuel's school supplies organized. This is what $400 in curriculum material looks like. It's some really good stuff, but next time I'm going to shop around more for better prices!

After worrying about the driving schedule for awhile, we've now got a great plan in place. I was not sure how I was going to work Tuesdays and Thursdays when Samuel will go to school. He has to be there at 8, it's almost an hour away from my house, and he gets out at 3. This could mean either, a) I get everyone ready by 7 a.m. for a full day out of the house, including snacks/lunches packed, stay the day in South Austin and hope the kids don't melt down too much due to no nap, or b) drive him to school, come home, nap, and then drive back out to pick him up, which would equal almost 4 hours of driving. BUT, my husband has come through for me and offered to drop his usual Tuesday and Thursday morning plans (which include basketball!) and drive Samuel to school! What a huge relief! On top of that, we have friends who live about halfway to school from our house, and she has offered to pick up Samuel with her son so that I only have to drive to her house to pick up Samuel after school. It's all coming together, thank the Lord.