Where we learn at home

Week two of the Not Back To School Blog Hop is featuring school rooms. Now, I have to confess, try as I may, mine is still a HUGE work in progress. We just moved about 7 weeks agoand my schoolroom is now in our unfinished walkout basement. You know, great view, but not a whole lot to work with aesthetically :(  But we're making the most of it and I think it's coming together?  

Now to get a little real: So as I'm collecting photos to post, my new Nikon camera decides to completely die. I mean gone! No problem, I grab my oldie but goodie Kodak and flash, flash away! But darn it all, my oh-so-troublesome laptop won't recognize the memory card. AGH! How to get these pictures posted? Undaunted, I drag my poor daughter downstairs (in the dark) and have her shine a light at each area as I photograph it with my cell phone. Ok, those look waaaaay worse that reality. So I patiently wait for morning and hijack my hubbie's iPhone and snap away only to find my internet down all morning. Ok my friends, apparently this is all I can do so.... anyhow, here goes.

I found the cutest collection of scrapbook supplies from Heidi Grace at Joann's called Tweet Dreams and even found some coordinating accessories at Michaels to use as well. I used these and some coordinating scrapbook paper to decorate my room for about $20.

See here are those cute letters titling my Classroom Rules board. Now I know your children come to school time with a bright-eyed sense of eagerness, enthusiasm and wonder each and every morning. My crew however, needed a few gentle ground rules to keep them in check. I created this list and my wonderful husband printed this off as a poster-size document and it looks so great!  If you like this, I've included it as a freebie (minus the heading) so just click the picture below to download it if you'd like.

Here is our word wall (words yet to be added) made from those same scrapbook letters! So fun!

I spray painted this famous IKEA tins and decorated them with the stickers from JoAnn's and the flowers from Michaels. I think they look adorable!

The whole room, kind of. We hung white pom-pom "clouds" and yellow sunflowers to liven up the space a little.

Our Books

Our computer area that needs a whole lot of sprucing up!

This is my desk area. Wow, this looks so much less hodge-podge in person, honest! I use the Tic-Tac-Toe pocket chart for quiz games and review and the new Boggle chart is for those times when they are waiting with a question while I'm helping someone else. They can pull out a sheet of paper and keep a running list of words. Great for spelling practice and keeps them occupied instead of frustrated while they wait. 

I found this "Cookie Mouse" and Peter Rabbit at a local Salvation army for a quarter a piece. Love that! So I displayed the characters with their respective books and then put a book ledge underneath for easy-to-reach choices. The bins underneath the bench are sorted into categories (yet to be labeled) so we don't complete a unit only to find we forgot to read a great book that would have gone along so nicely!

And our favorite reading spot: the family room. Who wouldn't want to read here in front of crackling fire on a crisp fall day. So can't wait!

And for recess....drum roll..... our new playset!  We just got this earlier this week from a neighbor who was moving. They graciously gave us a steal of a price and we thought this would be indispensable in the coming months to burn off some of that excess energy.  

  

For nature studies, we have some wonderful new friends here on our property. We are in the middle of the city - no more than 10 minutes from all major shopping - but we're tucked away on nearly 5 acres and absolutely LOVING IT!  We have a family of groundhogs, bunnies, and here are some sweet deer that like to come by most every morning. Maybe someday we won't run to the front windows to watch them, but for now - yep, we do!

Some newer friends began coming last week. On this particular day, we had 8 turkeys in our front yard.  And while one of my kiddos mentioned that we'd be all set for Thanksgiving this year, I for one am thinking it's totally worth the money to have that turkey come naked and frozen!

Well, that's it for our schoolroom. We are all so excited for our new year! See you next week for Student Photo Week and the scoop on our first week "back to school"...once I get a camera to work, that is!