Can you believe we are already saying “goodbye” to summer and “hello” to fall? With fall comes cooler weather and spending more time inside. Whenever, the weather starts to turn cool I always want to get my house cleaned, organized, and ready for us to be there most of the time. With this in mind, I typically do a household and home school makeover. I go through closets pulling out things that have been pushed to the back and forgotten. I go through shelves of school books removing things we haven’t used in years. I clean off the tables, chairs, shelves, and even go through all of our stockpiled supplies.

We makeover everything in our schoolroom including how the furniture is arranged. Because we spend so much time in our home school room-  making it different each year helps keep us from HATING it. Here are some great ideas to makeover how your school room looks!

Hannah Anderson at Full Time Nanny helps us makeover our school room by planting a flower box for kids.

1. rearrange furniture

2. Put up things that the children have gotten “bored” with – pull them out six months from now and they’ll be new again…

3. Put up some bright posters, make some decorations together

4. Organize their personal belongings into crates, tubs, boxes, etc… and then let them personalize their own space

Our school room isn’t the only thing that needs a makeover. I run out of ideas throughout the year, and am always in need of fresh fun things to do with the children. Here are some awesome ideas from fellow bloggers that just might give you the inspiration that you require… (I had a hard time getting this carnival written – because I spent so much time reading all these great posts!!!)

Homeschool Online shares their concerns about homeschooling a senior in the post Back to School… With a Senior.

Cristina at Homes Spun Juggling tells us about how her homeschooling has changed over the years in Not “Write”, Just a Rough Sketch Right Now.

Christine of The Thinking Mother answers the question: “Will my kids turn out alright if they quit school and begin homeschooling?”

Henry helps us tie it all together with Relearned Lessons – Using the Right Tool over at his blog Why Homeschool.

Summer Nanny Jobs gives us some great advice on how to keep our kids entertained on a rainy day with their blog post 10 Things Your Kids Can Do on a Rainy Day.

After I finish organizing all of the physical things in the room and freshen up our outlook. I then turn to WHAT I use to teach. For me, the appearance of the room is the easy part. Reviewing and determining what we’ll use for our curriculum requires so much more thought… that I usually put it off til last. (Not a good practice…to say the least.) Sometimes the curriculum that we used last year is awesome, and we want to stick with it. Then there are times, that … well…we just don’t fit together. Usually, we sell or donate that curriculum and find something more suitable to meet our needs. Here are some experienced homeschoolers thoughts on different types of curriculum…

Roberta at Letters from Nebby gives us some great ideas for math curriculum in her post Life of Fred Math.

Annie at Learn at Every Turn encourages us to take advantage of keeping good homeschooling records in her post Homeschool Organization and Record Keeping.

Nerdwallet has launched a personal finance management contest. A great way to teach your kids to manage their finances.

Misty  from Homeschoolbytes shows us that there is lots to learn from 4H clubs in her post Amazing Homeschool Adventures with 4H.

The Great Wall of Krispies posted by Karyn gives us a great idea on how to make history come alive for our children.Check out her blog at Teach Beside Me.

Of course, there are always Good Reasons for Teaching the Basics While Homeschooling. Find out while reading this post by Barbara Frank.

Kathleen really gives some practical pointers in finding What Curriculum to Use? over at her blog Art’s Chilli Pepper.

Another great way to update your homeschool is to get up close and personal… that’s just what Baby Steps Blog did in their post Visiting the Hive!

Nutrition for Healthy Kids shares with us some great ideas on teaching kids their ABC’s in a fun and engaging way with their post entitled Alphabet Soup.

Chris gives us a great idea for curriculum in his post Use This Book to Design Your Curriculum over at his blog Homeschool vs. Public School.

Are you wondering How to Teach a Toddler Spanish? Martina tells all at her blog Become a Nanny.

Kaye gives us insight on how to have Artful Fun for the Sandwich Generation at her blog SandwichINK.

Once I’ve gone through organizing the room and organizing our curriculum, I then take a look at our schedule. It’s so easy to get caught up doing too much, and it’s so hard to say “No” to someone who needs a little help. We have found that if we keep our focus on the few things that are most important in our lives (like our family) and say “no” to anything that detracts from that, then we can stay sane. To make sure we aren’t letting too much extra stuff creep back in, each fall we do a schedule makeover as well! We streamline our week to make sure that everything from school – to sports – to work all flows well together. Make sure you check out these blogs for great ideas on how to make your schedule work for you.

Escape is Possible asks the question To Cram or Not To Cram? It’s never easy to decide if it’s worthwhile cramming one more thing into our busy lives.

It seems like many of us must have this on our mind… Lisa shares her thoughts on How to Avoid Homeschool Burnout at her blog Golden Grasses.

Liz from Homeschooling in Buffalo helps us focus on our purpose while she shares hers in Reunions and My Decision to Homeschool.

Erin from Nirvana Homeschooling gives us some great ideas about scheduling in her post Our Homeschool Plan for Kindergarten.

Susan at Corn and Oil encourages us to think about our homeschooling freedoms and take action to keep them in her post about Over-Compliance Demands for Homeschoolers.

If you still aren’t sure about your schedule… here’s one for you. Annie shares her Un-Schedule with Grades 12,10, 7, and 5 at her blog Tea Time with Annie Kate.

Ever have those that share their negative opinions about homeschooling? Shirley shares

10 Reasons Why Homeschooling With A New Baby Is Going To Be Do-able at her blog “Homeschool is not a Typo.“

Does scheduling our homeschool day help us get into a routine or a rut? Let’s find out…

Last, but not least in importance is the fact that sometimes our friendships need a little “makeover” as well. Phyllis posts about that in How to Cultivate Proverbs 13 Friendships on her blog Proclaiming God’s Faithfulness.

It’s been so fun hosting the Home School Blog Carnival here… hope that you got plenty of great ideas to start your own Homeschool Makeover!