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Last year, I used these really cool wall-adhesive charts to organize my life. But unfortunately, my WallPops did not survive the move. (They adhered to the wax paper and would not come off.) So I was left scrambling at the last minute before the beginning of school wondering how I was going to organize myself.
Thank the Lord for Target! I actually made the trip to look for toy bins for Middlest’s room and happened upon these terrific magnet dry-erase boards.
Of course, with my aversion for putting holes in walls, I hung them with command hooks and adhesives rather than the actual mounting kit. But so far, they seem to be holding well. And I do love to feel organized.
I actually use the calendar to record our school schedule, placing the subjects in the Sunday box and filling in the rest of the days with assignments for that day. This system works really well for me because it’s up on a wall where I can quickly glance to know what to do next with each child, rather than hunting down yet another notebook or loose piece of paper.
The larger week-in-view allows me to highlight specific events or appointments that we have during the week. I update it each week from our Google calendar so that I don’t overlook those important items. It might seem overkill for some people, but it has been a life-saver for me. While we were moving, I really felt lost without this item.
{sigh} So nice to see my life again, neatly arranged in little boxes with brightly colored markers. It helps me feel that everything is in its rightful place.
Adjustments are some of the perks of homeschooling, tweaking schedules and routines and curriculum to fit the unique lifestyle and learning style of your family. And we’ve definitely been taking advantage of that perk lately. I’ve made some pretty big adjustments to our routine, as well as a few minor tweaks.
My husband has Mondays off, which made it tricky to fit in family time. We had school in the mornings, had a window of time in the afternoon to do something together, and then I had a Ladies Bible study to attend in the evenings. But everything in me balked at the idea of doing school on a Saturday. Until I finally gave in and tried it. I love it!
I’ve moved our typical Monday through Friday school schedule to a Tuesday through Saturday schedule. The kids pre-approved cartoons are DVR-ed anyway, so it really makes little difference if they watch them on Saturday mornings or on Monday mornings. And though the first Saturday was a little rough, the following Monday was absolutely worth it.
Another major difference this year is how I organize the kids’ weekly assignments. I mentioned in an earlier post that I’m no longer using the hanging pockets as workbox pockets this year. For one, filling all the pockets every day was requiring too much time and effort for me. And though I had originally intended to continue filling Middlest’s pockets this year, I soon converted her to my new system as well.
This year, each child has an assignment notebook. Inside this notebook, I have 5 pocket dividers labeled for each day of the week that we do school: Tuesday (T), Wednesday (W), Thursday (R), Friday (F), and Saturday (S). I have these written in permanent marker so that it will not smudge. When I need to make changes (i.e. change Monday [M] to Saturday [S]), I simply wipe off the permanent marker with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. At the start of each week, I fill each pocket with the worksheets, notebooking pages, copywork assigments, etc. for that day.
You can totally tell that I have no OCD compulsions. These were the pockets I had left-over to put into the notebooks, and the tabs don’t line up. My motto? Oh, well!
Even my Middlest has learned to open her notebook and begin working on those pages that she knows how to do. If they have a question about a page, they set it aside and begin work on another page. There are pages in their notebook that they have learned are “Mommy” pages, pages they only do with Mommy present. For Oldest, that’s some of his math assignment. For Middlest, it’s her handwriting and reading.
This system has worked out so well for those mornings when Littlest has us all thrown off schedule. I know, hard to believe that sweet thing could be any kind of trouble.
Watch out! I’m on the move now, folks.
Bottom line, this system has been a real life-saver.
when the phone rings
when a diaper needs to be changed
when it’s time to work with my other child
when Littlest is teething
when Littlest is fussy
when Littlest won’t nap
when Littlest…you get the idea
And honestly, the kids have loved the independence about as much as I have. It’s a win-win for us. So that’s the update on our year and the adjustments we’ve made so far.
What adjustments have you already had to make for your school year?
