Hi! It's been a while. I am so sorry that I haven't written anything regarding our school year. I know it's fun to peek into other people's plans for new ideas or inspiration and for that, I am sorry. But I can sum it up right now. There is no plan. :) You can read on if you would like for a longer description.

This year has been different as we have schooled a bit through summer and have shifted gears regarding methods and practices, to fit this current time in our lives.I would like to write both about the plan for the year as well as source some things from our new school room.

Read: YAY, New School Room!

Before heading into the details, I figure I should at least post a before image of our bedroom, since it is now a fraction the size. I promised years ago to give a floor tutorial in which I didn't, but now you're in luck!

Our floors were originally carpet and as we are typically always on a low budget, we tore it out and placed plywood planks down. This roughly cost around $300 in lumber and our local hardware store ripped the pieces for us. Jason used a nail gun and glue to adhere them to the subfloor. I painted them with Kelly Moore basic white deck paint and sealed them with a clear polyurethane (be careful, polies can be tricky when they're oil based and leave a gross yellow stain, be sure to ask a paint guy, NOT a Lowe's person...learned that the hard way!).

Also, for all of those asking about white floors...they are about as practical as they look. They are a much better option than carpet, in my opinion, but you can't be a perfectionist and have white wood floors. Not possible. They scuff and show marks, which I've come to ignore, but unless you have a low traffic, no-shoe, socks only policy, this may not be for you. :) My children play outside a lot and perpetually have dirty feet. While the floor is super easy to mop or wipe up, it will still show dirty footprints or shoe prints. Just a word of caution. Hope that helps!

This room was such a haven for us. We slept under the stars, witnessed the sun rise in the morning and watched storms pass by our windows. It was such a sweet place to be in, but a complete waste of space as we only slept in there and I occasionally worked up there.

Now it serves our entire family and it's such a blessing to have! This bookshelf was already in place. I didn't want it showing when we had our bedroom upstairs, so we covered it with panelling. All we had to do was rip the panelling off and add touch up paint.

The mahogany cabinet with all the small drawers was Jason's great-grandfather's who was a dentist. It was his dental cabinet; it now serves as arts and crafts storage. Perfect for needles, thread, glue, etc.

I asked the children what they wanted out of this room. Most of them wanted animals, nature findings and species. We are working on our collection of "curiosities".

The painted hubcap is done by my great-great-grandmother who was quite a feminist for the early 1900's. She divorced her husband because he was a "womanizer", even with having three children to care for. This was unheard of back then! I love having her independent, strong spirit represented in this space.

When we first moved here six years ago, this "loft" was more of an extra living area. There was a fireplace in the middle of the room and a bar against the wall. We built a closet in place of the bar, capped the plumbing, and covered the window to make room for our clothes. The closet now serves as storage. The whole left side is bookshelves and houses my printer and miscellaneous school supplies. The right side hosts the sink and various art supplies, which we use plenty with all the painting and clay creations that happen up here!

A realistic view of what the table usually looks like during the day:

My friend's dad made the table custom for me as I wanted it to function as a work station, yet serve as a table if we ever host a large party. It's wide enough to fit dishes on each side and long enough for all five to fit when the day comes.

I had the swing installed because of my research regarding movement and learning. A lot of therapists use swings for children with learning disabilities and struggles. After one day of having it up, without informing the children of why it's there, Everett had mentioned that it was easier for him to focus on his math facts when swinging on it. I'd say that's enough support for the studies I read!

Okay, now for the school year plan!

As summer began to wrap up, I had started doing some research on unschooling. The more I read about it, the more I realized that we pretty much unschool aside from math and phonics. We read a lot of literature and take part in narrating and illustrating, but aside from that, there is rarely a plan and I don't care much for hitting every subject, nor do I pay attention to chronological order. I just want them to enjoy learning, and if that means bypassing ancient history, so be it.

I dug down deep to figure out why I dislike schedules and plans (while I very much enjoy having a routine and expectations; ironic, I know). I'm still praying about whether that's a character flaw or something to embrace, but for now, the children have quite a bit of freedom to explore subjects that they're interested in. I am (mostly) confident that they're learning spelling, grammar, and writing through their written narrations, copywork, and the literature we read.

Math is something that's required and something we do every day. We still use Math Mammoth for all three children and they seem to enjoy (or tolerate depending on the child!!) it. Carter is still working on side businesses and dives into math riddles and strategy books when he can.

The children participate in copywork (cursive for both Carter and Everett) every Monday by copying our weekly memory verse as well as the hymn or poem we are memorizing for the month.

Everett is passionate about hunting and the outdoors. He's not one to enjoy reading, but if he has a Gary Paulson book or a trappers book, he is locked in and focussed. :) None of the children have assigned reading. I have taught them to search the library for subjects they enjoy and they check out their own books accordingly. Currently Carter is interested in the Civil War and has checked out his share of books regarding that topic.

Scarlett loves horses and has also found the Disney section in the library (noooooo!). I'm learning to let go of controlling what they're interested in and allowing them to learn in their own ways. They read for an hour each school day as a form of rest time. Throughout the day, they spend a lot of time browsing books, building things, making things, pretending, and playing outdoors.

The mornings are our "Morning Collective" time, in which we come together as a group and discuss the day, our Bible story, and read various books. This is a sacred time as I have all five of them invested in what we are reading. We rotate through several different books. Usually I have one nature book, a theological book along with the Bible, a survival/ pioneer/ historical book, a fantasy book, a horse book (to go along with our History of Horses block), and various picture books, usually having to do with the current season or month. We learn a new Spanish word every 1-2 days. During this time the children typically have some sort of handicraft to work on so their hands stay busy while their mind is focusing on the stories they hear.

Here is an example of what we have read in the past two days:

I am really curious to see how this year goes. When I spent some time in solitude, the Lord gave me the word, "BOLD" for this year. I truly feel like that means stepping out of our comfort zone in regards to many things that are socially acceptable and pursuing a path that works solely for us and following what God has for us. I'm not sure what that means, but I am willing and able!

We will be investing in each child this year in place of any sort of curriculum or sports. Everett is learning pottery from an actual pottery teacher (not just me or Youtube!). Carter is beginning violin lessons (his choice) and Scarlett will be working with horses. I am so anxious to see their passions unfold and while I'm realistic that passions can be temporary. I am fine with that. I would love for them to explore and learn as much as they can about many things and I truly believe the only way to do that is when you're personally interested. I'm excited to help them with their interests and to prospect various subjects and trades along side of them...oh the beauty of homeschool!!

This schoolroom is the first place in our home where I purchased or received a majority of the furniture retail. I'm used to the thrill of thrifting and finding that perfect piece, so this project, albeit a blast to conceptualize and create, had me sick to my stomach at times over the amount of consumption that took place (true confessions, even when it's embarrassing to admit!). I had a short amount of time to bring it to fruition, however, and a lot of partnerships were what made it possible. I am so grateful, as well as my entire family, for the partners involved, because now we spend the majority of our days up here!

Sources:

Couch: Article

Rugs: Rugs USA

Kiddie Table: Thrifted

Kiddie Stools & Clock: Hayneedle

Workstation: Built by friend

Goat hair stools: Shop.com

Eames style stools: Overstock

Rolling Chalkboard: Wayfair

Swing: Urban Outfitters

Blackout Blinds: Blindster

Sink: Amazon