School Organization Fall 2014

 School starts for us in less than a month!  I've been working on getting organized and ready for the new school year.  I'll have two official students (Primus grade 3, Secundus grade 1) plus Tertius doing some preschool stuff and Quartus who's 18 months.  Here's what our plans are.  Maybe it will give you some ideas.


Daily Schedule.  This is going to be posted on the wall in our kitchen.

As you can see, 7:30 is when I aim for everyone to be awake and getting started with the day.  "Devo" stands for devotional.  It's our time as a family to pray and work on our scripture memorization. 

 By 8:15 hopefully the kitchen table is clean and everyone is ready for Table Time.  Everyone (even the boys for most of the time) will be sitting at the table and working on things like math and writing.  Mostly independent work-book stuff.

9:30 is snack time.  We're usually not big breakfast eaters (just cereal or oatmeal) but by 9:30 we're ready for some fruit. Under that I have posted History.   I have several word strips that have velcro on the back so they can be changed daily.  I aim for doing history and science each twice a week.  We do science and history all together in either the school room or the living room.

After lunch is another velcro spot where I can change activities out.  I aim to do Literature 3 times per week.  This year Secundus and Tertius will be doing literature activities together while Primus will be studying chapter books like Charlotte's Web and Bunnicula.

The school day officially ends no later than 3pm with snack.


 Weekly Assignments Clip Board.  Each student has their own. 

 Last year we did daily assignment sheets.  This year I want to try weekly assignments to encourage independence, personal responsibility, and the idea that it's a good idea to get the "boring" stuff out of the way first so then the rest of the week will be more time for fun.

All page numbers completed, test scores, and anything else applicable will be written on these sheets to make record keeping easier for me at the end of each month when I see our supervising teacher.


Writing Activity Ideas.  This is taped to each of the girls' clipboards.

I want the girls to have lots of opportunities to write throughout the week.  But I also want this to be an area where they can choose to do what really interests them.  So they're each expected to do 3 writing activities per week in addition to their Daily 6 Trait Writing book and any writing associated with other subjects.  This list gives them ideas of things to do.


 Book Baskets.  Each kid has their own basket that holds all of their individual work and clipboard. 

I got these at a thrift store for only a couple bucks each and everyone has their own color.  They sit on a shelf in the school room when we're not using them for Table Time.  All science, history, German, art, and literature stuff is stored all together in a separate location.


Record Keeping.  I'm an over-achiever sometimes.  I'm also paranoid and want to make sure EVERYTHING the kids learn or do is thoroughly documented. 

About once a month our supervising teacher comes to document our attendance, relevant things that we've done, and collect work samples.  Before she comes, I type up everything we've done and send it to her so she can pick out what she needs to send on to the school.

Then after our meeting I staple all loose work samples that she didn't take together with that kid's weekly assignment sheets and store them in my filing cabinet until the end of the year.  If the teacher wants work samples from any of the workbooks (math, handwriting, spelling, language) then they can be ripped out and given to her.  Otherwise, I probably won't be tearing out those pages.  (A couple years ago I tore every page out of Primus' math book so then she could just have one sheet of paper in front of her at a time.)

(Edited to add:) I also have a simple notebook where I record all of our group learning and activities each week.  I tell the kids that it's my brain because it's also where I write school supply wish lists, grocery lists, keep track of school money left, all planning notes about future birthday parties, list of things borrowed or loaned out, etc.




Are you ready for the new school year?

Hook's Revenge-Pirate Face

 Enjoy this lovely pictures of the girls giving me their best Pirate Face.

A friend of a friend wrote a book called Hook's Revenge.  By sharing our pirate face picture, we have a chance to win some cool stuff related to the book.  And you can enter, too! 

Why do I care about this contest?
1) The story came highly recommended as a fun adventure
2) I recently read a book to the kids from a different author that was also set in Neverland.  They loved it!  We're currently picking out way through the original Peter Pan, as well so this might be a good fit for us.  Though, Hook's revenge does appear to be for older kids.  That's ok, I'll read it and then pack it away with my growing stash of literature for the kids.
3) Who doesn't love free stuff?

Finger Painting with Yogurt

This is an activity I used to do all the time when Primus was 3 and Secundus was a baby.  It's a fun activity and snack all in one!

This can be done with either vanilla yogurt or vanilla pudding.  We've always done yogurt, but pudding would be nice with its thicker consistency.

Divide your snack into 3 bowls and color them with red, blue, and yellow food coloring.

 Give each of the kids 3 tiny bowls so they can have a little bit of each color.

  A big white plate makes a great canvas for mixing colors and painting.

Paper Graduation Cap

 Finally, here's the tutorial I promised.  Just in time for next year!  :)


Cut a 9X12 piece of black construction paper in half longwise.

Staple the ends together to form the circular band.  Do it so the flat side of the staple is against the kid's head and the ends are pointing out so they don't grab hair.

Cut a second piece of 9X12 black construction paper into a square.

Cut little notches all around the band you made and fold them perpendicular. 

Glue the little tabs to the square paper.

 Once you try it on your child's head, you'll want to trim the band down so it's not as tall.

Glue a little black pom pom to the center top of the square paper.  Wrap the string of your tassel around it and glue that down.

To make the string:
Take a long piece of yarn and twist it tightly.  As you twist it, fold the yarn in half.  It will twist on itself.  Tie the ends together in a knot and it won't unravel. 

The make the tassel:
Start making a large pom pom with 4 fingers like it shows here.  When you're done wrapping, fit the twisted string you made between the yarn on one end.  Tie a string close to that end, instead of in the middle. Finally, only cut the loops far away from where you tied it.

The Cheapest Way to Pay it Forward

I struggled to get out of the store after a long, tiring grocery shopping trip.  The baby was strapped to me in the Moby Wrap, crying,  and two little ones were ordered to hold on to the side of the over-full cart.  Soon after stepping out through the automatic door, a woman with a kind face and a teenage daughter stopped me.  "You're doing a great job!  Your children are so well behaved!  Please let me help you with your groceries."  She then pushed the cart while I held one child in each hand.  Once we reached the car, I buckled in the little ones and calmed the baby while her and her daughter tried to figure out how to fit all my bags around the stroller in the back of the car.

Her kind words (and many others like them over my 8 years of being a mother) really struck me.  Her words even had more impact on me than the fact that she helped pack my bags into the car.  I want to be that woman.  I want to pay that forward.  I want to lift others up! 

I'm not in a position currently to help others financially.  And as a busy mom I don't always have the time and energy to give service in the traditional sense.  But kind words are free.  Kind words are easy.  Kind words are uplifting.

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"I'm so stressed out!  I don't feel like I'm doing anything right some days!" my friend lamented to me.  She was working herself ragged trying to take care of her home and children and dealing with the other stresses of life.  All she could see was the things that were going wrong.  But all I could see were the many wonderful things she was doing right.  So I touched my hand to her knee and said, "I've been there, too.  It seems I'm "there" often.  You are a good mom!  You're an inspiration to me."

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"Go tell Shirley 'thank you' for having us over," my friend told her little one after a fun playdate.   The handsome boy reluctantly walked closer to me and mumbled a shy, "Thank you."  I knelt down at his level, looked him in the eye, took his hand gently, and said, "You're welcome.  I'm so glad you came today."

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We all stood up and started putting away our chairs after the closing prayer of the Family Support Group, for which I'm facilitator.  As we worked, we continued to talk with each other about God, addiction, our loved ones, our struggles, the 12 Steps, and even unrelated things like the weather.  Sometimes the "meeting" after the meeting is the most uplifting and supportive part.  This is our time to make real connections and friendships with each other, share ideas, and expand on thoughts and testimonies that were shared during the meeting. While one member told us about how excited she was to visit her grandkids in another state next week, I noticed Jane (name changed) try to sneak out.

She had only attended a couple times and shared a tiny, mostly vague, part of her story so far.  I wasn't sure what in her life had prompted her to start coming, but it was very clear that she felt hopeless and depressed.  Obviously she needed healing and peace, and I knew that she could find it in the Atonement of Christ through the 12 Steps. But in the beginning of “recovery,” before you gain a testimony of the process, it can be hard to attend each week. Just like with addicts, co-dependents won't seek recovery until the pain of the solution is less than the pain of the problem. Many new members of the group need encouragement to keep coming back. They need to feel like they are loved and that their contributions to the group are important. I caught her eye before she had a chance to step out the door and said, "Thank you for coming.  You're right where you need to be.  See you next week!"

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I looked down at my peacefully nursing newborn.  As a new mom, I quickly became overwhelmed with thoughts of all the things I needed to teach her.  Then my mind cleared and I thought, "If I could have her learn just one thing, what would be the most important?"  So I looked her in the eyes and said softly, "You are a daughter of God.  And you are of worth because you're His child and He loves you."

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Everyone needs to feel needed.  Everyone needs to feel loved.  

What can you do to lift those around you?  Even sharing some simple words of kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life, young or old.