Weekly planning

I created a spreadsheet for my weekly planning. Once Nate completes an assignment, I make the text green; if we didn't get to it, I put it in grey. We'll see if this system becomes too cumbersome, but so far I like keeping the detailed records in one place.

First day

Today was our first day of homeschooling, and it went very well. In fact, it went very quickly--maybe too quickly for Nate's liking. I hadn't planned too much since I wanted to ease into the new routine, but even what I had planned didn't take as long as I thought it would. Nate ended up doing two lessons from his math book (Singapore Math 1A--now we're up to Lesson 5), the first lesson in the English/grammar book (Shurley English Year 1), read one chapter from the fiction book he's reading (Boxcar Children), and completed one worksheet I created on vowels and consonants (shown below--feel free to use it). Tomorrow I'm also adding a couple of things from other subjects (we are going to make a flower/leaf press for science; begin talking about liberty and freedom before doing some U.S. history; and start learning about the instrument groups in the orchestra for music). Yay for an easy start!

Workbox system

As we are gearing up to start the school year, I got a bit more organized by implementing this basic workbox system (idea originally given to me by my friend Suzanne). (There is a whole seminar, book, etc. that goes along with this, but I'm just using the basic idea.)

Here's the idea:

I divide each day's work into small chunks. I put everything Nate needs for his first chunk into the first box: for example, a pencil, eraser, math text, and math workbook marked with which page(s) to complete. He takes the box with him to the table and completes that work. Then he puts everything back into the box, brings it back to the shelf, and puts it back on with "Done!" facing out. Then he moves on to box 2.




In box 3, I will put in a kitchen timer in addition to the box 3 work. Once he's done with the work, he can set the timer for 10 minutes of free play. Then he'll start on box 4, moving the timer down to box 6 to use it again then.

I figure some (most?) days won't fill all 12 boxes, and some days I'll put a "fun" assignment in a box. Other days, we won't be home at all. But from everything I've read, this is a very kid-friendly, mom-friendly homeschooling solution!

this is the last time i am writeting i want to go to Virginia. love nate.

First sewing project

To kick off our summer and our unofficial entry into the world of homeschooling, Nate and I completed his first sewing project today: a cover for his homeschooling binder. He picked the fabric last week, and today we made a paper pattern for how we wanted the cover to end up, measured the pattern, and then added for seam allowance to get our measurements for cutting the fabric.




This was a perfect first project, since it involved just one piece of fabric cut into a rectangle. First I had Nate sit with me and help guide the fabric while I ran the machine. Then it was his turn.




Here he is in action:



Not bad! ;)

Math & sewing

Our first math/sewing assignment: make some cool covers for the 3-ring binders we'll be using.

1. Let Nate pick fabric (1 yard will be plenty)
2. Figure out design of cover
   
3. Measure our binder and calculate fabric cuts, with seam allowances
4. Cut
5. Sew!
   

Lego Journal

A friend gave me a fun idea that Nate could grow into: give him a picture of an architectural landmark (e.g., Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Pentagon) and have him recreate it using Legos. Along the way, he has to write out step-by-step directions in his Lego Journal so the next person could recreate his design. Finish the page by including a picture of the finished project.