It was supposed to be last Monday... nothing like messing up the pre-planned school year first thing, but I have had a major mental block concerning our school. I have tried to do small steps, but have mainly felt completely overwhelmed. I know the main reason is that we are basically doing all new curriculum for all but 2 things (and there are 20 regular subjects between my two boys). Also, my oldest is NOW A 9TH GRADER. Thinking about transcripts, the SAT, high school course credits, etc. makes me want to go and consume large amounts of
Here's our set-up for tomorrow for my 9th grader:
We are not numbering the boxes this year, but just labeling them by subject. The labels have to go sideways on these boxes. I got my subject cards here:
I will do a separate post on his curriculum.
Here is my 5th grader's boxes (I finally splurged on the IKEA Trofast system:
with these boxes/bins: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60094072/#/80089239)
He has 10 boxes (which I will explain in a different post). Again, subjects and no numbers. The first 3-4 boxes will be the "Work with Mom" boxes so we can get to those at the beginning of the day, with his independent work for the afternoon. (You can see my 9th grader's boxes in this picture also; they are right beside each other). The bit of red you can see at the top of the photo is a bag that I taped on that contains 10 laminated tags that say "Finished!" Each box has a velcro dot on the far right. When he is finished, he just adds the "Finished!" label. This way, he still has a visual for what work he had completed and has yet to complete, but I am not dealing with stacked boxes everywhere. Also, this way he can just remove the contents of each box instead of the entire box if he chooses (which presumably he will then return to the correct box!)
Last week, while we didn't officially begin our new school year, we did a mini-unit on the Olympics and finished up a few things from last school year that my extreme fatigue prevented me from enforcing. I also typed up and went over a "Welcome" letter to try to make things more official and hold ALL of us more accountable. It includes our subjects, schedule, and a few other things.
Here is that:
WELCOME TO J & J ACADEMY 2012-13 SCHOOL YEAR!!
Jason- 9th Grade Joel- 5th grade
SUBJECTS:
Bible
History (Ancient World)
Spelling
Math (Jason: finish Algebra 1 and begin Geometry)
Art and Music appreciation (composers, artists and their works)
Science (Joel: Zoology, Jason: Biology)
Vocabulary
La. Arts (Grammar, Writing, Reading)
Others may include typing, Spanish, PE, Logic, Handwriting
In History this year, we will be learning about the cultures of ancient peoples from the beginning of history to the Roman Empire. We will study these civilizations: Mesopotamia, the Egyptians, the Israelites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Time lines and time line cards will be a key component, and our novels will reinforce what we are learning.
Notebooking will be used in many subjects. Notebooks should have a table-of-contents for the first few pages. Take notes on the right-side page, then go back and apply that information on the left-side. You can draw pictures, ask ?s, do a chart, or any other creative thing you can think of to help you learn and remember the information. You can also print things off of the Internet or do mini-books.
DAILY SCHEDULE (usually 4 days a week plus SEEK)
School from 10-12 and 1-3, with a one hour break for lunch/ free time.
REQUIRED: a daily conference with me. We will go over what you've done and learned that day, grade anything you've completed, and prepare workboxes for the next day. You can choose to do this when you finish for the day (before 3) or in the evening after dinner (and before 8:30 PM).
You will be given a responsibility grade based on completing your morning routine and this conference. Grades will also be assigned for each subject. Corrections are expected; you will earn back half the points taken off for each correction corrected correctly.
Note: SEEK is our co-op. I am very excited about using "Interactive Notebooking" in a few of the subjects. I think it will really help my 9th grader get ready for note-taking in college. You can search for this and find lots of ideas online.
Also, since I need all the help I can get, I am going to pay them for doing their morning routine (make bed, straighten room, brush teeth, get dressed, comb hair, and eat breakfast) and for the conference. Also, some additional $ for a really clean room. I made a ledger so instead of paying cash (which I never have and which has defeated every allowance attempt I've made) I am keeping a running balance and they can either have us buy something for them or cash out when I go to the bank. Here is what the top of that says:
JASON'S RESPONSIBILITY LEDGER
Completing morning chores= 50¢ per day
Teacher conference= 50¢ per day
once a week perfect room= $3 once a week
Swiffer floor (dry then wet cloth) $2
date morning chores teacher conference perfect room Dry/ Wet Swiffer floor Running Balance
1
2
3
4
5
So, this is how we are beginning our year. I'm sure some of this will change/ slip by the wayside, but this is where we stand now and I am dreaming big!!
Have a great school year other homeschoolers!!
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