Welcome back to the second annual “Back to (Home) School” blog carnival! It’s a month long exhibition of what works for YOU (because sometimes we all need to remind ourselves what we DO have working for us– there’s plenty of opportunity to lament over what’s NOT working.) And most of the time we all enjoy looking at what other people are doing, too. We can find great curriculum recommendations, organizing ideas, record keeping tips and other goodies by taking a minute to step outside of what *we* think and take a look at the advice that other people are offering. (I’m particularly bad about not doing that sometimes.)

And that’s my hope for this carnival, that you’d find at least one tip or piece of advice that you can really use to help your school year go even better. And I also hope that it’s fun! And that you find some new blogs and that some new followers find yours. So let’s get to it, shall we?

Our School

I’ve written about our ‘students’ before: Princess (11), Drama Queen (8) and Little Prince (5). I’ve written about their different learning styles and how I try to teach with that in mind.

What is going to be different about this year is that the kids are starting to get older, Princess is a tween (and starting to behave like one!) and we need to increasingly challenge her to grow her and teach her while also teaching her how to deal with her increasingly challenging hormones. Drama Queen’s math is going to get harder of course, but I need to gently push her to improve her handwriting and tidiness even more and I imagine that’s going to be the most difficult and trying for us. And the Little Prince, though school may not look the same for him as it did for the girls at this age, definitely needs to be encouraged to “do school” with us as much as possible – and hopefully pick up some reading skills along the way. To that end, I’m going to be the most organized and on the ball that I have ever been! (It’s been an ongoing process, a little more each year as we go. I’m getting there!)

Here’s a few things I’m putting in place this year to make sure each of my children get their needs met:

  1. Princess needs to write more! It sounds easy enough just ask her to write a lot, about anything and everything, but we didn’t remember often enough to “just do it.” So this year I’m buying a writing curriculum so that we have lesson numbers to follow and complete. (We work well when there’s a book to complete.)
  2. Drama Queen has come a long way with her handwriting but there’s still room for improvement. I’m going old school on this one — good effort with her handwriting will earn a smiley face sticker on the assignment. It’s so easy – but I know that it will motivate her.
  3. Little Prince is an active, hands on kind of guy but he’s starting to sit still a little more these days. I want him to actively explore but I also want him to start learning how to read. He gets a kick out of using books his sisters have already used so we’re going to make the most of that! I’m going to keep pulling out the McGuffey primer. It was his sister’s. ;0)
  4. I need to do better about getting all our science experiments in so I’m creating a science experiment box – a sterilite box that I already have that will hold supplies in manila envelopes labeled with their numbers. I’m working on that before school starts so that all our experiments are ready to go (minus large items like mixing bowls or staplers..)

These are just a few things, I have several new goals and ideas for this year. But I don’t want to bore y’all. =p

My overall hope for our school this year is that we can enjoy learning together, REALLY learning together, despite the hormones and the sibling rivalry and the pesky little brother. I pray that God gives me the wisdom how to deal with the parenting while doing the schooling! I pray that I succeed in teaching them about God and spiritual disciplines while teaching them about the world He created.

Now it’s your turn to link up and tell me/us about your school, your students, and/or your goals for the new year!

(P.S. I forgot to remind you that it’s okay to link up posts you’ve already written for your own blog or someone else’s back to school carnival, it’s okay! As long as it’s on topic. Thanks!)

~ You can find the Back to (Home) School, Week 2 post here.

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Amber

Hey, y’all! I’m Amber and I wear many hats. I drink a ton of coffee and I’m constantly sweeping crumbs off the floor. After 18 years of homeschooling, I’m getting close to graduating my third child and now we are starting over at preschool with our fourth, Lil Miss Mouse. She keeps us young and she’s the main reason for my excessive coffee consumption. Drink up!