A Fresh New Start

School is nearly in full swing for us. I have our "area" (no longer in a school room) all set up and we have been in school since August 17th. This week we are only doing half a week, Mon. thru Wed. as we leave Thursday for a little family get away. We will be back on track on Tues. of next week. I am looking forward to our little break and then getting back into the FULL swing of it all by the 21st (as I should have the rest of my curriculum by then...HA!)
I am using our own version of the workbox system and WOW what a difference it has made! I only have to stay on the younger two now for getting their school work done.
Instead of sticky notes I laminated 5X7 index cards and use visa~vis markers on them (these are the ones teachers use for overhead projectors in the classroom....do they still use those? hum...). I keep a container of baby wipes near my work area so that in the evening I can just wipe them off and write the new directions. This has definately kept the paper waste down significantly!
Each student has completed so much more in less time than I ever could have imagined. My older two (boys of 14 and 12 years) do not have as much "fun" stuff as they were skipping over those boxes to just get their work done. Thus I took it out and have left it out and just try to put the subjects in an order where they do one they aren't so thrilled with that is then followed by one that they really like. This has worked and they like it better.
I have been able to pull out some things and dust off the cob webs and actually use them! Some for the first time ever! These are items that I bought for the oldest that I just couldn't figure out how I would use it, forgot how I would use it once I got it home or just couldn't find the time to use it! I am sure I am not alone in this.
I will be posting pictures sometime soon is my hope. I will start with posting pictures of our workboxes and then will continue with our curriculum and fun things we have done to impliment it. I will also post about our Tapestry of Grace (TOG) curriculum with pictures of some of the fun projects we do with another family we get together with once a month for our hands on stuff.
I hope that this blog will either inspire or entertain you in some fashion or another during your year.