"I Think I'm Starting to Like School"

Music to a homeschooling Mom's ears!  We've started a little unit on The Great Pyramids and the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World.  And Chase loved it.  I made a quickie 'Breakfast Board', where I looked up some facts about the Pyramids from DK Publishing's Eyewitness: Wonders of the World that we borrowed from the library on Tuesday.  Must say that I recommend this book, great information, colorful pictures and great to use for learning to use a reference.  It's not a huge book, so it is something he can easily look up the Index or in the Table of Contents to find the subject he wants.

After we read through it together, I had him get out his Social Studies journal where I'd added a title for the page.  I told him we were going to do doodle notes this year.  (Check out books like The Sketchnote Handbook that encourage you to turn intentional doodles into note taking)  I directed what he should draw and had him add in facts about it, then told him to go back and color the borders and fill in areas with different colors.  While he filled them in, I repeated what was written on the note so he was thinking about it.  He loved it!  (pictures shall be forthcoming)  The concept is that as you concentrate on illustrating the topic, you are programming the information into your brain further than just writing down the lines your teacher says.  The notes I had him make beside it with arrows and circling important bit, I let him write in his own words.

So, back to the term 'Breakfast Board'.  I found it via a post by Secular Homeschool on Pinterest, though the blog it shared is faith-based, it's a very good idea.  Basically, they use a poster board to fold pamphlet style and have the kids read over breakfast to review their day's assignments and to read factoids or do activities.  Since kids already like to read the cereal box so much, they will read whatever you sit in front of them at the breakfast table, great time to get some school preparedness in.

I've decided I'll be making it a bit more practical than a huge poster board.  I have several cereal boxes that I store cut up by my art table.  The ones I've not cut are perfect for this project.  I carefully open the box at the seams and trim off all the flaps.  So, now I have 4 sides, by flattening it so the two sides fold over the others like an envelope flap, I've made a pamphlet fold.  There are a few ways I can prepare my board, paper it, gesso it, cover it in decorative tape, etc...  I used a black vinyl cut off my bf has had for years from some factory that had excess vinyl rolls or something.  It's like a giant sticker.  But the best part is it actually works kind of like a dry erase board.  I have some neon markers just for this purpose.

I didn't do a very neat job of vinyling my board, it has bubbles and wrinkles and I was too lazy to try to peel it and redo.  But, I have more boxes, so if it is totally rekt, I can just make a new one!  On the back side, I had a protective sleeve that came in an order as a product sample from some school supply company.  It is a hard protective sleeve and the dry erase markers wipe right off.  So, in that, I slipped a daily page, which I write the date, our schedule and our spelling words for the week.  I'm thinking of adding pockets to the inside so I can have removable inserts that he can fill out and later add to his interactive journals.

I could make permanent attachments on the board, but I'd like to have interchangeable parts, so I can swap out the info on the board.  Having it entirely dry erase makes it more likely to get all smeared up.  One option I am thinking would be to use double sided tape or re-positional glue to add adornments.  Maybe laminating the pieces and velcroing them.  Anyways, I can make several boards and any that I just glued together, I can add new layers over.

I've considered possibly buying some metal spray paint and using my Freezer Frames as mini dry erase pockets.  They work great on a cookie sheet, but a cookie sheet doesn't stand up very well.  But I can slip in a new activity sheet or school subject for him to learn and use dry erase markers over it.  However, that may be spending too much money on these breakfast boards.  For now, I think I'll tack on some card stock pockets and slap on some print outs.  And of course, I'll be sharing whatever units I create to go with it!

Interactive Notebooking - Math

Woohoo, I've gotten 5 assignments readied in Chase's Math notebook. Seventeen days til' school starts... Goal - two weeks worth of work prepared... Hopefully, we can get the printer fully operational so I can print out the collection of freebies I've been gathering. I use all those worksheets for notebooking. So, want to see what I've got so far? Don't let the ordinary cover fool you! First day of school, I plan to have him decorate this. Maybe with some aluminum tape and go to town with my metal embossing tools... Or let him art it up in some other way. I don't have fancy papers though. But maybe if we can get the printer to be awesome, we can print our own.

The first thing I did was watch several tutorials on making pocket folder inserts for notebooks. So, I added one to the front of the book and one to the middle as a divider. This is a one subject book, but it will be handy later on in the year when he needs to flip to the back right away. The front pocket contains a piece of cardstock to use as a page saver, to go behind pages he's writing on so as to not poke through. Since pages will have fold out things and flip books, etc, there will be lots of problems with writing without making holes. On the back of this divider is the first Table of Contents. As more are needed, then I'll add in another divider. Opposite the Contents is a chalkboard! I found a blog post on Come Together Kids about making your own paper chalkboards and it's super easy and really works. I just glued it in place and it is ready to go. He can use it for notes or scratch paper, or doodling! There's another secret one on the back.  It has a cover flap to prevent getting chalk all over everything and keeps the writing from smudging.

The assignments are on place values and 3 part word problems.  I made the subject be Star Wars to go with the workbooks we bought.  They're really great, though a bit thin on workload.  For place values, I have a chart with flip up sections.  Across from it is a flipbook of place values.  He would mark each page as being 100-200-300 so on, either by coloring it or using a sticker.  Not 100 stickers in each, I'd be out of stickers and the page would be a mess.  He would write the qty on the front of the booklet.  I'm making a printable version of this with my party theme art on TeachersPayTeachers.


More place value work, just some labels for the squares, color coded them to keep him on track with HTO.  And finally, a place value slider.  I used some cardstock to make these.  The cardstock I used is from Core-dinations, I had won this sampler pack from JoAnn Fabrics several years ago now.  They are perfect for making bookmarks, and perfect for little projects like this.  I cut it to just short of my paper and used the cut off for the mount.  I measured how big the opening should be and it perfectly came out to how many I needed.  On the next page are some task cards, just index cards with mini place value assignments.

I'm sure I spent more time making these than he'll spend doing them.  Well, he better not spend that long!

Tears and Cheers

So the first day of school was a mix of emotions.  He was kind of combative at first.  We had to do a restart.  He had started gaining then losing behavior rewards before I could even show him what the reward system would be like.

Sokikom and ScootPad are both roaring successes.  He loved the fractions game on Sokikom and said "I love fractions"!  And he eagerly wanted to do the tests/practices on ScootPad once he learned you can earn 50 coins for math and 25 for language arts/reading practices.  And the spelling assignment was 'easy peasy'!  After the student does a few tests the site places them on a learning path to determine their pace and placement.  So the level will be perfectly tailored to him.

And ScootPad allows you to add in your own rewards.  I need to adjust the prices, making sure there are plenty of low priced items.  He really liked the "Stand up and dance" reward/  I played Blue October's Jump Rope song, a favorite of his.  So he got out some sitting at a desk energy and enjoyed himself.

We only did light work today, mostly focusing on getting him familiarized with what programs we'll be utilizing.  After school was over, he still wanted to play on the math games for Sokikom.  ;D  He does love math.  The word problems he kind of balks at, but just straight out equations seem to be no problem.

His overall review of the day, "Boring and fun".

Scootpad Fundraiser

I've been adding in more assignments today and fully setting up my Scootpad profile.  So far, I really like this site.  Very clean management and it has core aligned assessments and assignments included.  I'm going to start a fundraiser so we can have the Premium plan all year long.  You start with a trial, which mine ends the second week of school.  The Basic does not include spelling, etc.  But it is a good start for Homeschool plans.  Otherwise, you can go through your school and they can set up a free administrator account.  I set up Three Creeks as my school, as that would be the school Chase would attend if he weren't homeschooling this year.

I was not referred to the site, but one way that you can earn Premium time ($4.99/month) is via referrals.  So, if you already are on Scootpad, I can list you as my referral to help you earn time.  This is a one time offer, since I can only be referred by one person.  If no one requests me, then I'll just make it one of the teachers from my district at random.  Here is my URL if you would like to add me as your referrer: MsGillianIvy.

Okay, so about the fundraiser.  I'll be holding fundraisers throughout the year to help negate costs for homeschool.  I'll be offering things like my artwork, crafts, and maybe mailable baked goods.  I found an awesome cookie that tastes like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!  For this fundraiser, I will be offering prints of my artwork 8x10 "Das Faerie Gotik" on donations of $10+.  If donations are higher, then I may add extras into your shipment.  Do not overpay on this fundraiser.  The funds only can be used on this site.  I do not know if funds are transferable to other accounts, etc.  If the goal is reached and you would still like to support us, please check my Etsy store, Miscellaneous Juxtapositions,  for other artworks on sale.

Ms. Gillian Ivy Homeschool Fundraiser

Sokikom Invitation

Join Sokikom for Class Management and Math games

We'll be using Sokikom to encourage good class behaviors with their avatar cash reward system.  Kids can earn rewards via games and being rewarded for good behavior.  I'm inviting friends' and family's kids to join Chase's class to play the games with him.  I will reward them an equal amount of behavior cash each week so they can customize their avatars as well.  If you are interested in having your child join his class, message me privately for an add.

I will need:

• Your e-mail: yourname@provider.com
• Child's name: First Last
• Login: Nickname
• Password: *****

Only I will see this information, it should be easy for the child to remember.  I'm only accepting friends and family to participate.  I would like to get to know other homeschooling families in his age group for him to socialize with.  Please feel free to comment and become friends ;D

If you are interested in signing up your own class as either a homeschooler or elementary teacher, it's free and comes with a 2 month trial to the Math Games section.  They have a referral program to extend the trial by a month for each sign up.  Mine ends in September, so please, if you sign up, help me out by extending my time!

Sokikom Sign up

Start of Year Welcome

I made a Welcome poster in Glogster, it's set to private, so you'll only see the preview here and the links don't work.  Besides, their embed is kind of a big file.  It's an interactive newsletter welcoming him to the class and getting him familiar with the digital tools we will be using.  There's a wonderful repository of classroom apps (we don't have an iPad or a whiteboard) in the Google Chrome Store.  We'll be using some class management ones for rewards and behaviour incentives.  Because nothing else works for very long!

I spent hours picking apps.  I'd find multiple versions and try them to see what fit our needs.  I've divided my Google home page into 3 app pages, first page is my regular Drive/mail/games/etc.  Second page has the apps that I will be using as a teacher with him.  And the third page are the ones I installed on his.  For this, it requires that the students would have  a Google Chrome account.  Chase has one, but he does not know the password for it, I manage it for him.  But most of these apps are links to sites where the child can sign up from any browser.  Some have parent sign ups as well.  The teacher can send out behavioral reports without needing to exchange numbers and e-mails with all the parents.

Most of these apps are free.  I didn't really check into the pay ones.  Mathboard Addition is a great practice, the full version has full equations.  You set how many questions and the parameters.  They can save the quizzes.  This app requires A Google mail account, so maybe teachers would prefer to set up a 'class account' where they log in and let students take turns using the apps.  Fraboom looks really great, but it doesn't seem to be fully released yet, there were things that said "coming soon".  Also, I hadn't set up an account.

Some of the apps Chase will be using are not on here, I didn't put them all, but I gure we will be cycling through them as we go.  So, I expect this to change a lot.

For Scoot n' Doodle, it utilizes GoogleHangouts and a whiteboard for group drawing.  The Hangouts are private, by invite only, so may be a fun way for classes to interact.  Webcams and mics are not required, there is still a type chat.  But you can also add people via phone calls, so I can call Grandma Ginny and add her to the conversation.  You can even save pictures beforehand to set up the classroom.  I did this last year for Chase's 100th day of school.  He and Grandma Ginny had a lot of fun drawing together.  I thought this would be fun for first day as well as special occasions.