Our School Room

Summer break is drawing quickly to a close and the new school year is almost upon us. It's exciting while at the same time a little scary. I've just really enjoyed these relaxed summer days. :) And this year I have a high school student! Yikes!

In honor of the coming-too-quickly event, I want to share our school room. I've done some organizing to make it a little more convenient.

Here is where we start our school days. We begin by reading a chapter of the Old Testament followed by a chapter of the New Testament. We are reading straight through each Testament. We are currently in 1 Kings and 1 Timothy. :) We then work on memorizing this catechism and read a selection from some book I've chosen. We have completed Everyday Graces: Child's Book Of Good Manners (Foundations) recently. Other books we read include missionary stories, books on manners, character-building stories, etc. We end this time by having each person say what they are thankful for that day.

I then use this table to work with whoever needs me. The little ones also usually stay here for their work while the older 3 move to the dining room, with the girls at the dining room table and Joshua at a desk.

In this closer view you can see my great big white board. I LOVE this board! It is actually a piece of the material used to line shower walls. We purchased it from Home Depot, along with the plastic edging pieces for around $15-$20. Great deal! 

I also have a small bookshelf with our currently used books close at hand and my file cabinets. I use them to file away all the workbooks that I have cut up. Yes, you read that right...cut up. Instead of having my children write in the workbooks, I chop off the spines and make them into loose-leaf pages. We insert these into page protectors and use dry-erase markers or crayons. Much more cost effective than purchasing new workbooks for each child. The only exception to this is the set of Preschool Workbooks (Early Learning Workbooks)I use when my children are around 4. 

You can also see our Markable Map on the wall. It has the US on the other side. We also have a color version of this map. 

Across the room from our table we have the computer corner. This is where the children do their Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish as well as the games for their Singapore Math . I also have a copier that my husband found for me on one of his thrift store hunts!! I LOVE having this!! He's great like that! :)

In the other corner we have the "baby container" and a bookshelf (there is another one in the opposite corner...when you use Sonlight curriculum, you need a LOT of shelf space!) and 2 rolling carts. Each of my girls has a drawer for storing her things. This includes workbooks and notebooks for the older 4, puzzles for the 2 year old who LOVES puzzles (you can see her in the photo playing with puzzles and baby toys) and a drawer with baby toys for the 1 year old....for when we let her out of jail the baby container. :) Joshua keeps his workbooks and binders in his desk drawers. 

My newest organization project this year was this closet. It doesn't look that great (this is the only part of our house that was never updated!) but I'm really excited about it. I now have a place to put all these supplies and close the door. The best part is that there is a nice bolt at the top of the door to keep little people from grabbing permanent markers and writing on my lovely dry erase board! :)

Well, there you  have it! We are pretty much organized now and ready to start the new year! (I think.....)

How about you? What kind of storage/materials do you have in your schoolroom or school space?



  

Link-ups:

   
 

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

As my girls and I work through finishing up our Sonlight Curriculum Core D this summer, we came to a read-aloud called Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. Now, this is my second time through this core. I read this book to my son a few years back. I must have forgotten just how wonderful this book is, because when the girls saw the cover and said, "Ewww......", I admit that I secretly thought the same thing. I even contemplated skipping over it and moving on. I'm so glad I didn't!

We LOVED this book! In fact, it is scheduled to be read over the course of about 3 weeks, but we finished it off in about 6 days!


Summary: This is the story of Nathaniel Bowditch, author of The American Practical Navigator (also known as "the Sailor's Bible"). Nat was a self-taught scholar in post-Revolutionary war America. After having been indentured as an apprentice at the age of 12, he thought his education was over. He soon discovered, however, that by determination and perseverance, he could learn on his own. He was a mathematical whiz and eventually even learned several languages on his own. At the end of his apprenticeship, he signed on to sail and there discovered that the formulas in the book used by sailors had many mathematical mistakes. He took it upon himself to correct this and thus was born the idea for his book. He also spent much time teaching the common sailors how to navigate, something they weren't expected to understand. Many sailors were able to move up in the ranks because of his teaching. 


This book is very well-written and interesting. It is also easy to follow. It does have a lot of nautical language that sometimes we didn't understand, but we either looked up what we needed to (and Sonlight gives great notes!) or we just read through realizing that sailors have their own "language". I did have to stop a couple of times to explain what was going on, but in my opinion that only enhances the educational value of the book. 


This was such a winner with my girls that Daddy heard all kinds of "Nat Bowditch" stories at the dinner table all week long! :)

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Link-ups:

Thankful Homemaker, Far Above Rubies, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Deep Roots At Home, Raising Homemakers

Paul Washer's Book

Paul Washer's book The One True God is now available at Amazon.

If you aren't familiar with Paul Washer's ministry, here is a video of one of his sermons. He is one of my very favorite preachers.

Book Suggestions for Wives & Mothers

Some of my favorite books for wives and mothers.

The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson