• Jun. 28, 2008
Mini-Office
There's been a lot of talk lately on one of the Yahoo groups I'm signed up for. The topic has been mini offices. What is a mini office you ask? Good question! A mini office is similar to a lapbook, but it's made by Mom and it holds information that we eventually want our kids to remember, but for now they need reminders. Personally, I think it should be called a mini bulletin board because that it what it is most like to me. When you walk into a public school classroom, the walls are covered with bulletin boards that display whatever the kids are currently learning about. It's a great way for the kids to help themselves when they get stuck and can't remember how to spell a basic word or how to write a paragraph, ect.
Now, at our house the walls are covered with maps, timelines, bulletin boards, ect right in the main areas because we see our house as a school and we're fine with it looking like one in this stage of our lives. But, I understand that some families don't want to be looking at Africa and seeing when Columbus sailed the ocean blue all the time.
So a mini office might be just what you need. Your kids can keep them with their notebook and pull them out whenever they need a little boost. Another great benefit is that the folders make a great little personal space for the kids when they're stood up on end.
I made Taylor's writing office sometime last year. I'm surprised I didn't blog about it yet. I just made the math one today. The printables came from http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/teacher_resources/mini_offices.htm . And some of them I just made myself using Open Office.
So, without further ado, here are our mini offices!
front covers
first opening on writing office (vowel sounds and parts of speech)
writing office open all the way
left section (organizers for paragraphs and stories)
middle section (more organizers, how to write a paragraph, punctuation chart, and cursive alphabet sticker)
right section (editing checklist, spelling help)
back (blends and digraphs)
Now the math office is not as nice looking as the writing office and I just made it today so I haven't decorated it yet, but you will get the general idea.
first opening (time, days of week, months of year, time facts, money chart, shapes, and order words)
open all the way
left side (number words and math symbols)
middle (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts)
right side (how to solve word problems, word problem key words, skip counting chart)
back (hundred chart)
Well, that's it! I hope it will spur some ideas of your own!
