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Our first year of homeschooling was when Michael was in pre-school. We set up our very first schoolroom in the basement:
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Our puppet theater was down here, as well as a table to work on. I can't seem to find any photos of those. But this room was totally furnished by YARD SALES!! I can only see one item which I purchased elsewhere, and that is in the picture on the left - the upper left-hand corner - the green boxes (the one on the top looks like a bus) -- It is our Sweet Pickles Pre-school Program. We just loved this program! Sadly, it is no longer available.
We really didn't want to stay in the basement another year, so we threw Rich and his stereo equipment out of the den and took it over for kindergarten:
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Want to know what's funny about these pictures? The bookcase! It isn't even full of books!
After our kindergarten year, I wanted a room with windows. So we threw Rich and his stereo equipment out of the formal living room, and we moved in there:
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We combined first and second grades this next year! (Hey, Giovanna - there's an abacus over there on the dresser on the the left.) And it didn't take me very long to put in a store of books! The picture books on the floor are library books. We always had them spread out on the floor and then we would play "me pick." We would pretend to fuss over whose turn it was to pick the next book to read. We would both yell "me pick, me pick!!" Michael usually won. <g> In the picture on the right, to the right of Michael's head, is my word processor - oh, those pre-computer days!
For third grade, we threw Rich and his stereo equipment out of the dining room (converted to a living room) and we simply annexed that room for science and art and animals! But I don't seem to have any pictures of that room.
When we purchased our computer, it was put into our schoolroom. That was ideal for quite a long time, but after we went on-line, Rich would show up in the schoolroom in the morning to use the computer (he works afternoons). Hmmm, this was a bit of a disruption as we both agree on homeschooling, but not the "style" of teaching. Michael and I found ourselves schooling everywhere but the schoolroom! Well, just recently we threw Rich AND the computer out of the schoolroom! This is what our schoolroom looks like now:
We have to have a sofa in the schoolroom -- and a teddy bear! They are both important for that all-important cuddle/reading time.
The old dresser holds supplies, the bulletin board is undergoing some changes right now, the table is our old kitchen table ... and we have books! Two of my feltboards are on the floor under the bulletin board - the cassette player is also on the floor (easy to put on the table). The wastebasket needs emptying - "Oh, Michael!! Come take out the trash!"
We use our chalkboard fairly often. Books on these shelves are books we use most often this school year. The boxes on the floor are books which have been sold; they are awaiting shipment.
See - I haven't sold all my books! My father made the bookcase on the right for me. At present it holds my Happy Hollister collection, classics, and other fiction. The shelves on the left hold mostly science, books about homeschooling, our encyclopedias and a few more fiction books. The closet in the corner is a small walk-in closet which holds a cabinet and a shelf unit. In here we keep art supplies, boxes, bottles, paper goods, my guitar ... and junk we want to hide!
At the end of the blue shelf unit, we have a table which holds most of our science equipment. We have a little organ on the floor by the door. Just above the organ, I have a wipe-off board on which I write Michael's Latin words.
In the corner is a coffee table which has many books piled on it. These are the books I have for sale. At least they are out of the way now. They were all over this room about a week ago! We have a staircase leading upstairs from this room. We also have a staircase off the kitchen. It's a neat old house.
By the way, Rich is a real peach! I feel he has been wonderfully gracious to allow me to take over the house for our schooling the way I do. But after all these years, it has worked out. He is VERY happy with where I have moved him and the computer. Hold on .... I'll take a picture and show you!
Remember the den we threw him out of? Well, he's back in there! (stereo equipment is long gone though) He has the table I bought for the schoolroom <g>, he has the computer and all its gadgets, a telephone, a loveseat and chair (not shown), plus a television to watch the Cleveland Indians while he surfs the net! There is a half-bath directly across the hall, and the refrigerator is right around the corner! This is an ideal set-up for him! What more could he ask for?!
It is always an adventure at our house! :-)
Thanks for visiting our schoolrooms!
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