Aussie NBTS – Our Learning Spaces
Our assignment this week for the Not Back to School Blog Hop is to share our learning spaces. When Kylie designated Week Three to be Learning Spaces I knew the moment of truth would arrive eventually. We don’t live in an ordinary home, we are slowly building our home, and parts are not pretty, in fact the most unfinished part is the area in which the bulk of our learning occurs. The advantage of designing and building your own home is, after over a decade of home educating and previously extending two homes before we know how we use our home differently and utilised that knowledge when planning. We have some areas we are pretty excited about and others that show great potential. One day it will all look pretty:)
Our study is our boys’ favourite room, with a number of computers. Not only room for computers but a quiet area for our high schoolers to work in. My favourite feature is, doors which can be closed for quiet and locked when needed;)
Adjacent to the study is the living room, where we gather a few times daily for read alouds.
The cork board was a school sale find, one day I have plans for pretty but for now it is practical.
Our main learning area, adjacent to the living room where we congregate for joint lessons and where I work with our younger children. Stationery and daily use books are stored here. Eventually this will be our new kitchen and the learning room will move to the current living room.
Viewing this area from the other end, the table in the foreground designates our dining room. Having a second table means books do not have to be packed up for every meal, a definite advantage. The cupboards and blackboard we found at the Convent school sale.
In the corner is a book display. Living books for current topics and titles for strewing.
Running along the front wall of the house we have three cupboards.
The one in the lounge room houses craft and sewing supplies, supplies that the children are encouraged to access freely.
Sometimes I strew quality art supplies on the cupboard in the pool room and encourage freedom of expression.
Our three older boys all have desks in their rooms. By highschool we have discovered a need for quiet, individual space to study at times.
My favourite room in our home, the library. A haven of calm, a dream come true!
Learning happens in many other ways, academically with science in the kitchen (alas couldn’t locate the photo file) or non-traditionally with; pool in the games room.
Co-operative play in the ‘playground‘.
Learning how to build a home
Experiencing a rural lifestyle.
Our children are blessed with many learning spaces, we give thanks for our blessings.
17 Comments
Anonymous
Couldn't help but smile and comment … I love the lounge picture with the not quite sitting correctly little one. (second from top)
pasmit
sorry made a mistake in last comment……Love your Library!!!!!! and the desks for craft under the windows with lots of light!
Jeanne
Oh, that library, that library, that library!!
Love your computer rooms too – and the extra table – and the library corner. Actually, I would like to live at your home, finished or unfinished…
Caz
Looks absolutely gorgeous 🙂 And yes, one day it will be pretty, but until then… it's home! Thanks for sharing your home with us!
Kylie
I know I have commented on your library, but I am in love 🙂
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sue
Amazing Erin!! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I can't quiet believe that there is someone as 'crazy' as me out there, also with a large family, renovating the house they're living in and homeschooling 🙂 Glad to see you managing it all 🙂 Cheers Sue
Catherine
I'm drooling over your library also, lol! We visited an old family friend on Aust. Day and he had his library room set up like that. All the children were walking around open-mouthed reading the titles.
Love your big table, too! It reminds me of home when I was growing up. 🙂
April
Erin, I think it is amazing the building skills your children are acquiring. Those skills will certainly be handy in their adult lives. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Cinnamon
I love your library!! Beautiful.
~Cinnamon
Tracey Mansted
Erin – your library – WOW : D
What a diverse range of areas you have for learning!
Lovely to see all of your children too – happy, busy faces.
Big fan of strewing here too…really like the pic of the four kids drawing in the pool room.
Thanks for sharing your photos – and it looks plenty pretty to me!
Kendra
Love it 🙂
Erin
Smiling at how many of you love the library, I can see my readers are book lovers:)
Our children will indeed take buidlingskills into adulthood:)
Anna Maria
Hi Mum,
I enjoyed your post. I love what Einstein has done with my room. It looks really cosy. Your photos were amazing, you are defiantly showing the experience you have gained in taking photos. The light really added to the photos.
Erin
Hey Darling,
Don't worry we'll turf him out when you come home:) He is keeping it very neat. Aww thanks:) Pleased to know you found a moment to make your way here. Love you{}
Anonymous
I don't know … I wouldn't have thought you'd recognize the room with the floor showing. It looks much more sparse without all those clothes around the place … you kept it in a much more comfortable lived in condition! Love you too. PC
Legolas
Hey sis
Did you hear what we discovered in your room when you left, we found you actually had a desk> I didn't know you did, I couldn't ever see it under all your junk and cloths! lol
Hope your enjoying yourself
Love Carpenter
Anna Maria
As if you can talk, half the time you have computer parts littering your desk so you can't work at it.
Dad,
Those clothes around the place were strategically placed. The interior decorating skills I used in that room were never guessed at. It takes a lot of courage to go against the flow and use untidiness as a decorating tool.