Ready, Set, Homeschool!

Last May we took the plunge and decided that this school year we would be
homeschooling our girl's:

Grace-5th and Olivia-3rd

At first there was a lot of kicking and screaming
(I was the one kicking...really? me?, and my girl's were screaming...with excitement)

But...
I knew in my heart that it was what I supposed to do.

After attending numerous used curriculum sales, changing my mind at least a hundred times as to what curriculum to use, stressing about my ability (or lack there of) to teach my girls, asking a million questions of other moms that school at home (only to unearth a zillion more questions), I finally started to embrace the idea and actually get excited.

In between traveling and the busyness of summer my crafty side came shinning out and I started to get our home-school classroom ready...AKA our kitchen table.

First, I knew that any respectable classroom had to have a blackboard. I had picked this chalkboard up at a Junior League yard sale for $1 a few years back. It is the real deal...the kind that was on a rolling stand and could be flipped to use both sides (it still has the holes in the sides where it rotated). It was pretty rough looking but I knew it had potential.

I painted it with magnetic paint and then with a fresh coat of blackboard paint. Then I painted the trim to match my kitchen and distressed it with glaze.


I even found a wooden chalk tray at the teacher supply store that I painted to match and super glued to the bottom. And yes, I decoupaged the top of the eraser with some super cute coordinating scrapbook paper.

I love it!
I really wanted things to be convenient to use to school but DID NOT want my house to look like a school room. So I also use the board for all kinds of fun messages when we have groups over or just to write fun notes.

Another thing I knew I would need is storage (for the loads and loads of stuff I just couldn't pass up for a few bucks at the used sales).

I decided to use my old laundry closet...I had moved my washer and dryer to the garage a few months before. I was looking forward to having an overflow pantry...but space is at a premium for storage so sacrifices had to be made :)

This closet is just off the kitchen so it works great to have things close but hidden.

Some pantry stuff squeezed it's way onto the top shelf but other than that it is slam full of our supplies.

Here it is closed...ahhh, no clutter.

I found this great tool turn about thingy at Michael's and knew I just had to have it. It holds all the markers, crayons, pencils, stapler, etc.
We can easily pull it out from the closet to the table and then back in the closet it goes at night.
It even has little drawers for paperclips, erasers, little post it tabs, etc.
Okay, so maybe this purchase was for me...the organization nut...but it works great!

(sorry, some of these pics are a little blurry...my camera is all whacked out...I desperately need a new one...hint, hint to my hubby!)

I had found these wooden organizers at a yard sale this summer for $4 for the set. After a quick coat of black paint they found their new home under my window sill in my kitchen. So convenient for us to store the girl's text books, printer and notebook paper and other stuff we use all the time. I couldn't believe they were such a perfect fit for this space (I love it when that happens!) My printer sits right on top, out of sight and handy.

On the underside of my bar area I hung some Pottery Barn clips to display the girl's artwork or an occasional chart or graph. It is right at eye level when sitting at the table and adds some fun to this area.

My desk area works out great just where it was. I just had to clear off the junk and clean out my file drawers for teacher manuals, etc.

I found two metal tubs at Goodwill for $1 each and knew they would work out great. They were painted lime green with tropical flowers on them...not blending in to our home-school space. So I painted them the same cream color as my kitchen cabinets and then taped off a rectangle area and painted it with more chalkboard paint. They are the perfect spot for binders and books.

A seasoned home-school mom gave me an idea that has made planning so much simpler for us. I found these recipe boxes at Micheal's in their dollar section (this dollar thing is becoming a theme), they even were super cute colors and have birds on them. I dressed up the front with the girl's monograms on tags attached with a brad. Then I numbered ruled 4 X 6 index cards from 1 to 180 (the total number of school days). Each night I simply pull out the next card and list what the next day's assignments are (or I can work a few days ahead). If our schedule changes unexpectedly, I simply pull out a new note card re-number it and write what we accomplished that day. The girls know each day they are responsible to do what is on their card. They can do it in whatever order they want as long as they get it done. It has given them a lot of responsibility and me a lot of freedom. At the end of each day they get a sticker for a completed card and I place it in the back of the front portion of the box. This allows for so much flexibility, keeps us on track as to how many days we have completed and keeps me from burning through erasers changing things in my lesson plan book.

One of the most essential things that I bought to decorate our home-school space was a sign I picked up when visiting my mom in NC this summer:

If I could only consistently enforce this, I would be rich.

Well, that about wraps my home-school prep up for you. I hope you have enjoyed the tour of our classroom that doesn't look like a classroom. It definitely feels like home though...and just happens to be where we school.

I will be posting a few pics from our first day soon.
Thanks for taking this new journey with us!