I work and homeschool my son :)

Hello everyone!  A frequent question that pops up in my online Homeschool forums is "Can I homeschool and work?"  The answer is "Yes!" 

Here is my recent response to this question:

"I work a full-time schedule and homeschool. I work from 7AM to 11AM and then I work from 9PM to 11PM. I also have to attend conference meetings (via my phone and Internet) a few times a week during the middle of the day (usually around 2PM). My husband also works full time (12noon to 8PM). We make it work because we value homeschooling and we have jobs that can be flexible with hours. My husband homeschools my son in the mornings (he is the one that attends our Classical Conversations co-op weekly) and then I do the parkdays, library playdates, Lego Clubs, etc. when I get home. We wrap up any homeschool lessons in the evening, usually around dinnertime. Sometimes my mother steps in to help, especially with the co-op because there are times that my husband might have a meeting in the morning. We stay flexible and roll with it. It only works because we are all on the same page and work together to achieve the homeschool goals."

Ocean Scholastic Unit

Hello!   My Little One loves anything to do with ocean creatures.  At some point I bought a unit from Scholastic on oceans.  LO decided to pull it out recently and completed some of the pages.  He enjoyed the coloring pages and decided to do two of the activities.  He made a jellyfish and a lobster.  The jellyfish was made out of a paper plate folded in half and construction paper.  He made the lobster out of a paper bag, which made it a puppet.

Does your child love ocean creatures?

 

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Hello!  One great way to get Daddy involved with homeschooling is to go to fun activities like the FREE Kids Workshops at Home Depot.  The kids get to make a project including hammering, glueing, painting, and stickers.   They get to keep the cute aprons (which are totally free!) and earn pins for each of the projects that they complete. 

 

Do you go to workshops with your children?

 

Pool Number Activity

Hello!  I definitely pulled this idea from another homeschool blog, but I don't remember exactly which one.  If it was you, please write a comment below taking credit :)  It was probably teachingmama.org but I am not sure.

 

This number activity was really easy and cheap to construct.  It's just 2 pool noodles, which cost $1 at the dollar store.  :)   I used duct tape to make a circle with one of the noodles.  I then cut up the other noodle into small circles.  I wrote numbers on them because my Little One has been struggling with number recognition.  We simply play pool games with them by throwing the numbers into the larger ring.  I have him shout out the number as he either throws or collects the green noodle circles.  It's fun and an easy way to practice numbers.

 

This activity concept could modified for lots of other concepts.  It could be used for higher math concepts like addition and subtraction.  It also could be modified to use letters instead of numbers.  It could be a letter recognition game or a word making game. 

 

What ideas do you have for this type of activity?

 

 

Rocket Making!

Hello!   This summer we set off some real rockets in my parents backyard.  Little One thought that it was super cool :)  He came home wanting to make his own rockets.  I was pretty sure that he did not care if they were "real" or not, so I got some toilet paper rolls, construction paper, and paint out.  LO had a BLAST constructing his rockets.  :) 

What fun things have you done with your child that turned into a craft activity?

Circle Time - July

Hello!   In our homeschool, we try to start our day with our version of Circle Time.   We basically have a Circle Time wall which is in the foyer of our house.  It's literally next to our front door.  We do our Circle Time when we exist the house.  Sometimes I remember at other times, but I placed it near the front door on purpose.  I figured if I was walking by it every day to leave the house that I would remember to actually go over it :)  

Included in our Circle Time are the following:
- Picture of the current season
- Picture of the current month
- Our day of the week chart including "yesterday", "today", and "tomorrow"
- a magnetic calendar
- a "welcome" sign with a changable wooden item
- a liturgical calendar wheel (not pictured)

The current season and current month pictures came from the Horizons Preschool curriculum.  We tried this curriculum for a while but it didn't work for us.  It was a lot of work and just not our style.   I did like some of the supplemental materials, like these sets of pictures, so I kept them.   The rest of the curriculum I donated.

I made the day of the week chart.  I got the idea from visiting Lakeshore Learning and checking out their Circle Time wall hangings that were for sale.  I quickly figured out that I did not want to buy one of the already made charts.  They were expensive and I already had a lot of the components.   One component that I saw on the pre-made wall hangings that I liked was the concept of a Day of the Week that included the terms "yesterday", "today", and "tomorrow."  Little One uses these concepts frequently but not necessarily correctly.  So I thought that this part of Circle Time would be helpful for him.  I made my Day of the Week component with construction paper (white and red) and one sleeve protector.  I cut the sleeve protector into thirds.  It was as simple as that :)

The magnetic calendar was a donation from my aunt.  Her now-grown children used it when they were little.  I like that it is a dry erase board plus magnetic.  The magnets have lots of activity options along with the numbers and months.

The wooden welcome sign with the wooden items came from my grandmother.   She was going through her things and decided she did not need it.  I thought it would make a nice addition to my Circle Time wall.  It was actually hanging on the wall before I put together the other components of my Circle Time wall.

I also made a liturgical calendar wheel from CatholicIcing.com.  My son likes to play with it and he had placed it in another location when I took this picture. 

Do you do Circle Time with your children?  If so, what do you include in your Circle Time?

Children's Worship Bulletin

Hello!  One of the great things about homeschooling is that any magazine or worksheet can be "school".   Every Sunday our Church provides a "Children's Worship Bulletin".  It comes in two age ranges and my son falls into the "age 3 to 6" range.  We complete the bulletin either when my son gets squiggly during Mass or when we get home.   It reinforces the Bible teachings of the week and practices key school skills.

Does your Church have available worksheets like this for the children?