I can't container myself!

So... being honest with myself, we aren't going to do school work in our unfinished basement where we have all the storage options, wall space and cutsie little kid's table to work at. There isn't enough natural or artificial light down there. I'd be kidding myself if I set up shop down there. We have an 11ft wide by 5ft high window in our dining room that lets in a ton of light, so it's settled then. Where the heck am I going to store all our school supplies? There's just a bookcase in there, visible from our couch and I don't want ugly stacks of school supplies cluttering our main living space. So this was my solution:

If you want to steal any of my ideas, I used the following items:

Scout Hang-10 File Folder Bin, Alphabet City

Smead Hanging Folder, Letter, 1/5 Cut Tab, Assorted Colors, 25 per Box

The green bins are from the KASSAT collection from IKEA

Clear adjustable storage bins- KLIS collection from IKEA

Brother PT-80 P-touch Electronic Labeling System

Plastic Side Load Letter Trays (6-Pack)

I'm sure things will change as we actually start school and get more supplies, but a lot of these bins are empty now and waiting to be filled as we go. Please, share your own homeschool storage solutions!

Light Years Behind

I'm having such a hard time finding good quality Science curriculum for Kindergarten! I have found plenty of books on experiments and nature readers, but nothing comprehensive. Sonlight has one, but it is expensive in my opinion and the reviews aren't so hot on homeschoolreviews.com. I like the idea of Sonlight using a bunch of resources and pulling them together with the teacher's guide, but I'm not sure if it is the right material for us.


Caleb is very much a visual learner, and he thrives on workbooks, textbooks and videos. I'm excited to do some hands on experiments too, but I'm really looking for a text that pulls all the science elements together in some way; even if it is just a teachers guide. The topics I really want to cover this year are insects, plants, weather, magnets (possibly), and creation. I want to go in depth with insects (doing an ant farm, butterfly kit & possibly a tadpole to frog kit). I've already ordered: My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All About Butterflies (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library), The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow, On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) and Inside an Ant Colony (Rookie Read-About Science)


I'm still looking at The World God Made, Christian Liberty Nature Reader, and Simple and Fun Science Simplified but I'm not sold yet. I really want to get my hands on them, hopefully at the conference this June.


There seems to be a huge lacking in Science curriculum for Kindergarten. I get that they are pretty young for anything in-depth, but I was surprised at the lack of options.


I'd love some feedback, what did you do with your Kindergarteners?

I bit the bullet

Our 4 year old, Caleb is supposed to be entering Pre-school this fall, his birthday is only weeks away from the public school's "cut-off" date. He turns 5 in October, and would be one of the oldest in his class. But since we're homeschooling, we're going to be starting him in Kindergarten this fall instead. He is already reading 3 and 4 letter words and from my research, is waaay past preschool curriculum. He would have to be learning below his level for another year and a half before he could be challenged in that area. This is one of the main contributing factors for us deciding on homeschool. According to the public school in our town, they won't let him test into Kindergarten and aren't willing to work with us at all until he is of the age of compulsory attendance. Yeah, can you believe it!

Soooo.....
I bit the bullet and ordered my first official homeschooling curriculum. After extensive research I just ordered:
Horizons: Kindergarten Math
Horizons: P.E.
Horizons: Health
Explode the Code books 1& 2

I'm waiting for the NICHE conference to decide on our science, history/social studies and bible curriculum. I'm excited to page through curriculum there, but didn't want the daunting task of finding all subjects while I'm there. I've really utilized Kathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum as well as her website to decide which Math and Phonics curricula we'll use. Another great review site is homeschoolreviews.com.

I have a few items on our "possible curriculum" list. I'd love any feedback!
Science:
Simple and Fun Science Simplified, K-2

The World God Made
AIMS Education Foundation Books

Christian Liberty: Nature Reader

History/Social Studies:
The Mystery of History
The American People & Nation

Bible:
Egermeier's Bible Story Book
Family-Time Bible in Pictures
Studying God's Word A: Bible