Our school desks

I have been looking for desks to add to our new "classroom" area. However,I have not been happy with selections that I found in stores. Every desk that I looked at seemed to be at least $100 or more if bought new. The used ones that I came across were either in horrible condition or were not what I was looking for. So, I asked my husband to be on the lookout for desks that the kids could sit at while doing their work. I must brag on my husband, he is quite the bargain hunter, and found two really nice desks at a yard sale. He bought both desks for $10. The desks were in good condition but the tops were stained and painted on. I wanted to individualize their desks to make it to where they enjoyed sitting and doing their work more than they usually do anyway. We went to K-Mart on the lookout for chairs and wallpaper to cover the mess on the tops to make them look better. All in all we spent $10 for both desks, $10 for each chair and $15 on wallpaper. The total price for both desks came out to be only $45! Now thinking back I wish I could have taken pictures of the desks before we added our own touch to them but below is some pictures of our ALMOST finished desks. I say ALMOST because it is still my intention to buy plexiglass to go over the tops to where the wallpaper will not start to peel.

Changing things up a bit

Well...I had everything organized and wasn't going to go with a "classroom" type layout of everything, but the more I think about it the better I think the idea would be for us. So, I am turning the children's small playroom into a classroom type area also. My husband went to Wal-mart earlier and found crates for $1/per crate. Needless to say he bought almost every crate they had there because I have been talking about wanting more storage to get everything organized a bit better. Being the wonderful husband he is, he came home after a hard day of work and put the crates on the wall and made us a "cubbie" storage area like you would see in Kindergarden classrooms. There is much more storage for everything now and the kids and I both like the new set-up.

10 Years Ago Today...The World Stopped Turning

If you ask me what I did last Monday...I know I would have a hard time remembering the details of the day. If you ask me what I was doing 10 years ago today I could tell you exactly every detail because that day is in the hearts of ALL Americans. I had just woke up and turned on the TV to see what the weather was going to be like for the day. I rembember thinking that it was just a movie that was on only to find that it was showing on all of the channels. Once I realized what had happened and that it was real my heart dropped and the first thing I did was get on the phone and make sure that the ones I loved were okay. Once I was sure family members and friends were ok my sorrow for the people whose lives were lost turned to anger. I went out that very day and donated blood and tried to join the military only to be declined due to having asthma and not being able to pass the physical portion of the test. Today when the children wake up we will be watching videos of what happened that day and I will be teaching them that there are real "superheros" in this world that lost their lives that day and who continue to lose their lives to protect us and keep us free. They know that there are real life "bad guys" who intentionally hurt others but they will be learning the History of this country and why we have to fight to have the right to keep our freedom. Thanks to the heroes who gave their life and sacrifice each day to make our country a better place I will have the great blessing to continue to teach my children and help them grow as great individuals. It is because of the American heroes that we are free and for that I am forever grateful.

Colored Counting/Sorting Noodles

Over the past week I have been working with my 4 year old on counting, adding/subtracting, and sorting. The easiest way I could think of doing this and keeping his attention was to make it colorful and fun. I had him help me on this project to get his interest started. We took some assorted noodles (uncooked of course), different shapes and sizes, and put them in small ziploc bags. We used different bags for each color we chose to make sure the colors did not mix. I then took a cap full of rubbing alcohol (which helps to preserve the noodles and keep bugs away), 3-4 drops of food coloring in each bag, sealed the bags and shook well to make sure the coloring got all over the noodles. Once we got the coloring all over the noodles I emptied out the bags of noodles, still keeping them seperated and laid them all out to dry on paper towels. Once they dried we started our work...adding a few of each color to make math problems like 3 purple noodles plus 2 yellow noodles and counting them for the total. I have him sort by the different shapes of the noodles and colors. He has had a blast with them. It helps to keep him occupied and helps him to learn while I work on the lessons with my 6 year old for awhile.

Friday Treats/Reward System

I have found a great way to encourage our children and reward them for good behavior. They are rewarded every Friday with their choice from the "Friday treat box." They spend the entire week looking forward to Friday and making sure that they do their best to EARN their weekly treat. We do not spend much money on their Friday treats. We buy random toys/items from my favorite place (The Dollar Tree)and put them all in a shoebox. We also have a monthly treat that we do if they get their sticker chart full. Once they fill their sticker charts for the month, we take them to our local Chuck E Cheeses or to a special play area of their choice.

Fun, Free/Cheap Finds

I must admit that I have become quite fond of www.lapbooklessons.com and www.filefolderfun.com. There are so many free and creative ideas available to go along with different subjects and areas of study. I make quite a few of the file folder games using those websites. I have also found alot of really good items at our local Dollar Tree. The pictures of the file folder games I am posting were found there and were only $1 and are actually set up like a regular game board and played with game pieces. I have also found several other items at the Dollar Tree such as charts, worksheets, student Math tables and a grading chart which really helps me with grading my papers.

Homeschool Group Scavenger Hunt

We have been blessed enough to find an amazing group of homeschoolers to provide support during our homeschool journey. We generally meet up a few times throughout the month and have fieldtrips, playdates, and pretty much anthing educational that will help the children expand their minds. This past week we had yet another wonderful meeting in which we had a scavenger hunt planned for the kids. The current leader of the group planned out the activity for us and we had lists of the items that we should be looking for along the way (bugs, leafs, moss, etc.) We met up at the local park area and started walking along the trail looking for the items on the list. The day turned out to be much hotter than we thought it would but the kids were of course full of energy and ready to go find "little critters." My little girl was big on pointing out different rocks that had broken open and examining the inside and what they looked like. My son on the other hand was just as happy as he could be walking and hanging out with the older kids and of course checking out the bugs when the time came. We spent about 2 hrs looking at different things and learning about nature. It was a great day but very hot so by the time we were done I felt the kids had been good enough to enjoy a nice cold treat at the local Dairy Queen, which might I add was a big mistake with a very sleepy little boy. We came home and took a nice little nap and woke up refreshed and ready to do school work. All in all it was a great day and the kids for the most part had a blast and was full of questions about what they had seen on the trail.