discovering joy in the journey

Joy to the Heart

A New Year of Learningwith PreK, first, third, fifth, and seventh grades at home!   

First Day of School – August 2014 

This teacher mommy likes to make a themed celebration on the first day of school!  We’ve used a patriotic theme, apples and keeping God’s commands, hearts and showing love, and flying things and growing in wisdom. 

‘Ocean Creatures’ and overflowing with thankfulness
was our theme this year for our fun first day!
What did we do?

We ate Shark Fin Cupcakes (gulp, for breakfast).

We practiced our Verse of the Day (seen above).

Be joyful always. 
Pray continually.
Give thanks in all circumstances.
For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We worked together and built an Underwater Puzzle.

We completed our First Day All About Me Sheets.
Thinking about changes and filling in our ‘Growing in Grace’ sheets…

We participated in A Sword Drill Focus on Thankfulness.
The kids took turns looking up Scripture verses from our ‘Apples of Gratitude’, but with an engaging twist ~ As one child chose an apple and looked up the verse, the other kids had to suck on a straw to attempt to move as many Skittles as they could from one bowl to another…

We wrote Encouraging Notes to Siblings.
Each year, I write a prayer to each child and place it at their table spot for them to read at breakfast on the first day of school.  Another tradition is that each child writes or draws an encouraging note to their siblings.  They then share and read these aloud at lunch time…

We enjoyed eating a Special Sea Life Themed Lunch…
Croissant Crab (idea altered slightly from Cute Food For Kids)
Quesadilla Jellyfish (idea altered from here)
Clementine Starfish
Hawaiian Punch Berry Blue Typhoon ’Ocean Water’

We were artists and showed our Ocean Themed Creativity.
(Please Note: These were all works in progress when I took the photos.)

Handprint Fish for our PreK child

Acrylic Paintings by our 1st and 5th graders…

Chalk Pastels by our 3rd and 7th graders…
    

We devoured a Beach Themed Snack.
(This was a much simpler variation of ‘Sand Pudding’ as seen at Ma Nouvelle Mode, but her recipe looks delicious!  We also added molded chocolate seashells.)

We ate Sand Dollar Cookies for an After Dinner Dessert.
(Simple sugar cookies with almond slivers and some cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top!)

And yes, even though there are no photos to prove it, the kids made a splash and dove in to do some ‘real’ school too!

We had a great first day!

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This post is part of the 6th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop
over at the iHomeschool Network.  This week, is Student Photo Week!

We have homeschooled in various places over the years – at the kitchen table, on the couch, in a playroom while younger siblings played around us – basically throughout the house as kids and learning seasons changed, and even in an apartment last year.  All were wonderful for fostering togetherness and great learning experiences at the time.  Through the years, I have learned that it isn’t necessary to have a dedicated school room.  However, when we moved to a different home late last year, for the very first time, we decided to see if a room might be beneficial.

Come take a quick peek…

Our shelf of curriculum for this school year (also housing three of our five workboxes)…

A poem to keep our focus…

A cozy reading nook (next to a well lit window)…
 

Our white board (which also holds a very simple calendar for our preschooler this year) and hands on ABC center drawers (also for our preschooler – Yes, they are some of the same ones from my Kindergarten teaching days!)

Desks for the oldest girls (which easily transforms into a space for sewing projects, crafts and creative writing that the kids enjoy initiating on their own, etc.), and our wall strips that my dear husband made years ago on which to to hang the kids’ artwork (as well as our ‘Apples of Gratitude’ tree this year)

Our clippable maps, and leveled book baskets…

And, what I think I enjoy the most… a closet to house ALL of the other school related materials (used curriculum and manuals that we plan to use again, sewing/knitting supplies – including two bins of scrap material that were given to us for the girls, and paper/craft supplies)!

All of the items in this room and closet were spread out between various rooms, closets, and even our unfinished storage room at our last house.  By combining our bedrooms to be a girls’ room and a boys’ room (and including all of their toys in their bedrooms for the first time as well), it opened up a room and a closet to house all of these learning materials together. So, we were able to organize this learning environment using only things we had packed and brought with us, repurposing some items to make it work even better in our new home.  =)

Just because we have a ‘school room’ doesn’t mean that we aren’t anywhere else in our home!  We still have couches to snuggle up on for reading, additional tables for kids to spread out and work on that are close in proximity to this room, and, of course, our kitchen table for any painting / messier crafts.  It is working out so well!

I do remember when we first moved into this home almost a year ago though.  Oh, this room was packed with boxes!  As each box was deposited into this room and the stack became larger, I could tell that those who generously offered to help us couldn’t believe it would ever all fit and become a usable room – but, with everything having an organized and dedicated place, it works beautifully and I am so thankful!

Homeschoolers use the spaces they have to make learning happen anywhere and everywhere!  If you desire to glean more ideas, hop on over to the 6th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop.  It is School Room Week!