The Dell - Where We Learn

Our homelearning space is known as the "Dell", short for Syrendell. In our new home, the Dell is located in our dining room. We utilize a bookcase and a table that Daddy made. The dining room opens up with two French doors to a large deck, so when the weather is great, the Dell includes the outdoor space.

We have an easel from Grandma and Grandpa that we cleaned up and refurbished with some new chalkboard paint. This is located on the deck where we often do our form drawing, letter and number formations. We also love doing yoga and circle time on the deck, so we recently added a rug and meditation pillow. Comfy!

The book case has nine "nooks" which rotate. One nook features a nature table.

The other nooks feature math, language arts, fiber arts, science, music and more. The lowest nooks contain blocks, bean bags and other items that are within easy reach for Wilson. Each nook has one of our naturally dyed silks, or one of our woven or crocheted runners. It's nice to feature items that the kids helped make!

A bunch of our naturally dyed silks in different shapes are rolled up in one of our handwoven baskets on the floor. The kids' artwork is displayed in branch picture frames, or on the windows of the doors, or as backgrounds in the nooks.

The kids work and Main Lesson Books are located in our file cabinet within easy reach, and the cabinet features a project that we doing on top (right now there is a bird's nest that we found this summer in a wood bowl). The bookcase also has three cabinets where we keep art supplies, science equipment, reference books, paper. Storage is important!

In one corner, we have a naturally dyed piece of velvet covering some of our supplies (looks like a table!). On top are the library and other books that relate to our social studies for the week, as well as some foreign language books. Sometimes there is a manipulative, such as the Tubespace polydedra that you see in this picture. Also in this corner is a wood container for the recent artwork, kite paper for making window stars, and watercolor paper. Underneath is a sheepskin, making it a nice place to read or play.

Other items, like spinning wheels, small chalkboards, math gnomes, molding beeswax, wood dishes with acorns in them, planters growing herbs, or hands-on projects might be found here and there both inside and out on the deck...it's always a challenge to keep it neat, creative, and usable! Our goal is to make the Dell a space that the kids can use, and easily reach everything that they need. We will redecorate and clean the nooks in about a week when we celebrate the coming of Autumn...