Whether you homeschool or not at your house…I hope you won’t mind me sharing with you some of our hubbub!
It’s the time of year again when we are getting all geared up for a new school year. Summer break is awesome, needed and refreshing…but by the end of July, we’re starting to think about getting back into our schooltime routine again.
Because homeschooling is flexible (one of my favorite parts about it), we usually begin our school year the first week of August and end the beginning of May. This schedule has worked very well for us mainly because starting our school year in early August means that we get a great start before anything else we’re involved in begins. (Public school around here starts Aug. 16, by the way, so we’re not starting much earlier than everyone else!) Soccer doesn’t start until the end of the month, nor do any of our homeschool group events. So, we have a few weeks to get established in our school routine without having to run here and there to soccer practice and field trips.
Okay…now that I’ve explained when we’re starting and why…can I just tell you a little about how excited we’re getting?!
I love this time of year! Beginning fresh with crisp, never-opened books, freshly sharpened pencils and new notebooks. (I get a little giddy with just the mention of the word, “supplies”. Ooh, school supplies? I love supplies. I think supplies is one of my favorite words…)
The boys are starting to ask more questions about what we’ll be learning this year, and I can see the excitement in their faces. (Okay, I LOVE that my boys get excited about learning!)
Here are a few of our homeschool hubbub highlights that I’ll share more about in upcoming posts:
1. I have made my curriculum list and am getting ready to check it twice. There are SO MANY great books out there, and while I’d like to buy $5,000 worth of books that look wonderful….I’ve decided that perhaps I’d better not. I’m working to fine-tune my list so that I can call in my order in the next couple of days. I’ll share my list as soon as I get it all figured out! Just in case you might want to know what we’ll be reading this year…
2. I always order just a couple of weeks before we want to start school. We get so excited when the books come in…which makes the boys motivated to get started reading and learning…and I don’t want to lose that momentum and excitement with the boys. If we start school just a few days after the books come it…the boys are pumped and ready. A few days after I order, we all start watching for the UPS truck. It is ONE EXCITING DAY when Mr. UPS Man brings our heavy box of books!
3. I’ll make each boy a list of the school supplies (supplies!!!) he needs…then we’ll head off to Wal-mart where each boy gets to carry his own basket and pick out his notebook colors, get a new crayon box, etc. THIS is probably one of our FAVORITE days of the whole year. I can’t wait to share more about this day with you!
4. We always give our school room a thorough cleaning, and then we rearrange the desks and rugs and bookshelves so that we start our school year in a “new room”. The boys love this part too.
5. Each school year, Matt and I decide on a new “Godly Character Training” focus for the boys. We make a fun chart so that we can reinforce the behaviors we want to see in our kids. It seems that the beginning of a new school year is a good time to re-focus and begin fresh. The boys always anticipate finding out what new chart I’ll make for them! Here are the charts we’ve worked through in the past several years. I am SUPER excited about the idea we came up with for this year. I’ll be designing it and showing it to you soon! I think the kids are going to love it. (By the way, we never use these charts as a reward system. All we have to say is something like, “Elias, you did what I asked without arguing or complaining. You are really shining like a star right now. Go put a star on your chart!” His face will light up and he’ll put a star on his chart and that’s it. We don’t give them anything for having a certain number of stars on their charts. The reward is just having Mama and Daddy notice that they are being like Jesus.) Okay, I am super excited to get this years chart finished up!
6. We usually let the boys have one big “Before School Year Bash” where they can each invite one friend over for a little party.
Okay…enough hubbub for now. I’ll have the camera ready so that I can share with you all of our special days of getting ready for school to start! Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to answer them as I write these posts!
I’m curious about any of the special before-school traditions you have (homeschool or not)! And also…does anyone else get excited about the word “SUPPLIES” like I do?! Just wondering!
Teresa says
I hope you share a whole lot more about your homeschooling. We just made the decision to homeschool our kids, but they are still young. I want to prepare ourselves for the day when we actually begin to school them at home (we do already teach them so much).
All this talk of preperation gets me excited – I’m sure your boys are thrilled!
Jennifer says
I am quite anxious to start our new year, however, it will have to wait. We had several things that had to be taken care of before I can order our books. We will be placing our order in late August, and beginning shortly after they arrive. We normally start the first week of August. We will just be late finishing this year. That is why I love homeschooling. We don’t have to be finished when everyone else is.
I look forward to reading more about your book list, and the homeschool goings on in your neck of the woods.
Chelf says
I love freshly sharpened pencils. I don’t really know why. The really good wooden ones, usually with the yellow paint on them. They smell so much like… school. I have some that are cedar. YUM!
I love that line in “You’ve Got Mail”… I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.
Hannah says
The three of our kiddos that will be doing “lessons” this year have already begun asking when they can start. And, yes, I can hardly contain my excitement when shopping for supplies or books!
Public school around here doesn’t begin until September, but like you, we begin in August and end in May. Our winters are sooo long here in upstate NY that once nice weather comes around we are desperate to get outside.
Blessings,
Hannah
PS – Do you have a favorite place for buying school books?
Michele @ Frugal Granola says
I LOVE school supplies! :) It was my favorite day of the year when we went school supply shopping. I would just keep smelling those new crayons and pencils over and over again. :)
Blessings,
Michele
Joelle says
I was homeschooled and I remember that exciting hubbub too! :) We don’t have kids at present, but I definitely plan on homeschooling when we do have kids.
Pam says
Thanks for sharing this! I’m new to homeschooling and can’t wait to start!
Laura V. says
Supplies, supplies…. oh you have me wanting to just go out and buy more! I LOVE school/office type supplies – probably a little too much! Our kids are still young (4 & 2 and one due in 8 weeks) so we haven’t implemented a set school year yet, I just do a little most days and mix in some craft time with it. But, I love shopping for new lesson books and supplies and love the reaction I get from my 4 year old when he gets new ‘school work’!
MaryBeth @ Four Silly Sisters says
I love school supplies myself! I would like to see your character charts that you mentioned… I couldn’t find them but thought you said there were on here, did I miss the link?!?
Kendra says
I love school supplies – so much so that I actually look at the Office Depot magazines before throwing them away. I think the allure of school supplies is the potential represented by brand new ink pens and pencils sharpend to a beautiful point! Who knows what great assignments those writing instruments will crank out! We are so blessed because our church (Porter Apostolic Pentecostal – 20 miles north of Houston) operates a private school. Both of our boys attend there and I started working there as soon as they started school. We will have 64 or 65 students this year!
jayme says
sounds like sooo much fun!!!!!!
Michelle says
Laura,
I would love to see a sample of your schedule and how you school 4 boys. I will be schooling both my boys this year and am in the middle of making out a workable schedule. Also, I was wondering about chores you have for your boys. I am hoping to incorporate that a little more consistently this year! I can’t wait to hear more. Oh, yes – As a former public school teacher turned stay at home Mom, homeschooler, I so love supplies!
Org Junkie says
Oh definitely love supplies here too. Such a fun time of the year. Sounds like you are well on your way to a successful year!! Looking forward to the pictures :)
Sarah says
Hey! I LOVE school supplies. My mom and I love going to Staples to wander around (especially in the pen section). Even when I am not in school and have no reason to buy supplies I just itch wishing I could buy some. Last fall made me laugh when my husbands younger siblings came back from Walmart with all of their new school supplies. I have to admit I was a little jealous :) I can’t wait to start school again….fresh supplies…yay!
Christina says
And just to think that there are people who think this job is easy!!! SO much planning, but worth every minute!
I am so glad that I stopped on over here! Come see me at Mustard Seeds… I have a few giveaways going on!!!
Julie says
One thing my friends and I like to do is have a First Day of School Bash! On the day that public school starts we load up the cars and head to the beach or a park or something fun and exciting. We stay all day and return home just as the school buses are making their rounds. My kids enjoy knowing they were not stuck at a desk all day. :)
Rebecca says
Hi Laura! I sure do LOVE the word, the feel of, the smell of SUPPLIES also :) I used to ask for gift certificates to Office Max for birthday presents – but only once did someone actually believe me and give me one! It was my dear husband, of course. He understood!!
Hey – just wanted to say thank you also for speaking to those who school at home or not – as I will be doing both this year, it helps a great deal to feel included:)
Bless your day! Rebecca