School Room

Ahhh... a new year. Brand new pencils, crisp new notebooks and binders, new curriculum on the shelves.... and a complete MESS of a room! I guess we just got up and walked out last May. Then, to add insult to injury I used the school room as the catch all room during the summer. Home from the homeschool conference? Toss the purchases in the middle of the floor of the school room. Family reunion? Just throw junk in the school room out of the way. Oh my. It certainly all added up. We muddled through the first week or so of school in the midst of the clutter, but my frustration level was growing to the point of breaking. Finally, I got the time to really dig in and clean out and organize the room. It does my heart good! :)

Side note... Yes, we are homeschoolers who have a designated school room and library. We have tried it at the dining room table but just never had enough storage space for all our stuff on the main floor. Plus, with Marvin working at home on the farm, there is just too much distraction on the main floor. I mean, who would want to do math and grammar when they could go with Dad to the barn???

What is it about a new year that causes me to want to move furniture around? I don’t do this in the rest of my house.... in fact, I am quite boring in the rest of my house. Our furniture is basically in the very same positions as the day we moved in. But, in the school room it seems that I change things around, at least a little bit, every year. This year I rearranged the supply cabinets and storage shelves and also moved the reading chair. But, much to Marvin’s relief, I left the bookcases alone. :)

For those who are interested in this sort of thing, here are photos of the newly cleaned and organized school room. If only we didn’t have to use it and mess it up! :)

View as you walk in the door

                science and art supplies on shelf, K’nex and Lego’s in storage bins

                  bookshelf with current curriculum, resources, library books, etc.

                                                      reading corner, games & puzzles

our desk area

                  Through the door with the hanging pocket organizer is our “library”

I use quotes around “library” because it is actually part of our attic! This is also why Marvin is glad that we will never move again.... the books stay put!!! :)

this is the attic room 'library'

 Complete with a picture of George Washington! I love that picture! We have had it since I           was a little girl. No wonder Jonathan is such a GW fan. :)

Now, lest you come away with the truly false impression that my whole house is organized (ha!!) here is a view of the rest of my attic....

Yikes!  Just 'keepin' it real'!  Ugh... a little too real, perhaps? 

4 Comments

De'Etta

I love your school room! We had one before and it didn't "work" like I expected. Now all the older kids have desks in their rooms and do their work there. The littles and I use the couch and dining room table.....but some day - when the house is bigger or our student body is smaller - we'll have room for a school room again...though wedo have the a library/computer lab. LOL I envision a room like yours with the cozy reading corner - I LOVE THAT - and places for crafts and such to stay up a bit of time...... Hmmm....

Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 05:28 PM

renita

I am so jealous of your school room! Ours has just never come together. Maybe that is because I am in charge of getting it done!! Oh to have a place to put all of our books. :)

Saturday, September 13, 2008 - 10:03 PM

Donna

Oh Laura, your school room is SO nice! :) We do our schoolwork in the living room and the boys work on their own in their bedrooms. Stuff is stored...well...lots of places. lol.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - 01:50 AM

Debbie

Laura, I just love your school room and library. I've always had dreams of having a dedicated school room, but that has yet to happen. We are working on converting our front room into more of a library, which well help a lot with our book situation...aka, stacks all over the place.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - 10:44 PM