Homeschooling Tools Archives - Page 13 of 18

Calendar Pieces Storage

Mar82011

March 8, 2011 by Jolanthe 2 Comments

I was positive that I had shared these pictures with you all, but apparently in the craziness of packing and moving it didn’t happen. I won’t claim to be the genius behind the idea. I have to thank Carisa at 1+1+1=1 for her inspiration that got me motivated to clean up my scattered pieces.

All of the weather squares, numbers and coins from our Morning Calendar board were previously just dropped into a 6” x 6” plastic envelope {these are extra envelopes from Close to My Heart stamp sets}and dumped onto the table when we needed to find a new piece, etc… This new arrangement has me breathing a big ol’ sigh of relief.

I cut 6” x 6” squares from cardstock, laminated them {are you surprised?} and then spaced out velcro dots to attach the pieces to the squares. Since I have a plethora of velcro thanks to my bulk purchase, it wasn’t difficult to spare a few pieces {grins}.

Once the pieces were all attached to the cards, I slid them back into their envelopes and then dropped them into our calendar bin {from Ikea}.

Ahhh…sweet relief! :)

You can download all of my Calendar and Morning Board printables from my website. I also have links there to a few other ladies who have put together more free printables to use with your kids!

Additional Resources:

~ Scotch laminator ~ this is the laminator I use. I love mine so much I bought a spare {sad, but true}.

~ Velcro in BULK. I purchased the 3/8” velcro dots from Textol Systems but have also found larger coins {1/2” and 5/8”} at even better prices from Feiner Supply {make sure you buy the front and back of the dots!}

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Filed Under: Calendar and Morning Board 2 Comments

Weekly Temperature Tracking Printable

Jan112011

January 11, 2011 by Jolanthe 4 Comments

One of my readers asked for a printable to go on the Calendar and Morning Board that they could use to track the temperature for an entire week, rather than a day-by-day graph. Here is the printable I put together to share with you all:

You can download the Temperatures This Week printable on my Calendar and Morning Board page along with the rest of the printables that we use on our Calendar Board.

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Filed Under: Calendar and Morning Board 4 Comments

Poem Printables for First Language Lessons 4

Oct122010

October 12, 2010 by Jolanthe 1 Comment

Although we haven’t started on First Language Lessons Level 4 yet, I already have the book. Each book in the First Language Lessons series by Jessie Wise includes six poems for children to memorization throughout the school year. I put together some simple printables for our children to hang on the wall while we were learning the poems and then refer back to throughout the year.

These have been helpful to use for copywork exercises during our school time. Poems for FLL Year 4 include:

~ “Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

~ “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

~ “How Doth…” by Lewis Carroll

~ “Learning to Read” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

~ “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats

~ “The Height of the Ridiculous” by Oliver Wendell Holmes

If you’d like to download your own copies of the poems to use, just click on the thumbnail image above and you’ll be redirected to the Language Resources page on my website where you can download both the poem printables for Level 4. If you plan to use any of the earlier levels of First Language Lessons, I also have created poem printables for First Language Lesson Levels 1 & 2 as well as First Language Lessons Level 3 also.

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Filed Under: Curriculum helps, Homeschooling Tools, Language Lessons 1 Comment

Preschool Corner ~ Back in the Swing…mostly

Sep172010

September 17, 2010 by Jolanthe Leave a Comment

We finally got some answers earlier this week to what has been going on with Kaleb {thank the LORD!} and I think I’m just as relieved to know that I haven’t been imagining it all. He is on another round of {yucky} antibiotics and already doing so much better! It’s amazing how much of a difference it has made in our day overall.

Here’s a little peek at how Kaleb’s workboxes shaped up for the week. Our focus this week was on the letters A-C. During the week I rotated between two different items in some of the boxes. The last 3 boxes were our ‘special’ boxes that he gets to do after he has finished the other boxes. Note: this workbox grid is a part of my preschool planning forms.

Mama Jenn shared a GREAT idea for storing salt in a homemade salt box. We use our salt as a tactile way to draw/trace letters. Storing the salt is SO much easier this way {thanks, Jenn!!}.

I mentioned last week that I was going to pull out some fun things that I had in hiding. I ordered the Grasshopper Preschool Prep Kit {ABC’s and Following Directions} and when I pulled it out Kaleb was very excited. :) I divided out a few of the activities into his workboxes.

The letter tracing gel set from the kit was one of his favorites {even the big kids liked playing with it. The magnetic ABC fishing game was another hit. I put out the letters A through E and he would tell me which letter he was fishing for and/or catching.

Another big hit was the ‘build a letter’ cards that came in our Grasshopper Preschool Prep Kit. There are re-usable cling-on ‘stickers’ that you put over the letter patterns ~ a great fine motor activity. :)

Kaleb wanted to do ‘handwriting’ like the big kids, so he practiced making vertical and horizontal lines in his Kumon Uppercase letter workbook. We also pulled out our tabletop easel and he practiced his lines on the dry erase board.

No week would be complete without some Do-A-Dot coloring! Since we focused on the letters A through C this week, I made some pages for him to color either with his Pip-Squeak markers {to practice coloring in the lines} or to use with the Do-A-Dot markers {I will hopefully be sharing the coloring pages soon!!!!}.

We’ve also had a LOT of fun playing with our Magnetos Jumbo Builder set this week! {hint: there is a giveaway coming up soon for these!!!}. The boys have had these out every day and have been building and creating like crazy. LOVE them!! In case you missed it, I’ll be hosting a Twitter party for Guidecraft on September 28th ~ and you won’t want to miss it. There are some amazing prizes in store!!

magnetos

iTouch Fun

When all was done for the day, Kaleb took much joy in curling up on the couch with my iTouch and playing a few fun games.

I Write Words ~ one of our ‘go to’ favorites. :) Kaleb loves to practice tracing his letters and numbers with this app. Pretty cute, too.

Word Wiggler ~ one of the apps in the Tickle Tap toddler app pack. Kaleb has to tap a picture that starts with the sound of the letter shown on the screen.

Angry Birds ~ really no educational value. Just plain fun. There is a free version of this app, but everyone in the house loves it so much I actually bought the full version.

Things We Used This Week

Ready to Link Up?

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! The updated guidelines can be found here if you need them.

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Homeschool Calendar and Morning Board ~ Telling Time

Sep22010

September 2, 2010 by Jolanthe 2 Comments

I was re-organizing my calendar board for the new school year and trying to get it just right when I stopped over and visited Michelle’s at Delightful Learning and got an idea for a little something to add to our board.

We have several different clocks in our house ~ from the old-fashioned chiming kind with Roman numerals to digital clocks. Michelle was putting her calendar together and made something similar, and I knew that it would help a few of our kids right now. :)

In the blank area of the printable, I have a mini ‘Judy’ clock {it’s about 4.5” squarish}. I printed the time sheet off onto cardstock, laminated it and then attached the mini clock on with four velcro dots so that we can also take it off the board if we want too. So far it’s been a great addition to our morning board routine.

Here’s a look at our re-arranged calendar board. The numbers below all link to the documents/sites where you can find the printables. The board itself if a large piece of foamboard that you can pick up from either Walmart or Target for around $3.

And you can totally ignore the fact that the kids were playing with the hands on the clock…and I didn’t realize it until I was posting this picture. :) It was correct when we did it this morning!

Since all four of the kids will have different verses for Awana this year, I took the verse cards off the board and we added a few things to pray for: our President and our Compassion child.

1. Today is… This is a printable that I downloaded from Carisa at 1+1+1=1.2.

2. Days in School ~ This is a sheet that the girls use to fill in how many days we’ve been in school.

3. Make the Date ~ This is another great printable from Carisa that you can find on her Calendar page.

4. Skip Counting Charts ~ I have a plastic page protector taped to the board and can slide our skip counting charts into this slot {or another 8 1/2” x 11” sheet}.

5. What Time is It? ~ to work on both analog and digital time

6. 4×6 picture of our President and the Compassion child that we sponsor {if you have space on your board, you can sponsor a child too!}.

7. Today’s Temperature ~ This printable has two thermometers on it where we mark the indoor and the outdoor temperature.

8. Weekly Weather Graph ~ Our weekly weather graph that Kaleb and Zachary both do.

You can also see our our calendar and morning board layout from last year. Be sure to check out these other great resources/ideas for calendar and morning board printables:

~ Carisa @ 1+1+1=1…Calender page

~ Michelle @ Delightful Learning

~ Mama Jenn’s Calendar Board

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Filed Under: Calendar and Morning Board, Our Classroom 2 Comments

Our Chore System & Chore Charts for Kids Printables

Aug122010

August 12, 2010 by Jolanthe 65 Comments

Looking for chore charts for kids? Read along and I’ll be sharing some free printables for you all to use with your family!

We’ve had our new chore chart system in place for about a month now and so far it’s working well for us. In the past we have tried to use the chore system from Managers of Their Homes…but cards started getting lost, the younger ones had trouble getting them in and out of the pouches and overall it just didn’t work as well for us as I had envisioned.

I also want to explain a little bit of the ‘why’ behind our chore chart system and how we’re implementing it in our household. You may {or may not} agree with our reasoning…and that’s ok, but this has developed after a lot of talking and merging of different ideas.

The full page chore chart goes along with our Weekly Workbox System Grid and is the same size, so it fits as the top page of the set and hangs on the wall.

The Basics of the Chore Chart System

In life there are things that we do on a day-to-day basis that are unpaid and things that result {generally} in a paycheck. Rick mows the lawn, does upkeep on the house, takes out the trash…but other than a thanks from me, it’s an unpaid job. :) He has a paid job that involves him showing up to work on time, completing certain tasks, etc… Neither of us want our children growing up thinking that money is just handed to them.

We want our kids to develop a good work ethic and understand the balance between work and pay ~ if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. If you DO work, there are benefits to that. We also want them to learn how to budget their money and manage it before they are in their teens or 20s and don’t have a clue what to do.

The system that we’re using has two parts: expected chores and paid chores. The two sets go hand in hand though. The expected chores need to be done in order for the paid chores to get paid out. That means that no money is earned unless the basic chores are completed {and Mommy checks to make sure they are done!}.

There are certain things that we expect our kids to do around the house because they are members of the household ~ making of beds, picking up of rooms, etc… Those are the basic chores. Each of our kids has a set of 3 morning expected morning chores and 3 afternoon/evening chores.

Our chore charts are attached to our Weekly Workbox Grid and hang on the wall so the kids have easy access to them. They are laminated and have check boxes next to each of the chores so I can check off with a Sharpie when they have completed a chore {and remove the Sharpie marks later with nail polish remover}.

The last column is the “Today I Earned” column where we they can see how much they earned that day. Payday is Saturday and Sunday is a day of rest and no earning. :)

Laurianna’s Chore Chart

Each of the kids has 3 additional chores a day that will earn them money. The money varies from child to child ~ the older they get and the more ‘responsible’ the chore is, they earn a little extra…but we’re still cheap!

They cannot earn the money unless they complete their daily chores {i.e. if they miss one of the daily chores, no cash even if they complete all of the ones they can earn on}. It might seem a little harsh, but the kids are quickly learning the importance of completing what has been put in front of them!

The Chores

Here’s a list of the daily/expected chores that we have for the kids on their charts. They obviously have other things they need to do during the day, but these are the key things we chose to focus on and they may change out if we are having difficulty with certain things being done. For example, oral hygiene is high on the list for a certain 5 year old….

Laurianna {age 9}: make bed/pick-up room, water plants, devotions, pick-up school stuff, clean up basement {family room}, shoes/jacket away, clean off dresser and under bed

McKenna {age 7}: same as above

Zachary {age 5}: make bed/pick-up room, brush teeth, devotions, pick-up school stuff, clean up basement/family room, shoes/jacket away, clean under bed

Kaleb {age 3}: make bed, pick-up room, devotions, wipe table/chairs, pick-up basement/family room, shoes/jacket away

The paid chores change daily, and again there are things that the kids are still expected to do {like put away their laundry}, but these are the extra paid chores by child.

Laurianna: Clean out bathroom sink, start load of laundry, vacuum basement and spare room, clean toilets, dust living room, and yardwork {25 cents a chore, max of 75 cents day}.

McKenna: Wash breakfast table, laundry from washer to dryer, vacuum bedroom, wash bathroom mirror, clean bathroom counters, and yardwork {20 cents a chore, max of 60 cents day}.

Zachary: Load the dishwasher, clothes out of dryer, clean out the van, vacuum bedroom, wash patio door, wash bathroom mirror/clean walls, and yardwork {15 cents a chore, max of 45 cents day}.

Kaleb: Help sort dirty clothes & help start laundry {with Laurianna}; vacuum living room & kitchen; empty bathroom trash; wash patio door; help with dishes; and yardwork {10 cents a chore, max of 30 cents day}.

Payday

Saturday is payday at our house because there aren’t any chores that earn money on Sunday. When we pay the kids for their chores, we also divide out the money that they have earned as follows: 20% giving {we want them to be generous from the start!}, 40% savings and 40% spending.

Rick and I are huge fans of Dave Ramsey and have led his Financial Peace class at our church several times because we have experienced first hand the importance of being debt free. We were deeply in debt {not including our house} to the tune of almost $65,000 around the time Zachary was born. We got serious about paying off that debt {gazelle intensity as Dave would say} and paid it all off in 19 months!

We made many dumb money mistakes over the years and really want to teach our children how to deal with money now while we can ~ so they don’t repeat the same mistakes that we made. If you are interested, I would highly recommend the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. That was a bunny trail, but I think it’s important that you also understand a little more of the why behind what we do!

The Chore Charts

Obviously your house and chores may not line up with what we have listed, but if you’d like to use the grid that I made, you can download the blank chore chart templates, write in your chores and then laminate them to use. The Chore Chart printables have 5 pages, all the same format, just different colors ~ purple, pink, blue, green and white.