Falling onto the groove

I've made a commitment to myself to keep track of our school endeavors via the blog world and it would seem that I'm not honoring that commitment thus far.  Truth be told, I've spent my designated "blogging time" snooping the blogs of other homeschool families and stealing ALL SORTS of super cool ideas from them!  I've been so busy snooping that I haven't had a chance to blog out own stuff.

Well, here goes:

We have been really getting into the swing of things with our workboxes.  I learned about the workbox system nearly 2 years ago at the NCHE conference.  I was sold on the idea and bought all of the supplies that very week.  Sadly, like so many of my "I'm so excited" ventures, those boxes were only used for storage of supplies.  Not anymore!  They've been dusted off and officially broken in.  The kids and I LOVE them!!!  I've even been motivated to organize and make our room more functional. (Until we are able to move into our "permanent room in the current playroom.)

 The current set-up for the boys "desks"

Our storage/center wall - this space is ever evolving!

 The boys are getting good at taking the numbers off the boxes and sticking them on the "done" chart

Hudson has been working on his Thanksgiving Preschool Pack along with accompanying activities.

Hudson working on ordering the Mayflower activity 

 Tracing numbers and matching

 Sorting food and people

 Tt is for Thanksgiving with homemade playdough

Thad has also been hard at work.  Although I have public school classroom experience, I've found it a little tough to juggle the planning and implementing for a 3 year old and a 5 year old.   Thad loves school and is helping his ole mom make it all work!

Working out a pattern block puzzle

 It has been a delight to incorporate his AWANA work into our school day.  We've made it a center that he visits apart from his workboxes.

 He's recently come to LOVE working out logic problems.  This is a book by Critical Thinking Press.

Working through Building Thinking Skills, another CTP favorite!

I've tried to be more diligent about incorporating games into our school day, so we recently added a new game to our repertoire.  I found a great deal on this game at the hospital (weird, I know!) so I snagged it. The idea is to find each of the items "hidden" inside the jar.  It kept their attention for a while; it kept mine much longer!  I guess I'm pretty competitive when it comes to games, even if I'm only competing against myself

Thad playing Find It!

We also had a family first this past week - we did a family craft!  I am a really left-brained, logical kind of girl and I do not find my kicks by doing crafts with little kids.  This week, I branched out.  During my blog snooping, I read about a leaf craft that I was sure we could handle.  Indeed we did!  It was a great time and the finished products are precious too.

What a great past two weeks for us!  I have thoroughly enjoyed doing some research and learning from some moms that are much further along in their journeys than me.  Kudos to Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler, Carissa at 1+1+1=1, and Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations (along with many others).  God gave these moms super creative juices that I don't have and I  am so grateful for their willingness to take the time to make public the great investment they are making in the lives of their children so that newbies like me can keep our heads above water!  

I feel like the boys and I are working out some kinks and getting into a pretty good groove.  We are finding consistency, purpose, and fun in our school.  Finally some peace amidst the chaos - just in time for the crazy holiday season!

Fall Playdough

We had a great week this week at school and I actually caught some of it on film!

The necessary ingredients for our monthly playdough (I got my recipe here).  For fall, we used whole wheat flour (it produced a great natural brown color) and a dash of cinnamon for a yummy smell - way better than the old store bought stuff!

My little helpers anxious to begin.  I'm not great at incorporating kitchen activities into our day, so they were thrilled when they realized I was serious about cooking together.  They loved being able to measure out and pour the ingredients.  I do require that they sit on a stool at a safe distance from the stove while we cook.

The finished product!  It made a lot more dough than I expected.  It was plenty for both boys to be able to work with at the same time.  

The test run proved successful! I was concerned they would quickly grow bored with just one color of dough and no "toys."  On the contrary, they played for nearly 30 minutes with nothing more than their little hands.  Thad even created a nativity scene.  "You know Mom, the place where baby Jesus was born?"

The smell was great and the clean up much easier than our usual alternative.  I'm sold.  No more store bought for us!  We will enjoy the creative options of making our own.  

We used our yummy scented fall playdough in several activities this week, including our Batman Pack.  More on that to come...I don't want to exhaust my current streak of blogging zeal on one post!

Change is on the way...

It is official - our family has launched into the world of homeschooling.  As we follow this path that God has laid for us, I hope to be able to use this venue to record the nitty-grittys of the journey.  I already have so much to share from just this past week!

Here's a sneak peek: