First Day of School {2015/2016}

SHINE Academy

Welcome to 

SHINE ACADEMY

 Seeking Him IN Everything

"Let your light SHINE before others, that they may see your good 

deeds and glorify you Father in heaven." 

Matthew 5:16

* HOMESCHOOL AREA * 

 Here is our homeschool area! We are using the area off the kitchen/dining room that would be the living room.

* COMMAND WALL * 

  

This little nook is perfect for our school rules, calendar area, white board, character trait of the week, and bulletin boards for each girl.

* GOOD CHARACTER REWARD SYSTEM *

  

We use a simple chart for our reward system. The girls can earn pom poms to trade later on shopping day for fun surprises! I will write a post on this another day.

* CLASSROOM SIGNS * 

Here is one of the files so you can print it yourselves if you'd like! 

* VERSE / CALENDAR / DAILY CHECKLIST *

 

* LESSON PLANS & BINDERS * 

More info on how I organized my lesson plans for half the school year already!

* WORKSPACE *

Everyday I set the sheet work in the folder on the table and then the supplies 

we will need for the day in their boxes. 

 * CLASS PET / STORAGE *

A tour would not be complete without a picture of our class pet, a guinea pig named Pipsqueak!

Inside the cabinet are all the busy boxes I have...ah another post I must share one day.

* CLASS IS IN *

Thank-you for following the tour of our school! 

Remember to look for ways to glorify God in all that you do!

ABC Book

This simple book is just the right thing to help your little one get started with their letters in a hands-on and creative way! At the bottom of this post there is a file for you to download any of my printables here. 

We did this when I taught 4's and 5's in preschool and I was intending to use it with just my preschooler. However, when my 2nd grader saw what we were doing she was disappointed she wouldn't get to. So....I altered it a little for her and she will be surprised tomorrow when she gets to make a book too! She will be able to cut out her own pieces to make this project a little more time consuming for her. 

 To make the book, I just took 28 pieces of construction paper (varied colors) and hole punched in the top corner. I was going to 3-hole punch the book and lace with yarn but my hole puncher doesn't fit construction paper. I might go back and hand punch it later if this doesn't withstand the continual use it will get over the next year. 

On the front of the book I have the alphabet for us to fill in each letter as we come to it. This will help familiarize my girls with where the letters are located and it will help keep us on track too!

Next, I cut out each letter to have a  template. My plan is to make this easier and easier each time I use it with the next child. 

By the time I get to my last homeschooler I will have no prep work....right?? 

Then I get the templates ready for all the extras. I put these in envelopes along with the handwriting tracing strip for each page (see below for those too).

Sample of what I put in the envelopes to make for little-to-no prep work each day!

My tracer papers were made from a free font I downloaded online called KG Primary Dots. What an excellent font to have! There are many websites where you can create your own handwriting sheets, but you have only minimal choices in sizes etc. Using this font allows you to change the size, color, and letters with ease in your own document. 

I just made a line with capital and lowercase letter dots, a blank line to practice on their own, and the third line has a short sentence for them to trace. They can also use the last line to point out how many of that week's letter they can find.

The third line I tried to incorporate something spiritual. One of my personal goals is to learn how I can glorify God in all things - even the mundane of learning letters! This is a chance for us to use some biblical terminology and keep our minds (and hearts) focused on eternal matters. 

Below are my letters A-G (I'll add more as I get to them). I don't have templates for all the little pieces, but if you zoom in on the pictures you can just freehand them. It would be pretty hard to mess it up - they are super simple and the kids will enjoy it no matter what!

A for Alligator

 B - for Bee

C for Caterpillar 

D for Duck

E for Elephant

F for Flag

G for Giraffe 

I hope you take the time to enjoy teaching your little ones! What an excellent opportunity to foster learning - and a simple way to include glorifying God in all that you do. 

Feel free to download my file here! Nothing too fancy - or you can make something yourself with the KG Primary Dots font I told you about!