Free Online Chat and Other Offerings from Homeschool Connections

Hey, have you been longing for a Ladies Night Out? Yearning for an evening of chatting with some other homeschool moms? Well, have I got a cool opportunity for you: Mom's Night Out While In on February 19th at 7:30 Central Time. This will be a free monthly get together to chat and hang out without leaving the comfort of your home. This is especially nice for moms who may be feeling isolated due to the lack of a local homeschool community.

I've already registered and I hope to see several of you there! Space is limited to only 30 participants to keep the event cozy so don't wait too long to sign up.

On another but similar note . . . being an awesome techno genius, I finally figured out how to get to the recorded webinars directly instead of sending you to the home website and then making you search for the right link. Oh, okay, I admit it, I'm not a techno genius and Walter sent the direct links to me.

Anyhoo, here they are:

Homeschool Organization 101: FREE

Caring Connections: Maximizing the Benefits of Homeschool Family Relationships with Danielle Bean: $2.oo

And while you're there, don't forget to sign up for my upcoming webinar:
How to Teach History with Real Books
The fee is $10 but it is money well spent. It'll be fun as well as informational! Perfect to beat the February Blahs.

UPDATE: The Feb. Mom's Night Out While In is all filled up. But there are still openings for March and April. Also, there are still a few seats for the Teaching History with Real Books online conference.

Re-use Tip: Even More Baskets

LEGO's in a plastic tub. Library books in dishpans or laundry baskets. What can you reuse?

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

More Baskets for Organizing

I love the old dishwasher silverware basket used for art supplies!

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Wicker Baskets

I have found wicker baskets to be great for organizing my household and school. They can hold just about anything, be stashed just about anyplace, and look attractive to boot.

Smaller baskets can hold computer CD's, school receipts, or desk supplies. Medium baskets can hold papers to grade, Playstation controls, or computer cords. The larger baskets can hold newspapers, library books, or toys.

They can be found at thrift shops, garage sales, and clearance tables. Don't spend too much money on them.

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Wire Baskets from Office Store

Probably one of the best pieces advice I ever got on organizing the kids' school books was from my friend Terri. She had baskets lining the large window sill in her dining room. Each child had his or her own basket to keep schoolwork. Putting this into practice is very simple and a big help in keeping track of school books.

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Organizing Texts with Plastic Tubs

These plastic tubs (totes) are labeled and decorated by the children.

One for each child.

Can be easily carried from room to room, or to a co-op class.

Credit: http://flickr.com/photos/bondservant4jc

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Labeling and Color Coding Binders

Keeping track of subjects:

Binders labeled, color coded, and stored in a plastic tub.

Label tub with student’s name.

Credit: http://flickr.com/photos/bondservant4jc

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Dry Erase Boards

To make your own homeschool white board visit Firmly Planted: Our Homeschool Journey.

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Using Paint to Organize

Use magnetic paint (or magnetic primer paint) to change any surface into a magnetic board. You can also use chalkboard paint, dry erase (whiteboard) paint, or a magnetic/chalkboard paint combination.

In this picture the fridge is turned into a chalkboard.



Visit Jeri's Organizing & Decluttering News for all the particulars.

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Thirteen Years of Organization

Today's guest blogger is Diane.

Here are a few things I do that have worked really well for us.

We have a tower bookcase that is about 12 inches across and has five shelves. So, it is tall and skinny. That creates five sturdy cubbies. Each cubby has enough room for a child’s schoolbooks for the year. Here they keep the books while they are not in use. Not only does it keep them handy for the kids, but it is handy for me to find the books when I am making lesson plans or checking papers.

On each side of the tower is a regular bookcase, each 28 inches across and just as high as the tower bookcase. On one side of the tower, I have arranged the shelves so that we have 3 of those stacking file trays. There is a stacking file of five, one for each kid, for kids to put work into when it is completed. The other stack of five is for me to put the work when I have checked it so that they can file it in their “completed work” notebook. The third stack of trays (not visible in the picture) has a tray for 4 different kinds of paper: notebook paper, printer paper, manuscript paper, and scrap paper. In the other bookcase, I keep notebooks with lesson plans and various other materials I use fairly frequently. They are an arm’s length away from my desk so that it is very convenient when grading and doing lesson plans.

Perpendicular and right next to the bookshelves is my desk. On my desk, I have priority space for the items I need to use to grade papers. I have a notebook for each kid with answer keys. I have the stickers, prize tickets, calculator and grading pens I like to use all here, easy to reach. So, this is all a teacher’s corner to me. I try to keep the desk clean (note the word try) so that it is easy to sit down and check the papers every afternoon or evening.

A great thing we found at a thrift store for about $50 is a cabinet that has 8 shallow drawers. It has a safety mechanism that only one drawer can open at a time. Each drawer opens fully. This is sooo perfect for all the school supplies. Since the drawers are shallow, everything is easy to see. We have a drawer for science supplies, craft supplies, regular school supplies, cd’s and tapes, puzzles and 2 misc drawers.

For the kids’ workspaces, we have different things for different kids. We have three desks in the formal living room. Two of the kids who need to use word processors a lot have computers. The oldest child, a senior, has a desk in his room, but often uses a computer in the school room. I work with the younger 2 children at a table in the schoolroom. The first grader has a small desk in the schoolroom for her seatwork. We used to have desks and computers in the kids’ bedrooms because the little kids made so much noise during their playtime, but found that too much time was wasted playing with computer settings and such, so all the computers came out in to the open where I can monitor them better.

We have been homeschooling for 13 years. We have changed around our organization a lot of times, but the tower bookcase and its accompanying stacking trays and desk right by have been the anchor for quite a while. Also, so as not to discourage newbies, I would like to emphasize that it took a while to get all the shelves and stuff. We bought the tower bookcase new, but someone gave us the bookcases. We got my great metal desk for about $35 at an auction. We bought two computer desks new, but two of them came really cheap from a garage sale. Someone gave us the school table and the little school desk. I think our file cabinets were about $12 or so each at an auction. Overall, God has really blessed us!!!

Below are pictures of all of this. I didn’t clean anything up in order to take the pictures, but it just so happened that I had cleaned off my desk in anticipation of grading papers. There can be a lot of clutter when homeschooling six kids at once!

Thank you Diane!

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Organizing with Tackle Boxes / Free Planning

Today's guest blogger is Beth

For organizing the classroom I have some pictures you can share. I use "tackle boxes" for several materials but I have to give credit for that idea to Suzanne at JMJ Publishing who shows in detail using it with particular works. This is the storage/organization folder. (Click for the pictures.)

For planning (and recordkeeping) I use Home School Inc., a free web based online planner.

Blessings,
Beth

Thank you Beth!

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Recordkeeping and Organizing the Homeschool with Three Boys

Before putting in my two cents worth, I'm going to share with you tips from other homeschoolers. The posts for the next three days come from members of the Thrifty Homeschool Yahoo Group. Today's guest blogger is Elizabeth.

I'm a HSM of 3 boys, 2 which are in the 4th grade and 1 in the 3rd. We have been homeschooling for 3 years. We are blessed to have an extra bedroom downstairs that is our classroom. I painted a chalkboard on one wall. Each child has his own desk, which was given to us. I also have a desk. We have a couple of small bookcases, one for their reading books and one for my reference and teacher books. We also have a small table that serves as our science center, complete with a microscope. I use another small table with bins for art supplies above what they have in their desks, such as construction paper, drawing paper, extra crayons and markers. The walls are covered with maps, charts and their projects. The boys are responsible for their desks, folders and papers. I'm responsible for mine, and right now, their desks look somewhat better than mine.

Planning for us is, well, not an exact science. We usually get started by 8am. I do not have a set time schedule for each subject. That way if we need more time for one subject, I won't stress out that we don't have time. I do pretty much plan the lessons by the week and have an overview of what we should accomplish for the year. We do attend a homeschool group 2 times a month, usually. I like for us to be flexible. You never know when a learning oppertunity will happen.

Recordkeeping I take very seriously as family on my husband's side do not "approve" of homeschooling. They have mentioned to another family member that if they think the boys are not learning anything, they will call the authorities. So, I have a "Mommy" notebook, which is a 5 subject spiral notebook. In one section, I keep track of our hours. The state of Missouri says we have to have 1000 hours of school. In another section, I keep track of what we did for that day. This is a cross between lesson plans and what we actually did. It works for us and it fills another requirement for the state. My boys like grades, so I grade papers and tests. In another section, is the grade book. The 4th section is set up for me use for the library. When I'm wanting books on a certain subject, this is where I jot it down. This notebook goes with me to the library. The 5 section is used for notes to myself. If a boy is not catching on quite as well, I will write a note to remind myself to give him extra work or extra time to help him. Also I have a small filing cabinet in the classroom to keep their papers in for each year. The state requires samples, I keep everything.

I guess that's about it for now. Thank you for letting me voice what I do.

Thank you Elizabeth!

For more on organizing, you can download the recorded webinar Organizing Your Classroom 101 for free at Homeschool Connections. Click on the link that says Recorded Events.

Organizing Your Homeschool 101

I'd like to start the new year off by getting my homeschool well organized in the new house as well as help you get it together at your house. So, I've put together a series of posts to run over the next couple of weeks so we can work on this together.

For today, I'll simply share a quote from Holly Pierlot:

I believe the way we keep our homes deeply affects the quality of our homeschooling. The home ought to be both functional, to meet our needs, and beautiful, to inspire our spirits.

-- From the essay, Place of Function and Beauty: Getting Our Homes in Order, found in The Catholic Homeschool Companion (Sophia Press). Bold mine.

Addendum: Click here for links to free webinars on homeschool planning and organization.