While we were very excited to immediately begin "globetrotting ", a little preparation makes for a much more fun journey. First I purchased an enormous laminated WORLD MAP. My dear hubby was kind enough to use some leftover decorative molding to make it a more permanent and attractive addition to our school room.
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| Laminated Map |
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| Close up with India and Japan flagged |
Using Google image search I found images of the flag of each country we are going to cover. I shrunk them down to a size small enough to fit on our map, then laminated them. I then cut them out and put them in the same container as our timeline figures (to be explained later). As we get to each country Coleman will take the flag and tape it to the map over the country.
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| Map and Calendar |
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| Whiteboard Calendar |
We also updated our wipe off magnetic whiteboard calendar from last year. It's just a plain whiteboard from Sam's Club that I used permanent markers and art tape to make the calendar. Then we just use dry erase markers to fill in the details, and magnets I made to do the rest. (I used the art tape for the grid because dry erase markers will ERASE a permanent marker from whiteboard.) This and the map both hang underneath our counter area where they are easily visible from our school area.
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| Passport Front |
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| Inside Passport |
I created a passport for Coleman using my own as a template. We will put stickers (also homemade using internet images) representing each country we study, and will stamp the dates of our entrance and exit from each country. I purchased an inexpensive date stamp for this, but also because it would be useful to stamp the date on all our schoolwork along the way.
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| supplies( left), Galloping the Globe (right) |
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| Games (left), Supplies/Phonics/Math (right) |
I also used this as a good opportunity to clear off our bookshelves, moving less used things to other rooms or into storage. I weeded out all the puzzles etc. that Coleman had outgrown or was not ready for yet. The left book case is full of Coleman's games. The middle shelf is basic school supplies, paper, misc modalities, art books, language arts curriculum and manipulatives, and math curriculum and manipulatives. That left me with the far right book case empty just to fill with our Galloping the Globe materials. I typically keep library books and videos on the top shelf, the second shelf is for misc. items such as flash cards. The rest of the shelves are for our other books- social studies, science, atlases, planning books etc.
Another thing that has been great has been our modified workboxing system. My friend MEG turned me on to these great drawers. I made a little book with velcro tabs that correspond to the tabs stuck to the drawers. I simply load the drawers up with each days work, and as we complete that drawer Coleman pulls the numbers off and puts them in the book. As he finishes his book is fuller and the drawers are more empty. On top I keep his caddy with the things we use every day- crayons, pencils, date stamp, dry erase markers and eraser, glue, passport etc. I also keep the notebook that contains our daily records (for grades, attendence, book lists, planner etc.
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| Workbox tower |
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| Workbox tower closeup |
Also in our school room is our hutch that contains our paint and craft supplies in the drawers, books and videos on the shelves, and musical instruments on the top. There is also an art easel with our addition chart currently displayed there, and underneath is where our "go back to library" book basket lives. There is a TV, VCR, DVD player, stereo and CD player in this room as well so we can watch a lot of our videos for school in here or just cuddle on the couch to read. All of our school work is done on our counter height table or just behind us at the kitchen counter. I like having this plan because it is all centrally located, where if we were in a bedroom in another room of the house I would have to drag things all over the place.
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| School Room |
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| Window display area |
The school area has two HUGE windows that I have strung twine across in rows to use as a hanging gallery. I simply clip his work I want to display there for each unit using binder clips. After we finish a unit I file them away in his notebook under the proper header. One window will remain as our "around the world" window where we will put the kids and flag from each country as we go along.
When we built our house, this room was already in my mind for schooling, and I am pleased to say it has exceeded my expectations for functuality and convenience.
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