Remember that day that I embraced the construction chaos and painted all our soon-to-be-demolished kitchen cabinets? Well, since then, a lot has been happening on the outside of our home but next week, the chaos comes indoors. Walls will be knocked down, dust will be everywhere, it will be insanely loud, a whole lot draftier, and we will be without a kitchen for an unknown period of time. It is all going to be worth it, but it’s gonna get a little crazy around these parts.
We’ve lived through major construction once before and I know we can do it again. Thing is, I’ve never homeschooled during construction before so this is new territory. I keep changing my homeschooling under construction strategy. Should we take a break? Should we study construction, or the art of crock-potting? Should we do more field trips? Should we camp out at our beloved library? Should I just get better at planning a couple days ahead of time, make our stuff more mobile, and carschool? Should we just read books and not worry about “work”? Should we get more audiobooks for the car? Should I dabble in unschooling? Every day I have a new homeschooling under construction vision.
I am determined to keep my eye on the prize:
Follow My Little Poppies’s board Dream Kitchen on Pinterest.
I’m determined to keep the stress to a minimum. I know I’ll need a lot of coffee, patience, and a sense of humor. But, I’m also going to reach out to my village because if I’ve learned anything over this past year it is to ask for help. What would you guys do if you were in our shoes? I’d also love to hear from been-there-done-that homeschoolers who have lived through a major home renovation. How did you do it? What would you have done differently? Finally, starting now, I’ll happily welcome any and all crock pot recipes and jokes! Nope, I’m not kidding about those last two things.
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The road to success is always under construction.
~Arnold Palmer
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Do you have a room you can use for doing the regular school stuff? I think I would try to do that if it were feasible, just to keep the routine as normal as possible. That said, if there isn’t the space, or the OEs are acting up due to the chaos, I would probably just let it go and try to establish a new temporary routine to meet everybody’s needs. Maybe daily trips to the library, where it’s at least quiet? Good luck!
For crockpot recipes, we tend to love her recipes: http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/?s=crockpot
I could use one of our bedrooms upstairs but it may be loud. I plan on accessing the library- we are there so often anyway. Thank you for your thoughts and the crockpot link 🙂
Cait Fitz recently posted…Homeschooling Under Construction
Oh man, we did this two years ago. The whole house turned upside-down. Basement, attic, structural work, new front deck, electrical on the main floor. We live in a 1925 bungalow, and it needed a lot of love. This meant that the dining area was sheetrock storage, and our “classroom” (a 10×15 den) was the pass-through for our team of construction guys. We were fish in a bowl, and often had to yell over the sledge-hammering, often had to hide in the bedroom because of the dust. It was about 7 months, and I won’t lie: it was hard. Take breaks, go to your library, hide in the bedroom.
I will say this: we now LOVE our house. The attic is our spectacular sky-light lit classroom, and our basement is our creative music studio. If I could, I would take this house with us from state to state as we move. It’s hard, but worth it. Happy to offer support as you move forward!
Gwyn Ridenhour recently posted…Cultivating Independence & Innovation
Gwyn! Thank you for your story. We actually gutted our second floor several years ago and it was very stressful but totally worth it. At that point, we had to be out of the house completely. This time, we can at least be here. It’s not fun and it’s freezing right now (we’re in New England), and it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better but I *know* this will be worth it. Eye on the prize. Just hoping I stay [mostly] sane between now and the prize. Thanks for reading and for sharing your story!
You’re a whole lot braver than I am! I love your list of possible coping strategies. I bet you’ll call on all of them sometime during the process!
Peace keep you!
Love love love your poppies by the way!
Kortney recently posted…A Day in Our (Homeschooling) Life
Aw, thanks Kortney! My son made those poppies for me over the summer when I first started this silly ol’ blog. The construction does add an interesting element to the homeschooling mix 🙂 Thanks for reading!