Getting Inspired for Home Schooling!

Do you ever have those times when you're stuck in a rut? The kids are playing up and you know there's some solution but you can't see it because you're too much in the middle of it? Oh boy. I was praying for some inspiration and then this book came in for me at the library. It is just what I needed! Beautiful toys to make and good ideas for playing with them (for when your imagination needs a bit of help). There's a wealth of inspiration on the net but sometimes the amount can be overwhelming and eye-straining, and you just can't beat lying on the couch with a good book while everyone else is fast asleep. Ahh.

But the most amazing and inspiring pictures I have seen on the internet so far? Just feast your eyes on this spectacular, magical and enchanting playroom:
This belongs to one Ariella of a blog called "Childhood Magic" (more photos here) but to my bitter disappointment, it doesn't seem to be running anymore. Sigh.

I would love to create something like this upstairs. I can dream, can't I?

Anyway, after much thought and consideration, I actually have a plan for our home schooling! Our first theme will be .... ICE-CREAM. Yes, I wanted to get things off to a positive start. Apart from our usual outings, like playgroup and the park with friends etc, we will have a theme around which to base a few activities. For ICE-CREAM, we will make a pretend ice-cream shop, learn some ice-cream songs and rhymes, make real ice-cream and of course, visit the real ice-cream shop. The other dimensions to our schooling will be a weekly value/virtue such as gratitude or generosity, and a home task like folding clothes or using a dustpan and brush. It will all be a pretty loose sort of a set-up, although I'll need to get organised to make sure the activities get an allocated space in the week. I'm looking forward to it. It's so good to have some direction!