We've been homeschooling 'officially' for two years. But, my collection of homeschool materials dates back to even before I was born. My mother was an elementary school teacher turned media coordinator. My home was always filled with books (free reading and research), games, art supplies and manipulatives, and I have just continued this style of decorating.
We don't have a particular homeschool area - we just do 'school' wherever it seems right at the time. I have tried to corral most of my materials in certain areas, but I consider everything in our house a resource - including the kid's toys.
Once I saw the request I took pictures of what it looks like at this time - halfway through our day. I wish I could say that it is generally cleaner, or more organized. But, I won't lie to you. What it looks like today is actually better than normal. But, this works for us. And, we are too busy having fun to worry about clutter normally.
We split the den so that the back half is our office/homeschool storage area. Here are the two desktop computers. The larger desk is also my home office.
Another view showing the bookshelves and the 'quiet' area (the desk in the back corner). With all of us in a little space, we need somewhere a person can go to work in quiet.
The 'quiet' desk and our calendar. The desk also serves as the weekly stacking area. What we are currently working on is kept here.
This bookshelf stores this year's books. It also holds the vast majority of our school supplies, arts & crafts supplies and science stuff.
This unit holds a lot of the board books for the younger set. The baskets hold math and phonics manipulatives and games.
Our kitchen table. The number two spot in the house to find us working. The family room-kitchen-eating area is basically one room, and where we spend the majority of our indoor time.
The Family Room...this is homeschool central for us. The sofa is almost constantly in use. This bookshelf holds a lot of children's books that my mom gave me from her years in 1st and 2nd grade classrooms. These are books that don't fit in the girls' room. I also have some reference books and general workbooks/coloring books for when the children want those. This is also the home of our music library. There is another bookshelf on the other side of the room which holds my books (household, cookbooks, general reads), games, puzzles and various preschool materials.
The girls like to hang their stories, pictures and other things they find interesting on this wall. My Robbie being all cute and having his lunch while I run around and take pictures.
Our coffee table in the family room. This adjustable-height, folding table was bought specifically for this purpose. Marker and crayon easily come off this surface. There is the old, beat-up laptop that I use when children take over the office computers.
I think of this area as our 'prechool'. The younger ones spend a lot of their time here. They can draw at the coffee table, play with their toys. Puzzles and games are kept in the corner.
That is generally it - although other areas of our house are just as important to our schooling - the kitchen for chemistry and home economics, the garage for big projects and the great outdoors for nature studies and general running around.
Peace,
Amy
1 comment:
Wow! That is awesome! I may need to borrow some books and ideas.
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