Command Central, New Resource Room part 1

Our new school year kicks off this coming week and I am happy to say we have found a system that I think it going to work.
We re-purposed an old literature rack and took the divider out to accommodate two columns of folders/ notebooks.  The notebooks will hold notes , worksheets, etc.. related to a given assignment each day. The daily subjects will be all in one folder (4 math sheets, Bible notes, Spelling words and activity suggestions). I printed labels for the folders so I can write the subject and assignment / suggestions on each folder. I may end up putting contact paper over the label so I can reuse it , but for now I will just print new ones for week 2 and 3 as I have a huge box of shipping labels that I can use from.
The bulletin board for Weekly Words to Learn is divided just like the folder rack, blue for Cameron and Green for Nathan. The goal for the board is weekly spelling lists and vocabulary words including Spanish and Latin (once we add Latin to the mix in October). The 2 anchor charts above the word wall are Adverbs and Adjectives; I also hung the suggested word list for over used verbs. 
I have a thought about putting a TV tray or small table under the sign for pens, pencils, etc... along with a spot to check your work before returning it to the rack.
On the door into the room we have a colorful 10 Commandments poster that the boys have always liked. (on the back of the door is a pocket thing currently holding various flashcard activities that needs to be gone through).
 I still need to work on the bookshelf next to the command center for various Montessori themed options for Nathan and various Command Card activities for Cameron, but I feel like I got something pretty big done with this project. Now to fill the first 8 folders and find our rhythm for the new year.

My goals for next week is the giant magnet board over the dryer and the crates in the middle of the room. If I can get those handled I would also like to get the cubbies all flipped the right direction and load the appropriate books into the cubbies.

Thinking about college at an early age with College Common Sense

My boys are only 7 and 10 so the idea of college isn't a focus yet, although we have talked about it some, it seems so far off. That's what I thought until I started watching videos and reading the lessons of  College Common Sense. The program is designed with late elementary, middle school, and high school activities so no matter where your children fall in there will be something they can learn from the program
Honestly as I watched the videos and read the lesson plans as part of Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook and the free online Lesson Plans, I see benefits to the program as the boys get older. Cameron is 10 so he is only 6-8 years away from college and who knows what programs will be available for him then, starting to keep track of things he does and possible scholarship opportunities. The investment of $50 for the program is just that an investment in your child's future education, especially if college is on the horizon.
Do terms like FAFSA, Grants, and Scholarship make sense to you or do they terrify you? If you aren't sure what these terms mean or what to make out of them, this program will help you and your children.
My boys are working on their 'about me' books and are keeping a binder to add activities and scholarship opportunities to as they grow and get closer to college age. They have even asked about College Savings Plans, which to me shows that they are listening and picking up bits and pieces. While neither one of them are looking forward to 4 more years or more after high school, they both see value in learning and understanding what is ahead.
I hope to instill a love of learning in my boys and giving them a glimpse of what is ahead can help.

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Looking ahead, at least to next week

Since we have been doing light school for the passed few weeks I decided we need to get back to business. The Schoolhouse Review Crew year is just starting and we will be receiving items soon. Last night I sat down with a planner page and wrote out our plans for next week.  The boys love having a say in their school day so I listed which subjects we would focus on each day and then listed their options

Monday is Math, Spelling, and Bible
Tuesday is Science and Grammar
Wednesday is Spelling, History, and Math
Thursday is Science and Story Games
Friday is fun day with learning games

There is a list of activities they can choose from with most subjects except Bible and grammar. Bible they will have their lesson to read and their verses to write. Grammar is split, Cameron will have a fun activity I found online working on editing sentences for grammar mistakes, while Nathan will help me create a Montessori themed farm game. I am going to pick up some farm animal toys at the local Dollar Tree or Grocery Outlet and then have Nathan figure out words to go with all the animals, that way it is his game. I will make the sentence strips and word cards for him.

Math options include the Stamp Game, Checkerboard, and Snake Game. All homemade versions of Montessori activities
Spelling options include Reading Roads word creation, Letter Tile activities  or Worksheets with Spelling lists. (Some days they prefer worksheets)
History activities include building a pyramid, drawing pictures, reading different stories, and if I can find the MP3 file listening to a story.
Science is a new unit we will be starting so they will have a couple of get to know the unit activities while we wait for the books to arrive. (I have samples that include the first chapter so we can get started early, but I'd rather wait for the books)

Story Games includes options like Playmobil, Legos, or story dice
Fun Day with Learning Games includes: BrainQuest game, a Melissa and Doug game they got for Christmas or Scrabble RSVP.

I'm looking forward to it and hope they enjoy it.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com a Website with so much more than you can imagine #hsreviews #homeschool

I love finding resources online. I love it even more when I can hang out on one webpage and find everything I need and then some. That is exactly what I got when I started using Schoolhouseteachers.com I love that I can stop by the website each week and find something new and wonderful to add to our lessons.

Schoolhouseteachers.com has monthly , weekly , and daily lessons in a variety of subjects and ages. I love that we can download units and save them for later or work through a new unit as it comes up.  Last month for example the Literature unit was focused on the Velveteen Rabbit, one of my favorite stories so I decided to pause what we had been doing and do a unit on the Velveteen Rabbit. We read the book as a family taking turns reading aloud and then talked about various aspects of the story. I also printed a fun coloring sheet I found online to add to it. The boys loved the break from our other unit studies and the quiet reading time together even brought Daddy into read with us.

We have also thoroughly  enjoyed the monthly lapbook project from Hands of a Child co-owner Kimm Bellato. In April we went on a virtual field trip of London (actually we did it in July getting ready for the Olympics, but that is the beauty of this program I was able to download and save it for later.) I will be saving this month's lesson on Grey and Red Squirrels for Nathan to work on next month as part of this science unit

Another favorite has been the Figures in History taught by Figures in Motion creator and author Cathy Diez-Luckie. We can print and color or just print and build a variety of people and even animals for history. This month is Betty Ross and although we aren't studying American History Currently we will be touching on it a little during our break away Election unit come October so I am printing and saving some patriotic figures  for that unit.
There are also Daily printables for math, grammar, and writing practice.
It is almost overwhelming but the value is huge! For $5.95 a month you received access to a ton of amazing lessons, the digital archive of the TOS magazine, and one of the best parts of the program, The Schoolhouse Planners! There is a planner for the whole family. Primary grade kids have their own planner which my boys LOVE, Mom gets her own planner, Intermediate and High School planners, as well as a Special Needs planner for families with Special Needs members.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE my planner. I have the calendar saved on the desktop of my husband's computer so I can finish putting all the dates and tentative plans in before I print it for each of our notebooks.

Now for those that aren't sure about the program, you can check out some of the amazing things on the website with these samples
There really is something for every homeschool family on Schoolhouseteachers.com
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Disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received a subscription to this program to review.