We use our formal living room as a library/home-school room/play room. I’m always thinking about how I could improve it, adding desk space for example. Here is a great example of a cohesive looking work and play room that would also work well for home-schooling.
I like how bright and colorful it is. Lot’s of storage cubbies, and lots of desk space. And how about the clothing line to hang art and projects? This room invites creativity and hard work.
How about you, do you have a designated home-school room? Or a craft room? I personally am thrilled about the trend of giving up the formal living and turning it into a room to create.
Have a lovely day,
Sofija
All pictures found via Design Mom. You can find the entire house tour of this lovely home here.
one thing I love about home-schooling is that I have the freedom to every once in a while let my kids pursue their interests for a whole day. For my 9 year old son that means playing and building with Legos. Sometimes he will work his way through 50 pages of instructions to built a Star Wars ship, but sometimes he comes up with his own ideas. Here we have Hobbits enjoying a great feast, and a chess set.
I’m so exited about this interview. I have heard people say “I wish I could take my kids out of school and go on the road for a year.” Well, here is and example of what that might look like. However the Hollands do so much more than just travel. Everywhere they stay they bless the people around them with their musical gifts and their gift of friendship.
1. Tell us a little about your family. Who lives with you?
We are The Hollands! A nomadic family of merrymakers. We are four, Jana- Mother, Craig-Father, Graciana-Sister, Banjo- Brother. We are folk musicians and observers of humanity, encouragers of community.
2.How did you come to live on a bus?
We came to a cross roads in life whereby our family relationships were fragmented, our gifts stifled and a longing crept up for a more holistic way of life. And so, we began to dialog and dream of a simpler way. The bus life came as a result. It was apparent that a drastic change in lifestyle was necessary and the idea of giving away all we owned and traveling seemed a reasonable option.
3.What are the challenges of living on a bus and traveling?
We bought the bus off of Craig’s List in 2010. It was the Casper WY Trooper Drum and Bugle Corp Bus. It’s a 1984 MCI model. We had to strip it clean and build it out from scratch. The most challenging aspects have been building the electrical and plumbing systems, then the fact that we aren’t dealing with straight lines have added to the construction difficulties. However, Craig is a learner and these challenges suit him. As for the rest of us, living in a half built bus for a some time has been a struggle at times. We are much more comfortable now than when we left in the bus. We have electricity and now that my kitchen is built I can offer some pretty delicious meals. We have a working toilet and cold running water but look forward to the day we have hot water and a shower.
4.What are the perks?
Mobility would be the greatest perk. It’s very comfortable to travel and be in. It’s home. Another perk would be the opportunity to share in life with neighbors across the US. You are our 32nd neighbor in the last year and a half. It is a real joy to have the opportunity to observe, learn and work out life with so many kinfolk.
5.How do you home-school while traveling? Describe a typical day.
We currently use the K-12 for our 6th grade son and E-Achive for our 10th grade daughter, both are on-line schools out of our home state of Wisconsin. Each program is slightly different and offers separate perks and challenges. Our days fluctuate depending on the community we are engaging with. Some days are more focused on the curriculum and others we are fully engaged with community around us.
5. What are challenges of home-schooling on the road?
Because of the nature of our travels, the ebb and flow of virtual school can be a challenge and sometimes feels disjointed. Although the programs in and of themselves are quite good, we are beginning to explore other options for schooling that will bring the kids learning in line with our lifestyle and offer them more opportunity to really experience “live” learning. There is such pressure from the world system to “keep up with the jones” and when this concept seeps into our learning environments it stifles real growth. It takes us hostage and invokes a deep fear of failing and instead of learning we grow up regurgitating. We are tired of watching our children regurgitate. We long to see them really learn.
6.What would you like your kids to learn from this experience?
We would like to give them an opportunity to take “ownership” their learning, to find freedom and joy in observing and fully participating in the environments we travel in. Homeschooling is a real gift and we are excited to begin to think out side of the box and explore ways to facilitate this.
7.Tell us about a favorite stop. One that you go back to in your mind most often?
This is a difficult question because everyone of our visits has been unique and precious. Even places we’ve gone back to a second time around have offered a different experience. I don’t doubt we will have a favorite at some point. I wonder when we do, if that will be the place we stop indefinitely? For now, we aren’t looking for that, just taking it one day at a time and soaking up all that that day offers.
Thank you, Jana! I like how you aim for your children to find “freedom and joy in observing and fully participating in the environments you travel in”. That is so contrary to our culture where we often raise children to revolve around themselves. I have seen your children being flexible, adapting to the environment they are in, and being willing to serve where it is needed.
Friends, Jana described her family like this:” We are folk musicians and observers of humanity, encouragers of community.” I would like to give you some examples of what that has looked like since they have been with us. In the last week and a half Craig has been teaching my 11 year old math every day. Jana has taught my daughter art and cooked some awesome meals for us. They as a family have gone to a local ministry that serves immigrants and the poor. They have encouraged the leadership there and today they will be teaching Australian Folklore to the children. While here they are doing two booked shows. On top of that they are doing two house concerts and maybe worship at our church. But most importantly they are just friends, open about their struggles and willing to join us in what we are doing.
You can keep up with their travels here. If they happen to be near you, be sure to invite them over, you will not want to miss them.
Back in the fall I started a new series on family sports. The idea behind is to find sports that families can do together and that suits several age groups. Rather than one family member doing a sport, and everybody else sitting in on a bench watching, I like to see the whole family being active together.
When my nephew was here visiting I took him and my kids (except the baby) to an indoor rock climbing gym. A one time visit is a bit pricey (it was $11.95 per person between noon and 3pm); if we went regularly I would buy a family pass. We brought our own tennis shoes and only rented harnesses.
Here is the group I took (sans my 8 year old who was hiding behind my back as usual).
Below is my 6 year old Ella with a full body harness. I recommend this harness for her age and younger as it makes them feel safe.
The gym had a variety of of equipment. There were rings and ropes hanging from the wall. Lots of bouldering walls, which are great for little ones. I wish I hadn’t paid for my 4 year old since she was too scared to climb on a rope and happy to just boulder. They also have exercise bikes there which we didn’t try.
Below is Esther. She climbed so fast it was hard keeping up with her trying to keep the rope tight while belaying.
My nephew did a great job evading my camera. Here he really couldn’t run away…Isn’t he cute? I love his plaid shirt.
Teenagers 14 years and older can be trained to belay, which really helps when you have bunch of kids. My oldest (below on the right) and I took turns belaying. It took us about 15 min to be trained in belaying, so factor that in the first time you come.
After fussing and complaining for a couple of hours my 8 year old finally started climbing and enjoying himself. He was allowed to climb without a rope up to a certain point.
This is a great sport for the winter time. My kids always ask to go. If you have never been give it a try. There are a lot of employees there ready to help.
The gym offers youth classes and classes for home-schoolers.
Have a great weekend, I’ll see you back here next week with an interview of the Hollands.
It’s been fun around here. Non stop visitors. The first two weeks of February my husband’s parents and our nephew were here. Last Sunday the Hollands, who we know from living in an intentional community in Chicago, arrived. Along with them came another family who stayed with us for two nights. On Sunday there were 6 adults, 12 kids, and one dog here for dinner. Crazy fun!
The Hollands will be here for two weeks. I will post more about their interesting, nomadic life later. They home-school their two children on the road, and they are part of the same virtual school K12 as our two oldest are. What is even better is that we have two kids in the same grade level doing the same math. Craig Holland seems to like Math a whole lot more than I do and has been teaching my daughter Esther alongside with his son (which she seems to make her quite happy). So I while I visit with friends I get a break from Geometry and Probability…life is good.
On top is a picture of Esther and Graciana doing water color painting.
How is your week going? Any big plans for Valentine’s Day? I have to confess, it is not a big deal to me. I could happily live without it. But it is a BIG deal to my girls. They have been crafting, gluing, coloring their Valentine’s for days now. Not to mention the labor that went into the boxes to put the Valentine’s cards in. This is serious businesses, as these boxes are judged in contests at various parties.My girls had a big party with their American Heritage Troop on Monday, and today we are going roller skating with our home-school group. This, I hope, will conclude our Valentine’s festivities. Well, maybe we can squeeze in a romantic dinner with my husband somewhere. Since that is what it is supposed to be about, right?
Have you heard about Khan Academy? It is an incredible resource for anyone, school kids, home-school kids, adults. If you would like to learn something, refresh your memory on that one topic, brush up on your math skills, go to Khan Academy. Their videos are conveniently short, about 10 minutes each. Most of us can find 10 minutes here and there, right? Our kids have used Khan Academy for Math. Sal, the founder, has the nicest voice and explains everything patiently. As a teacher I can keep track of my student’s progress. They cover every math topic from 3rd grade and up.
I have listened to some art lessons. There are tons of history, science, and economics lessons as well. Like I said, anything you want to learn, for free.
Doing our school with our cousin this week. Finn on the left reading the Diary of Anne Frank (in English to my dismay, I would be beside myself if he read it in German). Cousin Aydan on the right working on his laptop. Oh I remember the days when they were little, running all over the house and excessively talking in high pitched voices….
Today I wanted to share the several pieces of furniture that are essential to our home-schooling. The first one is a desk with a computer for my high-schooler. He pretty much spends all day on it, because he is part of an online schoool. The computer is on loan from the school and too ugly for words. We are I Mac people so you never see the adults in the house using it.
The second one is this black round table. It is a Pottery Barn table purchased on Craigslist. I really like it because it is so versatile. I can pull it out for extra seating for dinner guests. Since they are no legs you can fit a lot of people around it. It is sturdy and holds up to kids climbing on top of it. This is what it looks like when I have cleaned all the clutter off to take a picture.
This is what it usually looks like. There is always someone sitting at this table, coloring, doing school work, crafts, etc. It drives me crazy that it never looks like the above picture. But then again, I’m glad that it invites creativity, and a lot of it.Next is my school closet from Ikea. It kind of functions as a locker. Every child has one or two cubbies. I have maxed out our book schelves, so I really need something for the school stuff we use daily. I like that this closet stays shut, thus hiding the mess.
This is my 11 year old daughter’s cubby, neat and organized. She takes after her dad.
Here is my 14 year old son’s cubby. I’m not sure what happened here, he is usually pretty neat. I am responsible for top sections where we keep craft supplies. It needs attention badly…
On the bottom I keep pre-school type of learning toys for the little people, so my two youngest can do their “school”. Here is the dining room table we don’t use as much, because frankly most of the time it is too sticky.
We have a little table that is perfect for the under 5 age. It was a hand me down, originally purchased at ToysRUs and has survived all of my children and their friends. Here is my mom when she visited with Luci.
Lastly, would you like to know where most of our school gets done? Right here on the couch. This is where I sit and do one and one sessions with the kids.
Esther spends a lot of her time on our main computer. It is here that I write all my posts if you care to know.
This is pretty much it. It looks like a lot of furniture, but with six kids all of it gets used all the time.
How about you, do you have furniture that invite learning and creativity? What is your favorite? I’d love to hear.
how is your schooling going? Are you close to the 100 day mark? Do you have a big party to celebrate? When my oldest went to private school, the 100th day of school was a big deal. I’m sad to tell you, when I school the kids I get so busy that organizing a party seems like way too much work. So when my friend Mimi invited me over to celebrate I was thrilled.
Here are some ideas my friend came up with to get you started on your party.
Count 100 pennnies
Make little round cakes, shape them into the number 100 and then decorate with 100 m&m’s
Make a paper crown and add 100 stickers
Take 100 steps on your balancing beam (if you happen to have one in your house)
Swing a hula 100 times
Jump 100 times on the trampoline
It was a fun party and a fun way to break from the school routine.
Next is my school closet from Ikea. It kind of functions as a locker. Every child has one or two cubbies. I have maxed out our book schelves, so I really need something for the school stuff we use daily. I like that this closet stays shut, thus hiding the mess.
Here is the dining room table we don’t use as much, because frankly most of the time it is too sticky.
Teach Where You Live 