Apartment Homeschool

I often drool over blog posts featuring beautiful and spacious school rooms. But I am blessed to be able to home school so I am grateful for the learning nook that I have carved out in the dining room of our small apartment. Thanks to Ikea, our learning area is both stylish and organized. Homeschooling in an apartment means that homeschooling and all that it entails literally becomes a part of the decor.

Book Storage Area

The corner shelf holds curriculum currently in use.  The bookshelves with glass doors hold my personal book collection.

The Dining room/Classroom

The dining room table is where KingMan completes his lesson. This table gets a workout and will be a candidate for re-staining pretty soon.

The Rotating Display Area/Storage Area (for future themes)

This is the "theme" area where I rotate various themes throughout the school year. Right now it's Geometry and Montessori Geometric solids are on display. Inside the wicker baskets from Ikea I keep materials for future themes. The black and white polka dot container, courtesy of Target, stores all of our pens, pencils, erasers, scissors and glue.

Montessori-inspired Art Area

This is the art area. In the spirit of Montessori, this shelf allows free access to my youngest whenever he wants to do an art project.

This area is now used as the Montessori Math shelves. 

Update! Because we homeschool in an apartment, our shelves are constantly evolving.  Two years ago this was the art area.  Now it's the Montessori math area. Montessori utilizes lots of "works" or manipulatives that must be made easily accessible to the child.

Work Boxes - my organizational savior! Pre-Teen Years

These are KingMan's workboxes. I love them because they allow me to organize his lessons visually, as opposed to piling books high on the dining room table. It also makes for a quick and easy cleanup when it's time for meals. We simply transfer unfinished work back to the workboxes. On the windowsill we keep flash cards and manipulatives. To the left of the work boxes is a storage container for science experiment supplies organized into 3 categories/drawers:  physical science, earth science and life science.  To the right of the work boxes are homeschool lesson plans filed according to subject.  Each child has a separate container.

 

Updated Teen Workboxes

Update! Now that KingMan is a teenager, we use these containers as our workboxes.  I love the colors, but more importantly I love that I am able to organize his curriculum according to subject area.

Drawers Have Ample Space to Hold Text Books

The drawers allow me to place books flat without having to bend and wrinkle. (I'm type A about keeping curriculum neat).  We use a checklist to incorporate the feeling of accomplishment once work is done.  That's really important for boys who need to know when the endpoint is near.

 Jr. Workboxes (he insisted on being in the photo)

Before! This is my youngest child's work area. He has his own workboxes and his Montessori materials and other manipulatives are stored in the Ikea Trofast tower to the left of his workboxes. He loves knowing where to find all of his things.

LionHeart's Upgraded Work Area

Update - now! LionHeart outgrew his preschool work table.  His work area was upgraded, courtesy of Ikea.  The legs of the table are expandable, so as he grows, so will the height of the table.

Montessori-inspired Learning

Though not technically in the dining room, these shelves are also a part of our homeschool. I only have the space to dedicate two bookshelves in our home to Montessori materials.  Though not a Montessori classroom, the spirit of  Montessori is throughout our home and lifestyle. 

The Music Studio

Amazingly enough I made space in our apartment for a piano. We had to forgo extra seating, but it was worth the sacrifice. There's nothing more beautiful than hearing your children make music! 

Long-term storage (also known as my walk-in closet)

Here is my storage area, also known as my walk-in closet. Any curriculum, games or materials that are not in current use are stored here by category. For example, the language art games are on the language art shelves. You can't see it, but winter coats, hats and a file cabinet are stored on the other side.

The Seat of Power (just kidding)

And here's where I make it all happen (those wires are an eyesore - ugh!)  This is the place from which I keep the business of homemaking and homeschooling humming. Ikea trofast storage containers double as "in-boxes" and I have one for every area of my life: Writing/Consulting, Homeschooling and Home Management. I try to stick to the rule: everything has a place and everything in it's place. When you live in a small space, it's an absolute must.

Curriculum Plans for 2011-2012

Final Game of the Diplomats 2011 Season

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.  Before writing this post, I looked over my plans from 2010-2011 year.  Was I serious? I think in an ideal world I would have loved to do all of those things, but then reality or should I say life happens.  My mother and grandmother, the most beloved women in my life, became ill at the same time.  I've spent most of the year caring or coordinating care for them.  Add to that a myriad of homeschool classes, music, sports and my part-time job.  Can you spell B-U-R-N-O-U-T!!!!  As our elders often say, when you know better, you do better.  This fall, I hope to do better.  I am starting by making a bold move: no outside classes from September through March.  Yep, that's right.  As difficult as this will be for me and I'm sure for the children (my youngest wakes up every morning and asks where are we going), I think it will lay a very important foundation in our homeschooling.  I'll have the time and the consistency to actually experience some continuity in our lessons, which seem so disjointed when you start a project on Monday and can't get back to it until the following Thursday. 

In the fall, our mornings will be sacred and dedicated to enjoying our learning together.  Afternoons will be dedicated to music lessons, sports and my part-time job.  I do not consider the arts or sports extra-curricular activities, but an integral part of a well-rounded education.  In the springtime, when the snow melts, the weather begins to warm, and the flowers begin to bloom, we will come out of hibernation and re-enter the world of homeschool co-op classes.

Curriculum Plans for KingMan (my oldest son, a name given to him by his father):

Math

We will continue with Singapore Math.  This is one area where I feel confident and know we'll stick with this curriculum.  The Singapore Math review by Cathy Duffy explains why I feel so confident, not to mention that my son loves it! As time permits, we'll include Khan Academy for reinforcement and the Life of Fred Math Series for Living Math fun.

Writing

We will finish the Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Intensive A, following it up with the IEW theme-based writing guide All Things Fun and Fascinating. From a writer's perspective, this is the best writing program I've seen.  It teaches how to write as opposed to being a series of writing exercises.  There is a big difference.

Grammar

We're sticking with Rod & Staff -- tried and true.  I honestly believe that my son likes grammar because of this program, simple, thorough and to the point.

Spelling

We have been using Spelling Workout, a recommendation from the Well Trained Mind, for years and love it.  I tried Sequential Spelling and Spell Well, but KingMan prefers Spelling Workout.  I think the cross word puzzles and the sports and fitness themes of the lessons appeal to him.

Vocabulary

I stumbled upon Vocabulary from Classical Roots at a homeschool curriculum two years ago and have been using it ever since.  This is another excellent program we'll continue using.  It's published by Educator's Publishing Service the same company who publishes Explode the Code.

Science

Because Khan Academy was such a huge hit with my son, we'll add more video-based learning with Super Charged Science.  We will also complete our Noeo Science Chemistry Curriculum (especially since I paid good money for it!)

History/Literature

Now here's the fun part.  After struggling with whether or not to use Moving Beyond the Page or Sonlight, I decided that if I am going to do literature-based history, why not learn about Classical African and African American history? I'm so giddy about this I can hardly type.  We'll start with Classical Africa, a text written by Dr. Molefi Asante, Professor of African American Studies at Temple University renowned for his work on African-centered thought and education.  Once we finish this text, we'll alternate using A Journey of Liberation, also written by Professor Asante, and Grace Abounding: The Core Knowledge Anthology of African-American Literature, Music and Art.  I found this encyclopedia-sized book used for $10 bucks and the website has all kinds of free PDF teacher resources.  I'm beside myself with joy.  I may be more excited about this than my son!  

Hip Hop

This category is cross-disciplinary as it covers music, history, social studies and language arts.  We'll study the history of Hip Hop, compare/contrast Old School Hip Hop with today's Hip Hop and hopefully engage in some thought-provoking critical analysis along the way.  We homeschool mamas are working to establish a co-op using Edlyrics, a Hip Hop curriculum created by the husband of a homeschool mom in my local homeschool group.  How cool is that!?  We plan to also include a present-day African history class taught by my dear friend Obi Egbuna who has volunteered to share his experience with the homeschool community.  We will continue using Hip Hop and the Classics. Poetry has never been more fun. What better way to learn about alliteration than through an LL Cool J Song!

Foreign Language

I had KingMan do three test drives:  Tell Me More, Power Speak (formerly Power Glide) and Rosetta Stone.  He liked Rosetta Stone the best. We will all study French and a childhood friend and author, Khalil Parker, who attends French Immersion school, will be his tutor (yes, they are the same age).  Again I ask, how cool is that?!

Music

KingMan will continue African Drumming with Tam Tam Mandingue under the loving direction of Baba Mahari and his piano studies at the Levine School of Music at THEARC.

Sports

KingMan made the travel soccer team so soccer with CapitalCF lives on.  He'll also continue with basketball.  We are in search of an AAU team because he wants more player development on par with the 5-Star Basketball summer programs he has attended.  Please send any recommendations my way.   We are also exploring competitive swimming with DC Wave in off-seasons.

Moving Beyond the Page

I almost went with full Moving Beyond the Page for ages 10-12.  It's a fantastic literature-based curriculum that includes language arts, history, social studies and science.  The co-writer is a homeschool mom just like me.  I respect that! This program actually inspired me to pull together my own literature-based, African-centered curriculum.  Though we will not use the entire curriculum, we will be incoporating it into our homeschool, especially since my son loved it so much.  I asked him to pick one literature unit and he chose Secret of the Andes, about a young boy's journey into his Inca roots.  We'll also explore the Aztecs, Incas and Mayas social studies unit.  KingMan specifically asked to do the Geography Unit, so we'll keep that too before hauling the big box back to UPS to return. I love that you can purchase the units al a carte if you desire.  I will offer more feedback on the program later in the year.

Exhale ... whew!  Now on to the next child.