And so it begins ...

Pin It The 2011/2012 school year that is! The home construction is finished just in the nick of time. There is still work to be done, but at least all of the furniture is (mostly) where it belongs. We have discovered that I have very expensive taste so the decoration of both bedrooms will likely take a while. I'm okay with that. Mostly. We are cash only and intend to stay that way, and let me tell you, that is sometimes TOUGH with two who enjoy instant gratification! Pics of the redo will come eventually, but I want to wait until it's done. Right now both rooms look like big ole' messes with really pretty walls, trim, and doors.

Oh wait. This post was supposed to be about school, wasn't it?

I am so glad to be getting started. I think every one of us will be happier with a normal routine and schedule. Or at least I will. And if *I'm* happier, everyone else will be too. :-P

I know I posted our curriculum choices already, and I really want to commit to a weekly wrap-up, both for my benefit for future reference, and to connect with others doing the same things. I don't think I've posted our schedule for the year though. I'm sure there will be some tweaking required because I don't know exactly how long our Heart of Dakota curriculum(s) will take. I know how long it took last year, but I'm not sure I can use that as a basis for this year because that was two kids together and a third one not in the mix. I had to have a plan to start with though, and here it is.

8:30 -- oldest does English with DVD
9:15 -- oldest moves to computer to do math
middle starts Reading on DVD
little one starts Heart of Dakota with mama
10:00 -- oldest starts Heart of Dakota independently
middle one goes to English on DVD, then to Heart of Dakota reading
little one does math with mama, then playtime
11:00 -- oldest works on writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing) with mama and does dictation for spelling
middle one moves to the computer to do math
little one moves to the DVD player to do his phonics

12:00 -- hopefully all of the above stuff is done and we have lunch

1:00 -- everybody goes to Heart of Dakota. The little one might be done now, I really don't know yet. We might do our read alouds all together at this time, or just see what works. Looking at this, it looks like the two younger ones will need me at this time if the little one isn't already finished, so we'll see how this works. The middle one will be doing her history and/or science projects at this time, and when those are finished, so is she.

2:00 -- everybody should be finished by this time except the oldest, who hopefully will just have some independent reading left.

So, this is clearly very much a work in progress. That's okay, we have a plan to start with and can adjust as we need to.

I went through and looked at the school room posts all around the blogosphere. To be honest, I was so envious of all the gorgeous dedicated school spaces I saw! We don't have a dedicated school space. We have the family room, the kitchen, a bedroom, and the living room. I remodeled my house (AGAIN) in my mind to carve out a space. It was gorgeous. It had a DVD player, a school computer, maps on the wall, a humongous bookshelf, and comfy chairs. It was so fabulous.

Then I remembered my children. Have you met them? Miss "please leave me alone because I prefer complete silence while I learn." Miss "I am so easily distracted I need a room with nothing moving around." And of course Mr. "I am a loud noise covered in dirt and my favorite thing in the world is annoying the snot out of the middle one."

Our school space is perfect for our needs.

They all move around from one room to the next, they all have their space, and distractions are at a minimum. As much as I would love the school room I daydreamed about, it would likely be an exercise in frustration for all of us.

Giggle ... I realize I have barely blogged all summer long and then made it up all in one blog post!

YAY for the first day of school!