It's that time of year again. And, as the summer ends, I'm finding myself even more deeply rooted in the very rich soil of organic learning. My next blog post will cover the specifics of that. For now, here's a look at setting up an area where thriving can happen. Consider this the soil where the organic learning can take place.
We have a large loft-ish area upstairs that has become our new homeschool area...affectionately called the learning loft. It opens up to a back deck with an amazing view of the hills. Perfect setting for letting imaginations roam and minds engage.
My goal was a perfect blend of workspaces...a comfortable couch, a big table, learning centers and every possible resource and supply necessary for the projects they will pursue.
First things first. Out with the old... I packed up the bulk of last school year's readers and put them in their container. This happened to be Sonlight's World History. Keeping everything contained in these Rubbermaid containers keeps my sanity and makes for an organized way to store everything. (More about that storage area later in this post) SIDE NOTE: Several people have asked me my opinion about Child's History of the World because we read it last school year. I would say on a scale of 1-10, I'd rank it an 8. It is much, much more interesting than any dry textbook, and my children and I all found it to be more enjoyable than Story of the World. Child's History of the World is a very conversational, easy-to-grasp overview of world history. We did have to keep in mind that there were parts of it that didn't jive with our beliefs (like how the universe came into being), so we skipped the first several chapters. Occasionally, we would run across a fact that was not biblically accurate, but that gave excellent practice for my children to notice something false and look up in their Bibles to find the correct information. Overall, this is an excellent book that I highly recommend.
After last year's books were stored away, the new books were unearthed from their respective containers and set up on these shelves.
Here's a great instance of repurposing something. See the creme colored cabinets and drawers on each side? That used to hook to a headboard as part of a bedroom set. We simply installed shelves between the two, and voila...a great place to store lots of necessary items.
Here's a peek into one of those cabinets. The top shelf stores some notebooks that collect things we do throughout the years. I will show this in depth in another blog post. Also on the top shelf is a notebook for recording what we do during our days. The bottom shelf has umpteen notebooks...composition, spiral and 3-ring. I stock up at the beginning of the school year when prices are rock bottom, and this supply will last us until next time school supplies go on sale. When learning organically, you will often see a fire of some sort be ignited in a child's mind, and they will then go digging to find the supplies they need to pursue that fire. For example, both of my boys got highly intrigued with inventions after they watched Meet the Robinsons. The next day, they both grabbed a notebook and turned it into an inventions book, where they tried their hand at drawing up plans for new inventions. The plans on paper soon led to them sending an email out to a few friends, asking them to collect odd things (rubber bands, nails, old door knobs, etc) from around their house and donate it to the young inventors. These supplies were stored in a tool box, and they still dig into that box to try to invent something now and then. Having supplies on hand is key to letting them run with their ideas when they strike.
I love these blue and white containers from Target, and they keep the coloring books, drawing books and audio books nicely contained. The small containers on the floor are mainly for our youngest child...sensory bins, farm animals and builders.
The top row has play dough, clay, art, crafts and paint...as well as a box of seasonal books and activities (for holidays).
The second shelf now houses this school year's readers. We will be studying American history (our favorite!), and we adored most of the readers in America: An Integrated Curriciulum when we read them 4 years ago, so we have pulled those out again for our rotation back into American history. This particular study is aimed at grades 3-6, but I have found it very easy to adjust for any age (K-high school). In fact, our high schooler, who has very fond memories of all these readers, is looking forward to diving in again. I have ordered some more advanced books for her to also read on her own, so we expect this to be a very rich study of U.S. history. Overall, we have been very pleased with the readers, though a few we weren't too thrilled with. So we have ordered other books to substitute in their place. For example, the book that references Christopher Columbus was not very accurate, so we have ordered a Heroes of History book about him.
These drawers are great for storing paper and other items that need to be accessed regularly. I've found this to be the best way to keep paper-type supplies neatly under control when children are accessing them frequently. Having an organic learning environment means having plenty of supplies on hand so that on-the-spot ideas can flow easily with all the supplies at their fingertips.
Again, easy access to pencils, highlighters and pens.
Composers also occupy a spot on one of the shelves. Music is a phenomenal way to stimulate the brain, and having classical music playing in the background while we work on other things makes for a very soothing and rich environment. While the music is playing, we sometimes get into discussions about who the composer is, what his style is, what emotions his music evokes, etc. And other times we simply listen. Either way, music appreciation is part of our lives, not a class to take. Again, organic learning instead of synthetic learning.
And here are some of the readers we will be diving into this year. These are living books, meaning that they touch on our emotions, bring us in, and make the subject come alive. We will be inhaling the sickening smells on board the Mayflower, seeing through the eyes of an apprentice who participates in the Boston Tea Party, walking (and crying) alongside Native Americans who are forced from their homes, traveling with pioneer families on the long trek west, and many other adventures that we will see, hear, smell, and feel through the eyes of characters who draw us into these places and events in history. Seriously RICH experience that I highly recommend. Dry textbooks simply cannot hold a candle to this type of learning.
Here's one treasure I happened upon a couple of weeks ago at Hobby Lobby for just $8. It is a book with all kinds of fun and interesting facts about each state in the United States. I like to keep these kinds of books out on shelves but then to place them on display in our history area, where I rotate different books from time to time. When I lay these books out (which is called "strewing" in unschooling terms), my children almost always pick them up and dig into them. Because these books are interesting, I'm always hearing, "Hey...did you know that _________?" And they rattle off some interesting facts that they just read. When this happens, true learning is taking place. One, they are interested in it instead of being forced to read, memorize or "learn" something. And two, when they can tell others what they just read or heard or saw, they then own the information. This is true learning.
I have a large container that holds U.S. history resources of all kinds. I pulled some of these things out to put on shelves in our learning loft. Other items I will rotate in at different times in the year. Here are a few goodies to supplement and add some extra fun stuff this year. I especially love the 3D White House puzzle that we bought in Washington D.C. last year. I tucked it away in a container, saving it for this school year when we will learn about the White House. What better way to make it come alive than to build the White House while we read about it?
And when we get to the point in history where we read about slaves and plantations, we will be breaking into these delicious books that I purchased at the Atlanta History Center last year. One of them gives intriguing photos and information about life on a plantation. The other book is a cut & assemble model of a southern plantation. We did something similar when we were studying Medieval times, and they cut and built a model of a castle while we read about it. They loved that. So, I know they will also thoroughly enjoy creating a southern plantation.
Here is our science area. This is a repurposed coffee table..perfectly low for little people to have access to all kinds of interesting things. This table gets switched out often, rotating in new things. Sometimes it has something to do with what we are reading at the time. For example, when we read about Christopher Columbus crossing the ocean to America, I will strew some books about oceans and ocean creatures, as well as some sea shells and coral that we have. But other times, the things on this table are not related to anything we are reading but are simply interesting.
I decided to use a muffin tin to store the many items they collect and want to keep. Here you will see sea shells, sugar cane from Georgia, a lichen-covered stick from the woods, chestnuts from Belarus, butterfly wings, a mud wasp nest, the top of an acorn, rocks, a feather from a blue jay, a baby bird egg and a stick bug.
When I pull this collection down off the shelf, little hands are quick to explore it and remember, "Oh yeah...I remember when I found this egg shell. I wonder what kind of bird grew inside it?"
"Ohhhh, and look at how the stick bug has changed since he died."
And why do I keep this amazing nature collection up on a high shelf most of the time? Welllll, it seems that kitties are just as interested in certain specimen as the children are! If you don't have indoor animals, you might be able to keep your nature collection on display all day.
We have quite a collection of rocks from all over the place (seems boys are drawn to rocks, and we always have a fresh supply...usually found in pockets of jeans when I do the laundry). We found this great book at the gold mine in Dahlonega. Whenever we go to explore a new place (like the mine or a museum or other significant place), I try to purchase something with meaning, even if it's a small postcard or book or something that will remind us of our visit. Almost always, we look back with fond memories and enjoy learning more about it.
I love this nature basket! In the back, I have nature journals for each child (as well as one for me). Then there are reference charts for all kinds of things....bugs, wildflowers, birds, snakes, tracks, hummingbirds, etc. These are GREAT, and many times a child will come in from playing outdoors, fly up the stairs to grab a chart and head back outside to identify some animal or flower or track. The tracks chart has pictures of scat (which the boys were thrilled to discover is a fancy name for wild animal poop), so that has been very intriguing for them to identify which animals are on our property (not to mention funny conversations about whether that really is raccoon scat or just a big ant hill). Also in the nature basket are magnifying glasses and binoculars, which get used very often.
Next to the science table, I keep a box of interesting science-realted books that they can dig into when they want to discover things like whether foxes live in Texas, or where their kidneys are located, or what the coolest-looking ocean animal is.
I love how this repurposed coffee table has an area underneath to store hands-on science stuff.
A favorite...gears that can all hook together and turn.
And this little gem I found on clearance at Toys R Us. The boys are both intrigued with dinosaurs, so I bought them each one of these lab kits where they dig for dinosaur bones and build the dinosaur. Hands-on paleontology! They are itching to do this.
Here is our U.S. history area, which is heavily dominated by Civil War things, as that is their favorite historical event. The wood filing cabinet is a world of its own, storing construction paper, portfolio items, etc. As you can see, it doubles as a table for the history area.
The cork board above our history area displays postcards and photos from some of the places they have visited. A map reminds them of all the states they have been (not too shabby of a list so far). To actually set foot in and explore these places across our country has been a truly rich part of our education.
And here's a new item I added for this school year. I found this at Hobby Lobby. It's a map that cannot tear. It hangs in a little pouch on the cork board and can be grabbed anytime they want to look at where such-and-such is located (which happens quite often in our learning experiences). I LOVE this map, because it can be grabbed by little hands and used without fear of ripping or wrinkling. Wonderful idea!
Another bookshelf is set up with math games. On top, we have some supplies such as thumb tacks, sticky notes, erasers, paperclips, brads, etc. The stapler and hole punch are kept here and are used nearly every day.
I will have another blog post about our math center, as that subject tends to trip up anyone who wants to unschool or learn organically. LOTS of goodies here!
And you know you're a homeschooler when the linen closet has been overtaken with learning games, puzzles and such. The top 2 shelves are reserved for extra towels, sheets and blankets...but the rest is for learning.
This is how I maintain sanity with the crayons, markers and colored pencils. I also keep Kleenex for little noses and wet wipes for sticky hands.
We always buy fresh crayons at the beginning of the school year. I like to get a big box that includes all the wild and fun colors. Then, I add in a 24-pack as a duplicate of the most common colors (because those colors get used more often, and with multiple children, inevitably 2 people will be searching for red at the same time!).
I dump them into a box, take a good whiff of that intoxicating smell of crayons, and off we go into a new school year. Oh, and I was tickled pink to find this cute red crayon sharpener in the big box of crayons. YAY...no more tiny sharpener that is hard to use and gets lost in the the pile of crayons. Love this! Kudos to the smarty at Crayola who came up with it.
And, of all the things in our learning loft, I'd have to say that this shelf holds the most valuable of books. These are biographies of people who allowed God to use their lives. Especially in our current American culture where real heroes are few and far between, it is so crucial that we expose ourselves to people who truly lived their lives in ways that mattered for eternity. I've seen my children's thinking process alter considerably due to being exposed to the minds and hearts of men and women who are and were wholly living their lives. Instead of talking about courage, it so much more hard-hitting to read about a man who knew a tribe killed all outsiders but still chose to enter into their territory to take them the love of Jesus. Instead of lecturing about forgiveness, it is so much more effective to be drawn into the life story of a World War 2 soldier who was mercilessly tortured by Japanese soldiers in a prison camp but later forgave them and went back to Japan to let God love them through himself. Through these very engaging biographies, we see how God can use ANYBODY...He can take a man filled with insurmountable doubt and transform him into one of the most noted Christian authors whose Narnia books still to this day give us spiritual insight into our daily lives. More than any other book or resource, these books have been the thing that have grown our faith to huge heights and have given us a new outlook in facing any situation. We can honestly say, "NOTHING is impossible with our God" and truly believe it.
The biographies are displayed on a shelf below the world map, reminding us that wherever God opens the door for us, we will GO...step by step in full faith. A flip calendar gives us a different country to pray for every 3 days.
Let's talk storage... When you have multiple children, you know that today's read alouds for your older children will no doubt still be excellent read alouds for the younger children when they grow a bit older. Families with multiple children cannot simply use the resources for one school year, sell them at the end of the year and then buy more books for the next year. We usually save and reuse for younger children. So, how in the world do we keep ALL those books and fun things without getting overrun in the clutter? The solution I've found has worked the best for us is an ample supply of Rubbermaid totes (purchased at Walmart for $6 or $7 each). Every tote is dedicated to a different category. Some I need access to daily (math manipulatives, early childhood manipulatives); some I need occasionally (like when I need to get into my grammar box to pull out blank newspapers so that we can make newspapers highlighting a certain event in history); and still others will be stored for a few years until we rotate into that learning cycle again (like the world history readers that I stored away). These totes are neatly organized in a closet on wire shelves that are typically used for restaurant supplies. Close the closet doors, and it all goes neatly away. Open the closet doors, and I have access to literally hundreds of resources (I've been in education for 20 years now, so I have a nice collection of goodies!).
A very quick look in our "activity room," which is where the totes are all stored... This room is an extension of our learning loft, so it is speckled with great areas for learning. Here's the little kitchen area, where our youngest spends much of her time pretending to cook. A Rubbermaid tote houses all her cooking supplies and pretend food.
I love this nook in the activity room, where we have a comfy sofa for reading, a keyboard for music and our Big Mac. Lots of learning spaces.
And that is how we have set things up for the learning environment in our home. Future blog posts will go into more details on the specifics. There was huge interest in the post about hackschooling, so I plan to give more glimpses into what all this nontraditional education looks like in real life.
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And for those who have been keeping up with our family after our big move, here are some photos of recent happenings...
The children and I took a trip to Dallas to see extended family, and we stopped at Baylor University on the way (of course...simply cannot drive by without stopping!). Here they are doing their Sic 'em Bears!!
In front of Pat Neff Hall...
In front of my old dorm... This was really surreal for me to see my children here where I lived 20 years ago.
In Dallas, they gardened with their grandpa.
We spent a day in downtown Dallas visiting my brother at his place of work, touring the Old Red Museum, and visiting the site of the assassination of President Kennedy.
Here's the famous grassy knoll nearby the site of JFK's assassination. Huge X's on the street mark the 2 spots where gunshots hit.
Cooking runs in the family, and these 2 are quite a team. Here they were grilling BBQ chicken, which honestly is the best chicken I've ever eaten in my life. (I have no idea what the Windex was doing out there!)
My brother and his sweet family hosted a very fun swimming party for D's birthday. Here's my nephew in mid-air (I LOVE this shot!).
Here's my niece with our youngest...
Five cousins jumping into the pool at the same time (gotta love sports shot mode on the camera!).
Back at home, we had another birthday celebration.
And, word to the wise...if you ever think about making black frosting for a cake, keep in mind that black teeth will surely follow.
