A Peek Into Our School Room

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In the Top 5 list of “Things Homeschooling Families Want to Know about Other Homeschooling Families,” probably just after curriculum and scheduling questions, is “What does your homeschool room look like?

I’ve posted before about how we used to school in our basement schoolroom/playroom/office, but have now moved our entire operation upstairs. As the kids got older, it just made more sense to move our school space back to our general living area. This allows me to prepare meals and take care of laundry and other household chores when I am not activity involved in schooling. The kids get more done and I get more done.

And, we’re closer to the bathroom. And the sweet tea. It’s a vicious cycle, that.

Our main school area is now our dining room, although the kids do their independent work all over the house, sometimes here:

019 (1)

Or here:

018

Or in their bedrooms (of which I was going to post pictures until I saw their current state of disarray), the basement or even in their “hide-out” in the backyard, if the weather is nice.

I’m really pleased with the way my new bookshelf has helped me to organize our school stuff in the dining room. Because, you know, everyone has a bookshelf in their dining room. Just this weekend, I re-potted the two still-living plants from the basket I brought home from my grandmother’s funeral. (Actually, there is one other plant that isn’t completely dead yet, so I’m holding out hope for it and a second one that probably is dead, but I haven’t given up yet.)

book shelf

The plant also houses our classroom pet: a tiny, little snail.

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When I went to re-pot the plants Friday night, I discovered him in one of the pots. I figured if he’d been in there all this time, he wasn’t hurting anything and he might even be useful to the plants in some way. And, seriously? They can use all the help they can get under my care. We’ll see the snail climbing up the stems of the peace lily from time to time.

This nifty little basket holds frequently used supplies in a neat, easily accessible spot:

supply organizer

And, we have our new globe on top of one of my hidden storage spaces, sitting in front of my bulletin board (because everyone has bulletin boards on their dining room walls), which looks pitifully bare right now. Give me a couple of weeks and it won’t look so sad.

globe

The cabinets in my China hutch hold supplies that are used less often or that are just big and bulky and would look junked up on my bookshelf. The gray file box inside holds paper: loose leaf, construction, printer, cardstock, etc.

China hutch inside

I’ve given up on having the top of the China hutch empty, but at least everything is contained and fairly organized.

China hutch

So, there you have it. That’s our school space. What is yours like?

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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21 Comments

  1. Right now all Biggest's school stuff is still in shipping boxes. But once we organize it I'll share 🙂

    As I go house hunting, a prerequisite for the new hoe will be a school room or usable area. With our current set-up all of Biggest's stuff is in his room, and that works. But when Littlest gets to school age I would like an area where I can work with both of them…and any other kids that we will hopefully have one day.

  2. Mine is very similar to yours!! Although yours is better organized. Getting it ready is my goal for this week. Thanks for sharing!!

  3. I am getting ready to blog about our decision to finally have an actual school room. I'm SO excited to get it all set up and get through the rather mundane task of painting it.

  4. You mean everyone DOESN"T have a bookshelf in their dining room??? Here I thought it was one thing I did that was normal! lol

    And I also have school supplies on my hutch!

  5. wow your backyard looks so serene- no standard classroom will have that view! i have my daughter's learning areas in our basement- well, pretty much everywhere in our house! the child has taken over!!!

  6. Love your blog (and the title!). I am a 2nd generation homeschooler, and I've heard the "socialization" question ad nauseum. As for a school room, I agree with schooling all over the house. It's easier for me to take care of babies, meals, and yes, sweet tea! Thanks for visiting my blog, too. : )

  7. youa re so right about the sweet tea, bathroom cycle! Anyway, I like your set up and am getting ready to start some prescool homeschool for Blaze. It has always been my plan to do Christian homeschooling with my child or children if God blesses us with more.

  8. Loved seeing your school area.. mine is at the kitchen table. And my walls have ABC's in cursive and manuscript and a map of the US. I have a bulletin board too but I haven't hung it up yet. LOL I thought everyone had a map of the US on their wall. But, alas, you didn't mention it. 😉

  9. I could sit out in that covered porch all day! I love being outside. Thank you for sharing this with us. My husband and I were talking the other day about what kind of homeschool do we have. My teen daughter said 'we unschool' and my husband said "WHAT?"

    I replied, well a close second I suppose. We do use some text books. So he asked me "How ARE you teaching them?" and I said "Oragnic! I suppose it's a close second to unschooling" After a long conversation he said "I like that."

    We want them to have a lifestyle of learning. Not just 8am-3pm.

    Anytime I hear the term unschoolers I think of you. Catchy title for a blog. :O)

  10. I like your organization! We DON'T have a bookshelf in our dining room even though that is where we do school. I'm married to a man who doesn't want the house to look like a school. : He's also a dedicated bookshelf-hater. Any publicly viewable bookshelves in our house would have to have doors on them… which I think would make them CABINETS rather than bookshelves, right? Most of my stuff is kept in our VERY large linen closet (behind doors, of course.)

  11. @ 5Kids — I have a husband who doesn't want our home to look like a schoolroom, either (see this post).

    Fortunately, he's starting to come around. 😉

  12. Yes, every one has a book shelf and bulletin board or white board in their dining room. Well, at least I do as well as you :D. Thanks for sharing on the Blog Hop.

  13. I love the hutch to store "extras" if I could reach the top of mine I'd do the same! And I totally agree about proximity to the bathroom, but for me it's the iced coffee that should be close at hand!

  14. @ Gina — I'm five-feet-nothing. I totally use the step ladder that I keep handily tucked away in a corner of the kitchen. 😉

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