Well it is that time of year when we are gearing up for the new school year. We actually had our first week, but it was light (Liberty Kids, Magic Schoolbus etc) and we didn't start our new curriculum except dd12 math.
As I do almost every year I have reorganized my school room and books. Inspired by
the thread on the WTM board, I made copies of everything I think we will need which will be so freeing and more likely to get more done, things such as music theory, since the pages are all ready. I did do things a little differently that some of the recommendations in that thread and show you what I did and why.
My oldest had the most copies because she is doing MOH2 &CKEES instead of HOD this year. I started to file the copies but week, but started to panic with "what if, what if" so instead I put them all in a notebook divided by subject. (the picture doesn't who how full the binder is)
(I think you can click on the pictures to make them bigger)
I also made my lesson plans by days instead of weeks. So if we have field trips etc that come up it won't mess up my weekly plans, we just skip and do the lesson on the next day that subject is to be done. We do not do every subject every day. Math is done 4 days a week, Grammar 2, Writing 2, Spelling 2, DITHOR worksheets 2, History 3, Science 2, Music, Art, Latin (with review during the week), Health, PE (formal) are done once a week.
I also made copies of supplies lists that I would need for each subject. Subjects like science and art which uses more than pencil and paper I have tubs where I keep those supplies. If we have the things on hand we are more likely to do the project.
My second daughter and her two younger brothers are all using HOD. Most of theirs are non-consumable, but what little copies were needed to be made were made and are stored in a binder. They each of their own locker size crate with files by subject. The files are divided by subject which contains its book (if not shared with a sibling), notebook and pencil (hopefully) at the back of the file is a 3 ring binder to put their finished work. I have a some office "shelves" on my desk where each child has an assigned shelf (I have their color folder [more on that later]) where they put their work to be checked. After it is checked then it goes in the binder.
The children are "color coded" - Sapphire girl (12) is blue; Horselover (10) is purple (Walmart only had the pinkish purple colors); Soldierboy (8) is orange/grey (not everything comes in orange); Natureboy (7) is green; and Motorboy (3) is red. Each child gets school supplies (hampers, washclothes) etc in their own color. That way if a find green scissors left out I know who they belong to and have them put it away. It also helps to give my children a feeling of possessiveness and help me to encourage them to take of their things. (BTW - a friend gave me that magnetic pink/purple marker board, it just went with Horselovers stuff, now to find other colored ones)
(above is Horselovers school supplies)
BOOKS - I love collecting and organizing books and every year or 2 I change the way I organize them. This year they are divided by subject. My dh was given some free cabinets and he put them up (w/o doors) in our school room. They have given me a lot of space, but the one draw back is since they were originally kitchen cabinets not all the books stand up. Most of the books on these shelves are non fiction - so not as likely to be used outside the school "setting". My one exception is historical fiction. I tried to put only the historical fiction books that we will be using for school on these shelves. This way I know they will be there when I need them. (For free reading, kids have a bookshelf upstairs with books that they can read from anytime)
On top of my bookshelves are different supply bins, this keeps the little one from getting into the bins and scattering everything (and some of the bigger ones ;) )
Please excuse the appearance of the bookshelf below, I put it together until I can get another one after one of our chip board shelves collapsed.
Here I have my HOD books by Manual, I tried to match the color of the manual cover with a fabric box of a similar color, a few of my manuals and books are being loaned out right now otherwise there would be more. The black fabric boxes contain Math & Language Arts since those vary by ability. On the top shelf are our books divided by genre. I also have stickers on the books to show which manual the books go with (yellow for Bigger, light blue for Preparing, dark blue for Beyond etc)
on the bottome "shelf" (technically the floor) are the kid's crates. Horselover and Sapphire girl keep theirs on the desk (just put there for the pic) but since the boys use the kitchen table, they are kept here when not in use.
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