Our School: Work Trays Instead of Boxes

I think it's most correct to say that "I" use work trays.  Or work boxes with trays instead of boxes.  Whatever.

Anyway, each child's crate has a set of dollar store cookie sheets and the individual subjects stacked on each.  Since the kids do most of their work with me, I find that the stack of trays keeps me organized, not them.  I do, however, send them out to do they're "alone" work with a stack of trays.

Trays just take up so much less space!  Above you can see that I have six subjects stacked up for my nine-year-old and it barely takes up more space than the one subject I have set out for my second grader.

Below is the oldest, doing his reading.  His tray has a book, chart, and timer.



Here's another shot of the trays spread out.  This is memorization (Latin, history dates), cursive, and spelling with a flip camera to make it more entertaining.  I don't force a certain order, in fact, I just stack the trays according to ease of transport.  That one with the camera would be on top since the stack would tip unattractively.

More trays all spread out.  Big kid loves to take pictures.

Motor Development: Little Chains and Links

This activity is popular from my nine year old all the way to the ten month old.  She can't do the links but LOVES playing with the finished product.  Little ghosty!

Materials:  6-1 foot lengths of cheap chain from Depot (~$.60 per foot), a pile of unused "quick links" from grampa's garage, caribeaners (optional)

This takes very little presentation.  The kids just run with it.  

Auntie's Coloring Book

My sister-in-law is SO TALENTED!  Look what she made for my kids for Christmas.  She's an artist in Asheville, NC at Woolworth Walk.

By far the best coloring book we've ever had.  The kids are so careful to color it well.

It just goes to show if you give children something special, they treat it with care.  

I hope we get one every year!

Literacy: Picture Books For Fluency

There is a big push to get kids out of picture books and into chapter books.  As a picture book writer, I can tell you that's silliness.  Picture books are not just for babies!  Since they are designed to be read BY AN ADULT, the language can be quite challenging.  Plenty challenging to assign to your third or fourth grader.  Unless your child abhors them, I find picture books to be a great way to build fluency.  Since my third grader reads only 20 minutes a day in school, a chapter book would take him FOREVER, whereas a picture book "rewards the reader" in much smaller increments.

So, here's a list I've worked up of great classic picture books ordered by AR level, so you can judge their reading level.

Skip Counting: Bingo Markers

Just print out a hundred chart and use a dollar store bingo marker!


Thi

Grading: Mini-Knobbed Cylinders

I would love to buy the giant knobless cylinders, but I can't justify the price yet.  Especially when my heart is set on a $128 mass kit.  And an $80 tessellation kit.

Anyway, these were $25 and get the point across. They are challenging enough to hold my nine-year-olds attention if you get them out all at once.  The four sets are as follows:

These are popular every time I get them out.  They aren't as sexy as the big ones, but we have a storage issue and the mini set doesn't take up much space.  

Motor Development: Table Lessons

Little Kid got bored doing his school work, so we took a break for some practical life lessons.

First, we went over the names of something nearby. 

Cord, plug, socket (or outlet), floor lamp, bulb, lampshade (none of my kids knew "lampshade."  Huh.), table, table legs, table leaf (WHAT?).  He didn't understand "table leaf" so...we learned how to table apart.   

  And put it back together. 

 And take it apart. And put it back together.  You know how it goes. 

After all that work, his muscles were all tuckered out.  So, we had a lazy susan lesson.  He'd been curious about this little gadget for ages.  We set up a tiny dish part and practiced using the lazy susan and our good manners.

Then, of course, since I'm an old waitress, I showed him how to "bus" the table.  Then he did it.....about ten times.  HA!