A New Plan

This past year, I have been trying to do little learning activities each day--Monday was Gentlemen Training, Tuesday-Literacy, Wednesday-Math/Science, Thursday-Art/Music, and Friday-P.E. It went fairly well, but I'll admit that the week when we did something everyday and stuck to the schedule was rare. Life just gets too busy...with what, I don't know. Because I enjoy doing learning activities with my kids, and because I feel like it really is beneficial for them, I've decided to re-vamp my program and do things a little differently. I've decided to pretty much do preschool at home with my boys two days a week. My oldest boy, Sam, will still be going to preschool because I think that it is important for him to interact and learn from other people and children, but on the days that he's not in preschool, we'll do school of our own. I don't think you can ever do too much learning! Also, I'm a teacher at heart and making lesson plans just makes my heart swell with joy. You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher!

Just a little background: I have three little boys and a little girl on the way. My boys are 4 1/2, 2 1/2, and 1 1/2. I plan on differentiating the learning to meet the needs of each boy. Hey, if Laura Ingalls Wilder could teach a classroom with little kids to teenagers, I can do this! My hope is to be well-organized and have a good plan, but to also be very flexible and able to change plans as needed.

So, here's the plan:
We will have class twice a week. This doesn't include Gentlemen Training which we will still do on Mondays as its own separate activity.
Each month we will have a theme for the month and will try to focus all of our learning and activities around that theme. (Before, I picked out books and activities according to the letter of the alphabet we were learning, but now we will focus the concepts we're learning around the theme).
Each day our lessons will include something from the following categories: literacy (reading/writing), music, math, science/social science, art, and movement. I anticipate our preschool to last about two hours, including a snack break. I'm planning on going from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m./lunch. The structure will look something like this:

1. Literacy
2. Music
3. Math
4. Snack
5. Science/Social Science
6. Art 
7. Movement

Each child will have their own binder or folder where we will keep his papers. They will also have their own pencil box with their own class supplies, such as crayons, pencils, and paint.
I am trying to decide whether to get a learning mat and sit on the floor or to get a 'learning' table cloth and sit at the kitchen table. I want something that will signify that we are now doing learning time. Maybe I will get both. =)
I also want to do at least one field trip each month.
My goal is to keep this as fun and simple as possible. I will be having #4 in September, so things might get a little crazy, but I really think we can do this. Cross your fingers for me and feel free to use any ideas that you like. I'm so grateful for Google and Pinterest. I really try to give credit where it's due. I am amazed by the creativity and ideas of other people. Thank you, creative and smart people! You make my life so much better!
 I am really loving the planning phase and can't wait for September to come so that we can get started on this!