My friend Cindy taught first grade for six years. In that time, she accumulated and created an incredible amount of curricula, activity packets, manipulatives, puzzles, games, supplies and decorations. After deciding to homeschool her two boys, Cindy transformed her dining room into a schoolroom reminiscent of her teaching days. She lined one entire wall with bookshelves and the other walls displayed posters to teach the days of the week, month, and record the daily weather. Encircling the room was a timeline that she and the boys added to throughout the year as they worked through their History and Bible curriculum.
She was in her element.
I thought it was AHHHHH-MA-ZING!
I remember wanting a schoolroom of my own because at the time, Emelie, Meredith and I “did school” at the kitchen table. The house was only 1230 square feet, and there was little to no storage for all of our school “stuff.” On top of that, Kenny interrupted us every six seconds because he was a two-year-old when we moved there, and that is just what toddlers DO.
We’ve called him many things through the years, including “Captain Math-a-matical”, but that year he was called Mr. Interrupt-us, and boy, did he live up to his moniker.
Fast forward nine years and things have changed significantly.
We have a designated schoolroom that also serves as my home office. Jeff made my vision a reality with a drop lighting feature that runs on a track above the school table. Built-in bookshelves flank one side of the room and a utilitarian combination of IKEA furniture topped with a large sheet of glass makes up our schoolroom table. Everything we need, and lots of stuff we don’t, is at our fingertips, but can be neatly tucked away when not in use.
I love it.
We love it.
BUT…we are about to make a significant change in our lives–we are downsizing. I call it “faithsizing” because it seems to fit our situation as we step out in faith in a decision we’ve needed to make for a few years now.
We don’t know what our daily life, much less our school life, will look like when all the dust settles, but we do know we are selling this home of ours, and all the creature comforts it holds, for something more in keeping with our budget.
We’re excited.
We’re terrified.
AAAANNNNDDD I’m purging like a mad woman, which I LOVE to do, but now I have to do out of pure necessity. Why? Because it looks as though we may, even if just temporarily, move into a lake house with a little less than 1000 square feet of living space; that my friends, is the primary reason I must evaluate and purge.
Along with that “purge” practice is an additional “check” on my mentality toward certain things. For instance, I frequently buy books instead of borrowing them. With less shelf space, that is a habit I need to set aside–that, or become one of the greatest library book donors of all time.
So, today I have been thinking a lot about what is necessary for homeschooling (The list be-a-changin’, folks). Obviously, things have changed. Older kids require significantly less “stuff” to homeschool. Emelie has her own place now, and will wrap up Algebra 2 soon, so I’m down to homeschooling two kiddos. Meredith begins high school, and Kenny will start 7th grade. They don’t need “much” in the way of space to carry out their learning, which is good. That said, we FILL this room annually, and I simply will not have a room this size any longer–think ONE ROOM LAKE HOUSE, people.
I would like to hear what would you keep (because the list of what you could purge might be more than the comments can handle).
Help a momma out. Beyond your actual curriculum and textbooks, what are the TOP TEN THINGS you could not homeschool without?
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families to live, love and learn. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods where she currently home schools two of her three kids.