"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."~Charlotte Mason

Today’s carnival is all about creating a home environment which encourages learning. Donna Marie set the tone for these series of posts “Living Lives of Loveliness” with her post Elegant Simplicity.

Following up on the inspiration of Donna Marie, Meredith (our first hostess), Elizabeth and (next week’s hostess) Kim, organized these carnivals.

Elizabeth's learning space post is not to be missed. In fact her blog, Real Learning, is not to be missed if you like engaging unit studies, book suggestions, recipes and especially for a little look into her joyful family.

"You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters".
~St. Bernard

Nature studies abound at two of my favorite homeschooling blogs, Theresa’s Lapaz Farm Home Learning and Dawn’s By Sun and Candlelight. At Lapaz Farm one finds plenty of beautiful notebooks, clever ideas on how to use small spaces efficiently and sometimes even a horror story [LOL]. Over at By Sun and Candlelight one always finds a happy place to visit especially in Dawn’s Learning Room/DiningRoom/Community Room space.
Don't stop there because Dawn even has a follow up post!

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."
~Albert Einstein

What child can pass up tables filled with engaging puzzles, file folder games, and other Montessori inspired matching activities? Stop by Cay’s Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks for a great Montessori filled post. While there, try the link in the upper left hand corner which takes you over to her other blog, The Catholic Mosaic, where you’ll find plenty of help and encouragement for implementing in your family, her newest book The Catholic Mosaic.

"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding its is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
~Proverbs 24:3,4

Shawna graciously sent in pictures of her school room and these beautiful words to go along with the pictures.

I have been daydreaming and planning my school room since before I was even married. So, when we moved into our house 6 years ago, I wasn’t too disappointed with its major design flaw…an attached garage that was much too small for family sized vehicles. In my mind’s eye, I had already transformed it into my school space. ...



Our goal was to create a versatile space that would adapt to meet the changing needs of our children. It would have plenty of natural light and an exit to open into our back yard. ...


I am so grateful for this wonderful room.

Thanks Shawna!


"We, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum, taking care only that all knowledge offered to him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle that 'Education is the Science of Relations.'"
~Charlotte Mason, A Philospophy of Education

Meredith at Sweetness and Light (who by the way, found a book in the library bearing the same title as her blog – what are the odds of that?) is also incorporating many more Montessori ideas into her homeschool this year. Her neat and tidy and definitely elegant learning room is here. Sweetness and Light lives up to its name!

Angela at her blog Three Plus Two does a great job with her post despite being hampered by an unfamiliar laptop. "Our Living and Learning Room" is Angela's learning room post filled with great links and helpful ideas. Visit often with Angela at Three Plus Two to find out more about homeschooling with one year old twins around.

"Be attentive to the voice of grace."
~St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Take a stroll with Kristin in a Garden of Love and Light as she thanks God for family, home and The Present Moment. Her blog is filled with encouraging words to help us all live in the present moment.

If you are familiar with the 4Real board, you probably know Brigid and her wonderful sense of humor. Well, that gift (do I dare say of the Irish?) is now available in the blogosphere. Brigid’s new blog Our Magnum Opus is sure to delight. Visit with her in her learning room, "The Hub of Our Schooling"

"The school of Christ is the school of charity. In the last day, when the general examination takes place, there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the Paragraphs of Justinian. Charity will be the whole syllabus. "
~Saint Robert Bellamine"

Louise from Ecole Buissonniere submitted this post full of great Montessori ideas. She has a lot of good advice for setting up a school room. Could it be because she has 11 children?


"What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out. "
~ John Holt

Leonie has a wonderful, elegant and simple style which she puts to great use in her family of 7 boys. Visit her uncluttered unschooling learning area here. When you visit check out her posts on Literature and the Middle Ages as well, and maybe you will wonder along with me, why is unschooling called unschooling?

For those of you who love pictures please visit
My Thoughtful Spot.
Cheryl has posted terrific pictures of her well organized school room and she says: “My solution for trying to give the appearance of elegant simplicity in the school room without getting rid of the stuff I may need someday, for something... is to keep everything extra and everything that doesn't look neat behind closed doors.” Judging by the pictures, I think Cheryl was very effective at achieving elegant simplicity.

Elena's post "My classroom- such as it is!" is full of nice big pictures. If you always wanted a big blackboard, find out the amazing way Elena ended up with hers.

Donna Marie, who planted the seed of inspiration for this carnival is just full of cheerful energy – you can just tell by her posts and the fact that she has seven children. She tells us about her learning room here.

As the hostess, it is awkward for me to introduce my own post. But, I will squeeze it in here next to Donna Marie’s. I began speaking of our learning all over the house, and then brought you all downstairs, and finally, the origin the name of our homeschool.

“The Gospel intends us to attain to true simplicity: simplicity in the sense of an inward unity of life ”
~Dietrich von Hildebrand
This quote came from Michelle's Family-Centered Life and she offers this reflection on setting up a school room.

~Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and thou risest up.~
If you are like our family, and enjoy using Five In A Row, then visit Alice R’s blog Woodhaven. Her learning room is here at this post. When Alice R. submitted her post she told me “The carnival was my motivation!” I’m sure that was true of many of the participants. I can say that for myself.

We'll close out this carnival [although I think I will need to come back to edit] with the words of St. Therese submitted by Louise,

"Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon Heaven, the only one goal of our labors."
~St Therese of Lisieux