Creative Chaos to Livable Learning
May your Learning become more Livable
as your
Living becomes more Learnable!
(S.V.
Wilhelmi)
"The simplicity of your book is genius. Everything seems to be broken down very simply, yet completely, which
is a plus for homeschooling moms (who live in chaos). I have been making Holy Hours with the kids and this is a great book
for me to focus on change. You know, the MM teacher must grow." (Mary/Moderator - Playschool6 egroup )
It seems that the first book I ever authored was the catalyst for all of what you see here at my Livable
Learning website! I wrote the book From Creative Chaos to Livable Learning in 2003. Since that time one thing has lead to another and so here we are. Check out the History of Livable Learning and
JMJ Publishing on our What's New page.
| BEFORE the book cabinets |
|
The Books
One of my greatest challenges was finding a way
to keep all our homeschooling books organized. We have been homeschooling for 15 years so you can imagine the literary
treasures we have acquired. Until the beginning of 2011 our books were located on several random bookcases throughout the
house. Then I stumbled upon an awesome sale on Sauder shelving units and now all our homeschooling books are within reach
and neatly categorized in three tall units with double doors! To compare the "Before" and "After" pictures
note the location of the air conditioner on the wall in the picture on the left, and in the one below. The picture on the
right shows the same room a few years ago when I had my office in the kitchen. There wasn't much room left in the kitchen
for our 9-foot dining table back then! But that is the very spot where I wrote my first book, From Creative Chaos to Livable
Learning and that is where I sat to design the website for Livable Learning and JMJ Publishing.
| AFTER the book cabinets |
|
For homeschooling we also use wire rack cubbies to store dishpan buckets for each of the kids with their
current math and reading texts and their individual notebooks and drawing pads. The cubbies of course are never perfectly
organized but it keeps vital items close at hand. The top of the wire rack holds the reader series and old time classics which
we use often including the Faith and Freedom Readers (which my children having lovingly nicknamed the "David, David" books) and the Great Illustrated Classics.
| How many books do we own?? |
|
In addition to the three larger cabinets we also purchased the smaller version for all our board games.
For the first time ever - instead of being stored on top of bookcases and on random closet shelves throughout the house, all
our games are organized and in one room - the Big Room in the basement where the kids do *all* their gaming. The top of the
new book cabinets are still in need of a better storage system but that is where I keep the beading supplies for the materials
I sell at my Homemade Montessori page.
