My Favorite Homeschool Product(s)

It is Friday Meme time again at The Heart of the Matter. This weeks Meme is: Your Favorite Homeschool Product. Below are some of my favorite things I use/need for homeschooling.




My Laptop and the Internet. I don't know how I could do what I do with homeschooling with out either. Love e-books, making notebook pages or lapbook pages, chatting with other homeschoolers all over the world, and more.

With the love of my laptop comes my treasured item: 1,000 copy punch card at the UPS Store . I couldn't live without this... Honestly, I am there at least once a week making my copies for a notebooking project, lapbooking project, or other needed copies to do activities with the kids. Of course I use my printer for smaller printing jobs, but when I need multiple copies of 1 page (for lapbooks and other larger printing projects), this is a MUST have for me. I need I also use a separate one for my co-op classes. Copies are only 3.5 cents ($35 for the punch card), it eliminates wear and tear on my printer, and I can always swing by Java Joint for a coconut Latte while I am out. That is a BIG bonus! *Ü* (sorry no pictures because they keep it there at the store so I won't loose it. LOL )

While reading other homeschoolers lists of their favorite products, I have to agree, our wipe off board is a must. I wish I had a bigger one, but we don't have room for it here.

My cubbie corner. It holds my laptop (but can be easily moved to the table), has some "core" items I use underneath it, and my storage caddie is right next to it. In here I have pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, stapler, hole punch, scissors, pencil sharpener, tape, magazines, educational cds, audio we use for learning, and so much more. I don't have to get up and search for anything (well unless the kids removed something w/o permission that is *Ü* ). I couldn't imagine not having this wonderful tool by me.

What is your favorite Homeschool Product?

Homeschooling Tips & Tricks

This weeks Homeschool Meme from In The Heart of the Matter is: Homeschooling Tips & Tricks. Each Friday they have a different theme in which homeschoolers can participate by posting the Friday topic on their blog and linking back to In The Heart of the Matter's blog. To check out a list of upcoming topics click HERE.

Tip &/or Trick from Jetihoja Academy:

I don’t have a large home or a school room. Where do I store schoolwork for multiple kids?

We don’t have a large house, no schoolroom, and have 4 children at home that we are homeschooling. Where do I keep all their schoolwork? We’ve homeschooled for 13+ years and I have finally figured out that works best for storing the kids school: milk crates. All their work stacks nicely inside the crate and we store them in the entry way closet. Each child has a difference colored crate.

They also have matching pencil boxes that have pencils, easers, pencil sharpeners, colored pencils, glue stick, scissors, etc in them. This make clean up much easier and I don’t have to think whose pencil box it is, or ask the kids. If the kids don't remember to put them back in the crate, Ijust place it in the same colored create and the job is done! :o)

Best place to keep those "needed" items close at hand while schooling in the dinning room.

Right by the kitchen table I have a 10 drawer standing cabinet. In it I store any items I may need; scissors, pencils, pens, tape, glue, stapler, paper clips, magazines, flash cards, etc. I also store my homeshool cd’s in there, since I use my laptop a lot at the table.

On the other end of the table, there is a 4 drawer rolling cart that holds lapbooking supplies (colored paper, card stock, file folders, brads, etc). On top of that is a 3 drawer holder that has colored markers, colored pencils, stickers, and more.

This has saved me from searching for items I need often or searching for something one of the kids may need: penci, earser top, etc. I find if they leave to table to find something, they always get distracted. :o) I also have a very cool tool. It is called: Desk Apprentice. The thing is... I have yet to use it. True story… It is just so large, I am not sure where I would store it in my schooling area. So there it sits in the box still.

A Day In The Life Of A Homeschooler

Over at The Heart of the Matter, they have started a weekly blog roll (meme) on Fridays. Every Friday the topic will change. To see upcoming topics click HERE.

This Friday's topic is, "A Day in The Life of a Homeschooler". As of late I don't seem to post much at our blog, so I think these topics will be help me to add a little more to my blog. I am looking forward to Friday's topics. So remember to check back on Fridays! *Ü*

But also take note that I am a Weekly Reporter and I usually post a recap of our homeschool happening on Saturday or Sunday after we finish up a week. If you want to become a Weekly Report, fill free to join at any time. Check HERE for more details as to what it is about, to see other Weekly Reporters, and to join along with us.

So here is a typical (or should I say, a day we strive for...) day for our family:

7-7:30 am:
Mom gets up (would love this to be 9am, but then everything for school doesn't get done). Co-op and Physical Therapy (PT) Days I have to get up earlier.

8:00 am:
* Kids are up eating breakfast, getting ready for the day, and doing chores.
* On Mondays, Jessica does her online writing class at 8 am.
* Currently Timmy is going to PT twice a week at this time.
* Need to implement a bible time to start our day. I am not good at getting this done. It is one area I want to improve on in our homeschooling.

9:00 am-11:30 am to Noon:
* Gather at the table to do school work. The order in which we do it varies from day to day, and what the kids have for assignments. Some day we start at 8:30, just because everyone is up and ready by then.

Noon:
Lunch hour

1:00-3:00pm:
*Continue working on school work. Do extra studies and read aloud time
* 3:00-4:00 on Tuesdays, Jessica has her Online Latin Class.

And some weeks we don't get school done each day of Monday- Friday. Then we go into the weekend to get our schoolwork done. I love the flexibility of homeschooling.

What about snack time you ask? Well we don't have a scheduled snack time. If the kids are hungry, they can get something to eat (mostly fruit or veggies, sometimes crackers, etc.). But ABSOLUTELY no water at the table. *Ü*

Co-op Day:

For our first co-op, first hour, Jessica and Timmy take a "That's in the Bible" Class. Jake and Holly take "Art & Art Appreciation". For second hour, Jessica takes "Latin", Timmy takes "Art & Art Appreciation", and Jake and Holly take "Build a Body". This is a wonderful co-op with wonderful teachers. I am blessed (and so are the kids) to have wonderful teacher for my kids classes.

After this co-op ends, we head off to our next co-op at a dear friends house. We bring a sack lunch and all the kids eat together there. Again I am blessed to have this available for my kids and am blessed to have these friendships, both for me (adults) and my kids.

How long do the kids take on an average day to accomplish their work?

Jessica: It really does depend on what she has to accomplish for the day. The amount of time averages between 3-5 hours.

Timmy: 3-4 hours a day. Some times it seems like math takes 3 hours alone. He doesn't really complain about math, he just gets distracted and I don't know... It seems to take him forever. Hoping that will change once Teaching Textbooks arrives for him. *Ü*

Holly: I would say around 3 hours

Jake: 2 hours

But then you need to factor in our extra work on top of that. I love Lapbooking, when we are doing an extra study, we usually add anywhere from an hour to 2 on top of a typical day. Also our read aloud time on top of that (we read for approximately an hour).

We also do Science together, and that isn't factored in with the above time spent on schoolwork (approximently 5 hours addition per week).

Right now we are working on our country study: Russia. I am only doing this with Jessica and Timmy and the days we do this, it adds about 1-2 extra hours onto our day.

What would I love to ADD to our days?

Like I mentioned above, I want to find a bible study for all the kids to do together. I have to check into Explorers Bible study. But I don't want 1 book for Jess, 1 for Timmy, etc. I want to do them all together. Any suggestions for me?

That is what I miss with Mystery of History(MOH). We did get that bible time in. But we let MOH slip by this year. We are doing other history type studies and I don't think I could do a full blown history course right now.

Someone on the Well Trained Mind board asked a question about what other homeschoolers do to make homeschooling fun. I loved reading about the different ideas other homeschoolers do in their home. One that I would love to add is an afternoon tea/hot coco and snack time. Click on homeschooling fun to read what other homeschooler said.

And that concludes "A Day in the Life of a Jetihoja Academy Homeschooler".

PS: I can't wait to read about your "A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler" if you decide to join this blog roll/meme (still don't understand the difference), please comment and let me know if you do. *Ü* Then I will go to HOTM site and check out your typical homeschooling day!