The School Room

****THIS POST WILL MAKE MORE SENSE IF YOU READ IT FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP*****
See that green thing hanging in the door way there? Hubby had NO idea how much this would be a benefit to my schooling when he installed it over a year ago. Josh LOOOOOVES to swing in there while we do school.

I love this map! First of all, its HUGE. The back side also has a map of the whole world. I got it at a yard sale last year for $3! One day I WILL get it hung up....

This blue tapey stuff on the wall is amazing! It sticks great and peels off easily but I can put their pictures up on it and then change the pictures out anytime I want w/out having to replace the sticky stuff! We love it!

This is my 'teacher corner' I have our school schedule for the week, our 'Day in History' Calendar, our 'Whats the Weather today?' calendar, a yearly calendar, our KONOS schedule and that paper on the top on the bookcase is where I write down things I need or want to order as I think about them

We refer to this as the 'game cabinet' the main doors house our games as well as some of my stamping supplies. The top looks like a mess but its organized, I promise! There is a box of craft supplies (pipe cleaners, paper towel rolls, lunch sacks etc), and 4 boxes of 'blanket time' toys for the boy. He gets one box a day during school time. Also a box of book (I rotate thru the ones he has so he doesnt get bored of them). And his 'blanket' for blanket time is up there-interlocking pieces of foam. He LOVES that big mirror next to it while he is on blanket time, and occasionally I will set that tent up that you see hiding there in the corner on his 'blanket'.

The 3 drawers house markers, stencils and our Learning Palettes and Little Touch Leap Pad games. The small door on the bottom has playdoh, our air-dry clay, Color Wonder markers and our felt pieces for the felt board we don't yet have....

Here is a better picture of the other side of the school area.....

Here is my other bookshelf. On top is our Judy Clock and globe. First Shelf, is our McGuffey readers and books I frequently make copies out of, or extra workbooks. Second shelf is books that they are going to use in the future. Third Shelf is a SMALL portion of the vintage school books I collect. 4th shelf, vintage encyclopedia set that we LOVE to use (from 1955), 5th shelf is just a hodge podge of their books.

This is our main set of school book shelves. Top shelf: mommy supplies, library books that go along w/ our school and extra paper. Second shelf: teacher manual, read aloud books, book it books, more teacher-y stuff in that small 3 drawer unit. Third shelf: school books, easy readers in the blue basket, my homeschool binder, Spelling Power and my Control Journal a la Flylady. Fourth shelf: more school books and 'teacher helps'. The 2 doors of the cart have 'how to draw' books, tracing paper and my weight for whenever I remember to exercise *blush* On top is the radio and on top of THAT, is my file box that holds a folder for each month of the year and I file ideas to use during that month for school. Oh, on top of the book case are 2 baskets, each has different toys for the younger 2 to play with during school, and the newspaper because I cant seem to find another home for it.

This is the other end of the room (please excuse my children, they were playing horse or lasso 'em or something of that nature). We have 2 tables down there in an L shape. One holds 2 computers (one mine and the other for the kids to play their educational games on). It also has a printer/copier/scanner on it as well as a 3 drawer unit that holds paper. I also do my stamping over there, so most of those units under the table hold stamping supplies. (Will be closer up picture of this area later on).

These are our 'School Boxes'. I put the school in each one that they will be doing the next day and set it at their place at the school table so its all ready for them in the morning. Keeps the table more tidy!

*Please excuse my bloggy novice-ness. I didnt know that it would post everything backwards! The captions go with the pictures ABOVE them!**** Here is a picture of the main part of our school room (also our diningroom, but we have an eat in kitchen so this is really only used for school and on holidays). We have 2 white boards, the higher one for me and the lower one for the little ones to draw on. Also on that wall: a numbers chart, 'parts of speech chart, seasons chart, calendar, clock, months of the year chart, books of the bible chart, Handwriting without Tears ABC and numbers strip.

The 4 drawer units have been VERY useful. The one of the right is for the girls, each one has her own drawer to keep their crayons and 'treasures' in. I like them to clean it out ever few weeks or it starts to burst at the seams =) The top of it houses their School Boxes (I'll post a pic of them next), a purple box that holds pencils, colored pencils, tape and scissors, this is always on the table during school. Their is also a 3 drawer unit on top that holds construction paper, white paper, and white board markers.

The other one has a variety of uses. The top drawer holds glue and rulers as well as my stuff (stapler, staples, small hole punches, adhesive, small school supplies), 2nd drawer has our Math U See manipulatives and large punches (for crafting), 3rd drawer is art supplies that they have free access to (yarn, googly eyes, tissue paper, popsicle sticks etc), 4th drawer is painting supplies.