Friday, November 29, 2013

Edelweiss Academy 2013

I think people often wonder what a homeschool may look or run like. Well, the truth is everyone does it differently - that is what makes homeschooling great! We are able to tailor our school to what works for us. As for our family, we have 3 little girls ages 6, 3, and 20 months so currently our schoolroom resembles more of a play room. At their young ages I strongly feel they should be learning mostly through play.  Here is a peek inside:


This is our dramatic play and manipulatives area. We have plenty of outfits for dress up, a kitchen complete with pots, pans, and cloth food, and a doll house with a variety of dolls for role playing. On the shelves there are puzzles, shape sorters, blocks, and this is also where we put out our sensory boxes. The little kitchen table also doubles as Baby E and Little E's school table when we do any kind of more structured learning.


This is our morning and afternoon "circle" time center. They don't actually sit in a circle so much as a line but you get the idea. We sing in the morning about the days of the week and discuss any fun activities happening this week. We also have the girls count out how many days we have been in school (this pic was taken earlier this year). Big E puts the numbers in their place value order and Little E gets to count out the sticks and put them in. Then we will usually read a story aloud that goes along with our theme is for the week. In the afternoons we read again before nap time for the littles (which is when I can get more one on one for Big E).


This is the art's and crafts and teacher's cabinets. Here you can find play doh, clay, markers, glue, glitter, scissors….you can imagine why I keep it all locked up! Not because I don't want them to get to play with it, I just don't want them playing with it unsupervised! The taller teacher's closet contains all our curriculum for the year in regards to work books and teacher manuals. I have actually just recently started a storage shelf in the the garage for certain seasonal subjects or subjects Big E has completed that will be reused in a few years with the littles. There is just not enough room for everything in this 12 x 12 room! :)


This is Big E's and my desks. I have my computer (pictured) that they can all use for any online learning or gaming (the kids can earn media time for completing chores and school work but that is a different post!). Big E also has a tablet that some of her curriculum and books are stored on that she can use while sisters or mommy may be using the big computer. To the right of the desks you can see our work boxes. This is something we just started implementing this year and I am not 100% sure how I feel about it yet. I honestly started it mostly for my 3 yr old because I wanted her to get in the habit of starting and finishing a project and putting it away before you get the next one out. (It was simple things like coloring sheets or matching games) as she has the tendency to turn a room into a tornado field in less than 5 mins. It is a challenge we continue to work on. ;) My 6 yr old however seems to love them because she can clearly see what her next subject is and how much more she has to go.

So that is our room right now! We only spend a few hours in here a day and try to get outside and see and do more than sitting but it is so nice to have a space that is ours. Our room is small (though we do finally have a separate room! It used to be the living room!) but as you can see you can do a lot with small spaces. I would love to see and hear some of your school room ideas! We are always looking to learn and grow as a school!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...