Our learning area

Our area for doing the children's lessons has gone through many, many changes. Firstly, we always used to work on the kitchen table, with a bookshelf to hold all the paper and craft gear, an alphabet frieze along the top of the wall (actually, that's still there!), and a wall to post up displays of work.

Then we began our renovating and a huge rumpus room became 2 rooms: a bedroom and a 'learning room'. Our learning room has the schooling tables and materials all in one corner, a piano and lounge suite, plus more bookshelves for books and games.

The table the children used to work at used to be smaller, with smaller chairs, until Maestro sprouted and we just had to upgrade. So my parents very kindly gave us a trestle table which works perfectly.

Are you like me, though, and have to try numerous combinations and arrangements until something works 'just right'? I just couldn't get my area to 'work' until the end of last year. I'm really happy with this set-up now, though:

Since it's a trestle table for the children, putting it in the middle of the room seemed a good idea, but it wasn't getting dismantled. So, it was put toward the back window, parallel to the bookcase. We had been given ... (in fact, all the furniture in this photo has been given to us, so I am most grateful for family and friend's generosity) ... given a buffet cupboard, which holds the art/craft supplies, various other stationery and new 'school' books.

Then I thought I'd like to have a table just for me. So, the desk I was using for my sewing area was brought in and slots in just nicely. It's working well, as now I also have a neat sewing table to make my drapes. ...... Oh yes, the drapes! (That's what I'm frantically trying to complete. Only about 3hrs away from finishing this one window.) You can see them on the LHS, not yet hung properly as I need to get a new rod on which to put them. Those verticals just have to go. They're old, faded and just don't work anymore. Here's the pretty fabric I picked up last week:

The buffet top is going to work nicely to display our books in use, any special 'show and tell' items the children will collect/make (much like a nature study display), plus a calendar I made to help Mariposa with learning dates. It is just a printout with the list of days, months, year and numerals, all laminated. They are then stuck with blu-tac onto a laminated page with "Today's date is:" on the top.

In the book holder is my book on Australian Birds (a 1967 edition). I'll display a new bird each week for the children to learn about (this week it's Galahs). We'll also be reading through the Great Composers book, focusing on a composer a month (or as I figure it out .. nothing in concrete yet!) and listening to their music. Our current read-aloud is Enid Blyton's More Adventure on Willow Tree Farm (this was one of the treasures we found in an antique store on our vacation).

My bookshelf is just crammed with lots of books, math manipulatives and readers. I like how it's all there, on hand.

On the opposite side of the room, the games shelf; pretty well stocked, too.

In front of this shelf is our 2 seater lounge (currently covered in drape material - thus not photographed, lol!). It's great for getting us together for read-alouds, and the children enjoy being comfortable whilst reading to me.

Well, I'll leave it there for now, as there's a day's work to be done. I'll post about my drape making adventures soon.