| Author | |
rose gardens
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 23 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 163
|
| Posted: April 25 2006 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
How do the rest of you furnish and decorate for homeschooling?
Do you set aside any particular room or rooms to do the bulk of "schoolwork"?
Do you sprawl throughout the whole house?
We sprawl throughout the house. When I taught just my older children, we primarily used the dining room, but the table is too large for my young children. I hope to move the bulk of our homeschool material to a family room in the basement next year. (It's a walkout with a better view of the gardens.) I'm searching for homeschool decorating ideas. I don't want it too "classroomy". I want to have lots of bookshelves and comfortable sposts to read, but I'm debating about desks or not.
So...what brilliant ideas do you have to share on arranging a family home to accomodate a homeschool lifestyle?
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Christine
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: April 25 2006 at 3:50pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I recently wrote about Our Learning Room on my blog. We have been using our living room and dining room this year and although I have liked it, the children preferred the learning room. I am now rethinking restoring our learning room, as it will most likely be needed as a bedroom. Thus, I am in the process of moving our learning room to the playroom/piano room/computer room. This room has a sliding door to the backyard. So far, I have only moved the number line and our Little Tikes picnic table to their new location. The two computer desks are doubling as work desks. I am trying to figure out how I can creatively move the Montessori type materials, etc.
I have found that keeping most learning items in one room helps not only with clean-up, but also to foster the idea that these are special items and it is a privilege to use them. The children are naturally drawn to using them and treat them with care.
__________________
Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Katie
Forum Pro
Joined: March 11 2005
Location: Suriname
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 271
|
| Posted: April 26 2006 at 12:29am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have a room that used to be the dining room which we now use as a school room. I put the dining room table in the living room (very large room with cathedral ceilings) and it is so much nicer to eat and entertain out there. The old dining room looked so dark.
We acquired a TV and DVD player from some friends who were moving (no more huddling around the laptop!) so I moved that into the old dining room, placing the TV on a small 2-drawer chest-of-drawers, and the DVD player on a taller 5 drawer. The drawers under the TV hold DVD's, the drawers on the other dresser hold paper, craft supplies, and one drawer has my laminator and other things. I have a sofa in there and some other big cushions, and a rug on the floor, with a small oval coffee table.
That is one half of the room. The other half is lined with (freestanding) shelves, two of which also have cabinets with doors on the bottom. I have all my Montessori materials on them, arranged by subject. The ones I'm not using or haven't introduced, I keep in the cabinets, along with other stuff that doesn't look as pretty! I use a lot of baskets - not necessarily matching ones, but it helps keep things with small pieces in order. One shelf has FIAR books, and then other books are on the shelves with subjects - atlases and geography type books are with the maps and globe and things on the "geography shelf", for example. I have a small round table with 4 regular chairs for the children to sit at and work or create. I also have mats they can use on the floor if they prefer.
I have a small freestanding book holder thingy - I guess you would call it a table-top bookcase - and this holds workbooks and file folders of things being used (almost) daily. I have an old changing table to which I added pretty baskets and jars to hold paints, markers, erasers, pencils etc.
I have to entertain a lot and can't really have the room looking too much like an elementary classroom. No neon ABC posters or bulletin boards. I found some fun paintings that are somehow childlike (a fish, a horse, a parrot), and I framed these to hang on the walls. I also have a framed antique map of Georgia, and one or two pieces of the children's artwork, also framed nicely (framing is cheap here - we finally got some things framed we've been lugging around for 12+ years, too cheap or too poor to frame in the U.S.). On one ugly wall I hung a large Indian bedspread with an elephant design on it - it's Indian I think.
I honestly think it is my favourite room in the house, and it is a pleasure to tidy up in there. I hope that helps!
__________________
Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
marihalojen
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 12 2006
Location: Florida
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1883
|
| Posted: April 27 2006 at 8:17am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I was homeschooled a bit myself as a kid and Mom always tried to arrange a "school room" for us or at least would hold school at the kitchen table, and I hated it! Sitting upright, hard dining room chairs and my sister *looking* at me were not conducive to my education!  Let me crash on the floor or on my bed and the work was finished pronto (that's my memories anyway, don't ask Mom for hers - deal?  )
So now I am schooling my own daughter and for the first six months of our homeschooling (third grade) we did not even have a table. Her handwriting was pretty awful that year in retrospect...
We now have tables available on deck, in the cockpit, below decks, but our ideal school room is full of fresh air, yet protected from the sun, has inspiring views and a comfy place to focus on studies. With all the tables available now, the table yesterday was actually part of the floorboards to her dink 7x8 propped up on a freshwater jug, creativity and ownership must play in here, right?
So at times you will find us under the bimini with our books in hand enjoying another day of tablework, if we decide to set up a table! Check out a picture on my blog, if you'd like to see a schoolroom from another perspective.
__________________
~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Elizabeth
Founder
Real Learning
Joined: Jan 20 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5595
|
| Posted: April 27 2006 at 8:21am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jen,
I'm so glad you joined us here! You lend a dimension to the idea of "atmosphere of education" that no one else could offer.
__________________
Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
rose gardens
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 23 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 163
|
| Posted: April 27 2006 at 9:16am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you all for responding.
Christine--I like your term "Learning Room" and best of all "learning house" from your blog. 
Katie--Many great ideas. Framed pictures sound more homelike than ABC posters. 
Jen--Fun, fun, fun! Your classroom requires more water than I hope our basement ever provides.
Elizabeth--I hope we aquire an "atmosphere of education". Congratulations too! Will you need an eigth little desk in your home? 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Cheryl
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 20 2005
Location: Massachusetts
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 978
|
| Posted: April 27 2006 at 10:54am | IP Logged
|
|
|
[QUOTE=rose gardens] How do the rest of you furnish and decorate for homeschooling?
Right now we "do school" in our kitchen and living room. The kitchen counters get covered with stuff all the time. On May 31st we'll be moving to our new house and we'll have a room for homeschooling above the garage. It will have a large walk in closet for storage. One half of the room will be carpeted and the other half will have VCT. The vinyl side will also have a sink with a few cabinets and a countertop. This will be our creative area for art, etc. I'll probably put our old kitchen table there and eventually get some smaller tables for toddlers or preschoolers. I may also set up our 6 ft folding table against a wall where I'd have trays of paper out all the time along with containers of colored pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, tape, rulers, etc.
On the carpeted side will be a sofa and bookcases. There is a large dormer where I plan to make an atrium/prayer corner type place, but I don't really have furniture for that yet. So far I've bought five prints from art.com that I will frame and put on the walls. I also plan to hang some maps and some of my children's art work. I will decorate more as the years go on.
So those are some of my ideas, but they have not yet been proven to work through experience.
__________________
Cheryl
Wife to Bob ('97)
Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: April 29 2006 at 12:22am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We sprawl.
But we have regular tidy ups or the sprawl will become permanent!
We move a lot but in our current house we have a low table with shelves. Iit is our journalling nook and also contains pencils, notebooks, a few maths workbooks and so on - thingn we want handy on the bottom floor
( we hate traipsing upstairs for items) but still looking neat -ish and fitting in with our family room decor...
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
rose gardens
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 23 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 163
|
| Posted: April 29 2006 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Sprawling takes a toll on my patience lately. My desire to organize our homeschooling one main location reflects my attempt to organize my family too.
We did a lot of living in our living room this year. I want to re-gain the quiet retreat where my husband and I once relaxed in the evening or entertained adults. Even with tidying up, the younger children simply leave their mark on the room (sometimes literally). I want a more child friendly environment where they learn.
Like Cheryl, we created an uncarpeted area for art. This week we stained the cement floor with a concrete stain in one area near the walk-out. The carpet will be installed soon on the stairs and around the fireplace. Yeah  (I always feared children might fall down the uncarpeted stairs.)
I gave thought to the whole desks vs table. My 12 year old likes using a desk, so I'll move that down there. I don't think the younger children need them yet and too many desks subtract from a homey feel. I found some a child size table and storage furniture that I like. We might just continue to make do with our old stuff, but I calculate the new furniture costs less than one year of parochial school. 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Dawn
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 12 2005
Location: Massachusetts
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3191
|
| Posted: April 29 2006 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I go back and forth on this a lot. On the one hand I would love an extra room just for all the books, table space, art supplies, bulletin board etc. Right now we don't have an extra room. We do have a finished basement with a bathroom and a snack bar that unfortunately is being used as nothing more than a storage room right now. 
Until I get that space in order (which is my ultimate plan) we use primarily the dining room. It's a good size room which seats 12 at 2 dining tables (family hand-me-downs). I actually just took pictures of this room because I had it all set up for coop coming over. We do our seat work at one table and then *either* put it all away *or* shift everything to the other table when it's time for a meal. I do keep a short set of shelves under a window in the corner; above it is a painting of St. Francis (our family patron) and our "classroom" bulletin board. I try to keep that looking nice, not too messy.
What I like about using this room is it's open to the kitchen *and* the family room. It also has cathedral ceilings and is lined with windows on two sides. Gets lots of light and we can watch the trees while we work.
We also use tote bags for each boy ~ monogrammed with their names. In it they keep stuff they need access to, current reading, and notebooks, folders etc. It is relatively easy to tidy the shelves and remove the bags from the room when we are expecting company.
Now, my living room has two large bookcases of home educational books, as well as the keyboards and world map on the wall. The family room has several book corners (that never look as neat as they do in the pictures!) We do most of our reading and talking together out there. The kitchen island is where we do any experiments or art projects.
So I guess really we use the whole house! Now that it's spring I'd like to use the picnic table on the deck as an "outdoor classroom."
Sorry I've gone on. It's a fun topic ~ one that always warrants revisiting!
__________________
Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
By Sun and Candlelight
The Nature Corner
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: April 29 2006 at 6:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
rose gardens wrote:
| Like Cheryl, we created an uncarpeted area for art. |
|
|
We do art and messy science stuff outside, on the covered patio.
The boys also have desks in their rooms - but we still sprawl. And tidy up at lunch and afternoon tea and dinner and bed...
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
rose gardens
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 23 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 163
|
| Posted: April 29 2006 at 8:24pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Dawn wrote:
We also use tote bags for each boy ~ monogrammed with their names. In it they keep stuff they need access to, current reading, and notebooks, folders etc. It is relatively easy to tidy the shelves and remove the bags from the room when we are expecting company.
... Now that it's spring I'd like to use the picnic table on the deck as an "outdoor classroom."
Sorry I've gone on. It's a fun topic ~ one that always warrants revisiting! |
|
|
I'm glad you "went on" and shared. I like the tote bag idea! That must make it easier to clean up or pack up and go outside for school when weather permits.
I love days when other children go off to school while mine explore our yard for science or count butterflies for math or swing while I read outloud, etc. My favorite "classroom" is our gardens. But we can't count on the weather as we live in Minnesota, so I prefer an uncarpeted area for art or messy projects in winter unless the project involves snow.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ALmom
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 18 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3299
|
| Posted: April 30 2006 at 9:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We have a library with large tables, microscopes, desks, maps, etc., etc. It is lined on all sides with bookshelves. Initially my idea was that we could work in here, leave ongoing projects out, etc.
Reality: Everyone studies wherever they want - but have a place to store their "school" stuff in their own desks (don't necessarily work there) and my piles of papers and records clutter up this one room. Cannot give any ideas on decorating and organizing as that is one thing this room is not. But the door can be shut and we can close out the clutter and noise of piano and violin and cello practice in other parts of the house.
Before we got this, kids and I were forever frustrated with having to move stuff back and forth from the kitchen table in order to eat. We were also all interfering with one another - as one child practiced piano, I tried to discuss or read aloud to someone else and some other child was trying to concentrate on math. There never seemed to be a way to time everything so we didn't interfere with one another. I hated piles all over the house that we looked at 24 hours a day. Now we only have piles in one room and there is always somewhere to close off for some quiet.
Needless to say - this summer I plan to try and Organize and trash the school records of our graduating senior and be more realistic about what records really need saving in case we are questioned. I'm hoping to have more neatness and less clutter.
Janet
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Better Homeschools and Gardens
