We need to change things up

I have my kids write daily in a journal, and everyday their given a different topic. Today's topic was, "if there was one thing you would change about school, what would it be?" Both of their answers surprised me, less writing and more games like the baby. Being a former preschool teacher, preschool things come easy to me, but not the other grades. I know my children are more hands on and creative learners, and I've been completely ignoring that. So, I've decided we need to change things up.



I spent the night searching the internet for games that teach. File folder, lapbook, dice, word searches, etc. I found a ton for my preschooler, and second grader, but hardly anything for my fourth grader. I guess that means I'm going to have to make them myself. I'm not very computer savvy, so it's going to take me a bit to figure stuff out. I also have to go through all of his books and see what I can make into learning games for him. He catches onto things so fast though, that it's going to be hard to make things he won't use only once. I guess that's a perk of his autism. I'll post links and pictures of the learning games as we use them, and of course any new ones I make!

Almost Done!

For about a week now, I've been printing and cutting, copying, hole punching, organizing, and running out for last minute things, but..... I'm almost done! I'm pushing myself so we'll be able to start school on Monday, or Tuesday lol.

The other day I took the boys Abeka books to Staples and had the bindings cut off, and bought a bunch of binders. Then I came home, hole punched them (all 8 books worth!), and put them in the binders. Looking at those binders, just makes me smile. I love how neat and organized everything looks now.

I printed out a few games and printables from 1+1+1= 1, homeschool creations, confessions of a homeschooler, and a few others that I'm so sorry but I can't remember :( But of course, now I can't for the life of me find my laminator. The thing is years old, but worked great! To make room for our supplies in the garage, all of our stored boxes were stacked taller than I am, so it makes it hard for me to get into them. A friend told me she got her laminator from Walmart, so I guess I'm in the market for a new laminator. The best part though, is that I found the laminating pouches really cheap!

Oh, and I found an organizing method that looks like it's going to work for us! It's the adapted workfolder/workbox method from homeschool creations. I have a binder with dividers for every day of the week, that I'll put their work into (1 week at a time) , then move it every night into their work folder. Each of my boys has a tray that their work folder will be in along with their bulky items that don't fit into the folder. My daughter has a large tupperware container that holds her folder and bulky items. It's not overly complicated, and doesn't seem like it will overwhelm them either.

Now I'm off to make my own version of workbox strips for my kids!