Daily To Do List (Printable)

My oldest has the hardest time remembering to brush his teeth in the morning, and I have the hardest time remembering to have him do his computer programs in the afternoons (we are not a big media family). 

And I had a chore chart that was VERY underutilized….So,

I decided to combine those things and make a “TO DO TODAY” chart, and task cards to go on it. 

(FRONT)  I will set this up the night before (when I do the workboxes) and he will turn them sideways when he completes the tasks)

(BACK) to store the cards that are not in use for that day

I have it hanging by the workboxes, you can see here the completed tasks turned sideways.

To make, I just printed the TO DO LIST on colored paper, and the TASK CARDS on white paper.  I laminated them both and added velcro.  Super easy! 

Chore Chart

The homeschool room is not the only thing I am revamping….we have gotten really lax on the chore chart, and decided to give it a bit of an overhaul as well.  I modeled the function of it after one a dear friend of mine posted on her  facebook page, but the general design comes from Confessions of Homeschooler’s blog (including the printed cards I am using, though I did make a few of my own).

Now let me see if I can successfully explain how our version works. 

The top row has extra chore cards, they can choose to do these things to earn tickets (located at the bottom of the chart).  2 tickets can be traded for a small prize, 5 tickets can be traded for a big prize. They must finish their daily chores before they can do extra chores to earn tickets.

The next row is my oldest son, followed by a blank space to put completed chore cards, then my 3yo son’s chores, followed by a blank space to put his completed cards.  The columns are as follows:  Reward, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat/Sun.  In the Rewards column is a sticker chart with 9 spots.  For each day the complete all their chores they get a sticker, when it’s full…they get a big prize.  Also in the Rewards column for my oldest are media tickets…he gets 5 tickets each week, each media ticket is good for 30mins of media (tv, computer or leappad). 

In the final row are the tickets they can earn, and special cards for BEST BEHAVIOR.  The BEST BEHAVIOR cards warrant special prizes, and are given out sparingly for exceptional behavior. 

Under the chore chart is a potty training chart….I got it free from HERE.  This is an extra way for my 3yo to earn tickets…every time he goes potty he gets a sticker and a ticket (to start out…as he gets better at it he will have to go more often to get a ticket).  I picked the CARS version of the chart b/c the spots are in rows of 5 (it’s meant to give rewards for each step of going potty, but I will not be using it that way).  The smaller the chart, the quicker the reward, and as he gets the hang of it and goes potty more often, the chart will get bigger! 

Now PRIZES – what are small and large prizes, you are probably wondering.  Well you can make them whatever you would like…our ‘small’ prizes are in a cookie jar and are small little dollar store type trinkets, little musical instruments, stickers, small containers of playdough…mostly stuff you would find in a birthday party goodie bag.  Our ‘large’ prizes are higher dollar items, or just items that are of more value to them, like small lego kits, new books, matchbox cars, etc…  I stock up on these items from clearance racks mostly.  I also have coupons for thinks like ice cream treats, more media time, chocolate milk, etc…  The BEST BEHAVIOR prizes are also coupons for things like media time, eating lunch out, date with mom or dad, and other special treats!

More about the MEDIA tickets – I still reserve the right to say NO, even if they have a ticket to use.  They must complete their chores before they can cash in a media ticket.  Also, I do not count school time or family time media towards their MEDIA time.  We occasionally watch a video for school, and we like to have family movie nights…these would be in addition to his weekly MEDIA time.  Z does not have any media tickets, he basically just does whatever C does…so technically at this point they are ‘combined’ tickets.  We also have an egg timer that we set when they begin a media segment.

The Daily Chores (though some vary slightly from day to day) for each child are :

C (K) – Make Bed, Get Dressed, Brush Teeth, Feed Dog, Straighten Bedroom, Straighten Playroom, Set or Clear the Table, Practice Karate, Put away clothes, Finish Schoolwork, Collect Trash. 

Z (3) – Feed Fish, Set or Clear the Table, Straighten Playroom, Straighten Bedroom, Collect Trash, Put Dirty Clothes in Laundry.   

EXTRA CHORES- Wash dishes, put away dishes, clean bathroom, vacuum one room, mop kitchen/dining, sweep floor, etc…. 

I like this new set up b/c it teaches them to budget and save; they have to save tickets and earn them, and the have to budget their media time!  It’s a great pre-lesson to money management!

**Here are some more cards from Confession of  a Homeschooler, she has them as discipline cards, but I will be using them for more extra chore cards (things like wiping door knobs and light switches, wiping down outside of cabinets, etc...)

This is the pocket chart that is used 

Our Homeschool Room

So here are the pictures I promised of our home school room. It's pretty much set for the school year. Storage is hard to come by in these small Hawaii homes (though I will say ours is larger than most, we lucked out)...but our landlord had some spare cabinets and asked if we wanted them in this room. Heck yeah! So it serves as some food/pantry storage and some homeschooling. It's perfect!! I have some maps to laminate and hang from the door frame which will close of the space, but will be easily removable when not in use. I got the idea from a blog some time ago and I can't remember which one.




This last picture is of the chore chart I mentioned and linked a few posts ago. It's really working out well for us so far. I need to make a few more cards to add to it...pick up room and practice karate!

I almost forgot our reference library shelf that is part of our bookshelf wall in the Living Room. Quince said I had to much time on my hands. But I got the idea from a homeschooling blog (again forgot which one...possibly Confessions of a Home school Mom). The top shelf is curriculum that we are not currently using, as well as Home school Reference books for me, the next shelf is Reading books (easy readers and read aloud), the next is divided into Math, social studies and history, with a container for activity type books, and the magazines of Appleseed and big backyard. The next shelf is science. On the shelf to the left are Gospel books, and the bottom two shelves on two more bookcases, and the bottom of one other are all kids books...I'm a book aholic and unfortunately homeschooling gives me an excuse to feed my habit!


(don't mind the mess on the shelves, we are still getting settled in from our move).

ALOHA ACADEMY

So I guess we need to change the name of our school, since we are no longer
on Chestnut Grove Rd (Chestnut Grove Academy).
We are getting settled in, and I have been busy preparing for next school year, since it will be the 'real deal'. Cole will be in Kindergarten!! It's hard to believe that my baby will be 5 this summer. School starts August 1st here, and we will run until May 4th. So here is the game plan:

Social Studies/Geography - we will cover the 50 states, and then talk about continents, and maps. We will start with Hawaii (#50) and work our way back to the first state. We will also be marking places on the map we have been, and where family lives...with pictures. We are getting the material about each state here

Usborne Books - My Street, My Town

Handwriting - we will be using Handwriting without Tears for Kindergarten

Math - we will be picking up in the middle of Saxon Math K, and then move onto Saxon Math 1. This is the picture of our math cabinet, we have tons of manipulatives, which is why I love Saxon...it's VERY hands on. Even Zane likes to participate.



Music - Pfiffer Music K and Beethoven's Wig: Sing Along Symphonies


Art - Adventures in Art by Chapman (this book was recommended to me by a friend that is a former art teacher, I was luckily enough to find it on paperbackswap.com to get a FREE hands on preview, and I really like it. I have found the others in the series on ebay and plan to order them. There are 6. I will also be using How to Use Child-size Masterpieces for Art Appreciation and I Spy: An Alphabet in Art

Phonics - Continue with The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Explode the Code 1 and Happy Phonics. We use a magnet board and magnet letter tiles for the OPG, which helps keep his hands busy ;)

Science - Dinosaurs, The Human Body, Oceans (each using Usborne Books Ten Terrific Weeks Program). Here are just some of the books I have to go with the curriculum, more are coming and we will hit up the library. I also have some games on the way. For First grade we will do Biology...so this is sort of a percursor to that. Cole will also be attending Science Class, there is a Homeschooling mom who has a BA in Biology that does classes. He will attend for May, June, July and November.

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Usborne Books Kid Kits - Dinosaur Sticker Book and T-Rex Excavation Kit

Usborne Books Ten Terrific Weeks Adventures of the Human Body , Going to the Doctor Kid Kit, Flip-Flap Body Book, First Encyclopedia of the Human Body, Going to the Dentist and Science and Your Body.

Usborne Books Ten Terrific Weeks Adventures at Sea, First Encyclopedia  Seas and Oceans, Uncle Pete the Pirate, Puzzle Journey Under the Sea and On the Beach.

Usborne Books Ten Terrific Weeks Adventures with the Dinosaurs, First Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, Dinosaur Stencil Book, The Great Dinosaur Search, The Incredible Dinosaur Expedition

P.E. - Cole, Quince and I have all enrolled in Karate

Chinese - Better Chinese program


Scriptures - Discover the Book of Mormon We have ordered a new reader, it's on order. I haven't figured out how I'm going to implement this program just yet...it actually is pretty short if you do it as outlined, but I want to include reading from the actual scriptures as well....right now we use this outline
and I print color pages from The living scriptures website that goes with which story we are reading, if they don't have it...I just google it and find something.


*I think that covers it all*

I'll be working with Zane as well. He likes to go along with what I do with Cole, and we will be doing a letter (or two) of the week...I'll match it up with which ever letter we are doing in the HWT program. He likes to do math with us as well as participate in the other subjects too.

I'm still looking for a Co-op group, researching homeschooling groups here in Hawaii, is like looking for the secret underground or trying to join on with the secret service! It's ridiculous! I have gotten a few leads, and the first one I have jumped on is a Military Group. It is questionable as to if I'll be able to get on post or not, so I figure I'll take the last month of the current school year to try it out, before I count on the group for next year. There are two more possibilites from that point, if I need them. But man did I have to dig to come up with anything.
The other option is doing my own co-op, though I haven't found anyone Cole's age that is interested, only 4year olds. But I def want to do a group for 2-4 anyway, so that I have something for Zane, unless I find a group that has a preschool option as well. Zane really enjoyed the co-op we did before moving here.

So I have been typing my entire school year plan into the computer using this free program HOMESCHOOL TRACKER/ , it's really nice. Then I can print off the plans to have in front of me, or to provide for the school, should they want them. I still have to file my intent to homeschool form.

ADDED:  The great thing about homeschooling is versatility, We started using workboxes and we have added a few more things as the time has gone on (we started June 1st).  We have added the Little Passports Program (see my sidebar), and the Expedition Earth Curriculum from Confessions of  a Homeschooler.  Typically we cover one country a month (one lesson a week).  Feel free to check out the Homeschool tab to see how our curriculum has been going so far!

http://educatinglayton.blogspot.com/2011/06/show-off-your-curriculum-link-up.html

CHORE CHART FOR CHILDREN

I have also instituted a new chore chart. The kids are loving it, even Zane...it's amazing how quick they catch on to 'prizes' at such a young age.
We are using this format, with a few changes of our own
Chore Chart
I only give one prize a day (I have a 'small' prize bucket), but they have to do all the chores that day to get the prize. They also get a sticker for doing all their chores for the day. When the sticker chart is full (9 spots) they get a big prize, like she mentioned. Then we also have a seperate set of prizes for best beehavior cards (which they have yet to get, lol). Nothing was said of the black cards...so I put these behind the names, and they can choose 'extra' chores to earn money...a quarter per chore. Though, they haven't done that either...yet. I just added to Cole's chore load a bit, b/c the karate teachers sent home this whole check list asking how his performance at home was for all sorts of things, and most of it was stuff we have never even had him do...so time to start. Simple things like, making his bed. Anyhow, it has been pretty effective, and he only fights me slightly. Zane is such a happy helper at his age, I never have to ask him twice :D Sometimes he is too helpful, he broke a bowl the other day helping me unload the dishwasher. O well.

I have also joined an online service called Enchanted learning , it's $20/yr and has all sorts of printables, I have already printed off a ABC book for Zane, and several dinosaur activities for them both to go with our first science unit.

BTW we picked dinosaurs first b/c the Bishop Museum in Honolulu has a dinosaur display up through September, so I thought it was a good place to start.

I joined Paperbackswap as well to add to my curriculum books (as previously mentioned). I had so many books that I was no longer using, or weren't gonna work out for what I had bought them for. So I decided to just swap them...it's a great program. Check it out and use me as a reference, please! (jqaltman@yahoo.com). As I mentioned I got my art book from there, and I have several dinosaur books on the way, and lots more on my reminder list. I have mailed out over 20 books, I'm just waiting for them to be received so I can get my book credits and trade them in.

I haven't been having 'formal school' since I had Caige, figured there wasn't a point since we were moving soon, but now that we are settled, I'm trying to get in more of a routine. The last two days we have been talking about Easter, and tomorrow we will be making some cupcakes and a small cake for Z's birthday...he is turning 2!

I'll have to post pictures of the school room later. It's coming along nicely. The landlord had some spare cabinets that he put up in a room that was sort of lost when the addition was put on...so that's our homeschool room now, sort of a glorified hallway to the toy room, but it works well for our needs.