Studio is coming along!

I've been working hard on the studio, it's starting to look great!  The painting is done.  I am going to paint the hallway and stairwell leading up to it as well, I was going to do it yesterday but I got sidetracked by playing outside with the kids and taking a drive with the hubby and the boy.  We had a fun, low-key day.  Ok, now remember the pics of the studio from the last post---here it is now---so far.  I still have a lot to organize and put away but that won't happen until we get the cube shelves done.

New additions to the sewing room, my ironing/cutting table.  Hubby and I went to the Habitat for Humanity ReHab Store and got the cupboards for a nice price.  Hubby made a top for it and we covered it with batting and cotton fabric.  I'll make a removable cover for it as well so I can wash it if needed.  I'll use the tall skinny cupboard for storing cutting mats and the other one for battings and stuffings.

Another new item, my pegboard wall which I absolutely adore!  I can hang so much stuff on it, keep my scissors and sharp items high away from the little one and there are baskets and other cool things I can use on it as well.

The wall that the rocking chair is against will be where my cube shelf will be built.  While looking at hundreds of craft rooms on Flickr, I noticed that a lot of people had the Expedit book shelves from IKEA which I really, really liked.  My problem is that the nearest IKEA is 250 miles away and shipping costs are nearly as much as the product itself!  My frugal self said--no way (hubby said no way, too, LOL!)  So, he took a look at it and said he could make me one in one day---so I'm taking him up on it!  We're getting materials together---I'm trying to find everything we need on Freecycle or Craig's List.  We got a bunch of MDF from a woman right here in town who listed it on Craig's List so that can be used for the inside shelves---now we have to find the wood for the outside.  We'll take a look at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore  Saturday and I am confident that we'll find something without having to go to Home Depot!!!  I love recycling!  The studio is coming together, I still have to paint the hallway and stairwell outside the studio but that'll be a quick and easy job.  Once I have the shelves built and painted, a lot of the boxes and bags that are around the room will find new homes in the cubicles.  I'm excited!!!

Onto Homeschooling news:

I've been struggling with our e-school for quite a while now---it is not the same school as it was 4 years ago when we first joined.  The whole goal for the school is to get all students to score well on the Ohio proficiency tests so the kids are expected to master concepts each week in math---many times concepts that they haven't even done yet or aren't anywhere near learning.  They have to take these Scantron tests each week, if they fail they have to do supplemental lessons with the teacher until they get it--and they are expected to do Study Island as well---and all this is on top of their regular schoolwork.  It's too much.  I loved the school at first because they respected homeschoolers and their desire to let kids learn at their own pace.  The teachers say this is still a goal but I don't see how it can be when the kids are expected to learn concepts that might not even be covered in the lessons they have for this year!  The real issue is that the e-schools are public schools.  They are required by the state to hold up the state laws and expectations and they are expected to have students pass these damn proficiencies or else the state looks bad compared to other states.  It's not about the kids---at all.  These are some of the issues that led me to take the kids out of the brick and mortar schools.  So, we are going to unschool for now and I'll let the boys decide (with me and hubby) what they want to do next school year.  Sean talked about going to high school---he's got a year and a half before that happens.  Jaret will probably be better served homeschooling---but if he wants to go back to school too, I'll put him back in school.  Seamus will be busy with his developmental preschool so I won't have to worry about homeschooling him for a few years, yet.  And who knows, maybe with an IEP he could do well with the school district we are in---our former school district would not have been ideal!  Things are all up in the air right now, but what I do know is that I am feeling better and we are all suffering from extreme cabin fever so it's time to get out and about!  We've got some fun field trips lined up and we're getting Sean signed up for guitar lessons, Jaret will be taking fencing lessons and we're looking at some art classes for the both of them as well.

That's it for tonight, I'll have more to post this week but my eyes are tired and my typos are getting worse and worse so I'd better pack it in for now!

TTFN!

Leslie:-)