moving things around

Apr 29, 2013

Our learning room and sewing room have been in disaster mode for the past few weeks and today was the day to get everything back in order and make some rearrangements so we can start our new learning routine without iFamily classes on Wednesdays.

First up was to put all my math supplies away from the past many weeks of teaching Math Alive! – I tell you the amount of blocks, games, Polydrons, papers, books, and other manipulatives I haul back and forth to that class each week would blow your mind. Unfortunately we haven’t been putting it all away each week, so it has been building up in piles all over the school room. Today we got all my math stuff put away on our Expedit life-changing shelves, put the school room bookshelves back in order, the dress-ups put away, the fort-making blankets folded up, everything vacuumed and dusted, and then we started rearranging. My favorite part!

Since Passover the downstairs has been full to bursting with the dining room table taking up almost every inch of walking space. We decided to keep the couches in the dining room (where they have been since Passover) and moved the dining room table upstairs into the family room. We finally put the world map and vinyl on the table to up our geography time and moved my bike downstairs. We moved the Duplo table away from my computer desk and over near the wall maps and timelines. Then we put Keziah’s new (great used find from a family in our ward!) treadmill and set my bike up on my new (great used find on KSL classifieds!) trainer where the Duplo table was. We moved the chess table upstairs in the hopes that people will play more frequently. Next we pulled out the big red barn that has been put away for a few years since Keziah stopped playing with it and made a horse play area for Annesley. We put the couches into a traditional ninety degree angle arrangement instead of the diagonal coziness they have been in for several months to enable more room in front of the TV so Richard and Blythe have enough space to exercise while they do DDP Yoga. We moved my green table down the hallway to my bedroom and our little red nightstand/scripture holder to the corner of the kitchen.

I am thrilled with the changes. I am so excited for Keziah to have a place to run every day and a place for my bike so I can start riding as soon as my physical therapist gives me the go-ahead. I am ready to settle into our new learning groove without iFamily classes influencing how we spend our time. This is the time of year I get to teach my children with the most freedom because they don’t have other commitments to other teachers. I love it! Don’t get me wrong, I love their iFamily classes also, but it is nice to shake things up a bit every few months.

Fisher begged me to pull out the Story of The World CDs this morning to listen to while we cleaned. I love Jim Weiss’ voice and how he draws my children right into the story. Today we learned about the fertile crescent, how nomadic people lived, early farming efforts, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Joseph and the coat of many colors, his brothers selling him as a slave, Potipher’s house, prison, the Pharoah’s dreams, the seven-year famine, and the reunification of Jacob’s family. Fisher knows the Israelite stories inside and out, but it was fun to listen to them from a different perspective. I think we will continue on with listening for the next few weeks during art time.

Now that everything is clean and orderly all my children want to do is get things out and explore! It cracks me up how that works. When everything is in its place the school room is far more interesting than when everything is in chaos.

p.s. If you have been eyeing my Polydrons, now is a great time to get some. The sale prices this month are the best I have seen for over a year. They often go on sale for 25% – 40% off, but this month is in the 75% off range.