If preparation for the start of the new school year in our home, I thought I would share some of the ways I try to help things go a little smoother in our day and weeks. But first, I want to thank my friend Laura, from The Smile House in Austin, Texas (she is an amazing photographer) for converting my word documents and pdf’s to files I can share on my blog. I’m not saying I would have never figured it out on my own, I’m just saying it had been 3.5 hours and things were not looking very pretty!
This is my Teaching Schedule.
It has what subjects I am teaching on what days and to whom. This is the first year that I will be incorporating my 3 year old into group lessons with her brothers, so this is a very big deal for me. It’s taking me out of my comfort zone to not teach them each individually—which is sort of impossible with 4 now!
And this is a page I created called Lesson Planner Reminders.
I essentially use this planner on Sunday nights to prepare myself for the coming week. Ideally I would like to review up to a month ahead in my lesson plans and fill out the forms by what I need for the week—but I haven’t gotten there yet!
Read: Is a reminder of what I need to read both before and during the lesson.
Copy/Laminate: Is self explanatory. We do a lot of copying and laminating in this house!
Buy/Pick-up: is where I list those materials that I need for the lesson or study. It could be library books, or materials I need to purchase.
To Do/Prepare: Is all the prep work that I need to make sure I complete so that my lessons go smoothly. It’s just amazing sometimes the amount of work needed to pull together a lesson isn’t it
With 2 five year old boys and a 3 year old girl in our household (I’m not mentioning Cutie Pie right now because she isn’t old enough to join in on the squabbles and complaining) it’s no wonder we need to try out some new approaches to improving our our attitudes and behaviors towards one another. One idea I heard so much last year that I liked was creating “Family Rules”. I had heard about families (such as the Duggars) having success in this area by creating their own Family Rule System, and I wanted to see if it would work for us. I’ll keep you posted.
Here are our Family Rules:
1) We honor God and his teachings
2.) We honor our mother and father
3.) Our words are kind and true and our actions reflect what Jesus would do.
4.) We listen and obey quickly with gentle spirits and a willing heart.
5.) We show our love for one another daily.
6.) We consider others before ourselves, even if we have not been considered.
7.) We never raise a voice to yell, a hand to hit, a foot to kick, or an object to throw.
8.) We choose to be joyful even when we feel like complaining
9.) We are grateful and care for what we have been blessed with and are willing to share with others.
10.) We always speak well of others and do not “tattle” unless we are protecting them from danger.
11.) We choose to be peacemakers even when we feel like arguing.
12.) We speak the truth at all times no matter the consequence.
I need to type them out and make them pretty so we can post it the rules in the house. I’m also going to help the children recite them each morning! tee hee
Yes, I know that an argument could be made that by “honoring God and his teachings” you are automatically honoring his commandment to “honor thy mother and father,” but since I’m dealing with young children, I decided to just list out all of my expectations of them.
I hope by sharing my ideas I will be an encouragement to another.
