What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The School Room

(Blogger has given me serious issues with posting this School Room post. I don't even want to admit how long I have spent monkeying around with it, but a good clue is that it SHOULD have posted yesterday morning. This is my last ditch attempt to make it understandable. Wish me luck...)

Re-doing the school room was the Monthly House Project (one of them, anyway) for September. The goal was to have it done and in order before school started...and we succeeded by the skin of our teeth. Remember I told you that the one wall was so awful that it couldn't be painted? Remember I told you I was worried we would have to spend money on paneling (which I don't love and CERTAINLY don't want to spend money on) just to cover up the nastiness and then I had a (questionably) brilliant idea to cover it in maps? Well, I have been dying to show you the map wall ever since I put it up. One of the lovely days the free route WORKED.
And then, the OTHER wall, that had water stains and actual, bonafide HOLES? Again- the options were pretty limiting (and of course, required money) until we decided that a perfectly good fix was NOT sheet rocking-but just bringing fallen down barn boards in to cover it all up. After all, we have plenty of them lying around. That too, worked like a charm. With those free fixes and a can of happy-colored paint, the school room looks awfully spiffy, evenifIdosaysomyself. Wanna see?
Well- let's put things in perspective first, shall we?
Here are the before pictures:

Yuck. Need I say more? But here is the new room~
See my map wall? Do you love it or hate it? I love it, primarily for its price tag, but also because it is one-of-a-kind. I love the colors too.
See that little rug by the Dry Erase Board? My Opa made that for my Oma as a present! (That is, my GRANDFATHER made it for my GRANDMOTHER!) Neat.
Clearly, we like books. The small book shelf is full of stories for the youngers. The bookshelf on the right is full of school books/supplies/papers/puzzles and everything else school related. Matt originally built it to house our main LIBRARY, but since I have a new one of those....

School happens pretty much everywhere around here...but it sure is wonderful to have a centralized location to house all the STUFF that goes with home educating.
An ugly brass lamp fits right in after a spray paint bath.
Here is the other side of the room:


The bulletin board is awaiting a whole new year of beautiful school art. ;-)
This little table and chairs were in the barn. Perfect for two littles who love to be doing exactly what the biggles are doing.

This is our Art and Nature corner. The table holds all the childrens' treasures and the bulletin boards holds all the treasures of others. (More on the bulletin board later.)
Are we the only family who collects dead things?
Most of the glass was found in the barns too.
I really love this. I laminated a bunch of pictures and put magnets on the back so that our filing cabinet could serve as a sort of "International" center. It widens a small childs' world and gives the children a good glimpse of peoples who live differently than we do. It also serves as a wonderful prayer board, so that we can pray for different lands and peoples.
So that's it. Our new and improved homeschool room, ready for a good year of home learning.

15 comments:

Leah T. said...

I love, love, love the new school room!!! It's perfect! I'd love to have one of our own someday. :) I really like the map wall and the barn board wall is just my style. I'm definitely going to have to set up a nature table for our children. And yes, they collect dead things, too. LOL I'd love to know where you got those colored pencils! Too cool!

Louise said...

What a difference! I love the colors you used, because they are bright and cheery!

Rosemary said...

It is such a happy room! The perfect environment to encourage love of learning. All the free fixes are super, especially the map wall. Being a fan of colored glass, my eyes went right to the glass on the windowsill. Good work, teacher/mom.

Mari said...

The map wall is awesome - and useful for geography! Win-win!

Vanessa said...

You have such a touch! That is very cozy and homey :) I adore all of it (the map wall, the barn board wall, the turqoise, all ofit!)

I can't wait to hear more about the bulletin boards -- we're trying to establish a morning circle/nature corner/memory work/calendar time all in one shot -- I think your bulletin board/nature corner looks similar to what I may have in mind :)

Warmly, and in Christ Jesus,
Vanessa

Jen said...

It looks amazing!!! I love the map wall:) Happy learning:)

Renata said...

It looks wonderful! That map wall is amazing!!!! I hope you have a wonderful year of learning
Blessings
Renata:)

Bonnie said...

I've been meaning to comment, but my brain has been in a fog this week, so nothing has come out. Anyway, I am LOVING the school posts, and your school room Looks. Awesome. The map wall is fantastic, and brilliant idea to cover up the other wall with barn wood. (I will not be jealous of Rebecca's schoolroom, I will not be jealous of Rebecca's schoolroom...)

Totally agree with you on WHY to homeschool. And on top of that, can I just tell you how many times I've nearly burst into tears being stuck behind a school bus and seeing little kids being picked up or dropped off? If I'm ready to cry over strangers children, what a basket case I would be over my own.

I know you have a lesson plan book, and I'm interested in knowing where you got it. I chucked the one I bought last year (barely had enough room to keep track of 1 child let alone 2), and pulled out a sketch book to make my own. Fun, but a bit disorganized. (though this is only the first week of using it)

I'm thinking I might steal your daily schedule idea...
And because I'm nosy and curious, what made you decide to teach your children Latin? I have a guess or two, but I'd still like to know.

'kay, I think thats it for now,
Bon

Terri said...

I love it, Rebecca! The map wall is great and I really love the barn board on the walls. Wonderful job!

Bonnie said...

I know what I was going to say- how serendipitous that the barn chairs match your theme- or did they inspire it?

Mrs Abbott said...

Lovely! Love the map wall, the international laminated pictures and the table of dead things! (I saw a flattened butterfly on the road the other day and was so sad!) Megan

Full of Grace said...

I absolutely LOVE your school room, so conducive to learning! It looks awesome! :)

Paula said...

What a delightful room! You have done such a wonderful job on it and I love the map wall.

Unknown said...

It's PERFECT, Rebecca! Bravo! :) I especially love the composer, artist, poetry, nature corner! Just lovely!!!!

Unknown said...

Oh and I REALLY wan to steal your international magnet idea!! We have a missions area but I need to update it...thank you for sharing!