Our Little Homeschool Class
I have started trying for a serious homeschool lesson since Ayyash was 2 years old. (He is currently going to be 4 at the end of this month) But I always found that it is quiet difficult for him to concentrate on the subject of learning if we don't have a specific place dedicated for it. It is definitely not going to work if you try to teach phonics or making your kids doing arts and crafts where there are distractions like TV and toys.
So early this year, I have decided to convert our under-used dining area to become our home classroom. Hehe! Here's a few tips from me (a non expert, cheapskate mom) on how to set up your own homeschool classroom:
1. Purchase a child-sized table and chairs
Before we have a designated area for writing and workspace, I always found Ayyash easily get tired of writing. Simply because he didn't do it in good posture (meniaraplah or duduk terbongkok gitu..). Kesian sangat! So before he even finish a page he would give up on the worksheet. But when we set up a writing table for him he could spend good hours of writing and doing work! Yeay! Either it didn't tire him to sit there or he felt like he is in real school environment, I don't know. But what's important, it works!
It doesn't have to be fancy, really. You don't have to buy expensive IKEA kid's table for that (but if you have extra budget, why not? I would love to have one too... huk!) and avoid buying table with cartoons on it, that is simply means DISTRACTIONS! Haha! We just use whatever we had around the house. Their table is actually our coffee table. And we bought the blue chairs at Cowboy for RM 4 each.
Both of them could work at this writing area together at the same time. It shall be good to encourage Maryam to participate in early writing. Bila abang tulis, dia pun sibuk nak tulis.
2. Busy table for Maryam
I usually spends good amount of time writing or doing arts with Ayyash. Whilst Maryam usually would join in too, her attention is not that long. So I created a busy table for her. Where I put all the manipulative games available to her sight.
There's Alphabet Monster on the rack which she could feed, Pompom balls, wooden shape sorter truck, shape sorter house, abacus, wooden alphabets and flash cards (in case she is would have the interest to have a look. Haha!)
3. Low shelf library
We gather all their books in second row of the shelf, where it level with their eye sight. For the time being, the top shelf filled with our tarbiyyah books. And the bottom row filled with ibu's reference books. But looking at the growth of the number of book, I foresee that they soon shall hijacked every rows available with their books. (BBW next week,ya'll!!!). That bottom corner is where I keep their manipulatives (their lacing beads in the wooden tray, small marbles in plastic container, shells in a jar and cotton wool)
4. Carpet
Invest in good, comfortable carpet for floor activity. Sometimes we would love to sit on the floor together doing arts and crafts. Make sure it gets frequent vacuuming too! Ergh!
Here's an old sofa where I usually sit to BF Maryam when she needs it. So I don't have to leave Ayyash alone to lay down comfortably feeding adik. Hehe! So, he would come to me once in a while showing his work or asking anything. Oh sofa ni patutnya ada kaki tapi dah patah satu, jadi kami patahkan semuanya. Hahaha! That 'Happy Birthday' banner was from Maryam's birthday. Dah setahun dah tepek kat situ tak tanggal2 lagik. The drawings are Ayyash's artwork on display. He insisted to have it up on the wall -_-'
5. Supplies
We keep supplies available within their reach and arranged properly. You could opt to keep it in a box or on a shelf too! Next time I could write an entry about basic supplies for homeschool pulak. Hehe!
I keep some of Motessori material bits and pieces in their montessori box to avoid clutters. Ideally it should be on trays la kan? Haha! I am too lazy to arrange it that way. Bila nak guna baru keluar from the treasure box.
6. Lighting
One of the important aspect is lighting. We love natural lighting from the window. But at times when it is not so sunny outside, we have the table lamp to switch on. The one we got here is attached to the book shelf. In case anyone asking, that one we got it from IKEA for only RM30.
So camne? Got the idea? I'm sure yours would be more brilliant than our humble little classroom. Again, it doesn't have to be fancy or Pinterest-like (that will cost you a fortune!). My advice is to work with whatever we have in hand and add more things as we go along. Nak tunggu ada proper room macam dalam Pinterest tu sampai bila pun tak start, sedar2 anak dah besar. Heh!
Would love to see how other homeschool class looks like, feel free to share with us!
