Reading List: Oldies but Goodies

When Charlotte inspected the school room, she was all too happy to find these gems:

These were books that I remembered reading when I was a kid.  I find that those are the best to recommend for your own children.  The Ghosts of Departure Point was one that Deanna had that I always longingly eyeballed, so I easily remembered this one.  Then my memory got a little foggy until I discovered this radical website that lists a ton of 80s chapter books.  Most of them were a part of a series.  I distinctly remember The Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High books, but they even had Bad News Ballet which was the one on the tip of my brain that I couldn't quite remember. Needless to say, I was stoked!

And here are some that I happened upon at a flea market.  Remember those covers--so iconic!

Though I did fall in love with Magic Treehouse books and anything Mary Downing Hahn. They weren't around back in the 80s, but still Totally Awesome.

 

I also always loved Choose Your Own Adventure Books growing up.  This was the copy we retained in the Harris library.

You see, that cool androgynous character on the front is you!  As you read through the book, you (the reader) are faced with certain decisions that change the outcome of the story, so there are all kinds of endings in one book.

Lastly, I have to say one of my all time favorites, even now, is The Tales of Mr. Pengachoosa.  This one is not a chapter book, but a collection of  clever short stories, each one with a twist.

Needless to say my Amazon wishlist is filling up quickly!  

I signed us up a little while back for the Pizza Hut Book It Program.

Remember these? I think schools are geared more toward AR now, but if you are a Homeschool, you can still sign up for the Book It Program through September. I look forward to snuggling up with Charlotte and taking a few trips down memory lane this year and getting some pizza while we're at it!

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Homeschool: Organization and Printables

Welcome to our school room!

This week, I added the final touches to our school room. I went to Lowes in search of peg board and found some large sheets for $17!!! That was too much for me, as I only needed a small size to fit in my little space. Then, just as I was about to leave, I spotted this one. It is 4 ft and only 6 bucks. Perfecto!

In the section for organizing garages at the Lowes, they have these hooks that fit into peg board which I bought to hang my clipboards. (I actually found those first, and almost put them back before I spied the smaller pegboard that I wanted.) They are not very long, and they are sold in a pack of 4. I also got that cool little basket under my Welcome sign in the same place.

Because we have absolutely no studs in our walls at all, Howard first attached a 2x4 behind the pegboard on both ends and then attached the pegboard to it. This is a good solution anyway. Otherwise, the board would be too close to the wall to put hooks into it.

I  bought the clipboards at Walmart. Note, for this project you must use the old school clipboards with the metal clips, if you use the hooks from Lowes. I had to look on the school aisle at Walmart--not the back to school aisle--because the clipboards there only have a tiny pull out hole to hang it by.

I thought clipboards would be ideal for keeping up with all the daily stuff we need to keep track of.  Here are the majorly important stuff on mine (so far):

1. Attendance--Here is the link for the one I have.  You have to have a record of attendance here in NC, and this is the recommended one. 
2. Daily Planner--It would be a shame not to buy any school supplies at all. I bought mine at Walmart.
3. Phys. Ed. Planner--This is a nifty little free printable I came across.  Exercise is not my strong suit, so I will take all the help I can get. I also found this website with some pretty cool PE ideas and free printables like coloring sheets and word finds.
4. 31 Days of Praying Over Your Homeschool--I found this awesome printable over at Bible Based Homeschooling, and now, I can keep it at my fingertips.

I only started out with the four clipboards, but I have plenty of room to add more.  For example, I know I will be needing a reading log as we are already signed up for Bookit.  For now, on the other end of my board, I covered it with a solid color wrapping paper and a border from none other than the DG!

Not bad for the DG.  In fact, they have a whole little section for school room set ups. I also got this dry erase Daily Activity Poster:

I hung every Carson Dellosa poster I had (Thank you, Donna) at Emma Lola height:

And created a reading nook with a bean bag chair and a well-place poster:

Chore Invoice

I just recently bought my (shall we say) methodical daughter this:

We have tried before to do a regular allowance, but even now, there is very little that Charlotte has to have.  Still, being methodical and all, she likes to count her money.  Here, she can record the chores that she has done throughout the week (that she gets paid for*), tally them up, and present me with a "bill".

*Some chores, like making her bed, she does for free.  And those chores have to be done before payday.

This has worked pretty well.  I thought it would be fun for her.  There wasn't anything about doing chores that we needed to fix per-say.  However, I did always have to remind her, "Now, do this; now, do that."  With her invoice system, she actually has taken some initiative.  When she has some spare time, she knocks out quite a few chores, and makes sure to write them down.  She even looks for things that she can do.

Amid the chore charts and crafts projects that have sprung up over the years concerning chores, this method works surprisingly well, for older kids anyway.