our school "room"

i posted last year some pictures of our school "room", and i have spent the last two weeks completely rearranging everything...so i thought i'd share our school "room" again...and the fruits of my labor! ((i have NO idea why i picked the week of VBS to start this! which is why it took me a full two weeks!))

i LOVED every minute of the organization. i truly did. i may not be organized in other areas, but school things are an area that i just love to organize. to go through. to smell. ;) nothing beats the smell of a box of crayons!!

my first project was bookshelves. shaun and i talked about and bought new bookshelves. they have some cheap ones at walmart, so it was cost effective...BUT i'm already noticing sagging! so i'm just hoping they last! here are *most* all of our books in ONE spot. this has never happened!!

dustin has a shelf in his room that has some books on it, mainly for him to look at during rest time. and i have a bookshelf in our room with books, too. but it is SO nice to have things in ONE area. i seriously had the most fun organizing the books. i firmly believe, no one can have too many books. :)

the next step to my madness was going through and organizing our small manipulatives and games. (sorry for the blurry pic, i didn't feel like retaking it.)

this is a shelf where i had books on. and since i could clean it off, i could use it for something else. the puzzles are all on the top shelf. the clear bin is full of puzzles. i put each puzzle in a plastic bag, then used double sided tape to label the bag with a picture of the puzzle cut from the box. :) the bottom shelf is clearly games. and i have some big floor puzzles. 

the cloth bin is the diaper bin. :)

here are the rest of the small manipulatives and games. 

these shelves are under our stairs. and as you can see right by the other built in shelf. i tried my best to get zero things on top of the shelves. but i just couldn't. at least it's organized looking. ;) everything that had boxes that were looking nasty i just took out of boxes and put in plastic totes. i also organized some other things in totes, mainly because i think it looks nicer. and i think it will help with things during school/play time.

then since i was at it. and my house was a disaster anyways...i decided to re-do the entire art area. i took a desk that we had out. (the kids never used it, they just piled things on it...and it drove me crazy.) then i used some shelves that i already had to organize. i LOVE how it turned out!!

i wish i'd have a full on before picture. because believe me...it was not this "nice" looking. all of the crayons are in one box. markers in another. colored pencils. play doh. cookie cutters for play doh. stencils. scissors and glue. ahhh. then paper is all on top. seriously. just looking at this picture makes me sigh with content. :)

this is the inside of the first cabinet. box of melty beads on top. beads for necklace making. and a sensory box. construction paper next. then inside the cabinet are magic noodles. foam stickers and stamps. and coloring books and notebooks.

inside the next shelf is art books and paint. some activity books and crafts. (on top of this shelf is another sensory box, and some science stuff)

 here is the inside of the next shelf. math manipulatives on the top. flash cards and more science stuff on the bottom. :)

this year we also are going to workboxes. each kiddos has their own cart of boxes. each drawer has a different  subject in each. or flash cards. or a small manip game. etc. each day it will change up. and i think it will help the olders to be more independent and help me a little to stay on track. i also had some extra shelves and organized the extra papers. extra school supplies. extra folders. containers. etc. this is in our laundry room, a room most people have never even stepped foot in. i spent a day or two a few weeks ago really organizing it. and i'm so happy to be able to have a nice spot for the workboxes. and then in the end...more shelves!!

so as you can see we don't have a "room" for school...BUT we make it work.my dream is to have a room for school. but for now, we make what we have work. and THIS works great!! 

so there you have it. i have to get a few other things ready for school, and then we're set to start!! i'm super excited to start with tapestry this year. ((breigh will finish up mfw first grade's phonics portion as well))

and since i posted the school "room" here are the precious students i'm blessed to teach...

 miss amelya. she's 7 1/2 and in 2nd/3rd grade.

miss breigh. she's 6 and in 1st grade.

miss caitlyn. she's ALMSOT 5!! and we're trying out K this year. (she doesn't turn 5 until after sept 1 (the cutoff for K here) so technically i have another year yet. but i think she's ready!)

 mr. dustin. he'll be 4 in october. and we'll be a little more structured this year with pre-k things.

miss evaleigh. she's 2. and she'll sit in with us. doing coloring. small manipulative stuff. whatever suits her fancy for the day. :)