Creating a Learning Environment

Ah Yes... it is a classic topic. One on which I have had high hopes, but have never set out to accomplish. I have fond memories of teachers that put a lot into their classrooms with things that kept us students looking, learning and striving for knowledge and I wanted to emulate that here at home. I have also been thinking hard on why it seems school is dull lately. We have some sparks of excitement but the enthusiasm which was once there is now fading with Princess K. I wanted learning to be something my children would look forward too. This is one of the many reasons why we homeschool and I think a lack of a good learning environment might be part of our problem.

So I analyzed what was going amiss and here is what I came up with:

1. We were box checking. Doing things just to get them done. I wasn't taking the time to explore, experience, and in the end truly learn.


2. Fun, where was the fun. I buy activity guides, and extra books just for them to decorate the shelves. What a waste of resources


3. I had not created a good learning environment. We homeschool at the kitchen table which is just fine, however my need for a streamlined living space and uncluttered walls led to me removing things like maps, White Boards, and other learning enhancements. Even as I type this it sounds a bit crazy as my children's education should be paramount to beautification of our home... but there are just some things that I cannot get over.


4. Never getting away from school. Techie Guy brought to my attention that I do not step away from school. This essentially goes along with number 3 as all of the school things that are out are in plane view so I am constantly in the midst of trying to organize, clean up, and think about school. This is not to be confused with the constant process of learning but is the nitty gritty maintenance stuff that never seems to end. Or so I thought.

So what do I do. Well I prayed... and prayed and discussed with Techie Guy and over the weekend made some changes.

1. I am making a commitment to n0t do stuff just to get them done. I want to include the littles and we will all take part in activities. I am also making a library book list under each topic so I know what I need to order



2. I went through my activity guides and found things that would go along with our studies. I entered them into Homeschool Tracker and in a separate notebook, I kept a list of things I needed to copy and purchase.



3. This weekend I started to move school upstairs to the loft. Currently the loft is just the playroom and a place Little Dora and Bubba go to play during school. The loft has lots of room for maps, a timeline, and other fun enhancements. I will also have better access to the little ones as Princess K and I do school. We can play games and do crafts together and we are not divided by a floor. I know this may present more interruptions from the littles, but I hated that they were upstairs without us.



4. This bring me to my fourth dilemma. Well since I am not staring at school stuff, I am less likely to feel I need to do something with it. I have already been able to take some time for myself... Plus I have discovered the downstairs doesn't need to be picked up as often.

So I am off... working on creating a learning environment for the kids, and a peaceful home for the entire family. I have so many other ideas, but I will have to take it one step at a time. And the first step is to haul all of our school stuff upstairs.

Bad days come and go in any job and that is no different in Homeschooling your children. The encouraging thing for me is that I know this adventure I am on is because it is a request from God. I am running a race; a marathon, and every so often I have to trip over a rock, fall, look up and remember that I serve an awesome God.

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures
forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138:8
(search scriptures at http://www.biblegateway.com/)

Occasionally He needs to remind me that I need to rely on Him more and myself less. I tripped yesterday, relying on my own strength and letting grouchiness to rule my mood. Today...God is dusting off the sand and helping me move along reminding me that He is in charge and I need to be looking up.

Today I watched and Thanked God for Homeschooling, as I saw all three of our children participate in Science. We are studying Birds right now. Princess K is to go out and observe any birds and draw them. Bubba followed her outside with her Pocket Nature book. When they came in and she read her assignment, she shared with me how she was amazed where the ankle is on a bird. Both littles wanted to see these pictures and Princess K was able to share with them as well. Then she hugged Bubba (he was the last to see the pictures). I just loved sitting back and watching them interact and learn. This is one of the many reasons I Love Homeschooling. This moment of time also completely erases my pill of a day yesterday! Here are her notebook pages from her study.

I do not want to end this post without sharing a new tool. Since Techie Guy generally teaches math, I have to credit this little tool find to him. We are working through getting better and more concrete with our math facts by doing timed drill. We needed a stop watch, and the Internet came to our rescue. So the site of the day (not like there is normally a site of the day... but today there is) is: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ . It is easy to use and has become very helpful to us. I hope that you find it helpful too (that is if you need to time something). If you want to use timed drills in your math lessons but don't have sheets to do so, please check out The Math Worksheet Site . This site can generate all kinds of worksheets for you, and its FREE. Happy Calculating!

It's All New

It is a new semester, new year, new History study, and new Bible study. It feels like it is the begining of the school year. I had every intention of diving into the second part of World History way back in October. However, God had different plans. As it turns out this delay has been such a blessing. Princess K is more mature now and can take some things on idependently. I can take more time to work with Little Dora, who by the way proceeded to show me that she already knows how to write almost all her big letters and some of her small letters. Boy she is making my job a lot easier.

The past couple of weeks I have been sending my printer into overload trying to print everything I need for the rest of the semester. It is daunting, that is for sure, but I have found that if it isn't all ready to go then a lot of the fun things get put on the back burner. I insert the worksheets or project ides into my Sonlight folder under the week I want to use them. In Homeschool Tracker, I am putting in all the fun extras as assignments. Then they are automatically put into our schedule. I am hoping there will be less.."oops I forgot that I wanted to do that way back in week 2" realizations. And since it is in Homeschool Tracker, I hope that it will be ready for when Little Dora and Bubba go through the same topics. Of course this does make my folder way a ton. But I don't have it out for everyday use.

Speaking of Bubba, the last time I posted we endured the wrath of a red head. We still have the evidence of a broken screen door, but he rarely hits it anymore. Nothing like learning your lesson quick. He is finding fun in less destructive activities like Play Doh, and coloring, and hissing at the cat. Well ok hissing at the cat may be seen as destructive, but she doesn't run too fast from him so I am wondering if she strangely likes the attention. Anyway, it is quite a relief to see Bubba joining in more of our lessons, listening a bit to our read alouds, and not trying to be so disruptive. Maybe there is hope for sanity yet.