Our Schedule (so far)

We were planning on starting our school year on September 5, to give more time for prep. and all that. But I figured I had all the curriculum, and we were probably as ready as we'd ever be. So this last week we started school!

Here is the basic schedule for our day. But we're pretty relaxed about things, so if we need to adjust times it's not a big deal.
Kids get up between 6:3- and 7:30. We have breakfast, get dressed, make beds and brush teeth.

8:30--Start of the school day with handwriting. For the most part it's pretty simple and hopefully as we get into the year a little more, the boys shouldn't need our help quite so much with it.  At this point, dd *A* is playing with dollies or something.

9:00--Each boy does a few math pages. So far they've been doing pretty good with this, and I am finding out more about each one's learning styles. *DS2* you just show him the page, he tries to figure it out by himself and once you explain what to do, he's off! *DS1* is so smart, he could probably read the directions himself and do it, but gets very easily distracted. He needs someone with him every step of the way, keeping him focused and praising his efforts. If I were to just put the sheet in front of him and explain the directions and expect him to complete it...we'd still be waiting for him to finish at lunch time.
**After they finish their math pages, we have a break. The kids can play with legos or toys upstairs. This is my time with *DD1* also. We have read books, put blocks in the shape sorter, played with little matching tiles, etc. She loves attention of any kind.

10:00--Bible. On Mondays we read our bible story and lesson. While I'm reading, the boys are coloring the coloring sheet that goes with the lesson. *DD1* also has a little wipe-off book she can color in. The following days have activities and games that reinforce the main point of the lesson. This is one of their favorite classes so far, which is exciting.
11:00--We have either science or geography. This is a very relaxed class. For science this week we did a few pages in a dinosaur sticker/learning book. The boys LOVED it. We also have one about animals that we'll be using. We'll be learning about our bodies (muscles, bones, organs, etc.), and also doing some very basic, introductory sex ed.
For geography we'll be using our Little Passports as a base and learning about the country for each month. This month's country is Brazil, so we'll be looking up books about Brazil at the library, maybe color the country's flag, and make a recipe familiar to that country.
**This is where *DS2*'s day ends, since he's just in kindergarten. He was given a set of BOB books for his birthday that we started on, and he is SO excited that he can read the book by himself. He has a great phonics base from preschool that is proving to be a huge asset this year.

1:45--The 2 younger kids go down for a nap after lunch, and *DS1* has 3 "English" classes left.
First we work on spelling, which he is loving right now. He loves segmenting words and has breezed through the first 4 lessons in one week.
Next is language/grammer, which is focusing on nouns right now. This is a pretty simple class, and he likes that there is no writing to do in this class. :)
Finally is writing class. He has been learning what makes up a complete sentence...capital letter at beginning, period at the end. This is a bit tough for *DS1* since he loves to write everything in capital letters, but it's been good practice for him.

Then we're on to dinner at 5, baths, pjs, stories and winding down for the night. I shoot to have the kids in bed around 7pm.

So, this is our day so far. The formal learning part of our homeschooling. We also figure that every moment of every day is a chance for learning, so we'll be throwing in tidbits of knowledge where ever we can.
The kids have been having fun so far, loving that they can play in the backyard on recess, and be in the comfort of their own home. I love this part of homeschooling for them, although it is harder to complete my to-do list each day.

I love to see *T* loving to read.

(Not) Back to School Photo Share

Week 3 of the Not Back to School Blog Hop is happening now, and we are sharing about our students. Well, technically it's a "(not) back to school" photo share, so I'll try not to write too much. :) We haven't officially started our school year yet, so these pictures will have to suffice.


My oldest DS is *M*. He turned 6 last month. He is full of energy, and enthusiasm, and loves to learn and understand new things. He has a great knowledge base already from 2 years at Little Clipper, a private Christian pre-school/kindergarten. He is already reading and I'm sure he'll breeze right through a lot of his 1st grade school work. And probably have difficulty with other parts I'm sure!








  My younger DS is *T*. My newly turned 5 year old is a ready to learn kiddo who isn't as self-conscious as his older brother. He's not afraid to make mistakes, which in turn helps him learn easier. He did one year of preschool at Little Clipper before we decided to home-school, so he doesn't have quite the head start older brother did, but he is very ready to start kindergarten! He is reading simple words already and can count well past 20, and do simple addition/subtraction.

I also have a DD *A* who will be 2 in September. She is a bundle of energy who loves reading books and being a "little mama." She takes care of her many baby dolls with much love, and when a doll is not handy, any stuffed animal or even action figure will do!










 It's going to be a great year!!!

Our School Room

This month I am linking up with Heart of the Matter Online for their "Not Back To School Blog Hop." Each week focuses on a different aspect of homeschooling (curriculum, school room, students, and scheduling), and bloggers are encouraged to link up their personal blogs, and then read what everyone else has blogged about also. Mariposa Mom saw more traffic last week than ever before, and it has been wonderful to read all the comments left by fellow homeschooling moms.


This week the focus is our school rooms. Right now, our little family will be using our dining room table as our desks. Each boy gets half the table. I'm sure we'll do a lot of reading on the couches, but it's so much easier to write sitting at a table or desk, I imagine most of our time will be spent there.
We have a mid-height long 6 drawer "dresser" by the table which houses our supplies. I need to still clear out some of my books and things from a few drawers so I'll have somewhere to keep our curriculum when the rest of it gets here.

When we move to our new house, we will have a separate family room, 1/2 of which will be made into our school area. We have desks already, and bookshelves, so we are pretty much set to go when we move. I will be able to decorate it like a classroom, have more space for projects and things, and just have a more permanent location for things. I can't wait! We even have a mini desk for our almost 2 year old daughter.

Getting the Hang of It?

My last blog detailed what curriculum we will be using for this, our first, year of homeschooling. I am SO excited about everything, and in true mom fashion, I believe that we may even breeze through some of it so quickly that I'll be ordering next year's things before this "school" year is out. We'll see.

I was unsure which math curriculum to use. I thought I had found the one, but as I looked at the sample pages more, I realized it just was too "text-bookish" for us. My boys like workbook pages, activities, movement and fun. Not sitting and listening to explanations that even Mom doesn't understand.
So, through other homeschooling mom's blogs linked up at the Not Back to School Blog Hop, I found many great ideas we could use. And our Math curriculum, Mathematical Reasoning.

I have been reading through the All About Spelling teacher's text. It's one of 2 subjects that we have received already, and I'm liking it more and more. At first I wasn't sure about it...seemed hard to understand. But each lesson ties together, with much review and slow progression. I believe this will help the kids retain what they are learning SO much more. And it uses different modes of learning to really engage and create learning pathways... speaking the sounds/words/phonograms; seeing them in print; and using motion and writing to tie it all together.

I am really happy that the rest of our curriculum should arrive within the week. My goal is to read through each one, map out general goals, and be ready to start school around the first of September. Chris has his vacation that first week, though, so we're not sure if we'll take the opportunity and try to get away for a small family vacation, or get a head start on school while Daddy is home to help out. We'll see.

Thanks for reading. And to my new followers, WELCOME!