Another school room

The dining room didn't fare well for us as a homeschool room. It seemed like a great plan, but living it out just didn't work. Jadyn didn't like us being totally separated from her and interrupted frequently during school. (probably says more about the WAY I do school rather than the WHERE, but I digress). Jadyn got to where she would cry when she heard any of us mention the word 'school.' Sad state of affairs. So, on to plan B. I evaluated my options and came up with what I think will work better for us. I hesitate to post this because my handiwork is SO bad, but what the heck...my slogan for 2007: "It is what it is."

Our basement is what I like to call a 'padded cell.' Almost quite literally. In Texas, people don't have basements. So, in buying our house, we didn't appreciate the luxury a finished one would be...and didn't have a clue about the cost of finishing one! Also not having experience with basements, it doesn't really matter to us that it isn't finished, because we use it as if it were (sad to say). Most of the kids' toys are in it. The computer is in it. Plus, various other stored items. I had toyed with the idea of setting up our school area in the basement, but figured kids playing would be a distraction to which ever child I was working with. So, in order to use it, the school room would have to be a corner off to itself that we had always used as storage. My ever-so-accommodating husband didn't even flinch. He helped me clear it all out a couple weeks ago and set up all our school stuff (which is FAR more than you might imagine). It has worked well, with the exception that there is one area that remained a distraction, so my 'clever' idea was to hang fabric (sort of like a large curtain) to separate the areas. It looked better in my head (which is generally the case). I found some $1/yard fabric at WalMart yesterday and went to work on my very first (alone) attempt at sewing. I found I was in way over my head for a variety of reasons. The least of which being the sheer size of my project. I do know that the best way I learn is just by jumping in and doing. So, that's what I did. Its not perfect by a LOOOOONG shot...not even close. But, it is complete and I learned all sorts of stuff along the way. Including that I should have chosen a solid instead of a print...oh well. It serves its purpose. As time goes on, Ed may frame it out & sheet rock it and we may paint (hopefully!), but for now, it works as-is. We have everything we need to pull off a successful school day...including toys for Jadyn that are just a few steps away, but are UNSEEN! And, the caveat is that we can leave our stuff out if need be and its not the first thing people see when they come in the front door.