A New School Year Has Begun

Even though I have done preschool with Jude at home the past few years homeschooling seems more official now that he is a Kindergartner. This past month I have spent tons of time reading books and looking over materials to decide what would be best for our school year. I also have been worked very hard putting together a schedule. We did a trial run last Friday of our new schedule and we had our first official school day today. It seems that my planning has paid off and I think our schedule is going to work well for all of us. We still have a few details to work out, like giving our school a name. Jude and I were thinking of ideas for that today and I hope to have a name by weeks end.

Here's a walk through our day.

First the morning schedule. Jude and Annika have schedules posted on the refrigerator of what they need to do in the morning to get ready. I will say as with all the schedules there is some wiggle room. I am not a stickler for getting the kids promptly up at 7:00 if they get up by 7:30 that is fine.



Here is the setup for school this is the Workbox System. When I first started reading about this system I knew it would be perfect for us. It gives me organization and it is a great motivational system to get the kids to work on their school work. This system works mainly the same for both Jude and Annika except I don't require Annika to complete all of her boxes but that really hasn't been a problem. The kids are doing this at the kitchen table together except Jude's first two lessons of the day Math and Reading are done in the Learning Room. The Learning Room is also used for any center activities that I have down for the kids that day.
Jude's boxes

Annika's boxes

Hard at work

While Jude and Annika are working at the table my two daycare children who are both 2 1/2 work in the living room. Activities trays our set up on a long table for them to choose from. Having them in the living room and Jude and Annika in the kitchen helps me to be able to spend time with all of them but minimizes distractions.

This is the table they work at.


After our initial hour of the day doing workboxes or learning trays we all get together in the living room for circle time. I am still using our Little Acorn Learning child care guides for our circle times, weekly themes, and daily activities.

For my organization I have our daily activities on a calendar and our daily rhythm.


This week our theme is squirrels and nuts.
We made sweet glazed pecans today for our activity and also sampled different types of nuts.

Here we are enjoying our pecans and apple slices for morning snack outside. Don't you love my daycare kiddos boots, he wears them all the time lately, so cute.

And our first day of school would not be complete without a few pictures of Jude and Annika together. And if you are wondering Zane was on my back while we were outside :)


After we are done outside the kids finish up their workboxes or my daycare kids play until lunch is ready.

In the afternoon my little ones rest and Jude and Annika have quiet play and are allowed to each pick a PBS show to watch from earlier in the morning. During rest time is when I get to clean up and organize the work boxes for the next day and work on my own school work. Yes my school work, I started my Medical Transcription Program last week.

I will post more at a later time about what curriculum we are using to fill up our workboxes. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our day!