School Starts

We are all so excited about school starting tomorrow!  Routine will be back in full swing and we are going to learn some fun stuff in the next 7 weeks before our first break.

We've got all our areas ready....

I should have taken a before pic...this looks so much better!
 

The boys are most excited about those blue and red bags you see up above.  These are reading bags.  When they read for 20 min on their own every day in a week, they get to choose a prize.  Neither one of the boys enjoy reading alone so we are going to have some fun with it this year.  I'll let you know in 7 weeks if it worked or not.

Boxes are ready and filled with work!

We use our own version of the workbox system.  It works great and something we used last year.  Every drawer holds a subject or activity for them to work through.  This is not all independent work.  I believe the original idea for the workbox system was designed for this but we use it as a guide for each class.  Most classes involve me teaching them so I try to alternate independent/teaching time so the boys are working opposite of each other.  It doesn't always match up exactly and sometimes one will have to either wait for me to move on or can skip to a drawer of independent work to keep moving.  This system still has great flexibility for how we use it.

Our current hands-on books and manipulates are right where we use them.  Next to the dining room & living room.  

We do a lot of school in the living room too!

An old picture to show the boys' individual area to do work if they need some quiet area.

I love that we are not stuck to a schoolroom.  The boys will go to their desk if they want a quiet space to work independently.  Looking forward to diving in tomorrow morning!