Back in April, we made the decision to homeschool Rosemary for kindergarten. So we spent a good chunk of the summer picking out curriculum and planning for the year. And now the day has arrived!
We started a countdown when there were 20-some days left. She loved changing the number every day. We even took a little chalkboard with us to the condo so we could continue it while we were away. Here she is right before heading to bed the night before her first day. She told me that she needed to get to bed because she “had a big day tomorrow.” We’ll start a countdown for Ben’s preschool now.
We live in a pretty small house and don’t really have a lot of space to devote to only one function, so we had to get creative in how to make things work for school.
Thus our schedule is on our refrigerator. I wasn’t sure what schedule for each day would work best so I made something that I can rearrange as we figure things out. And Rosemary liked moving things over as they were completed.
We have a flag too. And a bell. Jonathan got that for me for our anniversary. I know some people might think a bell is a strange anniversary gift, but I love it. The 8th anniversary traditional gift is bronze so it fits. We rang it to start our school day. (I know, I’m a dork).
Our US and world maps
The calendar is hanging on the (used-to-be) coat closet door. Someone gave this to me and I was super excited to use it!
The inside of our used-to-be coat closet. We moved the coats to our closets and put up some shelves to hold homeschool supplies on two shelves and the bottom two shelves hold our games. All the school stuff fits so it doesn’t have to be out all the time.
File box of everything we need for the week.
Curriculum ready for the first day of school. If you’re curious, here’s what we’re using:
- Reading: Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, Explode the Code, and BOB Books
- Math: Saxon Math 1
- Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Manuscript K
- Extras: Five in a Row Volumes 1 and 2
- Bible: Daily devotions as a family and weekly memory work
- We’re also a part of a homeschool group that will start up formally in September.
Our academic calendar for the year
Corresponding monthly calendars
Annual and monthly goals
Weekly plans.
I pretty much planned through the end of September. I just have one week left of Five in a Row to plan, but I might just use that as some wiggle room for that subject. I built in room for the other subjects, not that one though. I’ll do the rest of the fall semester planning after I get a better feel for how things go and how slowly or quickly we actually move.
I printed out the Florida state standards for kindergarten. There’s a good chance that at some point in our kids lives they will attend a public school and I want to make sure they’ve learned what they need to learn to make that an easier transition.
K-2nd reading list compiled from various sources. We’ll never read all of these books - this list is 6 pages long.
Rules and the pledges
Only three rules, but I’ve found that Rosemary does a lot better if we communicate this upfront.
I even packed the kids’ lunches the night before. It was a very complicated lunch to make. A lunchable and a juice box. :-) But they thought having their lunch in a lunch box was awesome. Seriously, I think they started asking to eat at like 10:30 in the morning so I’m not sure that my plan of making things easier that first day actually worked.
The desks ready for the morning. We found Rosemary’s desk on craigslist for $7. I just need to buy a chair that’s the right size for it. And Ben gets a table too. He might not be starting school but he’s along for the ride.
Her very own pencil box and some fairy wings to kick off the year.
And Ben got a pencil box for his supplies too, along with a new toy and a new book. We read his book during story time and even though we’d read it before when we borrowed it from the library, I got a little teary-eyed. It’s hard to believe that Rosemary’s already kindergarten age!
