The Importance Of Homeschool Organization

Organization… This word is very important for a homeschooler.  Honestly, I’ve never been very organized.  When I started homeschooling my first year was kind of a mess.  I did not organize the way I should have.   Then life happen, I got sick (severe thyroiditis) and had to undergo an operation.  So, everything was kind of a chaos.  The next year my husband decided to send kids back to school.  That was worse than the disaster I had at home.  The kids hated their new school.  The oldest started getting bullied severely so we had to make various reports.  In all, it was a disaster. 

So, after I felt better I started looking at organization ideas and yes I became a Pinterest addict LOL! Homeschooling is so different when you are properly organized.  I was homeschooling multiple children so the organization ideas were a great help.  This does not mean that there will be days when kids don’t want to work or when you don’t want to teach.  Life will still happen like it always does but when you’re organized it’s easier and less stressful for the mother.  It also helps avoid the famous homeschool “burn-out”.

One of my favorite organization ides that has helped me a lot is file folder organization.  I got this amazing idea from MeetPenny.com  She made a whole year of homeschool lessons. 

  

While kids still were in school I started planning the next year.  I looked for the curriculum I wanted and the costs.  After I bought it and received everything I started planning my homeschool year.  Also, I was praying a lot because after seeing what happened the first year my husband did not want homeschooling anymore. I really needed his support.  Penny’s system was great.  It made my life easier.  Yes it took me some time to put it all together but at the end it was so worth it. 

Now everything is going quite well.  As I said life happens but now I don’t have to worry what I’m going to teach tomorrow or what materials we need.  I’m also using workboxes.  I will be writing about that system in another post.  

Early Explorers Subscription for Preschoolers

Little Passports Announces Early Explorers Subscription for Preschoolers

**The links in this post are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.

Little Passports has a wonderful new program for preschoolers, called Early Explorers. Children ages 3 to 5 can experience the joy of learning about new cultures.

Each month, your child will be introduced to a new theme like animals, music, and landmarks. Early Explorers is designed with preschoolers in mind and provides fun and educational activities, souvenirs and stickers. During the first month, a Traveler's Kit arrives in a fun orange suitcase. It holds everything a child needs to start learning about the world:

• An activity book introducing new characters Max, Mia, and their dog Toby.
• A wall-sized world map
• Stickers and a wall decal
• A luggage tag

After the first month, a monthly World Theme Kit arrives, which contains:

• An activity booklet
• Souvenirs
• Flashlight Adventures
• Stickers and wall decals

Early Explorers makes a unique holiday gift for children ages 3 to 5. Learn more about Early Explorers from Little Passports.

Marigold Tissue Craft

Marigold Tissue Craft

What You Will Need

• Yellow, orange or red tissue paper
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaner (any color; chose green to look like a plant stem)

Instructions

1. Fold a sheet of tissue paper in half, “hamburger style”. (The two short ends meet.)
2. Fold in half again, the same style.
3. Starting at one of the shorter edges, make a paper fan (or accordion). Fold the short edge over 1/2 to 1 inch. Turn your paper over and fold the same edge again, making another 1/2 inch fold. Continue turning and folding until you’ve completed the accordion effect.
4. Wrap one end of your pipe cleaner around the middle of your tissue paper accordion.
5. Round the corners of your tissue paper by trimming with a pair of scissors.
6. Spread out your accordion until it forms a flat, circular shape.
7. Pull the first layer of tissue paper up toward the center of your accordion, all the way around the circle.
8. Pull up the next layer of tissue paper the same way, toward your first layer. Continue pulling and fluffing your layers.
9. Your paper flower is finished!

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with Little Passports

Get Crafty this Día de los Muertos with Little Passports


**The links in this post are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.


Halloween night is coming. You've carved a scary pumpkin and pinned a skeleton to your front door. These decorations, as old superstitions say, will help scare off the dead during the spooky holidays. But what if you wanted to lure the dead spirits to your house? Sounds odd, right? Not in Mexico.
The Day of the Dead, or el Día de los Muertos, goes back to the vibrant Aztec culture of Mexico. It was a month-long celebration intended to honor ancestors and the continuation of life. Today, the Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and many parts of the United States. It's the perfect extra holiday to add to your Halloween plans!




In honor of Dia de los Muertos, Little Passports features a recipe for Seriously Spooky Skeleton Cupcakes on their blog. They are a fun treat for both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos as they look like skeletons! And, since the marigold is the main flower of the holiday, there's also a marigold craft project on the Little Passports Blog. You can create the flowers with tissue paper and pipe cleaners. 





Read more about Dia de los Muertos and get instructions for the fun activities on the Little Passports Blog.

Have a great week with your family! 

  

12 Homeschool Organization Ideas

I put together the best sites that can help you how to organized for your homeschooling year.  There are many ways.  You can choose one that works for your family.   Remember being organized can save you from a lot of unnecessary stress. 

10 HOMESCHOOL ORGANIZING IDEAS 

IDEAS FOR YOUR HOMESCHOOL ROOM OR SPACE 

7 WAYS TO PREPARE AS A HOMESCHOOL MOM

AN ENTIRE YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL LESSON PLANS

CLEANING SCHEDULE FOR HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES

HOW TO CREATE AND KEEP A HOMESCHOOL PORTFOLIO

HOMESCHOOL PLANNING FOR MULTIPLE AGES

FILE CRATE ORGANIZING SYSTEM 

ORGANIZED YOUR WEEKLY PLANS





HOW WE USE OUR WORKBOXES

                             



WHY WE LOVE OUR HOMESCHOOL WORKBOXES

PLANNING A HOMESCHOOL ROUTINE FOR MULTIPLE CHILDREN

                             

Things To Know When Home Schooling

I wish that when I started homeschooling I would had found this post.

When we start homeschooling is like we want to take school into our home.  Homeschooling is not just about school, it's a lot more than that.  Most of the mothers that start homeschooling get the famous "burned-out" by the stress they put on themselves.  We want everything to be perfect and that everything goes as planned. But the reality is that we have to think out of the box, not everything is going to go as planned (especially with three kids LOL) life happens, kids get sick, you get sick and there are those days you just need a break.    

When I started homeschooling I started very excited, but finished up like many of us burned-out.  I started thinking where I went wrong. First of all I'm not very organized so I didn't prepare myself as I should have.  I was teaching two different grade levels and not being organized ahead of time did not help.  Another thing that really affected me was that I was always worried if I was doing it right or if the kids were getting behind.   Well, then I realized usually homeschoolers are above their grade level.

I found a great support group where I realized that many mothers had the same worries as I and that I shouldn't get stress by this because then I wouldn't enjoy my homeschooling journey.  I encourage you to read the post above.  It was really inspiring for me and help me a lot.  Now, I'm much organized in my homeschooling and take it day by day.  Don't put unneeded pressure on yourself and enjoy this wonderful journey called "homeschooling" and cherish each and every  moments, even the bad ones.

I Don't Like To Read!!!!

Sometimes we (parents) know how important is reading to our kids and we try our best on helping them, but they still don’t like to read. This is not always the case, but yes it happens. I for one have experienced this situation. I have an 8 year-old that loves when I read aloud to him but did NOT like to read. I was getting a little desperate because, even thou, he read well he did not like it. Like I said before there are many reasons why this can happen. One of those can be that the child is not ready to read yet (this is in younger children) another one is that the child has not found a book that really gets his attention. Remember a book may look great to you, but it does not mean your child shares the same feeling.



So I decided to ask my husband for help. My husband loves to read, he is always reading in his spare time, this is something that amazes me. I ask my husband what did he use when he was a kid to read more. For my surprise he said “I started reading comic books and that make me want to read more”. WOW! That was the answer I was looking for, my boy is a huge fan of Sonic The Hedgehog and I decided to start with Sonic comics books. Ba-bam! not only did my son like the idea but now when we go to the comic book store he can’t wait to get home to read it. We told him every time you finish reading a comic book we will ask you questions about the story and we will buy a new comic book. This way we were sure he read the book. Take an advantage of your child’s interests, i.e. if he like trains look for books about trains. Reward him, for example every time he finishes reading a book he gets a special reward (stickers, ice-cream, more playtime, etc).

In my case my kids prefer that I read then aloud than them reading by themselves. So, I kind of negotiate with them. I will read a book but then each one of them will read me a story aloud or at least all they could read for 30 minutes. For the oldest when we have to do book reports we do them in lapbooks so is easier for him (and me) and it takes a few days to finish but he does his job. The important thing is to look for a way to make reading fun for the kids, which is not an easy task LOL!

Importance Of Reading To Your Children

Every day I hear mothers worried and frustrated because their kids are behind in reading. We as mothers look for answers on how can we help our kids. The difficulty to read in a child may lead to many problems, like low self-esteem.

The truth is that these days kids spend more time in front of a TV or playing video games. As a parent it is our job to teach our children to fall in love with reading. Reading is a way for children to make new discoveries, develop creativity and inspiration. I know most of us have full-time jobs or have more than one child and sometimes between making dinner, doing homework, cleaning up is difficult to have the time to read to them. But, we have to make time, even if its 15 minutes a day. You have to understand what is the importance of reading to your children. I'm almost 33 years old and I often remember when my mother read to me at night. I LOVED IT!!! and made me fall in love with reading too.

Lets be real! nobody wants getting the news that their child is failing. People are different and the same is true with kids. One of the biggest mistakes is to think that what worked for one child will work for another. Kids learn differently, many kids that fall behind at school do not have any learning difficulty, it’s just that they have different learning styles. How many times kids that have a high IQ have been labelled by the teacher as “having learning disabilities”.  

We cannot expect every child to learn the same way (this is one of the reasons I home-school). That is another part of the importance of reading to our children, because most kids start to read when they are ready. Read to your child, let him see that you as a parent enjoy reading. Look for books that he likes and catch his/her attention. It does not matter if you have to read him the same book 100 times (hey, it happens!). You keep reading every day to your child and you will see that when he is ready to read he’ll take off really fast.