Our Homeschool Room.

Ever since we decided to homeschool, I've dreamed about my perfect homeschooling room.  Being a self-declared nerd and lover of all things class room, I knew it would be a magical place.  While most kids' idea of a good day was playing outside or getting some great new toy, growing up I would literally beg my best friend if we could go to her mom's 6th grade class so I could play on the overhead projector.  I loved school!  I still do!  The reams of fresh paper, the detailed maps hanging from the walls, the scratch of a freshly sharpened pencil on a crisp notebook.  It's heaven, I tell you.  Heaven!

But alas, I don't live in a stately mansion with rooms to decorate at my every whim and fancy.  We live in a s-m-a-l-l home, and while I love my comfy little home, it doesn't leave much room for anything extra what-so-ever.  Creativity is key in working with a small home!

I knew that whatever set-up we had, we really had to make sure it was functionable and liveable for a good two-three years.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money, and it had to work well with our daily lives.  This is what we came up with!

Swee'Pea and I headed to a school salvage yard and I let him pick out his own desk.  He actually did a really great job.  It is better than what I had even pictured!  I picked over a few organizers I had stashed away in the garage from my junior high teaching days, and stole some of his little Ikea art buckets from the craft closet.  The locker crates are from his nursery, the little coffee table from who knows where (honestly, no idea where we got this thing, it was just in the garage!), and the trash can was from his room.  All told, we spent $45 for the chair and the desk.  I would love to spend a bit more to get this crazy amazing organizer I saw on Ikea.com, but alas they don't ship, and alas they never have it in stock.  Boo.

Our space is useable and cute.  You know, when it is clean and tidy.  Which we really make an effort to keep it so!  Swee'Pea loves having a desk in the living room to color or read books or listen to tapes, and I love not having my kitchen table clogged with stuff all the live-long-day.  We utilize the table throughout lessons, but the moment he is done that area has to be picked up.  To be honest, we utilize the whole living room and part of the kitchen, but we like our room to learn and explore!

The view just as you come in our front door.  You can see that our living room and dining room share the same space, as does our school room.  I think the desk is so adorable sitting underneath the sun-shiny window.

Here is a better view from the living room.  The little coffee table tucked in the corner is only visible from certain points in the room, which I like.  It is an eye-sore I'd like to remedy but it was free and it will do for now.  I love this happy little corner of my home!

Swee'Pea picked this set-up all on his own.  The desk will grow with him, and I love the sturdiness of the chair.  He likes to spread out when he writes so we usually remove the buckets.  They are supposed to hang on the wall but I haven't decided if I want to drill them in quite yet.  His three types of paper are in his stacker, and on the top are his daily workbooks and Bible.  In the cubbie we keep math manipulatives and his "fun" workbooks he can do without my help.

The dreaded coffee table.  This could be so much cuter!  But it is fine for now.  I keep my teacher's editions and plans here, as well as his listening center and our radio.  We listen to many a Dodger game together in this corner during the evenings while Daddy is at work!  Underneath the table I keep my big box of magnetic letters (I sort out what is needed weekly).  

A close-up of his trays.  He has art paper, writing paper, and story paper.  Buying in bulk is the cheapest way to go, so this will last us the whole year if not more.

I removed half my china from my buffet and am using it as storage for  extra curriculum.  This currently houses our extra BOB books, science books, and some assorted files and "teacher stuff" I use for resources.  

The "fun" basket.  Coloring books, extra crayons, and a few little workbooks he likes to play with.  Most of his "fun" stuff is in a larger box in his room, but this is available for when friends come over or he wants something to do without my help.

A close-up of the desk.  It actually is pretty easy to keep tidy!

A weekly phonics unit.  It is too hard to sift through over 200 magnetic letters and shapes each morning to pick out what we need, so this was my solution.  It works out perfectly and I feel organized and on top of it when lessons begin.

Our typical day.  Buffet and table covered.  Legos from that morning strewn about on the floor.  Swee'Pea trying to salvage any corner for his counting routine.  Yep.  A beautiful mess.

The next little bit I want to talk about is planning.  Quite a few homeschooling mothers I've talked to do not plan.  That is well and good for them, but that goes against every fiber of my type-A teacher heart.  I need a plan!  I need a goal!  Now we don't always follow that plan or get it all done, not even close!  But I feel good about having a map for the week, a sense of accomplishment, a box to check off after each lesson, and the ability to see without a doubt that we have completed certain tasks along the way.  Plus, we will be required to keep documentation of what we have done each week when Swee'Pea is enrolled in a charter school this fall, so all these plans and his work will be saved so it can be recorded what he has successfully mastered.

Stack of teacher and student resources for planning

My plans.  Before the endless erasing and scratching out begins.

Thanks for visiting our little school room!