Homeschool Room
Having a special room in your house set aside for homeschooling is not necessary. But it is a luxury for which I’m very thankful! It means we don’t have school work littering the kitchen bench or dining table. It also means the school-related clutter and mess mostly stays in one room (my husband and I both have an aversion to mess!) In our current setup, it also means we have all the useful equipment for homeschooling – printer, tv, computer, art table, piano, maps etc) at hand and in one spot!
Still, no matter how much I organise the room, it is always a headache getting the kids to actually keep it tidy. My visions of neatly aligned jars and well-ordered cupboards have sadly only partly made it to reality. And no matter how much culling I do, we still seem to fill the shelves to overflowing in next to no time!
In case you’re curious, here are some photos of our space as it is currently arranged:
What I wish it looked like all the time..
Yes that is the typical homeschooling Ikea furniture you see – I couldn’t resist! There are a couple of suppliers in NZ. Also some drawers from Mocka, which fitted nicely with the style. The art table is actually our old (and now too small) dining table! I’d love to get a nice colourful mat to brighten up the floor, and perhaps another small table and chairs for the toddler to replace our previous one that fell apart.
Prior to this arrangement, I had all four desks in a sort of square in the middle of the room, which also worked well but felt less spacious in the centre. No doubt we’ll rotate between a few different set ups to keep things interesting.
But for the sake of reality and honesty, here’s what it usually looks like, to my ongoing frustration..
We do a tidy up at the end of each day which does help, but it virtually never meets my expectations!
The playpen is quite useful for keeping the 2 year old somewhat contained, or for lying the baby so he doesn’t get trampled on. The 2 year old can climb out, but at least it’s a defined space for her. It’s usually safer putting her in there with some toys than letting her roam around the house wreaking havoc while we do schooling!
Remember, having a space like this is definitely not necessary for homeschooling. It does make life easier, especially if you like order, but it won’t mean your kids learn any more or that you get any more work done! I still struggle to organise my days well and cover everything I want to. But I do love having a nice space to do all that in!
