Reading at Home

Have I mentioned how important it is to read at home?  Here's a link to an article about reading aloud to your child, if you are intereseted. 

The new book slings are filled with books!

I've mentioned that I'm taking a class on creating playful spaces. Just as we were discussing reading nooks, my kids decided their rooms needed a change. They both decided to rearrange their furniture to create reading nooks. I swear, I did not even mention it to them. They came up with the idea all on their own.

After rearranging, my daughter decided she wanted to keep some books in her room. We have a central kids' library, upstairs in a little corner of the master bedroom. I was happy that she wanted a space to keep some of her favorite books, but there was no room for a bookshelf.

In reading about playful spaces, I came across this idea for a book sling.



This book sling is from Family Fun.

LOVE IT! I knew I had leftover fabric, from recovering the dress-up box. My daughter and I went to work, creating her book slings. I did the cutting and she helped me with the sewing.



We started by cutting two rectangles for each sling.  I cut one from the pretty fabric and one from cheap muslin.  The Family Fun website suggests sizes for cutting, but I didn't want to buy new fabric, so I used what I had.  We sewed right sides of the fabric together and then turned the fabric right sides out.  This made nice edges on the fabric.



We folded the edges over and sewed a little pocket for the dowels to slide through.
Then we took a trip to Lowe's for the rest of the supplies. We bought double curtain rod brackets. (The cheapest we could find.) We also bought 5/8th inch wooden dowels, in 4 foot lengths.


This was one of the easiest projects we've done in a long time.


I think I'll probably shorten the slings a little.  My daughter has short little books and they just fall to the bottom of the sling. 

Now my son wants a book sling too!  I don't think we'll be using the pink stripes in his room though.

Do you visit the public library?  Do you love to buy books, like I do?  Is your book storage overflowing?  The book sling was really easy to make and my daughter loves choosing new books to display in it.
Happy reading!
Mem Fox's 10 Commandments of Read Aloud

Organizing Your Kids' Books

 

My kids and I spent some quality time going through the bookshelf on Sunday evening. We weeded out many of the books that the kids have outgrown. Once we reduced the amount of books on the shelf, we were ready for a little reorganizing. In the classroom, our library is organized into thematic bins. I have about 50 little bins in the classroom.


classroom library

I don't quite have that much space in our home library nook. I use the area behind my bedroom door for our kids' library corner. It is unused space and if the door is open the messy books are hiding behind the door. The label maker was my best friend for this project. The labels are really for me, so I know where I want books put away. I'll be honest, my kids don't put books back on the shelf and they usually just leave piles around the house for me to pick up and put away.

 

I decided to divide the books the same way I do in the classroom. We sorted the books into piles and then made a section on each shelf. Since I don't have enough room for the number of bins I'd like, I just used my label maker to label each section. I'd like to do little pictures, like I do in the classroom. That will have to be a project for another day.

 

We had a lot of Dora books, so they got their own bin. Arthur books were pretty popular so they got a bin too. I have bins for a few chapter book series, but the rest of the books are just on the shelves, sorted by category.

 

 

 

 

Shall we take bets on how long this lasts? How do you manage your kids' books at home? Any tips for organization?

Organizing for Back to School

Welcome to my Kindergarten blog! If you're here for the first time, scroll down and keep reading. My newest post will post first, so you'll find introductions down below.

Many of you know that my daughter is starting kindergarten this year. I have a son in 4th grade and now a kindergartener. I know first hand that there is a direct relationship between how organized a child is and how well they do in school. Every day I see kids who are rushing in with no backpack, folder, or snack. Then I see the kids who are prepared, calm, and organized. I know which kid I'd rather be. (And which kid's mom I'd rather be.) Don't get me wrong, we have chaotic mornings around here too, but there are a few things I like to have in place to help fight off the craziness.

The Homework Station and Art Cubby
This week I reorganized our art area. My kids like to do their homework at the kitchen table. Our art cubby is on the backside of the kitchen cupboards so it's the perfect place to store everything they need for special projects, writing assignments, and book reports. There will be writing homework for your kindergartener during the year. Having crayons and markers will be a great incentive for writing!

 

If you haven't noticed, there are a few school supply sales out there right now. NOW is the BEST time to stock up on school supplies for your home as well as school. I always restock my kids' home art supplies in the fall, but I also buy enough so that when the markers dry up in February, they are ready to go. Guess what, if you buy them in February they will cost 3 times as much.

 

I need to say one more thing about homework. The kids in my school, as well as my own kids, have a folder that they bring home every day. THAT FOLDER NEEDS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY! It's really important and drives teachers CRAZY when kids don't have their folder. So, have kids put their folders in their backpacks as soon as they are done. It really helps me out, so THANK YOU in advance!

Entry Way Organization
That brings me to entryway organization. This week I also made sure the coats, bags, backpacks, and shoes were ready to go. I put away the swim bags that used to hang here. Sadly, they don't need to be ready to go anymore. This is the room the backpacks are hung in. Let me tell you, my daughter's folder is already in her backpack, ready to go. Yep, it's that important!

 

Library Books
The coat room is also the place for library books. The brown bag is filled with books ready to go back to the public library. The white bin stays there. It's for library books we are still reading or haven't started reading yet. Let me just tell you how devastating it is for a five year old when all of their classmates get to check out library books, but they can't because they couldn't find their book before school. Keeping the books in one central place helps kids have less chaos as they are heading out the door for school.

 

Reference Papers
Teachers send home lots of papers. With two kids in school now, I know I'll have lots to keep track of. I bought one of those magnetic, stick to the fridge, file holders at Staples. Then I bought five folders and labeled them. I have one for each kid, one for me, one for my hubby, and one that just says Home. That way when I need to know what time my son has football on a particular day, I know the schedule is right there. I also keep classlists, teacher contact info, PE days, and all that good stuff in there.

 

 

Home Management Binder
That brings me to my favorite part of my back to school organizing week.

 

My home management notebook has so many wonderful forms and checklists in it. I have dividers for menus, shopping lists, chores, emergency contacts, babysitter information, family birthdays, and much more.

I think I'm well on my way to an organized start to the school year. Then the Holidays will get here and everything will be thrown into a tailspin. Oh well, at least in September and October we'll be organized. I even organized my junk drawers earlier this week.



Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no expert in organization. There is still plenty of chaos around my house. These are just a few things I wanted to share that I did around my house this week. School will be starting before we know it.

What is your best back to school organization tip? Leave your best ideas in the comment section. We can all use all the help we can get! (By the way, if you sign up for a free Google account it is super easy to leave comments.)