Chalk Talk....
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| Instead of office type Rubbermaid drawers which I have used for years....I decided to change things up using jars for pens, pencils, and markers within an arms length for daily use. |
While I do care about how things look, I am most concerned with our homeschool room being functional and I have designed it with that in mind.
Before Starting Here are a Few Things You Should Know:
- I just moved into a new house.
- Our homeschool room doubles as a home office.
- I have only one student this year.
- I keep only the materials and books I am using.
- This is my 11th homeschool room since 1998. Most of those were at my dining room table with the exception of last year's homeschool room.
Last week our room looked like this:
And now it looks like this:  |
| Lots of space for things to be added as we ease into a new curriculum. As I said, I keep only what I use which leaves room to add areas of study in the spirit of Montessori. |
I decided to go with a Chalkboard theme to tie in black furnishings. I am so tired of dry erase boards. And I brightened things up with rainbow colored organizers.
Montessori discusses a prepared environment. It best describes my considerations as I build my homeschooling environment. I try to incorporate the following:
Lets focus on Learning Areas or Materials to Keep Organized.
The Reading Area:
Having a comfortable place to read is absolutely essential. But of course reading can take place on the sofa, in bed, well..anywhere. But we still need those books nearby when in school day mode.
The Writing Area:
Having a good place to work on the academic stuff is the foundation of a good homeschool room. It can be a dining table, coffee table, craft table, or desk; I really like working face to face at opposite ends of a table and loved this credenza/return unit I found at Office Max. It will be perfect for instruction time or independent study.
 The Crafting Area:
Rainbow drawer tower holds paper, craft items, watercolor paints, pastels, charcoals and other arts and craft supplies.
The "In Box":
An inbox to the left of mom's office area keeps reminding me to empty it.
Most importantly, The Grace Space:
Our bookshelf doubles as a mini altar. It changes depending on what we are learning. I have several posters that display our bible verse which I switch out every two or three weeks.
Just behind my son's desk are the books used for our Catechism time. This year our focus will be the Bible and reading about the Saints.
In addition I found this very smart way of dealing with lots of holy cards. I have had so many that I just didn't keep for lack of space. I converted this Acid Free card holder from Micheal's into a spacious holy card and items organizer. You can also use index card boxes , I just went bigger to accommodate bulkier stuff.
Holy Cards of Saints will be brought out and displayed as we study them or learn those prayers or novenas for the liturgical season.
With purpose I always try to set up my room with practical and user friendly arrangements in mind. Now we are Ready for School.
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