The Love of Irish Dancing

We have recently started to learn Irish dancing and love it. We have been so lucky to come across Sister Anne at Sacred Heart. She was born in Ireland and is the ripe age of 71. Sister Anne has been Irish dancing since she was 6 years of age. She now volunteers her time along with a friend and teaches children Irish dancing each week. Even though there are dance studios in our small town ... you won't find Irish dancing in one.

Each week the children and most of them are schooled at home arrive at 4pm ready to learn this interesting dancing method of dances that are characterized by quick, intricate movements of the feet.

We have had so much fun learning the "Reel" and "Jig". We were also fortunate to be able to do community service and perform at several nursing homes around town and at the Knights of Columbus dinner at Sacred Heart for St. Patricks Day. March is Irish dancing's busiet time of year.

Since we are not a formal dance studio and dance for recreation not competition we do not wear the beautiful fancy Irish costumes. We still try to represent the Irish culture by wearing traditional plaid pleated skirts and white shirts with knee high socks.

My girls are 5 and 7 years old and have fallen in love with Irishing dancing. All day long they hop around the house practicing their footwork. My 7 year old wants to catch up with the "big girls " who are in the intermediate and masters class. These girls wear the hard soled shoes and are taught by a gentleman who also volunteers his time. He was a competitive Irish dancer and is sharing his expertise and talent with the dancers who have mastered the 1,2,3's and hops.

This is a short video clips I took of the girls dancing the "Walls of Limerick".

This is a fascinating story of kids being taught Irish dancing in the Bronx.

Don't miss this New York Times article on the Keltic Dreams troupe of Irish Dancers - mostly of Hispanic or African American cultures themselves - being taught in the Bronx by Irish native Caroline Duggan. The accompanying video will nearly bring you to tears, and the stories of what these kids have had to go through to participate in the program and ultimately their journey to Ireland are something to remember.
For more about the group, shown in the photo above, go their Web site.

At Last a Homeschooling Room

Do we all need a homeschooling room? No, we don't but it sure is nice to have.

I have been wanting to create one but have never gotten around to it and finally I did. Since I have 2 girls it was easy to leave it the color it presently was (light pink with girls accents).
Ikea has some inexpensive products for projects like this. I put their Ikea desk along one wall that they share since it is rather large with each of them on either side. Each child has their own craft supply container full of glue, scissors, stickers and more. On the wall above them is a shelf with a magnet strip from Ikea along the bottom for them to hang whatever they want on it. The bookshelf next to the closet in this photo has books organized by level 1, level 2 , level 3 readers along with chapter books and board books on the bottom shelf. This bookshelf is also the home of their 5 baby snails.

Also from Ikea is a 3 drawer table that each child has as a storage for their pencil boxes, note book paper pads and special items. On top of this is all the informational learning books for reference including art/drawing books, animals encyclopedias, weather, pioneers and more. At the end of the desk is a night stand for the "library only" books.


Since converting this room took away a guest sleeping area I took an extra twin futon that I had and folded it up in the corner as a reading lounge. It will act as both a reading comfy lounge and a twin bed when rarely needed for company. I covered it in a pretty purple throw to go along with the room theme (girly).
Next to the reading corner is the music instruments that the girls are learning to play along with a microphone that is real and hooks up to the electric guitar amp. They hang out on the lounge and practice guitar and make up songs weekly.



I too wanted a space for me to work on some of my projects such as sewing and scrap booking so I bought a 78"x 23" desk top at Ikea and it fits nicely along the one wall. Love it! I can work on things while the girls are working quietly on school work. Above my desk I hung a white shelf that I have a large dry erase calendar on and the girls like to use that shelf to display the monthly holidays and theme.


Luckily my mother in law had given me a large chalk board from Pottery Barn so finally it is up on the wall and being put to use. The girls like to write out their math problems on it. I myself like using a dry erase board so I picked one up at Staples and love that as well! It too has a magnet strip along the bottom and we hang art work that needs drying on it.



I utilized the silding closets doors as a display of their artwork and they proudly like to see them up on display. I use various art projects from "All Things I Can Do" art book and since I am a crafty person I have my own crafts as well.

My biggest problem was a place to keep their board games, play dough, moon sand, science kits, craft supplies and puzzles. There was wasted corner space in the closet that goes beyond the sliding doors. I went to Home Depot and had them pre cut wire shelves for me and I hung them up and everything is now in order. I use the already present clothes shelves for their school books.
At this point in time I am using Calvert curriculum thru Connections Academy and love it. Having internet access to Brainpopjr.com and Headsprouts.com has been a wonderful supplement to our curriculum. I am currently trying out Professor B's Power Mathematics which is a very interesting power point presentation which makes me an excellent teacher in knowing different ways to show the children how to get an answer to a problem. I was brought up in the public school system only knowing one way to get the answer to a problem but there is definately more than one way and each child learns differently so I look at other options of presenting to them as well.

So, there you have it. My homeschool room completed! I hope this gives you ideas and inspires you to create a space of your own if you can.