Sunday, August 9, 2009

New School Room & Year 2 Plan


School Room


Let it not be said that she doesn't deliver on her promise. LOL. I promised school room photos so here I am. I like to frequently update my decor so this may not be the look that lasts but at least we have a start!

After a lot of poking about home decor books and analyzing our floor plan and daily routines, the kiddo, hubby and I have decided that it makes most sense to do the bulk of our lessons/ scholarly pursuits as close to the kitchen/ family room as possible. Especially since that's where we have a good amount of daylight coming in and can grab a snack or drink when we need to.

So this is what we have.
The white wicker basket (first photo) holds our stationery, crayons, color pencils, scientific calculator, abacus as well as a few essential notebooks and odds and ends. It sits on a really (really, really, really) cheap 4-piece dining table we found in Walmart which will serve double duty as a breakfast table as well as writing and activity center. I found a cheap vinyl tablecloth to cover the table's scratchy surface. Luckily, it matches our honey oak colored kitchen cabinets and the adjacent study corner that serves as Mom's computer and overall operations desk (second photo). At the moment, we haven't found the wall space for the $20 white board (third photo) we bought at an office liquidation sale (it has a honey oak finished wooden border too!).

I wanted a much brighter color theme this time vs our old black and brown set up in the apartment. So all the older black bookcases have been sent upstairs to a bonus room that doubles as a library for all the spillover homeschooling books, kiddo's fiction favorites as well as hubby's and my fiction and nonfiction collections.

Unfortunately, we can't afford new bookcases right now so I got 6 Sterilite drawer cabinets (on clearance in Walmart) for our key school texts and teacher guides (see below). The other white wicker baskets and green and blue Sterilite bins hold his origami and craft supplies and manipulatives.


And the cabinets above my operations center are coming in handy as temporary bookshelves too!



Not as eye catching as those Better Homes & Gardens galleries I agree but bright and breezy enough for our tight budget...at least for now...he he he. And a bonus point? It'll be pool-view schooling!




Thoughts For Year 2

OK, the plan for Year 2 is this. The kiddo loves Science and prefers an unschooly approach to Math, opting for the more challenging higher level math whenever the mood hits him. We're opting out of Kumon for the present since he has fully completed all levels of the basic four operations.

He's just announced that he prefers reading many of the books I've chosen for the year himself instead of being read to but still wants me to read from books HE will choose as read alouds (hmmm, still trying to maintain control and at the same time, trust his choices here...not easy for this control freak).

So instead of fighting it (too much), I thought I'd try a more relaxed, unschooly approach this year. I am still unable to break the habit of losing the schedule and structure but am trying to get used to the thought that he will do the picking and will have more say over how much and how often and how deep we will go into a topic. We'd actually already been trying this for the final weeks of Year 1 so hopefully it will go smoothly and I won't get my usual anxiety attacks a few weeks into Year 2.

I'm not going to list what we're doing until we're actually doing it LOL. I've done that too often only to change my mind a day later. So all the details will go into my weekly or bi-weekly Year 2 reports. :)

I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions about the school room and our "new" plan!
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8 comments:

  1. Looks great, Suji. I'm finding that since our schooling has become a bit more formal, a separate room would really come in handy. Enjoy! :)

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  2. That looks like a good setup in the room - esp the pool side view :)

    It seems like we've come around to the same place in our plan again. Good luck to both of us!

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  3. Thanks Michelle, Kerrie, Vibeena!

    Michelle, I'm really thankful for the space we have now and ease of movement between the dedicated learning areas of the home and the kitchen. No unsightly counters on the way etc :)

    Kerrie, I just read one of your latest reports and I think you're doing great stuff with B :) I wish I could be hands on like you are.

    Vibeena, I miss you so much :) We just drove by the old apartment a few days ago and passed the complex you used to live in and each time I take that street I think of you. Hope the kids and Vasu are doing fine.

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  4. Hey Suji - you have an award over on my blog!

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  5. It looks wonderful! It's very organized and looks like a happy place to do schoolwork. :)

    Our main school space is our dining room table since it's in the main part of our downstairs (it's an open floor plan so the kitchen, dining room and living room are one big space). Unfortunately, with 4 kids the books, art supplies, school supplies and such get overwhelming fast! I like having it right in the middle of everything though, since we're pretty much doing something artsy or schooly at all times and that way we are all together.

    Better Homes and Gardens would never approve, but I can have one of their houses when the kids are gone. :)

    I'm so jealous of your pool, BTW! That must be great fun.

    Thanks for showing us your space!
    ~Alicia

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  6. Suji--I love how warm and cozy your school room looks! Hope you have many fascinating learning adventures there. And you've inspired me to get organizing! I still have last year's detritus kicking around, and I think it's been breeding. : )

    Have fun!

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  7. Alicia, Christina, thanks for your kind words :) I still have last year's errr...debris? LOL...hanging around, you just can't see it in the photos :)

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