Teacher Institute 2013

This  year I decided I needed a planning day before school started.  I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed with teaching 4!  Our library has these awesome study rooms that you are able to reserve for free!  So I packed up all my stuff, and spent the day at the library.

I looked like a pack mule.  I had all of this plus the laptop and my purse.

When you are an eclectic homeschooler like me with multiple children it means you have quite a few books.  Here is what it looked like once I got it all out. 

It was great to be able to think and not get interrupted every few minutes.   I got most of Eliana's lessons roughly planned for the first 5 weeks of school.  Her math program requires a pre-test before you start and I forgot to have her take it.   We are using several new curricula this year.  I spent a large part of the day just reading and getting familiar with them.   I worked out which subjects need taught each day, a few days a week, or only once a week.  Since I am a list maker,  I made lists of the supplies we needed for each curriculum, and a list of books I still needed to purchase.   I also planned chore charts for a month at a time, my weekly cleaning schedule, and our school goals for the year.  Over all I got a ton done and will be making this a yearly tradition.

Here are a few things I will do differently for next year.

Do two half days instead of one long day.   I got a lot done but by the end of the day my brain was fried.  I think being able to work two different mornings would work better for me.

Wear socks - the library is always cold.  I took a sweatshirt but didn't think about my feet.  I wore flip flops and my feet were ice cubes.

Bring the following - dry erase makers (there was a board in the room), paper clips, post-it notes and a calculator.

If you would like to know what curriculum I am using you can see the link  HERE