Art and Organization

I had these great plans for a homeschool space in the kitchen. First, I decided on a shelving unit I thought would go well with my decor. Once it was all together, I hated it. It was taller than advertised (I ordered online) and looked every bit the small price I paid for it. For someone already having to make peace with non-kitchen items in the kitchen, this was not going to do. Yes, yes, I have issues. No worries, though; it will make the perfect organizer for our outdoor toys in the garage.

My second option was to buy some paint and transform my daughter's old 9-cubby bookshelf into our homeschooling kitchen storage area. My husband picked up the paint and sandpaper, and I set out to get it done before school started.

I'm ashamed to admit I never even got to the sanding part, though I still have good intentions. However, I did find that the shelf in our living room had just the right amount of space for all of our books and the printer, and the extra cabinet in the kitchen holds all of the manipulatives, shapes, DVDs, CDs, Art supplies and Music items perfectly. Little G approves.

In other news, it seems my little artist girl took us very seriously when we said she would be a famous artist selling her works someday; note the little price tags in the bottom right corners of both of the creations below!


For the record, I got a great discount because I'm mommy. I paid 3 warm and fuzzies for the pair of them! They are now proudly displayed on the fridge for all to enjoy.

There is much more art to show, but our weekend became full of other things and I am currently helping R reorganize her drawers and bedroom and sorting through clothes to determine what will still fit the kids for the cooler weather. We seem to be jumping right into cooler weather here! We're also going to work on R's giant art binder, which we've been adding to since she was a toddler. Projects, projects. Home is always full of them.

Cabinet

We continue to prepare for the start of our homeschooling adventure. I finished cleaning out one of the kitchen cabinets this morning to make way for math manipulatives, art supplies, science materials, seeds, small musical instruments and other items we will be using very soon!

I'm trying to come up with something fun to do for our first day of school. Maybe I'll attempt pancakes for breakfast, or we will spend the first day of school in our jammies. Or both. Or something else. That's kind of the awesome part - it's all ours to decide!

Mama, Will I Need a Backpack?

When I first thought about what homeschooling meant for us, I wasn't thinking about backpacks. My daughter already had one, because I prepare early and hers broke at the end of last school year. My son still has one in perfect condition from preschool. But would we even need them?

Initially, I figured road trips to grandma's house would be about the most use our backpacks would be getting as a homeschooling family, but I realized I wasn't really thinking outside of the box. Almost my entire experience with education has consisted of bricks and mortar schools, with the exception of having completed a couple of my college classes via online courses after I moved 50 miles away from campus. With my online courses, there was little to no need for a backpack. But homeschooling elementary students is a bit different. Nothing says we have to hold "class" at the kitchen table. We could throw our lessons into backpacks and head to the library for a change of pace. We might decide that having an outdoor art lesson at the park followed by a picnic lunch is a great way to spend the first half of our day. The possibilities are pretty much limitless.

Similarly limitless is our virtual academy's capacity to impress me with what they offer students. I went through approximately 1 1/2 of our 4 boxes of school curriculum and supplies, and I literally got butterflies of excitement about all that we will be doing this year.


I'm loving, absolutely loving the fact that I can actually look forward to this school year. Have I mentioned that yet?

Preview!

A preview of our very exciting unboxing! The countdown has begun, just under 3 weeks until school starts! I was busy today getting the house in order, finishing up tasks that need doing, and preparing for our home to double as a school. Oh, how I am loving this!

One thing I have been somewhat less enthusiastic about is sharing our homeschooling intentions with others, especially the more traditional-thinking members of our families. I want to tell them, but I will probably wait until they ask.