When you have a small area to work with, you would want to maximize the use of each square inch of your space and make the most of it. I guess this is the 'rule of thumb' when planning small rooms. Usefulness and functionality would be foremost in the consideration of the lay-out. Our study/learning centre was no exception.
Although I have been wanting to rearrange the furniture since the middle of last year, we could only work on it gradually and it was not until recently that we had actually finished doing it. I am so happy that we have now completed the task in time for the start of school this year - yes, quite literally, just now.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Homeschooling, for us, has always been Catholic based. And the motivation for deciding to homeschool has been - largely - in order to impart to the children our beautiful and rich Faith without the unnecessary watering down, the half-truths and untruths which are evidently rampant even in Catholic schools these days. (And of course a great advantage of homeschooling is being able to eliminate peer and societal pressures on precious kids, which are otherwise responsible for killing the souls of our youth!)
The focal point in our Learning Centre, eversince, has always been our altar. At one stage we found a nice antique oak carved low altar which was perfect for the boys to play Mass (see some of the before photos). However, since redesigning the room, we have had to relocate that altar into our chapel sacristy, and instead use a shelf top as our altar so that it can double as storage for other materials.
Since reading about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is a Montessori-based method for teaching Religious Education, we have adopted some principles and applied them to the reinvention of our new Centre. With CGS, staying true to the Montessori way, using manipulatives such as small versions of liturgical items are valuable tools in teaching children about the hows and whys of certain aspects of our faith, thereby enhancing their relationship with God and the larger worshipping community.
Atop our school altar is housed a miniature brass tabernacle, a pair of brass altar vases, a pair of brass candlesticks, an antique St Anne with the Virgin Mary as a girl statue (which originally comes from Ireland) and a St Joseph statue, miniature Latin Mass altar cards and a mini brass missal stand. The boys have a great time playing Mass on it, especially because we also have other miniature church vessels just perfect to be handled by little hands, such as: ciborium, chalice, paten, monstrance, cruets, sanctuary lamp, thurible, sanctus bells, candle snuffer, etc. They especially enjoy vesting in the child-size set of priest's vestments which I sewed for them a couple of years ago. And to complete the sacerdotal garb, we also added a small size but real biretta.
Walls That Teach
Although I often wish we had a bigger space for schooling, I still feel blessed and grateful that we at least have an area set apart for the purpose, one that is separate from the rest of the house. (I have certainly read about homeschooling families that have to use their dining table, not to say at all that this is bad. I believe some actually choose this set up because it is more effective in their particular situation.)
Using the walls to hang up instructional posters is a great solution to the space issue and has always been a method I have employed eversince; but the overall idea was to maximize the wall space and strategically place the posters to facilitate and enhance the kids' learning.
A beautiful recent addition to our wall panorama is a mural-type oversized poster of Raphael's "Triumph of the Eucharist," a Renaissance masterpiece found in the Vatican - a wonderful sight for little eyes to behold, to start them out young at developing an appreciation for sacred art. And with the size of it spanning most of a single wall, one cannot help but be drawn to this magnificent picture.
Also, apart from math, science and geography posters, we have added a few saints' quotations on laminated A4 paper for added inspiration!
The Montessori Touch
Adopting the Montessori system for teaching the pre-schoolers last year was what prompted me to rethink the set up of our learning centre. And since gradually acquiring Montessori learning equipment, we have had to change the shelving in order to make it easy for our little learners to access different materials and to put them back after use. The big geography puzzles were a problem at first, but thanks to hubby who constructed a spiffy little puzzle cabinet, they now sit happily in their own individual slots, inviting little hands to slide them out and explore them.
Our Catholic Library
Building up a Catholic Library has been painstaking but enjoyable at the same time. We have consciously slowly acquired different children's titles over the years and our collection now includes very rare books such as traditional Catholic reprints of those from the 1920's and even a few original classics.
We have also expanded to include a video library which is composed mainly of movies about the lives of the saints, bible stories, catechetical aids, etc. including several animated versions. And this is such a hit with the whole family!
Last year was definitely a great year in terms of our stronger Aussie dollar compared to the US buck, which allowed us to purchase a large bulk of our new addition books and DVD's from America, which are otherwise unavailable locally. Our small library continues to grow, but it is now proving to be even more of a success just by the interest generated among the kiddies!
The Reading Nook
Although we started with a reading area smack against the middle of a wall, we are now happier with our current one which is tucked in a corner, adjacent to the only window in the room, giving the reader lots of natural light and fresh air. (And of course we had to add a reading lamp for the overzealous reader at other times!) For 20 bucks we acquired ourselves a great find: a virtually unused colourful little tubchair (from a 2nd hand office furniture shop) which has been surprisingly comfortable and great to cradle little bodies during their reading adventures into different eras and periods in different parts of the world!
On the wall behind the tubchair we have an old picture of St Anthony of Padua with the Child Jesus (glass-mounted), a quotation from St Therese, and some inspiring words from St John Bosco about what books one should and should not read.
We are certainly all very happy with the outcome of the changes in our new and improved Learning Centre, but the real sense of fulfillment comes from seeing the kids come alive in their new learning space. Apparently, they find the room very inviting, stimulating and nurturing - judging by several instances so far when, some mornings, they each wake up and go straight there to do their own explorations. And this, we don't mind at all. Such sweet fruits of labour, indeed!
At this particular point, I am posting some pictures to do the rest of the talking. :D
BEFORE
AFTER
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