Homeschooling A Houseful

Don't you just hate this look on your counters? Man I do! Not only that, but they all have to be washed because who knows whose cup belongs to whom! But this, it looks so nice and neat and well organized! Now take it a step further..... We recently moved and in our transition stage from one home into another we were living with my parents. We were getting sick of trying to keep up with the cups. Whose cup is this? What color were you? We never got a good color system down. So my mom, probably in desperation and distress!! Said just use my sharpie and write their names on them!!!!  GENIUS!!!  Thanks MOM!!! We brought the cups to our new house, and we have less cup mess. Because quite frankly trying to remember who's color is whom's when you have 9 little cup users running around, becomes a bit too much, even for a somewhat organized mom!

You have such good kids! Your children are so well behaved! I might be at a family gathering, the grocery store, a home school activity, a field trip..... anywhere really. I hear this often, and it got me pondering about it. I thought I'd throw out my two cents on parenting. First off I MUST say that I do not live in a wonderful, blissful, always happy home. We have our trials, our bad days, and well those days when Mama Bear wants to just slip off to bed, and forget the day ever started. The problem with slipping away, is that you are just running from the problem. It will never get better, if it's never fixed. I can solve all your {and my own} problems in one simple word, CONSISTANCY. I don't care if you are a spanker, a time-out parent, a job or chore for discipline you name it and there's probably a discipline book written all about how to do it! I don't honestly feel it matters how you discipline, just that you do, and that you are consistant. I've read a f...

Photo credit here . I can not believe we've never spoken of dirty laundry, around my blog! At least I didn't find any!! Thank goodness, no one wants to see my dirty laundry, that's for sure. This is probably the second most asked question in my life. Number one?? You probably already guessed it, Are they all yours??? Yeah you guessed right, the next question usually stems from, How do you get "IT" all done? Usually I laugh, and say, somehow "it" all gets done, or at least most of "it". One of the first "IT'S" is usually laundry. So the other day when I was digging our couch out from under Mt. Washmore , I decided something has to change!!!! and change it did.... I decided I can not wash, and sort all these clothes, it just isn't fair! So I dedicated one afternoon, each week for my A's to take care of their own laundry... ah sigh of relief. Mondays= the boys day...Noble, Valiant and Boy do laundry Tuesdays= Mama Bea...

I thought I'd share our "calendar wall", some of you might have seen our homemade, by me calendar {as seen below} Yep it's still around, can you believe it, somethings do make it in a houseful!!! Though we have definitely taken it a bit further..... so I thought I'd share with all of you.... At the beginning of the school year, I made some simple calendars for most of the A's {I do wish I would have made one for A6, I should have known better, she must do everything everyone else does} I used the printables from this site . There are a few different ideas there. I printed my older 4 A's blank calendars. They fill in the date. The older A's usually fill in weeks at a time, and don't always fill in the day, every day. We also, usually on Monday, discuss our week. Maybe if we have a field trip, or an upcoming birthday or holiday. A science fair, or upcoming drawing contest we are participating in coming up. I try to mention these things, along with ...

I read this idea a few months ago, and well one thing lead to another, and I am finally getting around to doing it! You know the ever growing to do list, just never seems to get to do-ed!! For years now, actually the entire time we have been homeschooling, we have memorized. We started simple with scriptures and then slowly added quotes, then hymns and songs, and more and more. Currently we are memorizing; Weekly: one Poem {usually one week is all we use on a poem, though it depends on the length and how well we really practiced it} one Scripture, one quote, one educational item {again, usually one week, sometimes more when needed} Songs {one Hymn, one Childrens Hymn, one Educational Song, one Patriotic/American history type song, and usually one Seasonal or just for fun song} Monthly:one Historical Document. along with a new history facts memorization we will be throwing in. I never really needed this with A1, he tends to be a fact magnet, or maybe that should say a fact sponge! He lo...

Shelly posted a comment , about kids wanting to snack all day and not wanting to eat their meals. Here's her comment... Melinda, I'm curious. How often do your kids eat during the day? Mostly your younger A's, since they seem to line up with my kids. I'm struggling with the kids wanting to graze all day, then they don't eat their meals. Then when they don't eat their meals they get hungry soon and it's created a vicious cycle of my kids snacking, not always on the best foods, and not eating their more nutritious meals. Any suggestions for me? hmm...well one of the biggest problems I have with snacking and grazing all day, is that I, Mama Bear am a grazer!! So yes, naturally my children are too. All the things I will suggest, are not always true, nor do they happen each day. Please, please, PLEASE keep in mind, there are almost no perfect days around here! I guess the first suggestion I would give, and this is something I can honestly say about us, let them s...

Andrea, at Dean's Academy, asked about the types of items I will have in our "Mom Store" Well right now....very little!!! I will be adding to it this weekend. Some items might be ~Craft kits, you can get this all over the place. They come in boy or girl, young or older... and the A's love them!! Things like scratch stickers, paint by number, sand art, make your own rubber balls, jewelry kits, leather working kits, wood or kits for our wood burner, clay or moon sand, stamping..... ~we eat a very strict diet, so treats are a must. We also only buy healthy treats, so treats are not often around here, gum will be a must. A personal bag of their favorite type of chips, nuts, sunflower seeds, beef jerky... ~ Dollar Store finds, some of these are fun craft kits. A4 loves those little plastic army guys. Trinkets for the older girls, hair accessories, craft items. Most stores are also starting to sale fun and cute dollar items, and you can find some gems there. ~There's al...

I would guess that my Part 1 was clear as a bell!!!! Or no one dares to ask me questions about it!! Or maybe no one has actually finished reading that NOVEL of a post!!!! So since I am not, at this time, needed to clarify our system... I'll just start on Part 2~ Rewards or, well might I just say Bribes!!! Yes Papa and Mama Bear have struggled with giving rewards for chores. We are firm believers that things just need to be done, and you just need to help out. However we have a few children who just don't get it, and so I am trying a new rewards system, to hopefully catch their attention! Also this is not a fluffy, laid back kind of plan.... OH NO Mama Bear is strict.... and yes sometimes just like a bear! When I say something needs to be done to my expectations, you are talking perfect! {or as close to perfect as the child can get it} My expectations for A1 are completely different than what I expect from say A4, or even A3. Once the children complete their chores, they come to...

Chores! This is a topic you hear all over the spectrum of Mommies!! Homeschoolers, Public/Private Schoolers, Working Mama's, Stay at home Mama's... all Mama's talk chores!!! I have tried a few different routines/ideas but one thing always stays the same, all the A's work. Okay so A6 and A7 might not help so much, but they are always asked to help! I firmly believe everyone in the house must help out. Yes A6 and A7 are not always much of a help, but it's the principle we are teaching. I want them to understand if you make the mess you help clean it up. Our house only stays together through every ones contribution, and teamwork. Each day A5 and A6 pick a buddy to help. We try to rotate who gets the helper, since it does add to your chore time. We also try to always work around our extra curricular schedule. That way if say A2 has a gymnastics class, she has less chore time than say A3 that day. I also remind them to clean up and tidy toys and messes throughout the day...

My SIL reminded me of this helpful tip, so thank you "M" I LOVE books, My kids LOVE books...we have tons of books. However books are expensive, but a good investments. I do try to find good deals, and love looking at all the book sales I can possibly find. I also use to purchase from Scholastic.. which anyone can purchase from. I was introduced to this from a neighbor who ordered with families in the neighborhood. {Back to my story} You can purchase paperback books for so much less...but paperback books use to scare me. There's NO way they can survive living in a houseful...or can they? I got this tip from a public school teacher, she covered her paperback books-covers with clear contact paper. You can purchase this in most places, it can be hard to find. Contact paper is typically used for covering shelves to keep them from scratching, or to cover up the scratches. Clear contact paper is also used for crafts and such. You can purchase a large roll for under $10. I simply...

We recently moved out learning room to a different area of the house. When I get it organized and finished, then I will show some updated photos....until then. Here's something we did and I LOVE! All of our School Games, mostly used for the little ones, things for them to do during school time, are in these stackable plastic totes..I believe they are sterilite. I also labeled them all. I like they are see through and that they stack. On the lid they have little grooves, and on the bottom they have small lips that fit. helps to keep the chaos down, or atleast sometimes!

How do I remember it all??? Hmm...well I don't, but this helps! I make a simple planner with a simple table, using a simple words program. {trust me, nothing special and pretty here!!} Each Independent learner has their own personal planner, and it's personal to them and their studies. On this I listed that kids individual lessons, we call these IS {Independent Studies} These are things that the older kids can do independently, or most of the time independently. Things like Math, Spelling,Vocabulary, Grammar, Handwriting, etc. I usually spend a few minutes Monday mornings, to discuss lessons and go over words. I listed all these things, plus IS readings, textbooks, typing programs, explode the code, logic etc. Then on it, I put 2X, 3X, 4X, or 5X. This counts for how many times those things need to be done in a week. So Math is a 5X, Scripture Study and Journal writing is 5X. Handwriting is 3X, IS readings are either 2X, 3X, 4X or 5X depending on the child and the topic. Things ...

Maureen at Spell Out Loud, {link on sidebar!!} Has compiled a wonderful list of activities you can do in workboxes with Toddlers, check it out here . Thanks Maureen, you're the best!!!

Do you see this?? Yes it's my empty dishwasher...yes empty. You might even ask, why is there a picture of her empty dishwasher on her blog? Let me explain... my dishwasher has been empty for almost 2 weeks now. Yes COMPLETELY EMPTY!!! still some of you are saying...SO?? We haven't even used our dishwasher for almost 2 weeks. Not only that but my kitchen has never been cleaner. {Atleast in the dirty dishes area} Our newest system is really quite simple. Right after {or even during} every meal...I fill the sink up with water and dish soap. Then as everyone is finished eating, they scrape their plates, usually into the animal bucket {we raise animals, that also make good garbage disposals!!} then into the water it all goes, and everyone washes their own dishes. Dries them and then puts them away. The littlest A's {4,2 and 1} obviously don't do this alone. Their buddy of the day gets to help them. Then depending on the meal and the amount of pans or preparing dishes wer...

When you are homeschooling a Houseful, you definitely need to extend the life of everything you possibly can! We do not write in any textbooks or workbooks. We use simple notebooks for some of our text...like our math textbooks. I do this to have a record of their math, for reference. For things I don't really want to use the paper for we simply use the see through page protectors. I use to give each of the children a page protector to use. However it easily gets bent when put away, not cleaned off good, lost...whatever. So I came up with a new plan... I am ripping apart all of our workbooks... YES you heard me right..the teacher is ripping the workbooks!!!! Then I am putting them in smaller binders, inside the page protectors. This also helps extend their life..making them hard covered, not so easy to bend. The kids can pull down the workbook they need in the binder {with a label on the side stating what's in it...Explode the Code 3 for example} They open the binder to t...