As we wrap up the school year, I thought I'd show you how we have settled into this school space so far. It has been a gradual process, and it is continuing to evolve even now. It is
so weird for me to think about the fact that we have officially done more schoolwork here, in this house, than we did in Cedar Falls.
When I think about homeschooling the kids, I still have the strongest associations with our Cedar Falls house - watching Penelope wiggle around in the kitchen nook while doing her math, or Atticus working on handwriting at the dining room table, or Penelope hanging upside down in one of the arm chairs while she recited her narrations in the afternoon. I still think of snuggling up on our sunny couch, on the end near the piano, to read books together and listen to our folk songs on the laptop. It was the first place we jumped into our homeschooling adventure, and I miss it.
See? Wasn't it cute?
See? Weren't they even cuter?
I have worked hard to try to make our current space as cozy and functional as that first space. We still have a ways to go, but we're getting there. One of the things I love at the moment is that we're finally getting some good use out of our beautiful piano - we've been carting it from house to house with us over the course of our many moves, but it hasn't been until moving here that the kids have actually started learning to play it. I've also really liked the way our attached garage has become a flex-space for us, housing the kids' woodworking supplies, and providing an 'in-between' activity area between outside and inside.
Without further ado, I give you our homeschool:
All of our schooling happens in our main living area, which is not huge. I like having our school things tucked away, rather than taking over all the visual space. Formal school activities are only one part of our lives; I don't want it to look like that's all our lives orient around. I want our living space to look like we live
and learn here.
If you've been paying attention to my subtle (and
not-so-subtle) announcements on the blog lately, you'll notice these photos were taken a few weeks ago. Spot the changes that haven't been made yet in these photos?
We start our school mornings in the dining room with 'table work'. The kids get out their binders, which contain all of their reading assignments, handwriting papers, and math worksheets. They also get out their piano lesson binders, and take turns at the piano during this time.
If they need to grab manipulatives to help them with their math at this time, they just grab this basket off the shelf in the living room.
In the afternoon, Finneas joins the big kids for read-alouds while the littler ones are napping, and we all snuggle in the living room while we dive into the stories. Often, everyone will sprawl on the floor and draw while I read. (After each reading, I pick one kid to narrate back to me what they heard, so they have to make sure they're still paying attention while they draw! So far, the fear of being called on and not knowing what to say has been enough motivation to listen; I haven't needed to craft a dunce hat yet. Which is good, because I'm not crafty, and it would probably just turn out looking like a party hat anyway, which just seems counterproductive.)
All of our school materials are kept close at hand on this book shelf.
That's really all we need for any given homeschool day. Obviously, there are special days that require extras like art supplies, which I keep in a cupboard in the garage. I also have 'teacher-y' materials that I need to keep track of, so I keep them tucked away in little corners around our living space.
There's a china cupboard in our dining room that houses most of our 'random' office supplies and equipment. Also, a stereo that hails from the eighteenth dynasty. (It's so old, it doesn't even plug into the wall; it just contains a family band of rats who have been trained to play primitive instruments whenever I push the 'power' button.)
As for my planner, record books, and other quick-grab items I need throughout the day, I keep them on this ancient high chair I bought for $5 at a garage sale. He's like the permanent butler at the door of my kitchen, standing at the ready with any items I may find urgently necessary. Poor little guy; I suspect he doesn't feel like he is living up to his potential.
And that is our homeschool area as it currently stands! (Or, at least, how it stood a few weeks ago before we got a new basement door and I hung some curtains and wall décor.) I'm hoping to someday build some bookshelves for the back wall, replace the side chairs with benches, perhaps get a pretty wall map, and switch out the Black Hollow Core Door That The Underworld Rejected for something less vacuous. If you squint really hard, can you envision it?
In case you missed it: for a video tour of our space (including an extra glimpse into our flex-use garage, and my supply storage), click
here!
