Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

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Pantry Updo

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Do you know how much time I spend thinking about changing my blog description? My ideal description, I think anyway, would be happy homeschool girl who hearts homeschooling and everything about it, but also hankers to organize any time of the year and dabble in a little decorating too.

How do you say “I am a girl who loves lapbooking, notebooking, history, doing anything hands-on when it comes to learning, organizing all I can anytime whether it’s school, my home, or one drawer, creating my own printables, leading workshops and talking about every possible and conceivable subject that has to do with homeschooling and let’s not forget while I am at that I have a soft place in my heart for new homeschoolers and in between that I conjure up new color schemes and projects for decorating that one day I may be able to use in my home“?

It is has never been easy for me to reduce all the ideas and projects that are reeling around in my head to a few eloquent sounding sentences. Instead of worrying about all that, I would rather tell you about what else I have been doing. I get on maniac missions and it’s hard for me to unhinge myself from them until I complete them.

Right now, I am in a re-organizing part decorating state of mind. Maybe you have seen my pantry in some of my pictures but I am a girl in love, love, love with it.

This pantry is new and it is actually my “second pantry”. I will have to show you my first pantry too but that is another project.  I fell in love with this pretty thing because I heart turquoise but also love the look of wrought iron. It is kind of old world charm mixed with traditional things. The wrought iron look is the same design I have on my breakfast table and I have loved that look for years.

So for my spring decorating project, I have been trying to decide on what containers or bins to use in my pantry because as you can see it is open to the rest of my house, so that detail matters to me.

I have been taking my time on organizing. These turquoise containers I already had, so I put them in the pantry to see if I liked them. Well I love the bins but I think I really need a pop of some other color. Also, I need to declutter the utensil containers here that are my extras. So I have more work to do to it. I think a keeper though are the clear containers.

Don’t get in a rush about labeling your baskets and containers until you decide if they will work for you. I have to use the pantry for a while before I decide what I want to keep and get rid of. After deciding that I would keep only the clear containers, I have been on a hunt for different baskets ever since.

I have been looking for days and had to show you some of my favorite places to get baskets and if you visit the places regularly enough and watch the prices, you may hit a sale like I did today.

These bins or baskets come from Target and it is a good stand by, but Target is not always my first stop because sometimes a basket I like will have a tag indicating that it is an “in store” only purchase. I prefer to have exactly the number I need so I may look longer to buy online so I don’t have to hunt and peck at the store.

Another favorite place of mine to shop for baskets is World Market. I can’t stay out of that place and they vary what they have throughout each season.

Land of Nod has to be right up there for one of my top two places that I love to buy baskets at too. I guess people think they are just for kids room but baskets are baskets and can be used anywhere.

I just go crazy over their color selection because I can match any color scheme usually.

So if Land of Nod is one of my top runners, then Hobby Lobby has to be my other choice for a great place to look for bins and baskets.  I just can’t stay away from that place either and I finally found the bins I had to have.I just fell in love with these and the polka dots and will be changing out my pantry soon. I really couldn’t contain myself either when the baskets were marked 30% off too. I just knew I had to have them.

They have so many styles and colors too. I have ones similar to these in my bathroom.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12

The long hunt is over and I can’t wait for them to get here. Next, I will start working on labels. You know I will make my own labels too. But now that I picked out the baskets, I have some time to create labels. When it’s complete, I’ll share those pictures with you too and of course the labels.

Just remember, if you buy organizational bins to measure first or use baskets you already have for a while until you decide exactly what you want. Do you have a project that needs some updated and fresh storage bins?

Hugs and love ya,

 

 

 

Cursive Copywork Free Greece Poetry Printable

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I have a fun freebie today. It is cursive copywork free Greece poetry printable. Also, look at my page Practical Homeschool Writing Curriculum from Pre-K To High School for more tips.

I have done many things wrong when I first started homeschooling, but I have done a lot right too.

I tell my workshop new bees that writing or penmanship has always been the hallmark of a well educated man.

Cursive Copywork Free Greece Poetry Printable

One right thing was choosing the beautiful Calvert cursive to teach all of my sons. I know that a lot of public schools and homeschoolers are moving away from teaching cursive, but I am not one of them.

Maybe that is not so true today but if you want to peek into the past, you have to know at least how to read cursive to understand historical documents. I think reading cursive and writing cursive go hand in hand.

Too though I feel the time comes when you need to teach your kids typing skills.

Boys especially benefit from knowing how to type because they seem to struggle with learning how to write more so than girls. 

Penmanship is a time consuming skill to teach.

Between the struggles of a child and the time needed to teach, a lot of educators give up on it. However, I feel in homeschooling we do have the time to teach those skills.

Choosing Calvert script at a time when I had not a clue of what I was doing ended up being one thing that helped me not to struggle so much in this area.

After having taught Mr. Senior 2013 how to write in cursive, I just taught the other boys after that. I did venture out into other writing programs but came back to Calvert.

I came back to Calvert School cursive because it is a simplified cursive.

By the way, Calvert script is specific only to Calvert. They no longer sell it as a separate program and I believe the leader in cursive simplified cursive has gone all digital. (awful)

It is unique and I wished more people knew what a beautiful font and cursive it is. Too, it is neither D’Nealian or Getty Dubay but again a type of cursive used only by them.  However, I still base my teaching of cursive on the Calvert script as the gold standard.

Cursive Copywork Free Greece Poetry Printable

It is simplified because it teaches manuscript uppercase letters and cursive lowercase letters. I like the fact that it is free of the superfluous loops found on the traditional Palmer method.

Too, it is just plain pretty and simple as you can see from the chart above.

By the time Mr. Senior 2013 was in second grade, I knew how to teach cursive as you can see from his writing above.

My middle son struggled more because I ventured off into other writing programs. {Mea Culpa} That was the dumb thing I did but again he is fine. Kids are pretty hardy and let you know real quick what is not working for them.

Because I still feel like the same way as I did when I first started homeschooling about the importance of cursive, ALL of us will do copywork sometimes.  Me included. I keep a notebook beside my bed for me.  I never tell very many people that I pen a line or two also. 

Oh, I don’t write cursive as much as I use to. I use to write all their copywork out because the cursive font is not one you can find on computers or among fonts to purchase, but not so much anymore.

Copywork doesn’t take a long time and it’s a way of storing exquisite words in your mind and heart.

The benefits of copywork go beyond learning how to write. It gives you an overflowing amount of words and thoughts too. Especially when I do copywork from beautiful literature, I find it very satisfying and it leaves a lasting impression. Just a little each day is restoring.

MORE CURSIVE HANDWRITING TIPS

So when doing our unit study on Ancient Civilizations, I had prepare some copywork for Tiny.

I have hunted for a font that was similar to Calvert and came pretty close with the one I used in this copywork below. All of my sons know the Calvert cursive font but I still like to get pretty close.

The font is a little more slanted than I like but again close enough. The poem is Greece by Robert Frost. It is one of his more obscure and early poems. 

I like it because it’s by Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets. But also it gives a glimpse into his early writing and it shows his interest in history and idealization of heroic figures.

I thought this would go along with our Ancient Civilization unit so we are trying to commit this to our memory. Here are the beautiful words. Download your copy at the bottom.

ANCIENT GREECE POETRY FOR COPYWORK

They say, “Let there be no more way!”

And straightway, at the word,

Along the Mediterranean shore,

The call to arms is heard.

Greece could not let her glory fade!

Although the peace be in sight

The race the Persians was arrayed

Must fight one more good fight.

Greece! Rise triumphant.   Long ago

It was you proved to men

A few may countless hosts o’ver throw:

Now prove it once again!

Cursive, copywork, studying the classics and the co-op have all been on our mind lately.

What about you? Have you figured out the penmanship quandary yet?

HOW TO GRAB THE FREE GREECE POETRY COPYWORK PRINTABLE

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

1) CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON MY EMAIL LIST & TO GET THIS FREEBIE.

2) Grab the freebie instantly.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

My School Area + Learning Area

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At times I wish the boys were little again so I could have matching desks and learn your shape posters hanging on the wall.  Just for a moment though, because some of the best times we have had are now when they are teens.

I do want to share the little changes I made this year that has made a big difference already in our area.

First, one organizing tidbit to share with you. When organizing your school area try not to get caught up in the hype that you have to have it all done by August. Hear my heart. You waste less time when you school some, then decide final set up on your school area. I start school and work our way up to more of the subjects we will be doing.  Then take off a few days to decide where *things* are going to land after we finish for the school day. That is why this post is coming to you in September and not August. I wasted less time because I did not set it up, then decide where things were going to be stored, then switch it around again when it’s not working.  I started first, realized what was going to work and what my *needs* are for the year and sat the area up in one try.  No switching. Just one time setting it up please. Patience in the beginning pays off for more time and less energy wasted in the long run.

So here is our learning area slightly updated from last year.

The very first thing I did was to add a lamp to one corner of the room that can be dark. Even though we school by a large front window, the area behind it can be dark. The lampshade on the lamp I had was drab and so not fab. I had this wall stencil and sitting outside by the pool I gave the lampshade an update with some paint. It took just one hour.  I know,  I know, I am not a crafty person but I do love to organize and make things I have to look at every day pretty. Even if that means making it a diy job.

What do you think? I am so pleased with how it turned out. Of course I am still on an orange and pink crush .

Here it is in the new area I changed around. The boys’ drawers were in this corner last year but we needed more room to store reference material like our atlas, encyclopedias, maps and science reference books. Charts for math, grammar or really any subject chart we tend to take with us to our seat. I do not need to hang many things on the wall anymore, but I did need a place to store them. So now we have the clear container, which is actually a table top hanging file organizer, to hold all of our reference material. It is labeled charts and reference and sits right on top of this cheap inexpensive wall unit I put together. Too, I swooned over my new bookends {coral, lemons, oranges and white mustache} this year and am still giddy about them.

Then last year I had changed around some of our history curriculum and added Tapestry of Grace {TOG}. Sorry TOG, the binders are just not that inspiring to look at every day. I don’t need all the years printed off but I did print off a couple of the ones I wanted and put them in the binder.  I took time to find binders I heart with lots of color. Adding in  History and other Teacher’s Manuals to the binders gave this area the pop of color and inspiration I needed.  I had some cute bulldog green and yellow clips {I go insanely crazy over tabs and binder clips that have color, it’s a sickness} and because I don’t like to put tape on my binders, I just clipped the label on. I am pleased with how this top area of my shelf turned out for my teacher reference area.

Then the bottom part of the shelf I used magazine file holders to hold some of the teacher’s manual that I don’t want to take apart. Also we have history magazines we use a little less often than the reference material and this keeps it handy for us too.

Here is how it looks together. I am just tickled pink over being able to finally get them sorted how I wanted to this year.

Then the middle part of this cabinet, where my youngest can reach, becomes a shared area with the boys again. This is the right side and I have the same clear containers from last year but labeled them so my youngest can keep straight what goes back in here.

This is the left side where they are storing their art and there are hardly no small scissors around here anymore.

At the very bottom we store our science supplies, extra school supplies, games and timeline material. Since we take this out once or twice a week and not every day, then it can be in closed storage. Again, label everything so your kids know what you expect.  I am pleased with how this middle unit turned out too.

The on the other side of the middle unit is another orange unit tower of drawers and pink tower. The orange unit of drawers was needed because we really wanted a place to store our unit study material that was accessible by all of us. It also holds our extra paper and art supplies too.  The pink drawers I needed for storing my office supply things. The pink drawers I only use but I labeled the orange unit because the boys use these too.

Also I needed a place, besides inside my planner, to hold some of their work for the week that I find online or create.

The table top file has hanging folders labeled Monday through Sunday and one for me as Teacher. This allows me to plan a week ahead of time and put assignments I want them to do in here. It is my work area. Also with going back and forth at times with hubby to the doctor as he recuperates,  I can leave *special* work for the boys to do that is not in their drawers or regular books. Labeling one for Sunday helps too because when hubby feels a bit sick, we stick around here close and we may do a small assignment on Sunday. I just need that flexibility this year and have it now that the files are labeled. I will mostly use the Monday through Friday tabs, but I have the weekend too if I need it.

I moved the boys set of drawers to the opposite wall. Again, for this year the system with one drawer per subject still works best for us. It allows them to store their pens, books, paper, DVD player and headset in the drawer.  The orange basket has the dry erase markers and it is labeled too. Tiny loves to carry the basket around and it is easier getting to than the cabinet that is closed storage. This is also the best place for our globe because it is pick up and go too.

The orange table top file folder system is for Mr. Senior 2013 who has more deadlines this year with both high school and getting college credit. He really needs his own tracking system. He too has labeled all the days of the week because like me, he won’t leave hubby on Sunday if he feels bad. We will make use of the day around the house. So he put something to do *extra* on Sunday for a backup if we have to stick around the house. Again, he will probably use most of the Monday to Friday tabs, but he has a system to track his deadlines.

I went ahead and put a label on the outside too so it helps him to remember to use it for deadlines or just for planning his own week of school.

Overall, I am so happy that everything we changed this year turned out like I wanted it to. You can see the whole thing with the doors open here ….

……and here it is with all the  doors closed and everything put away.

I am still swooning over orange and pink and our new school area was the little lift I needed after we had a rocky start to this year.

Maybe you saw something that may spark an idea or two in your area.  Would you like to know where I got some of these things from?

I will share where I got some of my items at in the next post.

I hope I inspired you just a bit to heart your school area and make it dynamic.

Hugs, you know I love ya,

5 Days of A Homeschooling Co-op Convert – Day 3: Coordinating the Co-op

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Nobody wants to read about a boring homeschool co-op much less attend one. A this point in the co-op process, you need to coordinate it so that all your hard work pays off. Attention needs to be given to the details and I have some tidbits to help you.

 

 

 

I created this acronym above to help you remember some of the basics to ask about a co-op. Things to cover like finding a place to have it, what activities to include and how to get members of the homeschooling community to your co-op, determining if your group will be inclusive or not to the homeschooling community, and how expenses will be handled gets the basics out of the way.

The type of co-op that I will share about from here on has to do with enrichment and an emphasis on socialization and fun.  Again, there are many co-ops that are created for academic purposes only but I happen to not be interested in them because I prefer to teach my kids the basic subjects. That is not to say we won’t take advantage of a class here or there for something that is unique, but as a general rule I don’t go to co-ops that teach my kids how to write, do math or teach them to read. In my humble opinion academic co-ops can border on private school status and it takes some finesse to keep them from being set up like a mini public school day.

My focus is how to coordinate a co-op that is for enrichment, has plenty of fellowship, and is hands-on for all ages.

Here are a few key tips.

  • Subject matters.

The best co-ops focus on science or history topics. Those topics seem to lend themselves to finding a lot of hands-on activities that can be done by multiple ages of children.

Too, I learned along the way that this is a good time to consider a time period in history that is more expansive if you have not had time to cover it or to even consider a narrow topic. It doesn’t really matter if the topic is narrow or general, it just matters that you find enough games and projects to do. When we did the Westward Ho Co-op, it covered a longer time period and we covered many topics from Mountain Men to the Oregon Trail and the Gold Rush. Any one of those topics could be a whole unit itself. Then, when we covered  Reptiles/Amphibians and it was a much more narrow subject. Either way, try to vary your topics throughout the year.

  • Prep the learning environment.

Appearance matters at our co-ops. When members arrive, we always try to do some visual presentations about what the kids will be learning or decorations so they understand the theme.

If you have highschool kids, preparing boards is a great  project for them to do. If your group has all small kids when starting out like ours did then have your moms in the group do the presentation and learning boards. You will learn right alongside the kids and the kids will appreciate having the information boards to learn from during the day or weeks you use it.

Too, I am not surprised anymore by what a bunch of hard working parents that ban together can do. I never did any of these co-ops by myself. For the rainforest co-op, one mom made “trees” complete with leaves that she stood behind the table. We used green netting to show the forest canopy and draped animals inside the canopy for the younger kids. She even made a bridge you can see between the trees and put animals on pieces of “steps” or cardboard. I used banana leaves that I ordered to drape the table in and we also used the banana leaves as “plates” to eat off. One family made food that came from the rainforest. In addition I made fruit skewers that had fruits from the rainforest. We ordered a chocolate fountain and scattered bubblegum throughout the table and used bromeliads as decorations. It was a joint effort but when time is taken to coordinate a co-op, all benefit from not only the fun but the rich learning environment.

  • Plenty of hands-on activities is the key.

Contrary to popular belief, learning is about doing and not always telling. Even things that may be boring to learn about, like an ecosystem, can come alive when it’s done with others. The key to a successful co-op is choosing hands-on activities and having those activities ready to go when the members arrive. The leaders do not have to shoulder all the work. For example, if there is a lot of cutting involved because you will be making crafts, then an experienced leader will have some of the prep work done ahead of time. She will not use the time at the co-op when together to do something boring like cutting. Doing small things ahead of time so the hands-on projects move along and don’t get bogged down by tedious things adds to being more productive.

Try to determine how much work can be done ahead of time, but don’t rush the hands-on projects at the co-op either. I have learned that projects that I planned on doing, we did not get to do because we had so much fun doing the few we had done. I always plan for more activities than we have time to do because it is good to have a “fall back” plan if one or two activities don’t go over so well.

Let the children lead and dictate and they will. We were surprised at some of the things they found satisfaction in doing. As long as they are together, most of the time they will savor the time and learning.

  • An end they will remember and cherish.

Whether you meet one day or several, we try to do something the whole group can do that not only signals the end of the event but is something they will remember and cherish.

Whether you choose to play games, learn a new dance, sing a time period song, perform a Shakespeare Play, or have a Renaissance group perform for your group, make a memorable and lasting ending to your co-op.

There is no need to do this by yourself but you could if you don’t choose the right leaders. Next post I will share what I feel are qualities to look for in a fearless leader.

Hugs and love ya,

If you missed the other posts in this series, here they are for you.

5 Days of A Homeschooling Co-op Convert – Day 1:Who needs one anyway?

5 Days of A Homeschooling Co-op Convert – Day 2:What are the basics?

 

5 Days of A Homeschooling Co-op Convert – Day 2:What are the basics?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Co-ops vary in style from place to place and even in the same city. There are no set guidelines and the very basic meaning is that more than one family meets together for a set period.  That’s it. However, that is not all there is to a functioning happy co-op that meets the needs of all the members. There are several things you should know before you decide to join one or if you want to start one.

The most fundamental idea to any co-op is the purpose of it. What you may think of as a co-op and what some of your closest homeschooling friends think of as a co-op can be completely different. Communication is the lifeblood of any healthy co-op and at the core is the very purpose of why you will be meeting together. There are basically two types of co-ops. One is an academic co-op which functions more like a mini-private school. The other kind of co-op is more like a social or enrichment gathering. If your leaders and members are not on the same page so to speak about the purpose of the co-op there may be disappointment and frustration. The nature or type of co-op will guide the leaders in determining what activities are appropriate for their group or not. For example, if the group is set up for the purpose of socialization and camaraderie then would an all day science workshop with a lecture be the kind of activity that would interest the group? Probably not. However, if the day was planned to include only 30 minutes of a science lecture and the balance of the time was spent with each other while you do an activity like watch marine life then no doubt the group would enjoy that.

I prefer and am part of a group that meets regularly for social outings. The emphasis in our group is on the teens, young children and moms being able to spend time together while we enjoy some activity.  When looking for members, the purpose of your group needs to be clear so that the expectation for the group is the same with each member. That will go a long way in getting your co-op off the ground.

Using acronyms helps me to remember key points and so I put one together to help you address other significant issues at the start up of your co-op or to ask about prior to joining. PACE helps you ask or address these issues in your co-op.

A place to meet when you first start is key. Most fledgling co-ops start off in homes and if the members wish that the co-op grow they will need to look for other facilities. Our co-op started off with 2 other moms, Kelley and myself. At the time, we had only 7 kids between us so it was pretty doable. My sister provided her home since her home was the most centrally located.

As the co-op gets larger then you need to look for other places. Personally, I like meeting at places like community centers that had a play area and nice kitchen. Too, a lot of places that normally rent on the weekend for special occasions like weddings and anniversary parties, I called to ask if we could use it during the week. Since the building is normally empty during the week because nobody wants those days for special occasions, the owner and manager I find are agreeable most of the time for a significant discount in the fee. When I tell them it’s for education, most managers gladly negotiate with me. Like I mentioned, the building would be empty otherwise and I make that point in my negotiations. This is a way for them to make a little extra money. Libraries, community centers, parks and even local camp grounds have facilities that they will rent. I find it’s all negotiable on the price because I won’t pay full price since we are not meeting on Friday nights or Saturday nights but during the week.

The next thing to think about is the ages of the children that will be attending and activities that are appropriate for them. Since our co-op started off with most of our kids young like 9 years old or younger, we focused on that age. Our co-op is an enrichment co-op and our topics are history or science related. I find those topics suited for things to do that are fun and hands-on for a group. Some of the co-op themes we have had are Native Americans (our first one), Amazon Rain Forest, Westward Ho, Bible Characters, Early American History, Renaissance and  Amphibians/Reptiles.

We found it was very helpful to meet in the summer for one day or so at a park and write out the plans for the years. As long as we had a topic and who was in charge, then we could work out the rest of the details emailing each other.

Another concern is how to attract others in the homeschooling community. I think our group was real fortunate that way because we grew by word of mouth. But I have also posted flyers at the library, books stores and craft stores. Any place that homeschoolers hang out, you want to post a flyer to contact them. If your area is big enough to have a local yahoo group that is a plus too so you can make some contacts online.

At the beginning when our co-op was small, it was easier to manage expenses. As the co-op grew to well over 100 families, we had expenses obviously. The best way for us was to charge a small annual fee like $10.00. This basically guaranteed a spot in the co-op and helped cover expenses like paper towels and trash bags when we rented rooms.

Charging for each event during the year at it came up was better for us because our group was not hit with such high costs at one time. The expense is spread out throughout the year and that is good for larger families. We cover the cost of the building by dividing it by the members for each event. If we needed a deposit for a facility, then we could cover that with the $10.00 annual fee we had collected at the first of the year from all the members. For each event we would have somebody different in charge of money and by collecting money prior to the event instead of at the event saved us a LOT of time. We were able to get started promptly.

However, all of this can be futile if you don’t get it all coordinated. Next post I will share with you how we bring all of this together to make a happy harmonious co-op.

Hugs and love ya,

If you missed the first post in this series, click below.

5 Days of A Homeschooling Co-op Convert – Day 1:Who needs one anyway?