My children are not littles any more. Somehow, they morphed into pre-adolescents and adolescents. Interests have changed. But my house has not. I need to repurpose some space, a room or two, and I am so overwhelmed I don't know where to begin. The task seems too big. UNproductive uncertainty. I need practicality and function in areas we use daily, but I need to organize storage space in other areas, first, so that I can move items around. In the moments when I contemplate my options, I walk around from space to space, thinking about the zones I'd like to create (which include a real homeschooling zone, so we're not homeschooling all over the house any longer) on a rabbit trail that won't end. I need to organize this and move this there, but there is full and needs to be decluttered, first. So, I go there, and realize that items there need to go here, and here needs to be organized and decluttered, first. The cycle never ends. I can't find a clear beginning point, and I always need to clear and organize another area first. How confusing.
I am in the mommy version of "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie".
It's an ADD thing, maybe. (Thinking to self:) I wonder if Terry Matlen has any advice that would help me?
I peeked at The Homeschool Channel's facebook page for inspiration. THC asked homeschoolers to post pictures of their homeschool areas. Now I have too many ideas. Should I attempt to create a homeschool space in the basement? Or cram it into the dining area? I have no idea.
I need to remove peeling wallpaper from the kitchen and paint. The bathrooms haven't been wallpapered in over 14 years - they're completely outdated. During the chaos and expenses of autism, we chose not to spend decorating money on the house. And now, I'm tired of looking at the outdated rooms in an old house.
Where to begin? Where to begin?
I must quit walking around in circles and find a place to begin. JUST DO IT.
6 comments:
Oddly enough, I recommend that you pick a space to "homeschool" that is in the center of your homelife. Partly, because as the child gets older, she needs you "nearby" but not necessarily "involved". If you homeschool in a very separate room, then if you are "nearby" you may be seen as "hovering" by your homeschooler. Or if you go to do something else, then everytime she needs something, you have to stop what you are doing and GO to wherever she is.
We use the kitchen table. There is room for me to sit with them, but I can be doing dishes, cooking, cleaning the counter when they are being "independent", and yet I'm right there to answer a question, note if one is daydreaming out the window, etc. We do have a shelf in that room where their books go (so the table can be cleared off quickly), but many of the other books and materials (usually mine) are on other shelves, some in a closet, some in another room. When we are reading aloud, we move somewhere more comfortable. Sometimes, I'll take the laptop, so we can look things up easily if we have questions. Sometimes, if say, math wasn't going well, it helps to reset and change the mood by deciding to go do our history reading in the living room (leaving the math behind in multiple ways).
Yes, I'd love some way to have everything at my fingertips, the moment I need it. But that's not my house, my life, or my homeschooling.
This is why I need some girlfriends nearby - I didn't think of that. What did we do before the internet? THANK YOU, RACHEL! That helps me shape my plan a little.
My house looks a little bit like a therapy office - speech, occupational therapy, etc. I have a lot of games where we can work on fine motor, or conversations, or play skills, or academics - and I can't have all of them in the kitchen and dining room. I'd like a homeschooling/therapy room. But I see that may not be practical, and I want to get away from stuff that looks like therapy, although I do want access to my games and materials.
What to do? What to do? How will I "just do it" if I can't decide how to store my stuff. It's not like we have one simple curriculum. We have visual aids and accommodations and compensations and flash cards - we have a lot of stuff for just one homeschooler.
I too wonder if I'm ADD because I have the same issues with organizing. I drive myself nuts. A friend said she was good at that sort of thing so I may enlist her help at some point. Do you have a friend who is good at organizing and would be willing to come for a day and get you started?
I have no close friends here, no one to ask to help. :(
maybe we should help each other..i'll come to your house and play Peter WAlsh..then you can come to mine! (serious.)
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