It is easy to believe (especially at the beginning of your homeschooling journey) that is completely necessary to have an “official” homeschool space; just like a class room. You dream of the big fancy maps up on the walls with the colourful letter boards. The bins of laminated cutouts organized nicely in the corner. The skeleton pasted up in the wall that you will label during science period. But wait a minute! I thought that the reason we were taking our kids out of school was because we wanted an entirely different learning experience for our kids! If you have the room for a homeschool space, and you are the type of personality who thrives on that environment, definitely go for it. Having a homeschool room is not a terrible idea and to be honest probably works well for some families. However, if you are either tight on space or desire a more relaxed environment for your family, having a homeschool room is definitely not a need. What I can tell you from our personal experience is that the time we attempted to setup an actual school space, we never actually used it like we thought we would. I can also testify to several of my friends stories who also setup these beautiful homeschooling spaces, only to have a reality check when they realize that learning happens best throughout the home, on the sofa, at the kitchen table, in the office, outside on the porch or in the garden.
Take into consideration some of these famous quotes from Charlotte Mason, a British educator who dedicated her live to improving the quality of children’s education.
“Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” ~ Charlotte Mason
“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.” ~ Charlotte Mason
“An observant child should be put in the way of things worth observing.” ~ Charlotte Mason
In our home, we have found that the best place to work on copy work, math, spelling or writing assignments while the kids are learning something new is most commonly the kitchen table. The kids are able to concentrate and ask for help while I am able to work in the kitchen while also being available to help. However, when the kids are very familiar with their assignments and do not require any additional or immediate help, they will usually ask to move to another place. Sometimes the office, or their bedrooms, or the living room. When we are reading books together, we always end up curled up on the sofa with a fire or a blanket, or reading together in my bedroom. Art happens at the table, or in the entrance, or on the deck outside. Recitation generally happens in the van while we are coming and going from our activities. Science is at the kitchen island, or outside in the bushes, or under the warm sun in our front yard. In our house, learning happens everywhere. We do have a large colourful map in our kitchen and another vintage style one in our living room that we use with our Five In A Row studies and our house is definitely decorated with posters we have created about China, or canvases that were painted during our Henri Matisse Unit. We have books scattered throughout the home and writing tools and paper placed in almost every room. But you see, that is just evidence of a living, breathing and inspiring education.
If you do choose to for-go the official homeschool space like we did I would still strongly recommend having perimeters in place to keep your homeschool running smooth and stay “somewhat” organized! In our home, this is what has worked for us.
Homeschool Closet
We have taken our front door coat closet and completely transformed it to our supply closet. In this space we keep math supplies, art supplies, science supplies and kits, our Math-U-See Dvds, extra paper and notebooks, and all of our curriculum and books that are either being saved for when we are ready for it or when the younger kids go through it again.
Designated Drawer for Each Child
To keep the kids books separated, we have given them each 1 large drawer that is a part of our built in desk in the kitchen. In these drawers the kids keep their readers, picture books or chapter books that they are working through, their notebooks, workbooks and math books, any posters or art projects they are working on and a set of pencils, pens and a ruler that they don’t like to share. When the kids (mostly my girls) over-populate my fridge with art work, I will generally take the extra drawings and place them in each drawer. Each kid also has a binder where they can keep their special art work and drawings.
A Bin for the Library Books
I wish I could say that this solved our late fee problem. Although it has helped tremendously, I still struggle to get the books back to the library on time. At least having them all in once place means that when we do head off to the library, I am not stuck hunting all around the house for the books.
A Bench to Keep Board Games and Puzzles
Obviously any storage location will do. Just make sure you have a place to store your board games, puzzles and brain teasers. Homeschool kids seem to play a ton of games! At least in our home!
A Quiet Space with the Computer
We have moved the location of our computer a few times. However, I highly recommend having a quiet space where they can work on typing, reading games, or watching a documentary or show without distracting the others.
That is a few of the things that have worked for us. Each family will find their own “groove” with homeschooling, and it will definitely evolve over time. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed with trying to create a perfect homeschool space, let that one go. Any location can work as a learning environment!