Although I have been homeschooling now for a while, I am still always trying to figure out the best way to do it. This year, I have 3 kids in school and so it is a greater challenge. (K, 1st, and 4th grades) Somewhere along this journey, I read that one of the best things to do in homeschooling was to teach your kids to be self-starters. The person (whom I can't remember) said something to the effect that you should never have kids wait on you to start a subject. After 2 years of having one of my children constantly needing me for every little assignment, I decided this year to try a new approach. Today I am going to share one of the tools I am using. It is a "Morning Notebook".
Each morning, my kids meet me at the kitchen table (Ok actually they drag me out of bed first!) and we have Bible time with breakfast. Then, they grab their morning notebooks and get started. No more waiting on mom to start school! I love it! This allows me a little time to get other things going around the house. While their morning notebooks vary each day and each week and from child to child, I can show you a little bit of what goes into them. Below is the calendar portion that they work on about 3-4 days a week. I also insert math drill sheets and other fun worksheets that they can do on their own. (I know some HS families HATE worksheets but my kids don't mind them especially in a sheet protector. There is something about writing with a marker that makes everything fun.)
Cover – I made
the cover plain so that the kids could decorate it any way they saw fit.
My Name As We Go –
On the first day of each month, they write their name. This is really for my younger kids. It will be fun to watch them get better and
better.
My Name Is – Each
day, they will practice writing their name.
For my youngest, she is learning to spell her name. My older two are learning to write in
cursive.
100 Days of School - Why not have a count down and a celebration
when we hit it? Each day they fill in a
square.
Tally Up the Days – Each
day, they make a tally mark. At the end of the month, they count the days
up. My kids love this one!
Calendar - I use a blank one for my older kids and
one with the numbers to be traced for my younger girls. Each day, they write in the number for the
day.
I Can Write the Date
– Each day, they practice writing the date two ways. My younger ones simply copy it.
Weather – Each
day, the kids record the weather.
Where I live? – On
the ones I made for my kids, I put our phone numbers and address so that they
are copying them once each day. In a few weeks, I’ll switch to this blank one
and see if they can write it from memory.
Then, I will just use it here and there to review.
My Daily Calendar – While
I wonder if the kids might get tired of this one, for now, they will complete
this one every day. My youngest usually
looks over her big brothers shoulder for help.
I put this one in a sheet protector.
See file below
Days in School –
My two oldest will complete this one.
They will look back to their days in school tally sheet to help if need
be.
Write Your Numbers – In
CC, we have been learning our skip counting songs for 2 years. I have the kids practice skip counting with
this sheet based on whatever # we are learning at CC. I also have one to trace
for my youngest because she still gets her numbers flipped most of the time.
Days of the Week – This
one is for my younger kids to help learn the days of the week and
abbreviations. Every once in awhile, I’ll have my oldest fill one in to work on
spelling.
I Know my Colors –
This is another for my younger kids.
They can color it and practice writing the names of the colors.
I Can Draw It –
Each day, they make a daily drawing. Of
course, it is a favorite. I like to look back and see how much they improve.
My Idea/My Questions –
Once a day or once a week, the kids can jot down an idea or question they
want to explore. They have fun with this
one!
See file below
My Goals – This one
can be done daily or weekly. The idea
was to have them make a goal and celebrate when they complete it.
See file below
On the first few days, I had to help them to understand each page.
Johnna Katherine's cover
Julianna Marie working on her calendar.
She can spell it even though it takes up 2 lines!
" I love this!"
"Oh wait, I changed my mind!" LOL
The weather page was a hit until they realized we live in Texas and it will always be HOT AND SUNNY!
To download the whole file, go to the link below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Y6_N0OuGteblB0RkIwcHdLOUU/edit?usp=sharing
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