Trial Run/Tour of the New Classroom

The school room came together this week so this morning we thought we'd show Ellie and Reni their new space -- and work on some writing exercises and sight word practice to let them know the room was for more than just sitting at a fun desk!

Ellie's curriculum came with several computer disks with educational games, so Nathan is showing her how to get started.  Though this room has a window, it barely ever gets any direct sunlight, hence all the lamps.

Working on sight words -- again, notice how Reni wants to be involved in everything?  Don't worry, we've stocked his desk with activity books so he can do his own "homework".

Just after snapping this photo he told me, "I wanna draw Nini" (translated, "I want to write 'Reni' [on the dry erase board]").

The computer now moved to her desk, Ellie works on a matching game by herself.

Ellie requested name tags for their desks.  I whipped these out with the aid of some digital scrapbooking papers and one of my favorite software programs ever, FotoFusion by Lumapix (this is what I use when I make collages of images for the blog, as well as albums/photo books, which was my primary reason for purchasing the program).  I LOVE it! It's super intuitive and versatile. I must also give props to IKEA for very affordable photo frames.  We added a few more to the walls this afternoon.  They are ridiculously cheap. (Clock also from IKEA).  The children's desks were gifts from PopPop Champion in New Jersey, and the room already held a large desk from when the room was previously used as an office.

This little fella became a victim of Ellie's keen interest in science and small animals in general -- after she pronounced him "not breathing," Nathan had the foresight to save him for the classroom corkboard.

The super wide angle lens makes the room look much larger than it is in actuality, but it's really the perfect size for our needs!  What a blessing!  Thanks for stopping by for this tour of our new classroom!