Aug. 11, 2008 - Gearing up for another year...
I've spent the past couple of weeks really sorting, tossing, rearranging, and generally trying to get things together for another school year. The main thing we've focused on is this idea of a "learning room."
We have a 1900-era home, so there is a breakfast room as well as a dining room. Since we moved in about 5 years ago, we've always taken all of our meals in the dining room, and called the other eating area the "school room," even though no one ever does schoolwork in there. We probably call it that because it has a chalkboard on the wall.
So, after reading a number a number of books, the biggest influence being Educating the Whole Hearted Child, by Clay and Sally Clarkson, I became intent on the idea of creating a center for our learning. We were lacking a space that displayed our current area of study and encouraged exploration. So, I've spruced up the School Room, and given it a defininte purpose. With the addition of some bookshelves and a bulletin board, "Command Central" is taking shape.
In the rest of the house, I'm trying to make little areas that are conducive to spreading out, reading, and exploring. We've added table space in the dining room and the school room. And since we got rid of the TV, there is more space to grab a seat, a book, and a sibling to enjoy a good read.
Would it silly for me to say that I feel like the house seems more "homey" now? I mean, it feels like I'm integrating the school into our home life instead of keeping those things separate. Up until now, all things school sort of disappeared when the last book closed for the day. It was very much compartmentalized. Does that make sense? I want to celebrate what we are able to learn together, and having an area that specifically speaks to our lifestyle of homeschooling is a way for me to do that. And location-wise, it is the center of our home. We pass through it a thousand times a day, so I'm also very motivated to keep it tidy!
The lesson plans are coming together as well. All I can say is, "God bless Donna Young!" I've been to her website dozens of times printing off schedules and the like and it's great. There are some very helpful homeschool planners out there, but with her website, I've been able to customize my own, and I can tweak it until I figure out exactly what works for us now that we've changed so much this year. At least I have some academic goals to shoot for and a plan with which to implement them.
So now as we finish out the last bit of summer, I can put the finishing touches on a few things, but I'm feeling much better prepared than I have in a while. You'd think after doing this for seven years I'd be an old pro at it. Not so. This is the first year we'll be schooling five children at the same time.
Maybe I'll be a pro at it when #7 is about to graduate.
Comments
Aug. 11, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by eclecticeducation
Good luck on your new school year. It sounds like you have some wonderful plans. :)
