Our Homeschool Room Tour

When I started researching homeschooling I heard so many view points and opinions about having a school room, using the kitchen table, everyone using spaces throughout the house, or changing things up all of the time.  We were very blessed that during the same time that we were officially starting homeschooling we were also buying a new home, as my husband was starting a new job.  I was able to look at houses with an open mind and eye to what flow might work best for our family living and schooling in our home.  When we found "the house", I originally thought I would use the formal living room on the main floor but after prayer and discernment of what our homeschool goals are, and knowing our children's personalities to the basement we went! 

We are thankful that we have a nice finished basement that has a big main living area, a bathroom, and an extra bedroom, which we are currently using as our toy room.  It is also a walk out basement, so we also have quick access to our fenced in backyard and also get nice natural light.  Here is a quick tour of our current space.

This area is the first space that you walk into, and is what we call our "reading nook".  We have a bookshelf to the right of the big chair where we keep our chapter books that we read out loud during afternoon reading time.  We also found an awesome old magazine holder where we keep our library books so we always know that they are in one place. 

 

This big credenza used to be our old TV stand but now houses games, puzzles, music instruments/toys, and learning toys like Magna Tiles, Lincoln Logs, and more.  I got the awesome world map at a church garage sale for $0.50!  That is always my biggest tip for other people is to search for things on sale!  The bookcase to the left has all of our current school books that we use on a regular basis.  We are using Seton Home Study School and are enrolled in their services.  We also use this My First Calendar to learn the days of the week, months of the year, seasons, weather and number days. 

 

The next space is where we sit probably 80% of the time to do school work.  It was my husband's and my first kitchen table when we first got married and I love that we can now re-purpose it into a school table for the kids.  We have a Chicco hook on highchair that we use for our almost 1 1/2 year old to join us to color, play with play dough or work on puzzles when we are working on school work or reading together.  The kids also love using our Melissa and Doug Easel to practice writing or for painting.  The big computer armoire was my husband's desk at our old house and now I use to organize craft supplies and projects that the kids are working on.  I love that I can shut the doors and keep it out of sight when I want, because craft supplies certainly can get messy! 

 

This is the view across the room from the school table.  Here we have our big bookcase of more puzzles, leisure books, and the bottom two shelves have quiet toys for our youngest son to play with.  It is nice that he can access these toys without any assistance.  To the right of the bookshelf is a sink, which when we first bought the house I thought was strange, but now I love it.  I have all of our paint supplies under the sink and I love that we can wash our hands and paints out in the sink.  We also have a small TV in the basement where the kids will sometimes watch tv or videos.  They love the Leap Frog Letter Factory and the CCC of America Saints and Heros DVDs.  

 

 

 

This is my desk in our school room, and it also has our computer, which our oldest son is learning how to learn.  I enjoy having a small area of my own space in the room where I also can keep my eyes on what the children are doing.

 

This is the extra bedroom in our basement that we are currently using as a toy room.  Since we still have little kids I like that we have a place near by our school area where the little kids can play when I am working with someone individually.  We have been trying very hard to sort toys down to quality toys that promote independence and imagination and the train table, kitchen center and Lego station have continued to be some of everyone's favorites.  

 

 

 

We are also very blessed to live near a nice lake with wonderful walking trails!  I have learned that one of the many fun parts of homeschooling is just dropping the books and going on a bike ride or go outside to play on the swing set for a while!  The world is our classroom!