Classroom Tour

Ok, here it is - our new classroom! It's quite a bit different than our old classroom now that we have an entire room to devote just to school. This, of course, means we do not have a guest bedroom/office and any future children we may be blessed with will have to share a room with one another. We're more than fine with all of that. Since we decided to homeschool, we realized it only makes sense to devote an area to that purpose.

Anyway, on with the tour...

The next 4 photos will give you a 360 overview of the room starting from the vantage point of the door. You'll notice the room is broken down into several areas all of which I'll go through in a minute.I was sure to keep in mind that this is James' classroom, therefore wherever possible everything is displayed at his height.

There are three large windows that let in lots of natural light and we haven't needed to use the overhead light as a result. One teeny tiny thing that irks me a little is that the curtain rods were hung too high by the previous tenant so the curtains are a bit short for the windows. :)

I was lucky to find 5 very similar bookcases here on the island. Not an easy thing to do when supplies and variety are so limited. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the rug is very soft and colorful - I think I found it at Target.

That's the entrance to the right. There's LOTS of storage space behind those closet doors.

Now for more details. One thing I made a point of doing was incorporating many special, personal affects into our classroom.

When you enter the room, directly ahead are the language shelves and our classroom calendar. I wrote about our calendar here and about the works you see on the shelves here. The little basket on the very top shelf holds print-outs of seasonal songs we sing during circle time. The very fragrant clove box is from Indonesia, a gift from a friend.

To the left of the language shelves is the reading nook. I think this is my favorite spot in the whole room. In front of a sunny window (with an ocean view!) is a little rocking chair (found locally) and a basket of seasonal books. We made the Waldorf window stars and beeswax ornaments last spring.

This is where James sits during our circle times. I always pictured him sitting on the rug, but he saw the rocking chair and fell in love with it. :) He loves to hold the pumpkin whenever he sits there.

To the left of the reading nook are the practical life shelves. My grandmother painted that still life portrait. The small wooden statue of the girl holding flowers was made in Minnesota (my home state).

The bouquet of flowers was a thoughtful gift from my sweet husband. :)

Next to the practical life shelves are the art and music shelves. On the top shelf is a portrait of Beethoven (we focus on a different composer each month and I change this photo accordingly) and an 'antique' :) MP3 player with speakers which are sitting atop a beautiful woven mat that I purchased while in Belize. We are a music loving family and we especially love classical music. I keep it playing - on a very low volume - throughout our school time. It makes for such a peaceful environment. I forgot to turn on the music the other day and James noticed and asked for it to be turned on. Then, when Fur Elise came on he said, "Oh! Beethoven is playing the piano!". The crocheted doily under the little straw basket was made by my other talented grandma. :)

This middle area under the windows is really just open floor space for bulky work and our sensory tub. I just have to share that outside this window is our driveway and just behind that is a nature reserve full of beautiful trees and wildflowers and with walking trails throughout. Since it's nestled within an estate, it's very private and we have yet to see another person in that area. It's where we spend our recess time, pretending we're explorers. :) The God's Eyes you see hanging in the window are the very ones I made at Camp Ojiketa some 20 years ago! (Yes, I save everything - I'm a pack rat sentimental like that!) The little wooden frame in the middle of the window sill is from Nova Naturals as are the beautiful seasonal and interchangeable postcards within it.

To the left of the windows are the science shelves. This bookcase, like the art & music bookcase, is a tad shorter than the others. I did this so James could reach the top shelves a bit more easily. As you can see we have a classroom fish which James has named "Mr. Pocodeo". It is James' responsibility to feed Mr. P each morning before we begin circle time. He loves doing this, although he does tend to overfeed Mr. P a bit. :) To the left of the tank is a little fish fossil set in stone. I found it many years ago during my travels. James says it's a picture of Mr. P.

Next to the science shelves are the culture & history shelves. You can see our US flag (in a vase w/ stones) which we proudly pledge allegiance to each day, our continents globe, and an oil painting of Paris that I purchased from a Parisian artist during one of my visits there.

To the left of those shelves are the math shelves. I must point out that I set out most of our Montessori materials for photographic purposes only - not ALL of these math items are out right now. Also for the purposes of the photo, I opened the boxes to show what's inside. The painting on top of the bookcase is a fun one - it's an alphabetic tour of some major cities throughout the world. I believe I found it in the Land of Nod catalog (a few years ago).

The last set of shelves nearest to the door are the sensorial shelves. I know the shelves are, in general, a bit out of traditional order, but this is the way that worked best for our room.

I have two live plants in our room, both of which James is responsible for watering once a week. I cannot tell you how much he enjoys taking care of these plants! I have a small watering can and cloth set out for him to use. There's a bathroom adjacent to our classroom so it's easy for James to use his step stool to fill the watering can with water in the sink. He uses the cloth to cover the spout while he's walking from plant to plant, to avoid any spillage. That adorable black and white photo above the plant is of my father-in-law (God rest his soul) when he was a little boy, circa 1925-ish.

And finally there's a small table and chairs and baskets with wipes and tissues on the side.

So there you go! What do you think? We LOVE it. The room is bright, airy and very relaxing. I find myself going in there just to sit and be. It's definitely my 'happy place' and I hope James feels the same way. :)

~Thank you for your comments!~