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Erin
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| Posted: May 31 2013 at 3:45pm | IP Logged
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The antenna man is coming today  Then I can get busy and join the party
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: June 01 2013 at 12:12am | IP Logged
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The yard called my name today. So I spent several hours out there instead of in the house.
However, this evening I did a thrift shop run tonight.
And I think I did good. I found a vertical file sorter that looks like this, but not slanted
There are 6 slots that will fit 1.5" binders :) For $5.
Then I found a little wrought iron tray. Rectangular
This will fit 4 jars that will hold pencils, pencil colors, markers, crayons and pencil sharpener on it. I will find some small tiles to close in the bottom. We have some here, I think dh can cut them for me. We'll tint the jars to our favorite colors. I also have a wooden toolbox to consider for this job... not sure what shape it's in. It was a found item and is outside at our campsite, I'll need to examine it.
It's coming together. I am considering putting a cushion on the low shelf to give her a window seat to sit and read on.... not sure. We'll need to see when I'm done sorting all the paper and stuff to see if we need that space of if it can be a fun place to sit and relax.
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Mom to 4,
1 graduated June 2012
1 in Catholic school
2 homeschooled(one considering art school!)
ardently praying for a new addition to our family.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 8:11am | IP Logged
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Just bumping this forward to check in with all of you in the throes of a major learning space clean-up!!
How's it going????? Let's keep cheering each other on because it is SO refreshing and inspiring to do planning for the next year in a tidy and freshened space!! AND...beyond that, you often find or at least familiarize yourself with your books/resources more if you've just tidied and organized them.  This always helps me be a better steward of our home ed books and materials!
My own progress: At my last report, I had pulled several books off the shelves that I thought would be a good fit (reading level and history period) and stacked them on each child's work table. I started going through them and have really good, workable "stacks" now!
Right now I'm sorting through books based on each child's big picture planning charts and thought maybe I should link to Lindsay's Scope and Sequence thread because it's a good place to begin planning from! There are blank charts available to download and print if it would be a help to anyone.  Maybe it would be easier to just put them here...
Big Picture Chart - reference (this is our big picture...sometimes it's just easier to see how someone else lays out the big picture...if only just to see how you definitely DON'T want to do it!  )
Blank Big Picture Chart - subjects filled in
Blank Big Picture Chart - subjects filled in but with generic history periods
Hope these are a help as you all begin planning after the big learning spaces clean-up!!
Today is all about high school form freshening for me! I need to plug in the junior year's worth of work to my dd's transcripts, file her booklists and make sure her high school notebook is all tidied and up to date as we begin to plan her senior year.
Your turn!!!! Post some updates ladies!!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Becca
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 8:30am | IP Logged
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We are in the process of adding an expansion to our house right now and afterwards we will have a school room!
We've never had one before so I'm excited. Especially since my hubby said I could get whatever I needed to make it work. 
I loved reading what you all are doing with your school rooms.
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Married to Josh, Mom to 8 kids 11 and under.
On summer break!
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Erin
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 4:15pm | IP Logged
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Well antenna man was a no-show  however my brilliant husband hopped on the internet and figured out how to do it himself So three rooms in the house have been totally changed about, so now after 6 years I finally have a dedicated learning room again
It's taken me two days but I'm on the home run putting all the resources away. Just up to dealing with the little pieces, stray game pieces, pencils, toys etc that have migrated.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 5:13pm | IP Logged
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I pulled out the 60 pound tub of portfolios and went through that today. I now have nine pounds of paper to recycle, an extra (will need it tomorrow) 3 ring binder, and enough room in the tub to get in this year's work. If I can just figure out how to drag it back to the basement and put on the storage shelf. Apparently a lot of determination to get this project done gave me super strength to get it across the basement and up the stairs all by myself. It does look like I will need to start another container next year though.
Becca and Erin I'm excited about your new learning rooms!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 6:05pm | IP Logged
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I will be tackling the rest of my room tomorrow. I have had a few distractions from the project, but back on track tomorrow 
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Mom to 4,
1 graduated June 2012
1 in Catholic school
2 homeschooled(one considering art school!)
ardently praying for a new addition to our family.
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: June 04 2013 at 6:31pm | IP Logged
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mommy4ever wrote:
| I will be tackling the rest of my room tomorrow. I have had a few distractions from the project, but back on track tomorrow |
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I know! I forgot about it until Jen posted.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Willa
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| Posted: June 05 2013 at 10:20am | IP Logged
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I didn't have a proper schoolroom until just this year. We have a big house, but on an open plan. I finally realized I could subdivide the loft spaces into areas.
I didn't finish before we got busy traveling, first south for daughter's graduation and wedding, and then north, related to my husband's business.
Here are a few pictures. The space is still under construction.
Glad to have seen this thread as it will renew my inspiration when I get back home
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Tina P.
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| Posted: June 06 2013 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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Maybe the cheering section on this forum, will renew my verve to work on my projects. I started in our toy room which is in our detached garage (long story). It's frustrating me right now. I'm lamenting having to organize all the little bits and pieces of Lego, K'Nex, and Playmobil and all the other sets and bits and puzzle pieces and all the time I missed because I homeschool over the summer the past several years. I swear toys multiply and divide to all corners when we're not looking. I wanted to start in the toy room because it has no air conditioning. When we get it completely cleaned, painted and set up, we will probably put a window unit in it, but until then, I want to clean it while its still cool enough outside to go in there without suffocating. 
I'm hoping that by early July, we'll have that done and I'll be able to start purging books in our library (yes, we have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on one wall and floor to as high as a 5'5" woman can reach in our attached garage aka library aka school room). 
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
Mary's Muse
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kristacecilia
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We had to put our renovations on hold. 
Although it hopefully won't be for too long.
I'm using the time to plan (and hopefully execute?) a major sort-through of every toy, book, article of clothing, and piece of furniture we own so I don't over-clutter my beautiful space when it is done.
Until then, I am enjoying keeping up with this thread!
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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kristacecilia
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Ha! I said all that on page one, apparently. See the state of my brain these days? Total burn out, achieved! 
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God bless,
Krista
Wife to a great guy, mom to two boys ('04, '06) and three girls ('08, '10, '12!)
I blog at http://kristacecilia.wordpress.com/
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MicheleB
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| Posted: June 17 2013 at 7:07am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
It's an ancient history year with 12th grade, 8th, 4th, and 1st. Should be fun!
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I would love to see your booklists for this time period. I am working on my own for Ancients to 500 AD. This will be our 2 trip through this time period, and I am looking forward to revisiting and going ever-deeper. I really am focusing a bit on pre-history because I don't want my kids to ever be nervous when they hear various theories. I especially want my 12-year old to gain familiarity with the idea of prehistory and not become locked into the idea that the early chapters of Genesis are a *strictly* historical or scientific account. I keep toying with the idea of an Ancients year in which Egypt is the "spine." Other countries and advancements are studied in relation to what happens in Egypt or as they interact with Egypt. That would work well as Christianity takes the stage too! But that might have o wait for our 3rd trip. 
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http://thestripedrose.blogspot.com/
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: July 23 2013 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Still plugging away, got 3 boxes of curriculum to sell! Don't know why I was holding on to it, as the youngest is done with it. Time to see it go. So shelves have more room :) Desk is nearly cleared, being distracted by setting up lesson plans and figuring out how to restructure dd9 workbox drawers. Think I got it figured out now!
But I think room will be settled by Friday, hope so!
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Mom to 4,
1 graduated June 2012
1 in Catholic school
2 homeschooled(one considering art school!)
ardently praying for a new addition to our family.
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Angel
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| Posted: July 30 2013 at 12:51pm | IP Logged
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I'm glad you bumped this thread, because I totally missed it earlier.
Jen, I'm really impressed that you were clearing out your homeschool room with a month old baby! I've been trying to work on clearing/refilling bookshelves all July and it is going reeeeeeaaaaalllly slooooooowly. Of course my dh has been out of town 3 of the past 5 weeks. Maybe I can use that as an excuse.
Anyway, I don't really have a school room -- but I do have new shelves in our eat-in kitchen to fill and I'm almost done sorting through the curriculum bookcase in the computer room. Two boxes of curriculum to sell at this point, and the current year shelves are beginning to fill up a little. Allergies are going nuts with all the dust. And completely frustrated with the layout of our house. I've also gotten to the point where I don't think we can put off buying more bookcases. I'm so tired of the cluttered downstairs!!!
Coop classes for my teens start NEXT WEEK. I am totally not ready for this, as I'm still trying to make booklists for what we'll be doing at home. We're doing the ancients this year, too, Jen; did you ever get around to posting booklists? (I think we're going to tweak Sally T's Western Civ plans for the teens.)
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 01 2013 at 7:46am | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
| Jen, I'm really impressed that you were clearing out your homeschool room with a month old baby! |
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Don't be too impressed! I'm fortunate in that I have lots of big kids that help here! AND...I was so ready to move and do things again after a difficult pregnancy - you couldn't hold me back!
Angel wrote:
| We're doing the ancients this year, too, Jen; did you ever get around to posting booklists? |
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I haven't yet, but I do hope to soon! I finished my booklists and plans and we're rolling here! It's been a really great start so far and the kids are enjoying their books and plans.
I'm also really happy with the reorganized learning spaces here! It's more streamlined, organized, and workable! It has functioned really well for us over the years, but addressing how it functions every year: purging what isn't necessary and considering how the space works anew - has really helped the room stay fresh so that our work there always seems supported by the space. I really like that. It helps me (and the kids) enormously to not have to constantly fight to find things, or make the space work for us. I'm really grateful for the investment of time each summer in overhauling our learning room!!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Angel
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Mackfam wrote:
| I really like that. It helps me (and the kids) enormously to not have to constantly fight to find things, or make the space work for us. I'm really grateful for the investment of time each summer in overhauling our learning room!! |
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Our problem right now is that we seem to be fighting our space. It always seems so ironic to me that we have this *huge* room upstairs but it is so out of the way and dark that no one wants to use it as a school room. So mostly it just serves as the legos-all-over-the-floor room, and we try to jam most of our living into the 1500 square ft or so that is our downstairs. The books overflow every year. I'm trying to get rid of a lot of extra "stuff" this year, so hopefully that will help, but it is so slow. And I have more kids to help (theoretically) than you do. Sometimes I think having them "help" makes things harder.
I really like having my big bank of shelves in the dining space where we do school, though. I'm slowly filling them up... but I'm starting to panic, because there still isn't enough room!!! Trying to fit everything for 7 kids, preK through high school plus my stuff on one wall is tougher than I thought it would be.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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pumpkinmom
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Angel wrote:
Our problem right now is that we seem to be fighting our space. It always seems so ironic to me that we have this *huge* room upstairs but it is so out of the way and dark that no one wants to use it as a school room. So mostly it just serves as the legos-all-over-the-floor room, and we try to jam most of our living into the 1500 square ft or so that is our downstairs. The books overflow every year. I'm trying to get rid of a lot of extra "stuff" this year, so hopefully that will help, but it is so slow. And I have more kids to help (theoretically) than you do. Sometimes I think having them "help" makes things harder.
I really like having my big bank of shelves in the dining space where we do school, though. I'm slowly filling them up... but I'm starting to panic, because there still isn't enough room!!! Trying to fit everything for 7 kids, preK through high school plus my stuff on one wall is tougher than I thought it would be. |
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I would feel the same way about the space. It seems like everyone who has that extra space that is away from the main living area feels this way (at least the friends/family I know). What about using this space for storage? Take everything out of the main living areas that isn't used often and put in this extra space. Then you can have access to the stuff you use often. For example, I would have all current school items (maybe just for the current term) in the main living area and put everything else in the other room. Switch it out come the next term or as needed. This is pretty much what I do. I think this is a good problem to have though!
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Doing a clean sweep of my school 'room'
