School is back in....

School is back in today after a lovely long summer break!

It feels different this year, more serious I guess - it makes sense being that we don't have the distraction of Kindy days for Samantha anymore.

I have spent the past week planning and re-planning curriculum, unit studies and stationary so that we could start the year fresh and ready to go.  In the course of one day I have realised what I am missing!  Its always the ridiculous things like Staples you forget to buy!

We have some new shelving in our school room this year.  I am loving it because things like markers and glue are up really high and now can't be reached by a certain little (menace) boy!

We also have a new shelf for our story books - we have so many of these, but the Librarian in me can't stand to take any away.

New Shelving...

Book shelves (They will never look like this again!)

To prove it is all lovely, clean and organised to start with!

We are pretty happy with Samantha's timetable this year.  I will put a copy of it on once its complete. (I'm not sure why I always run out of printer ink at the worst possible time!)

We have a nice mix this year of the basics - reading, writing, spelling, life sciences and the so called fun - Art, Music, Spanish and Unit studies.  The unit studies actually encompass a bit of everything, but we love them!  I have chosen some with lovely Lap books attached this year, so we are looking forward to completing them!

After 6 months of trialing different curriculum and programmes last year, I found it much easier putting together a very eclectic pile of resources for this year.    I am glad I took the advice of a very smart homeschooler - she told me not to buy anything the first year in the way of packaged curriculum or expensive books.  She suggested we find out how Samantha learns first.  Best Advice Ever!!!!  (Thanks Raewyn) :).

It has also given me the confidence to research and find the best things for my children.  I am still open to change though, so we will see how what we have ended up with works for both of them, and adjust accordingly!

So here is our First day of school for 2013 :)

Samantha's Daily Notebook is a wonderful addition this year.  From the Confessions of a Homeschooler website!  It is so great and as well as great handwriting practise it is also a great way to teach days of the week, temperature, time and money :)

We have this in a clear file at the moment and Samantha is writing over the top of the plastic cover so it can be used again each day.  I am hoping to get these pages laminated later this week so it can become a proper book for her to use.

Maths is always the favourite subject in our house :)  This is after she had completed her Math U See lesson for the day - she wanted to do more! So we pulled out this fantastic practice book :) She loves that you get a sticker and star on each page as they are completed!  This child will most definitely work for stickers!

We are kicking off this years Unit Studies with Sunny Seashells from the Unit Study.com website.

It will finish off in a lap book - once I can print of the necessary pages of course!  In the meantime we watched videos about the Giant Clam and about seashells and then Samantha drew some of her favourites :)

And of course here is a little peak of Anthony's preschool lessons for today.  Since it is a new year we are starting at the beginning of the Letter of the week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler :)  We are just doing the activities that appeal to Anthony at this stage :)

A is for Apple

And of course, big sisters love this stuff too! :)