A Tour of Our New School Room! — Mostly Montessori

We moved!

Last week, we moved into a new house, and of course I really wanted to unpack and set up the school room. Let me back up a little... we were in a large 4-bedroom house where I didn't make a school room at all. Now we're in a smaller 3-bedroom! And one room is the dedicated school area, which I'm super excited about. It's got enough space and flexibility that I can add a few areas for the new baby (coming in 2-3 weeks). That means I need to find out what the heck "infant Montessori stuff" is. I'll get on that.

I had a few basic ideas for this room. I didn't want to spend much money since we just moved. And we're having a baby soon. And hubby got a new (to us) car. And it was just Christmas. I knew I wanted a reading area -- my initial idea was a tent with a floor pillow. Or maybe a beanbag. Or maybe just a cute chair. I also knew I wanted some tiny wall-mounted bookshelves (where books lean). I had a mirror and a chalkboard already that I wanted to hang somewhere. I wanted to get a plant (or two). I wanted to organize extra supplies and papers in the closet of the room. And finally I knew I wanted to hang some stuff on the walls -- art and more, though I'm not good at that sort of thing.

The shelves are the same (one of them broke, so we're down to 3!). And Alexander got a few awesome new toys that I added to the shelves.

Still missing: a little more art on the walls, a rug (maybe), and curtains! If you've got ideas for me, please share!

Without further ado, here's a tour of our new school room:

READING AREA

We got a swing from IKEA. It's a little high for Alexander, so I added a stool underneath. Alexander hasn't tried sitting in it yet! In the middle is a chalkboard with a bucket of chalk next to it. And on the right are a few book shelves and a basket of some more books. The shelves are spice racks, from IKEA.

LOW SHELF

On the top shelf, I've got some tong practice set up where he transfers beads from one bowl to another. On the bottom there's a Tower of Hanoi and a puzzle.

THE MIRROR!

I got this at a thrift store a long time ago, then I sanded it and painted it white. Of course it got slightly damaged in the move. I'm okay with it for now! One day I may repaint the tiny spots that need fixing.

TALL SHELVES

I found the little tree at IKEA. There are 3 prints above the shelves: a lemon, an orange, and a blueberry. I put the fruit on a white surface and took the pictures. Then I printed and framed them. I will switch out the prints from time to time! For now, I wanted something simple and nothing distracting.

The left shelf:

A - musical instruments
B - fake fruit (for some reason, he likes them!)
C - a balance activity: the boat stands up, and there are wooden animals that you're supposed to balance on top of each other. BONUS the animals are all endangered animals, which can be used at some point in the future.
D - spelling boards with wooden letters
E - size/height matching activity
F - wooden clock with removable numbers
G - sock matching

The right shelf:

A - cloth rags that are for practice folding in half
B - snap practice using a cloth diaper
C - a magnadoodle
D - scissors practice with cardboard and paper
E - lacing activity
F - the PVC + wooden dowel matching game I made
G - a fire truck puzzle
H - squishy giant "legos"
I - plastic linking rings; he likes putting them together and taking them apart

PAPER STUFF

Here I just have some construction paper and wipe-off cards I made. I'm not sure what will go there in the future.

THE ENTRANCE

There's a chair for Alexander to use to turn the lights on and off.

I've also got a calendar and a clock, which I'll use to start talking about time in different ways. It will be his responsibility (I think...) to draw the X on the calendar each day.

If you've got any questions or suggestions, let me know! I'd be happy to provide links to products if anyone is interested. I also need to start focusing on curriculum a bit more. I plan to buy the Keys of the World before this baby comes. That way, I'll have some light reading for when I'm nursing. ;)