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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

All-over-the-home schooling


One upon a time, we did school at our dining room table. Books were pulled from a tidy shelf and utilized, then squirreled away. Craft projects littered the end of said table. Flecks of glitter took up residence on the backs of the chairs.

So we built a schoolroom. Suddenly, we had a home for the vast library of books, manipulatives, craft items, and whatnots that we had acquired. School now took place inside the four walls of our little classroom. And we were happy.

But not for long.

When Oliver joined our family, we abandoned the schoolroom. There was no way to keep him entertained in such a small area outfitted with so few toys--and no way to keep the bigger kids on track if we began toting in toys and wiggly toddlers. We retreated to the dining room table, and our schoolroom became a glorified storage space for our homeschooling supplies.

So where, exactly, do we "do" school these days? ALL OVER THE HOUSE. Over the course of today's lessons, I made a list of places where I found children actively engaged in learning:

Bedroom floor (Jo)
Bed (Atticus)
Game room couch (Atticus)
Closet floor (Logan)
Living room couch (Logan)
School room desk (Jo)
Computer desk (all three at various times)
My bed (Atticus)
Game room table (Logan)
Kitchen table (Jo)
Bathroom (Atticus, don't ask!)
Kitchen floor (Atticus)

That doesn't even touch the time spent in read-alouds, where all three of them sprawled on the living room floor and listened while playing with their various fidgets.

I guess that's why they call it HOMEschooling, huh?

7 comments:

Renee said...

Sounds like our house :o)

The Proverbs Wife said...

That is Homeschooling in the true sense of the word.

Luke Holzmann said...

I remember flopping all over the house too. It was fantastic. Though, sometimes hard to hold the book comfortably while sprawled on the couch...

~Luke

Unknown said...

Sounds like us. All over the house!

Frazzled Mom said...

How can all of that learning just be contained to one small room????? We even go outside on the back porch. My youngest son's favorite position is upside down on the couch. He says he can listen better. I love it!

Growin' With It said...

i always think a change of scenery is a great thing! in a lot of circumstances. sounds like you are one flexible mama!

Sarah said...

LOL! We haven't spent much time in our school room either of late. I do most school sitting in one of my red chairs in our "library." The kids do their reading and other alone work all over the place.

At first, this bothered me a bit. But my toddler is happier with the switch and that really counts!