Purging and Building

We finished up our homeschool year today. I thought we were a bit behind but after looking through the kids new curriculum books for next year I decided to rethink the situation. The beginning of the books for next year are the same material in the last chapters of their books for this year. So, for me, it's not worth repeating the material. The kids have really worked hard all year and I'm so proud of all they have accomplished.

This flag hangs in our homeschool space.

It's a contstant reminder to us that our children belong at home.

It is a spiritual calling I think.

When we finished homeschooling today, I packed away all the old curriculum, purged papers, saved a few things in case the Superintendent want's to review our work (this doesn't happen but it's always a fear of mine) and cleaned and scrubbed the shelves.

When the old stuff was moved, it made me very happy

to put new curriculum on the shelves.

Giddy in fact.

But I was exhausted and needed a nap.

I moved filing cabinet into the corner (doesn't every homeschooler need more filing space?) and put this paper holder on top. It was really for my scrapbooking stuff but was shoved in the back of the closet and hasn't seen the light of day in about 3 years. Now we have scrap paper and colored paper at our fingertips for all those artsy projects.

Dixie the Desk cat likes to lay across the kids books when they are trying to work.
Actually, she was quite happy today when the desk was finally clean and she could lay down again in her favorite spot.....and shed.

Even my bookshelf was cleaned.

The wall that we used for all the kids artwork and posters and other school work

was cleaned off. It was so weird to see the wall again.

By the end of summer it will be filled again, with sand paintings, and seashell

necklaces and photos of sea creatures and flowers and all kinds of things.

This was the best $3.00 I ever spent.

It's a carryall for cleaning supplies but it stays on our work table so the kids have easy access to pencils, pens, scissors, tape (we never have enough tape-I am taking donations), rulers, calculators, glue and markers.

I used to use this blue vinyl thingy for Tae's word wall words but he decided the calendar would be better suited to this space. He did a great job figuring out where all the numbers went. Once he realized that there were 7 days in a week,

not 8, things went along much more smoothly.

I use these Magazine file things for stuff I need to keep handy by my desk.

We are switching to Oak Meadow next year for all three of the kids.

Planning time was taking way to long with our busy schedules and I really wanted something a bit more gentle for the kids.

I love how the stories integrate through all of the learning.

We call this closet "the coffin". It's about 4 feet deep and you can't get to anything in the back. I hate this closet but I didn't have a choice to clean it today. When you open the door and stuff falls on your head-well it's just time.

I'm using these two art buckets for the kids art supplies for next year.

Oak Meadow is very heavy on the art work-I love that.

I'm supposed to learn the Recorder with Tae but am completely lost in the first grade manual.

In all honesty, I hate the Recorder.

It makes the dogs howl.

It makes my eardrums bleed.

Oh, the torture!

Patrick has a great selection of books next year.

He'll be studying Latin and doing a photography elective.

We switched out American History for World History for his ninth grade studies.

What changes are you making for the coming year?