Rockin’ the Suburbs

I’m blogging through the alphabet with homeschoolers online and this week S is for Suburbia.

One of the greatest perks of homeschooling is the geographical flexibility– one can do school from virtually any kind of home, and it seems we’ve pretty much tried them all. Despite the occasional changes of scenery, homeschooling together as a family remains a stable constant for which we’re grateful.

In a matter of mere months we’ve gone from homesteading in the rural Montana countryside to glamping in an urban apartment in a borough of the greater Portland metropolis. Now we’re looking to take up habitation back in the ‘burbs. Are we fickle? Perhaps… but rockin’ the suburbs is our new jam.

new house key (seller was a musician)– an omen!

Rural homeschooling looked like serene read-alouds on the banks of the pond behind our property, growing food in our garden and keeping a menagerie of critters, spying on deer, badger & fox families, and hosts of birds through binoculars, hunting for antler sheds, and nature walks to the nearby river.

Urban homeschooling looks like frequent trips to the mall and library, and yoga with the girls at the gym; reading in coffee shops and pushing the cats in a stroller at the park; a never-ending bucket list of hip eateries; and memberships at the museum, pool, and zoo.

I imagine suburban homeschooling will look like increased community and spontaneity– more friends, more family, playdates, sports, neighborhood bike rides & walks to kindergarten, freezer full of popsicles and impromptu backyard barbeques, cousin-camp everyday, and a special candy jar for my trio of nieces. As good a place as any to homeschool.

First overnight (camping, really) in the new house.

Husband and I went beast-mode on the old carpet.

Home improvement crew:

Some more demolition, taking out an old master bedroom closet to give the girls’ room more square footage.

Our bonus/family room’s complete and now our go-to campsite while we chip away at the rest of the house. We took out several superfluous wall sconces, closed up a strange interior window into Husband’s home office, replaced the ceiling fan, gave the fireplace a facelift, removed a dorky shelf and all the window coverings, replaced light switch faceplates, shampooed the carpet, and painted the entire space a clean white. The peculiar paneling now has a modern shiplap look and we simply adore this room!

Before:

see funky interior window & one of three rando sconces. Will remove exterior door with siding replacement next week.
au revoir funky interior window

After:

Our fixer-upper has a veritable revolving door of contractors: Electrician, painters, exterminator, duct-cleaner, crawlspace restorer, flooring guy, county inspector, siding guy, carpet shampooer, AC installer– oh my! My much older sister snapped these pics over just a couple hours’ span. Husband has been triaging the entire remodel from his telecommuting perch atop the rubble.

a / b / c / d / e / f / g / h / i / j / k / l / m / n / o / p / q / r / s / t / u / v / w / x / y / z

A Net In Time Schooling

Hopkins Homeschool
Weekly Wrap-Up
Being A Wordsmith
The Homeschool Post

Comments

3 responses to “Rockin’ the Suburbs”

  1. […] week I referenced the classic 1980’s comedy The Burbs in regards to our Radical Ranch Remodel, but this week I’ve got another timeless Tom […]

  2. […] I’m blogging through the alphabet with A Net in Time and Hopkins Homeschool. This week we’re on the letter T… in our homeschool T is for Travel. (addt’l alphabet posts: D, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S) […]

Leave a Reply