Not Back to School Blog Hop-My Classroom week 2

OK, week 2 and it is all about the classroom area/learning area. Well now folks-before I go any further you need to understand something.  I have not always enjoyed the benefit of having a space I could call our "classroom" and in fact, it only within the last 2 years or so that I have had one that I am satisfied with, and actually enjoy.  You see, I have been doing this for so long, and due to space limitations of the homesteads over the years-have had to adjust and make do.  So here I am today, with the almost (cuz I am lacking the table area and rain gutter shelves and a few odds and ends) perfect room for us.  So please don't feel sad that you don't have something like this.  For years I had to run to the basement, find the right tub of books, heave it out into an open area, dig thru it and pull out what we needed, then heave it back into the pile, run back up stairs and try to teach.  Usually at that point, my students had gone AWOL or just lost interest...and we would sit around the dining room table and clutter it up faster than the shelves are cleared out at a Kmart Blue Light Special event! LOL.  We have shifted and tucked books into any nook and cranny we could find, moved and repositioned areas-to try to get a somewhat helpful area for it all- and usually it was not a success.  SOOOOO, this is a room that has been 16 ish years or so, and the sad thing is, I only have 2 students left to enjoy it.

OH, and we do not use only this room-we move to the "office" which is our couch for a lot of the read alouds and activities, the kitchen table (when Dad doesn't have it all jumbo-gumbo'd up with his office work/puter) and yes-we even school in the teacher's lounge (IE: my bed) so this is our central station, then we scoot out during different times, to get a change of scenery.  

The tables are MIA at this point (taken prior to purchasing them) but they are there now, so once I get them cleaned up enough to see them (not the piles of books and junk on them) I will post it.

so this is what you see when you turn to the right upon entering our home-not the most ideal location, but it was the only free room. So much for my stance on keeping the library a retreat room for adults-LOL.  We just rearranged the room within the last month or so and if you wanna see what a nightmare that was-then check out this post I wrote earlier this summer, it gives you a glimpse of just how many books one can squeeze on those shelves!  LOL

There will be a table (from IKEA and a couple chairs dead center there-so it won't be so roomy.  This is not a huge room, so it'll be tight, but it is nice to have the area dedicated-mostly so I can find the stuff rather easily.

Those shelves on the left-that is my teens workbox system (IKEA Trofast series), then those 3 cabinets under the dry erase board are where I hide all my science goodies, math/reading stuff, then my paper cabinet which is loaded with spiral ntbks, cardstock, glues/painting stuff, folders, loose-leaf paper, and my collection of construction and drawing papers. That is my favorite cabinet!  

yes, this is blurry for whatever reason-I think I had it on the wrong setting but cuz the sun is up front on the house now-the flash won't work and so what I get is a dark shot...but I have included one that is a bit less fuzzy.  The TV will be used on occasion for history videos and such, then I have an old fashioned radio that plays cassettes cuz yes-some of us still have those (and I refuse to buy a new CD when I already own it in a cassette form cuz I only have one main student left-my teen has already used those such things), and those 3 totes are where I am storing my current FIAR books, lapbooks, and State Study materials/books.

our goal is to create a window seat and curtain-but alas, there is not enough time right now...so it is an all-purpose shelf.  This faces the front of the house, we get a pretty view most of the day til the sun comes in and blinds the snot out of us...[UPDATE: I laugh at this part-what's there now- a discombobulation of a laminator, a radio, several 3 ring binders for my son's stuff, and a couple piles of stuff....so as pretty as this looks here-this is not how it looks now].

found these babies at the Dollar Tree-wasn't that nice of them to stock their shelves with these fold-able totes that just happen to match my decor?  [UPDATE:  these are no longer used for this stuff-the lapbooks are in 3 ring binders, the other stuff in various areas and these have workbooks and projects stuffed in them].

The section with the teacher's shelf and another shelf is on the other side of the window, but right now it is a total disaster, so no pic.  Sorry.

OK, so you have moved from the front look to the right around the room-after my work area is the large opening/door that is open to the front hall (bath across the way-very handy for potty breaks and with the front door there, I can make a mad dash outta the house and off to the looney bin when things get tough) and are now looking at that wall on the left of the first pic.  This is where a 5 ft section X 2, of the rain gutter shelving units will go.  I want to display the history and science books that we will be using or are extras discussing the subjects we are studying.  That little curved shelf to the right, is where I have some of those mini-totes which hold my son's readers, misc. stuff and the bottom has my boxes with my cards for their schedule books.  Their number cards and schedule books are temporarily in their dump/finished work holders til I figure out where they will live.  

UPDATE (Nov. 2011):  I have IKEA tables but not the fancy ones I wanted, instead we bought the $20 ones that have a white top and black pole legs.  They are perfect and light weight enough for my need to constantly move stuff around.  We bought some black rolling chairs from them too.  I actually bought 4 tables, but it was too crowed in this tight area so I took one out so we now have a bit more room to walk around.  We still have not put up any gutter shelves. OI.  Just not enough room...and I don't see where I could put some outside of over the IKEA shelves. That still may happen-not sure.  


I just didn't get to organizing much this past summer and so the classroom is a bit of a mess.  Not something I am proud of and it is rather embarrassing b/cuz as I already pointed out-it's the first room folks see when entering the house. Perhaps over Christmas break I can figure that out.  What I need is a room double the size-I have too much school stuff!  LOL  But seriously, a big room where I could have some areas specifically set aside would be awesome. But this is a good set up for now and I will continue to dream.  


Anyhoo-that is our education area.  Of course, the couch wins every time and lately the kitchen island has become rather popular for science experiments, crafts and other fun time activities.