Large Family Organization...the homeschool cabinet

Large families take an extraordinary amount of organization.  I feel like I am still in the early years of the large family and still learning the most efficient way to organize.  I thought I would do a series on the ways that I organize our large family.  Everyone is different in preferences on this sort of thing and there is no one right or wrong way to do it.  But this series will share some of the things that I do to make life easier around here. I will attempt to do a "Large Family Organization" post every Wednesday...we shall see...haha.

Today, I thought I would share how I organize all of the little things that we use on a daily basis for our homeschool.  I have tried so many different things over the years to organize but, it never seemed smooth and efficient until I did this.

A neighbor gave me this cabinet as they were preparing to throw it away.  It had no knobs, paint was scratched off in several areas, and the inside shelves were broken.  I invested in a little hardware and paint and refurbished this little unit for about $15.  It now sits in our kitchen eating area right by the table where the kids do their book work.  Easy access and doors that close were both essential for me.  Above is a picture of the outside and below is the inside.

On the top shelf, I put the workbooks and Teacher's manuals for individual work that we use daily along with a plastic box in which the kids place their completed work. This is mainly the Math and Language books.

On the middle shelf I placed several baskets (that I happen to already have from another organization project in another house).  I always try to utilize things that I already have in these types of projects...sometimes it works...sometimes it doesn't.  This time it worked...aahhh.  These baskets hold the crayons, pencils, colored pencils, glue, scissors, and paint.  There was even a place for the pencil sharpener (high enough to be out of the reach of the littles).  And, there was a media cut out in the back of the unit so I could plug in the pencil sharpener without having cords hanging out the front...icing on the cake!

 

On the bottom shelf are baskets holding white and colored paper and stencils, stamps, etc..  My kids do quite a bit of drawing/sketching...especially when I am reading aloud to them.
 

The three drawers on the bottom are where my three older kids can store their personal school items when they are not doing book work.

 

On top of the cabinet, I placed three more baskets with items that we use a little less frequently like Math manipulatives, extra art supplies, and larger bottles of paint.

Before, I had these things organized in our "homeschool closet" in a bedroom with all of the curriculum that we are not using this year but will need in future years.  The problem was that if someone broke a pencil, it took a trip to the other room to remedy the problem and chances of being distracted were high.  Now, everything that we need is right at our fingertips without having to leave the room. 

I am SO pleased with the result...especially for the price.

I keep all of our "unit study" books (Bible, Art, Music, History, Literature, Science, Geography, "read aloud", etc.) in a large crate next to the couch where we all lounge in the afternoons to learn while the babies are napping.  Here is a picture of this...not so lovely but what works at the time.

I then keep our school music cds in a little basket inside the entertainment center where they are handy and yet out of the reach of the littles.  Here is a picture of that.

Now, to organize the shoes and socks...haha!  Actually, that will be my next post in this series:)  Look for it next Wednesday!

Diffusing the frustration with Sp-e-ll-ing

Spelling...ah...spelling.  My least favorite subject.
Whenever I spell a word out loud I think of that scene from Anne of Green Gables where Anne is the only one in the class who can spell C-H-R-Y-S-A-N-T-H-E-M-U-M.  Even in the movie, it seems so dry and boring.  And yet, we all need to know how to spell.

I searched hard and long for a spelling curriculum that I could love.  After using several different ones, I still have not found one that I love.  But, I have settled for one that I like:)  It is logical, quick, to the point, has the most success for my kids, and is without "busy work"...so NOT a fan of busy work!  We have enough to do to keep us busy around here:)

However, even with this curriculum, I am met with frustration and even sometimes tears from kids when going through a lesson.  Today, as I was calling out spelling words, I was met with resistance.  It wasn't blatant but I could feel it.  I could tell that things would spiral in a direction that I didn't want to go, so in addition to the new word, I drew a small smiley face on the corner of my marker board.  As I showed my word and we spelled together out loud correcting his word as needed, I saw that the smiley face was noticed and my son returned the favor by drawing a smiley face on his board after he wrote his next word.  So, with the next word, I drew a different smiley face, then another, and another.  Pretty soon, I had a little boy in stitches who couldn't wait to check his word against mine so that he could see the next funny face that I would draw.  Each time he would copy my silly face onto his marker board as he corrected any Spelling errors.

I marveled at just how easy it had been to change the atmosphere around the required spelling assignment.  I didn't have to draw a line in the sand and have a stand off...just a smiley face:)  As I thought about it I remembered several other things that I have done in the past to help make Spelling fun and "hands on".  So here are a few of the things that we have done over the years to diffuse the frustration with Spelling and make it more fun.  Maybe your kids love spelling and beg you to quiz them over their words, but if they are like mine and despise it, here are some things that might give a breath of fresh air to your spelling work...whether you homeschool or not...I'm confident that you do school at home:)

*Before we start spelling each day, I try to keep it in perspective.  Gaining and keeping the hearts of my children and nurturing that relationship is far more important than them being perfect spellers.  So, I try to respond to their stress in a stress-free way:)



Things that we do regularly:

1. I do not give "tests".  Don't panic...my kids are still learning to spell and the environment is much more stress free:)

2. I use a curriculum that is quick, to the point, sequential, and can be done in 10 minutes each day...no busy work!

3. I use a marker board to write the words and allow the kids to have their own marker board and marker to write their words.  Amazing how a different writing utensil can make all the difference for those tactile learners.  Spelling is now fun...well at least to some degree:)

In this picture, a dry-erase crayon is being used. 

4. I allow the kids to sit, stand, lie on the floor, etc. and get comfortable.




Things that I do occasionally:

1. Shaving Cream Spelling.  I will squirt a small amount of shaving cream on the table and let them write their words into the shaving cream instead of on a marker board.  After each word, they erase by smearing the shaving cream with their hands.  This is especially great for those "tactile" learners who need to do so much more that hold a pencil.  Just having something cool and squishy in their hands engages their minds in a whole new way.  Clean up is also easy.  Just a quick wash of the hands and a wipe of the table and it is cleaned up.  And, the kids smell great!

 You should see the smiles that accompany spelling on these days:)

2. Ziploc Spelling.  This is similar to the shaving cream but is a small amount of colored hair gel sealed inside of a gallon ziploc bag.  They can write their words in the gel with a finger.  With this there is no mess but the same tactile advantages as the shaving creme method.  The down side is that only shorter words will fit...unless you get a larger plastic bag:)

3. Tile Spelling.  This can be done several different ways.  One is to purchase small one inch tiles and then write letters on them.  Or, we just use the tiles from our Scrabble game.  This lets them "build" the word by placing the tiles in a row.  This will take longer than writing but is so much more engaging:)  The down side to the Scrabble tiles is that they are all capitals and there are no punctuation marks.

4. Color Spelling.  Here they can do each spelling word a different color.  I stick to one color for each word to stay within a reasonable time frame.  Amazing how this little change sparks something within their creative side and connecting the creative with spelling makes them remember it.

5. Ladder Spelling.  Here you have them turn a regular piece of notebook paper sideways and write each word vertically in a column.  This one is harder for the visual learner but works great for other learner types.

6. Picture Spelling.  With this, I have them write the word and then draw a picture of the word next to it.  It's fun to see how creative they are.  This is great for any artists in your family...I have several:)


I want to again say that most of these are things that we do occasionally and not every day.  They take a little more time and sometimes require special guidelines, etc..

So, I hope that some of these ideas will breathe new life into your spelling lessons and help to diffuse the frustration that often comes with spelling.