Our Christmas homeschool schedule is in full swing. For us that means I am doing a LOT with Pac to get ahead before the break, nothing planned with Krash {he’s already ahead on his curriculum}, and nothing planned with Ladybug. I have Christmas school for the little 2 and the big guy joins in periodically.
Lately I have been asked quite a few times about the un-chaotic look of our schoolroom, people wondering if it is always so neat and orderly. I literally laugh every time I get asked this, as the framing of a photo does a lot of cover up! I put on my wider angle lens and snapped a typical view for those of you wondering. This was about 2 hours into a school day. You can see the Christmas sensory bin everywhere, Christmas stickers galore {the little guys were making cards for their gymnastics coaches}, and various other messes-I think I spy a train track in the background.
For comparison, this shot was taken just minutes after a school day began, major difference, huh?
Our schoolroom is messy and energetic for most of the day and we clean it up together in the end. Usually once after school, or before lunch if I am on top of my game. Then the kids often play in here in the evenings and they clean it up before bed. I have things organized for self-clean up, they all know where things go and how to clean it up. Labels and bins save the day!
On another note, to let you know that I am indeed a typical mom and not some supermom, we are officially Truth in the Tinsel drop-outs this year. We made it strong until about day 10 and then sickness and busy-ness set in and we just fell too far behind. I should have known to just pick one thing this year, but I loved Truth in the Tinsel so much I wanted to do it again. Oh well, live and learn.
We have kept up with our Jesse Tree Calendar Connections, these are simple and the kids have enjoyed using the eBook even on their own. The best thing that we have kept up with is The Sparkle Box, the kids have been browsing the catalogs and talking about the money in the box almost daily. They are all 3 super excited to open it on Christmas Day.
Krash is really moving along with his spelling and reading. He is mastering all of his weekly Calvert spelling tests. We always practice his words on the iPad with the Word Wizard app before his test.
He is a very typical early reader. He struggles just enough that I wouldn’t say it comes easy for him, nor would I say he is a struggling reader. He does enjoy reading, but does get frustrated sometimes when he can’t read it with the ease he desires! We talk about building up his brain muscle with practice the same way he works on his ab muscles with his V-ups!
My favorite is that Ladybug LOVES to come over when he is reading and listen to him.
He is struggling a bit with digraphs, remembering which is which. I printed out this helpful digraph chart, and also this penguin digraph sorting game. I let him earn Sparkle Box coins for every word he got right!
Which also turned into a math lesson as he counted his money as we went along!
This is where I pin all of my reading finds, in case you want to peek or follow!
He about fell out of his chair when I announced that we were playing this game for school time AND eating the M&Ms on the tree when complete!
My oldest guy is moving right along with 5th grade, honestly he is a joy to teach most of the time. I am so thankful for him and the way he has matured over the last year or so.
Having pets to snuggle with during reading time makes it a bit hard to want to do any other subjects!
He is such a servant hearted boy, makes my momma-heart melt. He was absolutely THRILLED about the Sparkle Box idea and has been browsing and thinking about what we will do with the money the most. He is such a good example to the younger two.
That’s certainly not everything we did, but a glimpse of what my camera captured! To see more weekly wrap-ups, visit…
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