Things I Learned From Public School Teachers

...that are useful in home education.

Last week I taught in a Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Each teacher had some things that are smart that I realized I could use at home. Many things in public school are not useful at home (most really), but there are things that are useful in both circumstances.

Personal Dry Erase Boards
I have a large dry erase board, which is nice in a lot of ways when teaching a concept that I want to have both of us (or all of us) write on the board together or I want to write a lot of details. The drawback is that it takes up space and in our smaller rental we don't want to a) put big holes in the walls to put it up and b) use valuable wall space that is needed for all our furniture.

These personal sized dry erase boards are much better for spelling quizzes, math computations, and grammar practice. I have tried to reduce the amount of paper we use and these dry erase boards are PERFECT! The 1st grade teacher has them for each student and has them practice math problems and spelling on them while she teaches the lesson. It made it pretty easy to have the children show me their boards so I could quickly see who needed help. The second thing she had was to use socks as erasers instead of the flimsy erasers that come with the sets. Personally, it gets a lot more of the flakes erased than the eraser anyway, and you can always throw them in the wash. (It is also very easy to find "divorced or separated" socks). She has the students store their dry erase markers in the sock.

Rolling Carts
The kindergarten teacher I subbed for (and will sub every Wednesday through the end of the year) has rolling carts for each child under their tables. I also saw this used for a special education room. If I had a home school room I would definitely use the rolling carts. Right now, I like our "cubby" solution, but if I had younger children the rolling cart would be my choice.

New Plan - Check!

With the addition of substitute teaching, I needed to come up with a new plan. I have become more of a list maker now that I am older. My brain just can't seem to store things in it's proper place as it used to. Things on the "priority list" seem to get dumped to the "things I can't remember list". Things I don't need to obsessively think about end up on the "priority list" and clog my thoughts with mundane tenacity. Thus... planners and lists have become my friends.

Planner #1
It first started with foster parenting that I began keeping a simple weekly planner for appointments and such. When we moved and stopped fostering I was happy to place that little planner in a drawer. Five months later I pulled it out when I realized that work, callings, and homeschool commitments were getting missed or I would reschedule because I couldn't remember something else was already planned. The main thing missing from my current planner is a weekly "To Do" list, a must have in next year's planner.

Mike likes to rub it in that he has a Palm (which I bought him two years ago for his birthday). I wish I could afford the fancy cell phone with data service and Blackberry apps. How sweet that would be! But, alas, our budget can't handle that kind of luxury. I guess I'll just have to cowboy up and use pen and paper. *sigh*

Planner #2

The second planner change was to add a check list type of planner for Nayna and Chris so that on the days that I am at work they do not get off track (keeps me on track too). They are both in Scholar Phase, but not all levels of Scholar Phase are the same. You can see this week's plan here. This is a form of Structure Time, not Content. They have certain criteria that needs to be done each day, but there is some choice as to fulfilling that criteria. We have been doing this for four weeks now and it is working really well. We had a few trial and error moments, but make-up work is a consequence...so my kiddos are much better at completing the list. ;-) The 2 child-planner sheet is from donnayoung.org. I filled in the basics that are the same each week and then copied the sheet. The things that change I just write in every week. I prepare this on Sunday during our Mentor Meetings (same as FEC meetings).

We still have our individual binders with student planners that I shared before. This one-page plan also has the appointments that affect them and the days that I work listed at the bottom.

Planner #3

My kids are very proficient at making meals, they have been for some time. We have come up with a system that the kids and I each make meals two nights a week, except Sunday. Mike is not home for dinner or he would take a turn in the rounds also (working 60-70 hours a week I figure makes up for it). You can see our meals listed here and who is cooking that night. The kids typically cook on the days that I work. Chris and Nayna can make a pretty awesome spaghetti from scratch.

Sunday is a day of rest for us. We typically eat left-overs or simple meals. I remember reading about Sister Kimball and that she didn't want to spend all day preparing meals on the Sabbath so she would prepare on Saturday. I felt that this applies to me, I also don't want anyone to slave away on Sunday in the kitchen.

Over time I have learned a great deal from Mike on organizing and planning. I'm thankful that I have a husband who values a "house of order" both temporally and spiritually.

Mission: Organization

I know a lot of you already think I'm organized. This is a learned talent that Mike has helped me to learn over the years. He is a highly organized person - "Everything has a place and it belongs in it's place any time it is not in use." I truly appreciate his dedication to cleanliness and order even if it is a step above my comfort zone sometimes. I was able to unpack a few more boxes of books that were sitting in the garage with no place to go, utilizing our new Freebie Fairy gifts. This smaller bookshelf now houses all our church oriented books, both fiction and non-fiction, plus a few small photo albums (not pictured).

My bedroom has been were I pile all the things that need to be filed, worked on, organized, stored, looked at again, etc. Mike hates these piles. I do not love them either, but I see them as a necessary evil since I do not have a desk anymore. This tall shelving unit from the Freebie Fairy is making my honey very happy as my mess turns to organized chaos.

You may be wondering why I have a computer by bed. That is a Linux Server that Chris and I are working on. We are currently stumped about getting it to work right. Everything is installed, but not everything has the right settings yet.

Tomorrow --- Dining Room and Desk Mess!