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| Gathered together for Morning Announcements and Opening Exercises |
School is in full swing here!
And I LOVE the changes that we made this year!
I was so blessed in our home in Mexico to have desks for each child.
The house we are renting here is much smaller and so for the past two years, we have simply gathered around the dining room table with a few scattered at a 6-foot table we set in the middle of the kitchen or some working on the couch. There was lots of elbow bumping and "his book is covering part of my book". :)
Daniel had mentioned installing desks on the wall that would close up leaving plenty of room to "live" after school hours. Of course, we didn't know when or how we would be able to get the supplies needed to make the desks.
Long story short, there was a Christian school here in the area that closed down a few years ago, and they gave us some of the desks to use in our home school!!
So after breakfast chores each morning, the fun begins.
Dining room tables moved to the living room to serve as a scoring table and a desk for Samuel and Eliseo.
Dining room benches moved. Desks opened up. Dividers between each desk inserted.
Folding chair brought in and put at each desk. Water bottles filled and set by each desk.
And 5 minutes later, our kitchen/dining room/living room is transformed into a learning center!
Ok, so the first time we attempted this set up, it took us more like 40 minutes. So I made us practice.
A lot! ;)
Each child has their own area to study, keep their supplies and books, and decorate how they'd like.
After school is over, chair are taken back outside, dividers stored in the hall closet, water bottles emptied and washed for the next day, desks closed up against the wall, and tables and benches brought back to the dining room (and my pretty table cloths put back on those white tables :) ).
I'm so thankful for the ability to utilize the space we have in the best way possible!
As far as our school schedule this year, it's pretty simple, but it's working great!
We are trying a 4 day/week school schedule...starting a bit earlier and ending a bit later each day M-TH to ensure we keep on schedule getting all the material covered we normally would cover in a 5 day.
I broke our school day into 7 periods with a 10 minute break between each one. Every child has their daily goals/assignments and knows what to do each period whether it is math, reading, English, or PE.
6:00 or 6:30 am- Wake up time for children/Chores/Dress/Bible and Prayer Time
7:30 am- Breakfast/Clean up/Set up School Room
8:00- 8:30 am- Morning Opening Exercises/Announcements/Bible Reading/Scripture Memory
8:30-- 9:20 am- 1st period (10 minute break between each period)
9:30- 10:20 am- 2nd period (10-10:30 am- recess for elementary age)
10:30-11:20- 3rd period
11:30-12:20- 4th period
12:20- 1:00 pm- Lunch Break/ Clean Up
1:00-1:50 pm- 5th period
2:00-2:50 pm- 6th period (Early dismissal for those finished)
3:00 pm- 3:50 pm- 7th period
Clean up and dismissal by 4 pm.
4 pm until 6 pm- Afternoon chores/Homework if needed/Music Practice/Free time
6 pm- Supper and clean up
7 pm- Free time
8 pm- Family Bible Time
8:30-9:30 pm- Free until your time to get ready for bed
So far, we are LOVING the changes we have made this year and have had a great week. I used the first 2 days of the week as pre-start to school days. We went over rules, instructions, schedules, set up desks/binders/notebooks, and basically covered all the different aspects of our school day.
Wednesday we started our first full day following our schedule and it was probably the smoothest start to a school year we have ever had!
Of course, I told my hubby, talk to me again in a couple weeks when the "newness" has worn off and I'll let you know how it is then :) And I know the children are getting older and that definitely makes a difference. Home schooling with many little ones under foot is an adventure for sure!
Well, that's a little look into our school day. Looking forward to learning and growing together another year! So thankful for the Lord's never ending grace!
I'm so thrilled to see more posts on your blog! :) You have been a spiritual blessing and encouragement to many! ;) I'm curious, if sometime you'd consider sharing what curriculum (s) you use, how you use it to best fit your family, and what brought you to use it? I know time can be so limited, and I understand if you can't. Praying you all have a very blessed school year! ;)
ReplyDeleteSo thrilled too! We too are trying to figure out the best way to use our cozy space for learning, well. Love your desk/dividers! We have 13 children and nine students with one more doing R&S workbooks. Three more wee girls running about. This is very inspiring! Thank you, I'm so blessed by this.
ReplyDeleteRebeccaJ in Alberta
So glad to see you posting again! Have you done a post to tell us what's been going on since Mexico? Where are you living? Where is your husband working now? Are you still in ministry?
ReplyDeleteSo glad your homeschooling is going well. We began our 21st year this year and it is going great too. Glory to God! We have 5 still homeschooling ages 6-17, and 4 in college. Our oldest son about to start law school. God is good!
I was so happy to see your blog posts! :) I can't believe how much the children have grown and changed. I love the desks and how organized everything is. Your words and actions continue to inspire me. Have a wonderful week and I am looking forward to your next post. Tell everyone hello and we send our love. :)
ReplyDeleteAngela :)
Hey there Jaynee,
ReplyDeleteI thought I would check you out today, and there you are! So glad to have you back. I love reading what you are doing with your family, but what shines is your heart of thankfulness in the midst of whatever is going in real life. You go girl! You are a BIG light!
Susan
It's so good to see your post. I enjoyed seeing your pictures of your "school". Our church had an ACE school for the first few years of our being there and it's so neat to see it all again. (Sadly, our campus school had to close, but became a home school academy) Once our family started homeschooling, we still used ACE for the most part (with the exception of using Abeka for Math in high school so we could do DVD's) We loved ACE. Our daughter has gotten a wonderful Christian education using it. She is a senior this year and she is doing dual enrollment classes at our local community college. Already, we can see differences in what she is being taught. Thankfully, she knows what is right and understands but it makes me sooooo happy that she was blessed to be educated in a Christian curriculum . Praying for your family. Hopefully, your school year will continue to go smoothly. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteThis post is such an inspiration for homeschooling in limited space, and I know it will be a blessing and encouragement to many. I especially love how you began the school year with two days dedicated to setting up and learning the schedule, rules, etc. Too often I wait until a problem pops up to tell a child that she's breaking a rule (which she probably never knew about). Thanks so much for taking the time to share your new schedule and set-up.
ReplyDeleteI was so glad to see your post The children have grown alot You are so organize I don't know how you do it Have a good year honeschooling Will look forward to see your next post
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful set up you have there!
ReplyDeleteWow! I must say that your family is amazing. I understand that you have to spend all your time for children and I appreciate it. No doubt you are doing hard work here and I wish you good luck and good mood. I am hoping the same helpful works from you in future, because your ideas inspired me on my great dealings.
ReplyDeleteHi, I Love reading your post. I always read over at Cindy's blog. Joel's Journey and always saw you there.... just popping in. Love how you use your small space. Hugs
ReplyDeleteHi Jaynee! I finally can get to your page! It's so good to see updates! So glad you're doing well. What an awesome set up. You're so organized! I love that they each have their own space. I've missed seeing your posts. I hope all is well. I think of you often. Love to you!!!
ReplyDeleteMissing you...and your posts... xx
ReplyDeleteHi, Jaynee! How did the school year go?
ReplyDeleteIt was a great year! One of the best yet! Starting next year, I will graduate one child per year for the next 10 years. The days are long but the years are short!
DeleteThat is the truth. Such a great feeling to see the fruition of all those years of dedication - the garden is blossoming.
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