Homeschool Open House

Tiany over at Less of Me~More of Him is hosting a fabulous Homeschool Open House over the next two weeks.

For those fellow participants, let me give you a brief intro to myself and my family. My name is Ami, and God blessed my husband and me with three little men via adoption.

On your left is Garrett (2 1/2), my mini-me. In the middle front is Liam (4), whom we affectionately call The Nut, because he simply is. On your right is Jack (2 1/2), our wild man. And that white guy is my husband, another blessing from God, who works hard in order to keep me home with our little army.

Although my eldest is only 4 and a little young for "official" schooling, I made the decision to homeschool a few months ago. I've written about my reasons for homeschooling, but the ultimate reason is: God is asking it of me.

I recently tried to begin early kindergarten with Liam, but after two days, I realized that his fine motor and listening skills are not quite where I'd like them to be. Instead of frustrating both of us, I decided to put kindergarten away and resume our typical daily educational play. I'm a former public school teacher, so all three of my boys are accustomed to my sitting down with them to "work", as they call it.

In September, I will begin using Letter of the Week's curriculum to teach all three boys simultaneously. This will allow us to have an "official" school feel to our already structured learning time. I think it will also help Liam to be better prepared for our kindergarten curriculum, which is My Father's World.

Here is a glimpse into our school room.



It is our dining room, which I recently converted to the school room, since we never once used it for dining. The boys love to bring paper and crayons to their table and play together.

Would you like to know where I got our school table?!?! I know you would. I got it for FREE from a local church. Our own church did not have any spare furniture, but I called around to some other local churches and found one to give us the table and six chairs. This was a huge blessing, as it would cost hundreds to buy it on my own. So, that is my tip for all of you homeschooling families out there that need school furniture...ask your local churches if they have any to DONATE!

On the far wall is our calendar, which you can barely see in this photo. We have a daily circle time near our calendar, where we sing and discuss the day, the month, and the weather. We also review Bible memory verses and pray together. (Our calendar comes from Creative Teaching Press. I've also found preschooleducation.com to be a good source for cute songs to help make circle time more fun.)

I'm sure you noticed the large empty space at the top of the far wall. I want to somehow use that space for hanging current art projects, but I need to be careful about what I do to that wall, being that it's the very first room that guests see when stepping into our home. I don't want it to have a cluttered look, yet I want it to be more school-friendly for the boys. Any ideas on how to utilize that space?

I look forward to visiting with fellow participants of the open house. Please leave me a comment so I can hop on over to your place.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck and have fun. Simple learning through lots of books and playing are some of the best memories I have of our early days!
Cindy

www.homeschoolblogger.com/westward

Kristi said...

You have a beautiful family!! Enjoy your time with your boys!! We are considering adopting. Do you have any advice?

Hugs!
Kristi

Anonymous said...

How about each boy making a frame out of paper to display his one art project for a week. I use 3M Scotch Wall Mounting Tabs and they do not take the paint off the wall or leave a residue. Right now the on;y place I know to buy them is online but they are worth the cost to save my walls.

Be Blessed!

Amber said...

I have 2 girls 1.5 and 4.5 I love your school room. It is so organized. I know what you mean about the first room people see. We have french doors and people can see right in. I want it to be our classroom but still look nice. I had heard from a show that you should frame your child's art. That might be a good idea. Then every now and then you could swap them out. Hope that helps a little.

Melissa Markham said...

What a blessing you and your husband are to these three children. And I know they bless you. Isn't Got awesome! My husband is adopted as is his sister.

As to what to do with the art work, having frames and picking one piece of artwork a week or so, letting the children pick) is a great idea. If you want to put up more than one, maybe you could hang up a bulletin board. I think your guests would love to see what your children are doing and would have only good thoughts when they walk in and see your children's artwork!

Anonymous said...

Welcome to homeschooling! Your guys are just adorable! I really enjoyed reading your open house especially the reasons why.

Have a great year!
JoAnn

Anonymous said...

You have a beautiful family. Your school room is great! We use our dining room, too, but the dining room table is still there (even though we never use it for eating lol.) I agree with the comment about putting up a bulletin board...it's fun to change the theme for different seasons or whatever the children are studying and to display their handiwork. Have a great year.

Wendy said...

Hi Ami, What a beautiful family you have! Hope you have a great year together!

Anonymous said...

Hi! I enjoyed a glimpse into your homeschool. Your room looks great! I'm envious~ we use our dining room for school too~ but we also eat in here, which is a pain.

Your family is just wonderful! I have 2 adopted children (from Vietnam) and 1 "homegrown" child. Your boys are precious!

Nice to "meet" you.
Heidi

Anonymous said...

Your boys are adorable - what a blessing! Your plans sound great. I'm definitely not the one to ask about combining the front room with a schoolroom. I gave up on trying to keep it uncluttered and turned it into a library. I'll eventually post pics in my Open House entry. I'll check back to see what others say, though!

Thanks for sharing!

Disney for Boys said...

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this “Homeschool Open House 2007” It has been such fun putting it together but getting a peek into your homeschool days has been the real blessing in all of this! Making some new friends along the way is the icing on the cake!

I greatly enjoyed your post, it was fun getting to learn a bit about your family and your plans! We use the same resources for our little ones! I will surely be back to visit and read more about these beautiful blessings the Lord has given you, they are too cute for words!!!!


I pray you have a very blessed, fruitful and productive homeschool year!

Please email me with the subject “Open House” and in the email please send your link number from my post (I need to know what number you are on the Mister Linky) so that I can get your gift to you!

Tiany@cox.net

Hugs & Blessings~
Tiany
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/tiany

bubbebobbie said...

I love your family photo. If that is the firs thing you were to see every morning the day couldn't help but start wih a smile. As for displaying your art work, how about empty glassless Picture frames? They wold look extravagant, make the boys feel realy special and unless someone really paid attention, they wouldblend in. I love your table tip!

because of Jesus, Bobbie
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/bubbebobbie/368212/