Friday roundup

(Technically, it's Saturday.  Whatever)

Whew.  T-ball is done.  It was a great season and DS1 did very well.  Fun while it lasted, but we are glad it is over.  We've been doing school light this week, slowly, not rushing, just having fun.  VBS is next week, then school (for real) starts the next week.

I have focus more on intentional parenting, discipline issues (mama's laying down the law!), and character traits this week.  In some ways, it's been a hard week.  In other ways, it's been a good week.  We are working hard to foster good relationships between brothers.  It's hard to teach a 5 and 2 year old about respect when all they do is fight, fight, fight some days!

I've finally developed an organization system, thanks to my fellow homeschooling buddy Christy.  While we are trying to incorporate as much hands-on as this non-crafty first year teacher can stomach, we have a lot of paper.  Handwriting, math, science workbook to go along with the hands-on, country/flag coloring sheets to go along with our World Atlas/countries studies...it was a lot of piles on my china cabinet!  I now have 3 binders.  One labeled "Kindergarten not complete" and inside holds dividers for each subject with the workbook pages I tore out and 3 hole punched.  Each math chapter is paper clipped together so I can easily grab one at a time.  (Math is the only one more than one or two pages.)  To prepare for the week, I pull out what papers I need and stick them in the "Current kindergarten" binder.  As the week progresses, any paperwork goes into a "done" drawer, then filed in the "Completed kindergarten" binder every week or so.  The Completed Kindergarten binder isn't categorized by subjects, but rather by month.  Activities that we do that are not papers get written down on a weekly journal sheet and filed.  So far, so good.

With VBS being next week and still having our usual library programs, school will be light.  Calendar, book reading, a short reading lesson, and perhaps a bit of math a day.  1 hour, tops.  I need to keep reminding myself that kindergarten is fun and not stress about it.  Tag-a-long DS2 enjoys calendar time and book reading also, but then it's an all out war to keep him from destroying the room/escaping/whatever for the rest of school time.  He is a child that truly needs 100% supervision 100% of his waking hours!