I'd love to see (pictures if you want to) or hear how you organize your homeschool materials. We don't have a separate space for homeschooling and I am looking for ideas. I love to see dedicated school rooms too though! Do you use any particular system for keeping yourself organized?
Thanks!
I'm in the same boat- Not having a room or much area to dedicate solely to homeschooling, so I would love to see or hear what others do as well!
I have some time to figure it out though- If we homeschool, we won't start until next September. Right now I'm thinking of placing some bookshelves against the only blank wall in our dining room (which means in front of the window, but I'll be looking for lower, longer bookshelves to accommodate that), and I'm assuming the boys will sit at our dining room table when we do our work. I would also like either a felt or chalk board for the corner facing the dining room table.
My boys will be first grade and K, so I'm assuming (and hoping) that our homeschool space needs aren't going to be much anyway, and much of our time will be out and about exploring, cooking and baking, taking nature walks, and just having fun outdoors (while learning, of course!)
I use my dining room too. I have a fairly large shelf system that I use that is on one wall. I have the top shelf reserved for books we are currently using and free reading books. On the top I have a large sturdy basket for each child's things. Then I also have a box for my teaching materials on top as well. I have 2 little marker boards on the fridge (on the other side of the wall from the shelving system that I use to keep track of my plans for each kid for that day. We do have to keep our table cleared to eat off and that is a really good thing or I think we wouldn't get it done. I do have little white boards for the kids to use rather than have one on the wall. I do however keep our timeline on the wall :)
We mostly use our dining room and living room area.
I have a shelving unit with the books we are currently using, dictionary and a globe. It takes one shelf (about 36" wide) to hold the year's worth of homeschool books for dd. I have 6 dishpans on the shelves that I put daily assignments in that we can carry to wherever dd wants to work- the sofa or the dining table.
I have a tub of math manipulatives under a small table that holds our record player/cd player.
I have a couple of crates stacked up on another small table with books and magazines dd can choose for free reading.
Craft supplies and a craft table are in small room off the living room. There is a chalk board and dry erase board on the wall in there but we almost never use them. There is a map on the wall. There is a shelving unit with games and paper.
Books and materials we aren't currently using are stored on a shelving unit upstairs in the room with our computer.
I did try a room dedicated to homeschooling but it didn't really work for us. We had a need to spread out and be comfortable.
For a small portable dry erase surface, you can just get some paper laminated.
We don't really organize our home (or our lives, for that matter) into "schooling" and "the other stuff." So I guess our homeschooling materials are mixed in with the rest. We have a small house: five or six of us in 1800 square feet without a garage or basement, with business-use-of-home to factor in. Our stuff lives where it gets used, tucked away in the most convenient nook or shelf. Our homeschooling is natural and wide-ranging, so stuff lives in different places.
Miranda
Id also love to see some ideas. Like the PP we are in a fairly small space 1300 square feet so most supplies kinda get mixerd into the space, but I would like somethign to organize parts of it. Right now we kida have a corner that has some make shift storage but its not very appealing and the toddlers just end up pulling out everything.
DD does her school work eaither in her room or on my bed ussually. She likes spreading out.
I use the dining room table for most work, although the kitchen island sees some action, too. Things get stored where they fit. I've got a big rubbermaid tote by the front entry way that is our hiding place for things not in use. What I'd really like is an entry bench, where I can put things away in a more visually appealing way. Something like this, only sturdier.
http://www.amazon.com/Linon-Short-Storage-Bench-Walnut/dp/B001HL025O/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_4
I currently have everything stored in a hutch but baby #3 is coming in May and it will then be used to store baby stuff. I am desperately hoping that We can tear out some (lame) cabinets we have in the hall and turn it in to a proper closet. That would give me the space to move the homeschooling materials into there, organized into bins. ( I have been handed down a lot things ranging from K to 3rd grade so I need to go through and narrow down to what we need for each year and store the extra stuff in the garage. I'm just intimidated by all of it, even though it's a huge blessing.) I am also hoping to use the work-box system set up in a corner of the living room for our daily things. I think it would keep me on track and I *think* it would make sense to DD. We'll probably use our living room floor and kitchen table for workspace.
My boys (10 and 6) use the dining room table or the table in my office to do school work. Their books and folders are kept on a hutch in the dining area. The teen keeps her books and stuff in her room on a bookshelf, and she does her work on the couch.
Our stuff has moved around as it suited our needs at the time. We don't have a whole lot of stuff, since we don't have the space for it. And it would drive me crazy to have a bunch of stuff in my house and never use it. lol
My boys (10 and 6) use the dining room table or the table in my office to do school work. Their books and folders are kept on a hutch in the dining area. The teen keeps her books and stuff in her room on a bookshelf, and she does her work on the couch.
Our stuff has moved around as it suited our needs at the time. We don't have a whole lot of stuff, since we don't have the space for it. And it would drive me crazy to have a bunch of stuff in my house and never use it. lol
I like to be very organized and really have to be with a lot of children. Each year it has gotten easier because some have graduated and moved on. I am down to only 4 now! I am including a link to how I organize our homeschool--it is geared towards large families, but the ideas may help anyone.
I just started out this past fall so I'm no expert but I have a shelf space dedicated to homeschool books including Usborne Science and History Encyclopedias and other reference books. I have my daughter keep her notebooks and workbooks in a backpack that hangs on the coat rack - she is supposed to keep a pencil case in it too so we can just grab the bag and take out some work. Our library books (of which there are generally 30-50) are in a basket next to the couch and then spill over onto the coffee table or less often on the shelf with other homeschool supplies. We actually do our lessons on the kitchen table, curled up on the couch, or on the floor.
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