Home is Where the Learning Is

Amidst holiday celebrations and the mental and physical recovery time required in their aftermath, I've set my mind to readying our home for the home-schooling journey we will begin in the new year.

I know there are different camps when it comes to whether or not to create a space dedicated to learning at home. 

My personality type along with big sister's relies heavily on routine and predictability (my need stems from my school teacher background, hers from being her mother's daughter) which led me to conclude that we would all benefit from having a defined area where our home learning could take place. 

We have a two story home, with the second story having been converted from an attic into what is now host to our master bedroom, walk in closet, and storage space. 

Within our bedroom, we have a minimal office area nestled in one of the corners.  Setting the kids up nearby seemed to be a sensible option so I could be prepared to support their endeavors and possibly tackle some of my own projects at the same time.

As you can probably see, I am a fan of keeping things simple.

 I was lucky enough to have this table and chairs handed down to me when I left my last teaching gig.  My sister gifted me with this poster from artist Nikki McClure when I first started teaching and it has been in my classroom/office ever since.  It seemed fitting to use it here where encouragement will continue to be my daily calling.

I hope to accomplish much of our curriculum based activities here and have our "teacher" and "student" lesson books ready along with some of the materials I anticipate using regularly. 

 
I don't intend to limit our learning to one location.  Some of our more involved (read: messy) projects will take place in the kitchen for ease of clean up.  Our evening reading has always occurred either in the living room or kid's bedrooms.  And as prescribed by Oak Meadow, we hope to spend time each day out of doors, even in our less than balmy pacific northwest weather conditions. 

I've also set up an inviting space to offer little brother an alternate area for play based learning-

-though odds are, whatever big sis is engaged in will draw in little bro, too. 

 

What I have appreciated most about our home learning experience so far is how it brings us together, no matter where we are or what we're doing.  

 



I can't wait to see what we will teach each other in the year to come. 

Happy new beginnings!