Reward system...

We are now on week 5 of doing school at home! I've got to say, most days I am loving it.

Most days.

We have had some rough times, but even on those days we are done with school by 11:45! It really is amazing. I am enjoying being a part of my kids education. (words I never thought I would say)

When we first started talking about doing school at home, both boys asked if we would have a reward system like they had at public school. After thinking on it I decided it would be beneficial to have a reward system.

We call them care bucks (this is what they called them at public school). They can earn them in many different ways and not just during school hours. They have earned them for things like doing school with out complaining, doing chores, being respectful to mom and dad. They pretty much can earn them for whatever my husband and I choose they can earn them for. Ever two weeks we have a store that they can "spend" their care bucks on. We have toys and candy (most of which were on clearance, I don't spend much on these things), as well as things like extra video game time or an extra show to watch on netflix.

The kids can also lose care bucks. Misbehaving or complaining about school are a couple of ways they can lose their care bucks.

At first I was going to print off some cute little emoji bucks (the boys are obsessed with all things emoji). Then I had a light bulb moment! Someone told me you can get raffle tickets for cheap at Dollar General. They even have multiple colors! I figured this would be a good idea, because I could re-use them once they turn them in.

We will have our "store" every two weeks. Our first shopping day was last Friday and the boys seemed to really like it! Added bonus was after the store closed they were on their best behavior because they wanted to earn more care bucks!

Here are the other things we had that were non toy items:

Extra Netflix Show                                                          5

5 minutes video game time                                            10

15 minutes video game time                                          20

Redbox movie night                                                      30

Game night (your choice of game)                               10

Stay up 10 minutes past bedtime*                                15

Do school outside                                                           5

Mom’s drawings                                                             3

Toys and other items in store                                 ask mom

*Can only be used on nights that we are home for 7:30 bedtime.

Lunch Time Idea...

Starting week three of homeschooling! I am quickly realizing that I need to get better at planning ahead for lunches. Today it came to me! It was like the heavens opened up and God himself handed me the idea! 

What's my idea, you ask? Instead of waiting till lunch time to make lunches, I am going to start making them in the morning. In the years that my kids attended public school they would have the same lunch pretty much everyday. A sandwich, chips, something healthy (yogurt, fruit cups, etc) and a drink. So starting tomorrow I am going to make their lunches as soon as they start school. That way come lunch time (which I don't know about you, but by lunch I am exhausted and the last thing I want to think about is making them lunch) I am going to make their lunches and put them in the refrigerator. 

What ideas do you have to make your day run more smoothly? 

My first week as a home school mom...

Here are some things I've learned in my first week of being a home school mom:

1. Man I rock at this thing! Wait? What? That was only one week? Not the entire year? Okay, maybe I should change this one to I am exhausted! Seriously didn't think I would be so exhausted after each days school time, but I am. The first day went really smoothly, no fights, all fun. But the second and third day came and let's just say it was a little bit tougher. Our youngest threw fits and our oldest would get jealous. However, even with those bad attitude times we finished school by lunch time each day! 

2. Freedom rocks! Seriously, one day our youngest was having trouble paying attention during reading time. So instead of forcing him to stay on the couch and read to me I asked him if he would like to lay on the floor and read to me. He said yes. We did that for a while and then I asked if he would sing the book to me. That was really fun! He did really well when he was aloud to sing it to me! Another cool thing regarding freedom is that we got to go to Chick-fil-a on Friday and do our schooling there! 

3. I am NOT smarter than a first grader. The science that our youngest is doing is way more complicated than I would have imagined. I am 100% confident that I could not win on the game show "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?". Is that show even still around?

These are just a few of the things that I have learned in my first week as a home school mom! If you were to ask me if I'm happy with our choice after this first week the answer would be yes! Now ask me again in a few more weeks and we shall see. 😃