Schoolroom Organization and Schedules: Our 10th Year of Home Educating ~

Welcome!

We're on the brink of several new beginnings around here as Fall approaches....

 A brand new school year dawns tomorrow.

How can I possibly have a 5th and an 8th /9th grader?

Also waiting to be greeted this September is an exciting

 CYO  soccer season for both boys and new faces, new friends and beautiful liturgical music for my younger son, 

as he has "moved up" to join the older kids in the parish youth choir.

And both kids' initial participation in the homeschool group's orchestra as violinists, 

as well as continuing violin and music theory classes.

Additionally, there will be  guitar lessons, 
 the parish youth group and

 the study of  piano here at home with your truly.

In addition there are a couple of  upcoming auditions at local community theaters

for each of my kids, who as you know, thrill to being on stage.

We'll see how all that works out.

Right now, it's a bit overwhelming

So, our curriculum / resource details will comprise a separate post.

This post's been in the works for a while now.

Given the rigor of my boys' curricula this year,

 I've been placing more time on teaching prep and home and less time on blogging....

Though I have missed churning out daily posts 

as well as

 frequent contact with you, my friends,
 amid the blogosphere!

So, here goes:

~Our "schoolroom" organization ~

We did a tremendous amount of traveling this summer, as you know.

However, around our trip, 

many many days  were filled with the 

purging, reorganizing, cleaning, repainting, 

rearranging, recategorizing and reclassifying

 that embarking on a new school year entails.

I gave our schooling area a new look and I'm pretty happy with it.

As the boys get older and  the intensity of what I call their 

"independent daily work" increases, 

they've been choosing to hole up in their rooms where each has his own quiet space, 

his own desk and a basket of office supplies that I've set up.

I will check on one boy as he is progressing through his work, 

during breaks with the other.

That system worked relatively well last year;

We'll see how smoothly we can progress come the new year given some of the

 commitments which are scheduled during the school day.

While they are productive pursuits, they will no doubt interrupt the instructional flow.

I definitely need to adapt a more flexible, 
okay-we'll-have-to-get-to-that-tomorrow demeanor 
or I'll lose my mind by Columbus Day.

These photos and descriptions are around our community schooling area, 

our resource haven 
and where we meet for direct instruction,
 mini lessons, 
reviews and general meetings around 
our daily, weekly, monthly schedules...

and our individual and family commitments/concerns.

We have two rooms over our garage which for some reason,

we've taken to calling "the loft."

The back room of the area, as you'll see, is lined with shelves.

Where there is wall space,  plastic organizers and 

instructional aids have been placed.

I've taken to buying wreath hangers, punching holes in posters and hanging artwork/charts/study aids from those over doors up here as well.

~Overview of the Space~
This is more or less "Command Central'

As I took this picture, to my left is the computer table, 

which has its own chair, doubling as a chair for the lesson area.

We had another chair around from some long forgotten set, 

which is pictured here with a folding table.

This is where we'll meet and do lessons.

Here's a close-up view of the shelves lining the back wall. 

I cleared out and rearranged so much, 

which leaves the bottom 2 1/2 shelves for my hubby to use. 

His Science resources have been looking for a place to live 
and now they have one.

We are definitely a book family and have been known to 
create "end tables"

 by throwing a small round tablecloth 
over stacks of books!

On the above shelves pictured above are~

top: fiction series, including my childhood Little Women set, Little House, Goosebumps, Choose Your Own Adventure, Hardy Boys, Magic TreeHouse, 
Encyclopedia Brown and Boxcar Children.
Most of these have been "outgrown," but they're still sentimental!

Some of these I housed in my classroom

(those 14 years of  preMommy reading teacher  
and 3rd grade teacher days) 

and some were purchased at garage sales!

Those plastic bins house some 
reading/phonics which are go-to resources,
logic/problem solving activities
and a set of about 30  Zoo Books

Yes, that's a small framed picture of The Bard there too, on the shelf....
For more on how we celebrate Shakespeare, please click here.

2nd shelf:

 Resources to which I commonly  refer, categorized as:

Literature and Analysis, Latin, Grammar, Vocabulary, Creative Writing, 

Homeschooling, Foreign Language
( I have a few Spanish and a few French resources there,

 though this year we're not formally learning either)

I hope to come back  and link direct titles at some point in the near future.

I do have some extraordinary resources, but not enough time to link them up right now.

3rd shelf:

Science workbooks,in the physical, earth, marine, life sciences,

 general math resources,

 algebra resources, which will undoubtedly be a separate post!

Yup, we're embarking on a journey into polynomials, variables, graphing,,,,,yikes.

I have found some great resources,

 which I'd love to share with you, as well as getting your algebra input!

That's coming soon.

~Individual Curriculum Baskets/Mom's Basket~

I printed out subject area headers and glued them 

onto poster board.

These serve as dividers between each subject area 

and 

make life a lot more organized when their geography, their math, their Latin, etc,

 is easily accessible.

It  has helped to give them a sense of flow and a 'system'

 when they take out and put back  items they're using.

Plus, it looks nicer than just having stacks of books leaning in baskets.

 ~T, grade 5~

~ Mom's resource/teacher editions basket~

This basket's filled with my home school planner, math, history, faith and 

literature guides for easy access.

A huge thank you to  Tracy, 

who offered this little gem in her back -to - school post!

Great idea. I know I'm going to like this system!

~History Shelving Unit~

Separated into these sections:

(with the poster board "dividers" such as I used in their work baskets)

Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, 

Middle Ages, General World History,

Colonizing the New World,

Colonial Times, American Documents,

US History, US Presidency/White House,

American Heritage Encyclopedia,

Cricket magazines.

 

~Science shelving unit~

Arranged according to area of specialty such as:

General Sciences, Geology, Evolution/Geologic Time, Life Sciences,

Animal Habitats, Taxonomy, Dinosaurs,

Endangered Species, Science Experiments, Chemistry, 

Physical Sciences/Physics

~Astronomy shelving unit~

~Game shelves~

~Fiction Shelves~

As in libraries, our fiction section is organized by authors' last names.

I used poster board strips and these silver glittery bulletin board letters 

to separate each letter.

Then we arranged the unit alphabetically.

Having the boys help me ensures, too, 

that they are aware of all our titles in our library and it even sparked an interest in 

classics that have been sitting on shelves forever.

~Faith Resources~

The basket above is loaded with our commonly used go-to religion needs such as 

Ablaze,

57 Stories of Saints,

The Rosary Comic Book,

Catholic Mosaic, 

Baltimore Catechism, 

Fireside Youth Bible, 

Our Catholic Legacy.

The Religion shelving unit has additional titles 

but ones that are not quite as frequently used.

~Other storage areas~

These are plastic drawers I bought at walmart, 

where I keep additional supplies, paper, notebooks, flashcards, sentence strips, etc....

~Wall charts/Study aids~

                           

               \


                            

                                   

                     Because every schoolroom needs a TARDIS!

We made this for my son's Doctor Who party last year.

Lastly, our family calendar:

I'm a planner-junkie. I'm addicted to them.

 I need a new one 

every September and then again, every January.

New beginnings, new spaces to record.

I write everything down on my master planner which I keep in my bag at all times.

Whenever I sign the boys up for a bookclub at the library,

 get an invitation to an event, 

 or make an orthodontia appointment, 

it goes right down there.

At the beginning of each sports season, all practice and game times get recorded.

Now, how to make this accessible to all 

so that everyone can make his own plans 

once in a while and not have to continuously ask me when they're free?

(Beside less interruptions in the  instructional program asking

 unnecessary questions, I think it's a good idea for me

to build a bit more independence in the boys, too.)

So, I've color coded a master calendar /dry erase  wipe off board

 which sits on the window ledge of the kitchen.

This way there's no confusion about who goes where, when and  

at what time as well as what equipment is needed.

Here's a picture of the calendar:

Right now, it looks pretty empty

 because we are still awaiting violin lesson info

 as well as music theory class times and orchestra rehearsal times.

Timmy's guitar lessons will be added in on Sunday afternoons  in a week or two

and if Kev does get a role in a play for which he is auditioning next week, 

the rehearsal info will get posted asap.

Each family member has his own color as do "family events."

Lastly, for a how-to on my personalized back-to-school message boards,

please click here.

And for details on our first day celebratory pencil cake,

please click here.

Well, friends, thank you for stopping in and perusing our school room set up, 

our schedules and my musings over keeping it together this year!

I do hope to come back soon with details 

around our curriculum as well as some nitty gritty structuring of our days.

Friends, as always,  

thank you for stopping over and 

spending some of your precious time 

here at my home on the web!
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Until next time,

~Chris