mom31257 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 would you be willing to share a photo of what your area looks like? I really want to make the area functional for us and am trying to decide what types of storage stuff to put there. Our table is in an eat-in kitchen (no formal dining room) but I do have some wall space to work with, about 6 feet. I have 2 children, but they'll be 1st and 7th, so not much school work can be combined. Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 We mostly work at our kitchen table. We have a desk and a lot of our items in our finished basement as well. What I decided to do was buy baskets to stand the different binders and books in. I found plastic ribbon weave baskets at Marshall's for like 7 dollars each. I then stand what we use daily upright in them, that way my son can pull out what he needs when he is ready for each subject. I keep them pushed under different things so they are out of the way. I also have two portable hanging folder file boxes that I store all of the various extra paperwork in. That way as needed we can bring one into the kitchen to put tests away or get out more blank copies of whatever. We keep the laptop at the end of the table and then on one counter we have a jar with pencils and pens. Other than that we keep everything out of the way in the basement and get it as needed. This has worked out great for us in terms of keeping clutter down and making the table always transitional for meals. The baskets were such a simple idea but really made the area functional and organized. So this is how we work our area. Sorry for no picture I just posted real quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat19 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 We school on our table. Each child has a Desk Apprentice that they put their things into. It holds everything :D Our table is in our dining room. We have 2 small bookshelves that hold our books and a storage closet that holds some of our supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Good question -- I hope more people post!! Alicia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 We have one room for all cooking, eating and living. It is L shaped. It is also small. We have a tall bookshelf on which the HS supplies are kept. Because of lack of space this is really too close to the log fire, but we have heatproofed the side of it. Our house is tiny, (almost 900 square feet) there are 4 rooms. The kitchen/living room and 3 tiny bedrooms. The bathroom is too small for a bath and has a loo, shower and sink. We have no central heating or double glazing. We do have an outside shed with a second loo and the washing machine (no dryer) in it. (not much fun in winter!) we don't have a basement, loft or garage. I have a drawer in the kitchen area for pens, rulers etc. The kitchen dresser is used for books rather than pots (we cleared pots to the minimum as we took over more shelves with books....) Actual HS curriculum goes on the bookshelf by the fire. The kids all have bookshelves. You can put a small bookshelf on top of a chest of drawers in a childs room. Floor to celing ones can be quite narrow and fit into small gaps at the end of beds etc. Use bookcases as bedside tables. We have almost no wall space...with windows and bookshelves there is no space...but if I did have I would put up as large a world map as I could. We have a globe I keep ontop of the dresser instead. We have no TV as it would take up too much space, the computer is a laptop, and therefore compact. Baskets would be great but you have to have somewhere to store them. I am wondering about making hanging bags to hang over the kids doors with their own school stuff in them, like those bags you get for shoes in wardrobes. The kids don't have wardrobes, either build in or otherwise, no room. We have cubbies and pegs. I also use the kitchen counter for puting things to do with school during the day. This has the added advantage of making sure we clean up after breakfast before school...I'm sure if I could leave the clutter and go elsewhere I would ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Since I started caring for my baby niece, we've been working at the dining room table instead of the back room we had been using. So, now, I have to clean everything up at the end of our school day so we can use the table for dinner. I use one of those plastic baskets with a handle and five compartments for our pencils, dry erase markers, pens/markers, misc. supplies like stapler, glue stick, scissors, post it pad. I have two portable, plastic file boxes (with lid and handle), one for all my manuals, copies, etc., for my boys and one for all my manuals, copies, teaching stuff for my daughter. Each child has a little school desk in another room in which they keep their school books. They bring whatever books they need to the table when they need them. (We successfully used one portable, plastic file box for each child's books until we picked up these desks. That was actually a little easier... Oh, well.) I keep my weekly plans for each child on a clipboard. So, in the morning, I bring two portable file boxes, the pencil & supply basket, and the clipboard into the dining room. After we've finished school work for the day, I set the boxes, basket, and clipboard in the corner of a back room for the next day. Works great for us! yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherLynn Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Willow, you make me very grateful for the space I have. Here I was complaining about 1700 sq ft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) We do math, history maps and coloring and science worksheets at the kitchen table. Our table is also in our kitchen (no dining room here). We have an office which is right next to it, though, and that is where I store our current items. I bring them to the table when we need them. No school stuff is stored in my kitchen -- just craft stamps LOL. I have a carousel with pencils and such I bring from the bookshelf as well to the table. http://ournestof3.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-new-tabletop-organizer.html I've included our school bookshelves which are in the combined living area/play area. We do have a globe on there now along with two microscopes. PS Our house is 1,100 sq feet. Edited May 13, 2009 by nestof3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janainaz Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We do school at the bar counter and also at the kitchen table. I keep all my son's books in a bucket and we get them out as-needed. He has a little tote bin that has all his supplies (pencils, markers, rulers, staplers, etc...). I have a binder that has maps hole-punched and other resource material. We just don't need that much room, I could do school anywhere. I could also grab our bucket and supply bin and hit the road and be totally prepared (other than our filing binders for all his work). I don't use a white-board and have not felt like I need a bunch of stuff. Anything I'm teaching my son one-on-one, from math to writing, I just sit with him and use paper. I am clueless to needing a big area for school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I do school for 4 elementary kids at our dining room table. I have a Desk Apprentice for me that holds all of my pens, scissors, current curriculum teacher's books, paper etc. (it really holds a lot of stuff!) and a wire frame fabric storage bin kind of like these but solid color, that I got at Walmart for each child. I used to use cute baskets but they don't hold up. They have their current books and a storage clipboard for all of their equipment in the bin. I have a smallish cabinet in the room that all of the stuff goes into at the end of every day. And we have one of those cheap round tables that you put a tablecloth over in the corner with a globe and a few little things under it. The rest of our school books are in another room and I just swap things out as I need them. The only inconvenience is having the computer, scanner, printer in the other room so if I am not organized I have to leave the room to copy and print worksheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We work at our table. We keep our school books and our most frequently used reference books (along with a shelf stereo system) on the six low bookshelves surrounding the table, and the rest are in the living room. (The books are no longer shelved by color.) There is also a shelf in each bedroom. I use the wall space to display the kids' drawings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Here is our dinning room/school room: Under the white board I now have two of those three drawer clear storage things. The kids keep their day to day books inside them. Edited May 13, 2009 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We do school at the bar counter I keep all my son's books in a bucket Who says homeschooling has to get in the way of Mom's social life. :lol: ( :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 :cheers2: :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We do most of school at the dining room table. There is one cabinet in the credenza for school supplies-markers, glue, rulers, etc. A small bookcase in the kitchen for our current books for math, language arts, science, and history. Then I have a couple of boxes with social studies books, library books, etc. under the credenza and behind the living room sofa. My summer project is to organize my overflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 We do school in our eat in kitchen and our livingroom. I can't take pics because ds broke my camera, but I will try to describe. My dining side of the kitchen is actually a decent size and a rectangle, on one wall is the patio sliding doors. On the wall to the right I have an old VHS/DVD case with latching doors that I store all our school dvds, cds, our microscope and language arts manips. On top of this is my globe, write and wipe boards for printing practice, math etc. and a small red garbage pail I am making a sound muncher out of. Continuing to the right, on the wall is my white board and a bunch of posters. On the wall opposite the patio doors, I have a big bookcase filled with this year's books (mine, shared and supplemental reading), on top of this bookcase I store unused science supplies, our primary balance and building kits for history. TO the right of that, is a small cabinet that I store math manips in and on. To the right of that is our guinea pig cage. Lastly on the "wall" that is created by the counter top/cabinets I have a microwave cart that I keep math storybooks, MUS blocks, markers/crayons and pencil crayon buckets on top of, inside is playdough toys, dominoes, stacking cups etc. To the right of that is a big Armoire, on top is my sewing machine, 2 buckets of math games/flashcards/manips and a stack of deigo board games. Inside the cupboard doors is my supply central, this is where I keep all our glue, my pens, extra erasers, pencil grips, special eric carle kits for ds, up coming crafts etc. Under the cupboard is 3 drawers that store board games related to the topics we are studying, file folder centers, supplies for our art program, other science supplies like our microscope slides and whatever else migrates into them. In the livingroom the 3 big kids have their desks lined up against the window, they keep their workbooks, notebooks etc in their desks. I also store our telescope in the livingroom. They do group work and messy projects in the kitchen and individual seat work in their desks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Wow! I love all of the creative spaces! Edited May 13, 2009 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A bit OT, but Melanie has the funniest about me page on her blog. That was the first time I visited! We've tried to homeschool at the table, but it's most uncomfortable. So, we use the couch and beds and floor and yard and deck and tent... I admire those who can keep it at the table though. My boys end up with snacks on everything and throwing pencils:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A bit OT, but Melanie has the funniest about me page on her blog. That was the first time I visited! We've tried to homeschool at the table, but it's most uncomfortable. So, we use the couch and beds and floor and yard and deck and tent... I admire those who can keep it at the table though. My boys end up with snacks on everything and throwing pencils:tongue_smilie: Well, Nathan does most of his independent work on his bed, while Ben usually sticks to the table. He is highly distractable and cannot work independently with too much around him to do. Snacks are sometimes included. :) When we do SOTW maps and such, it's just easier to do at the table because of the colored pencils, papers, etc. We often read outside but mostly on the couch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thanks to everyone. These are some good ideas to consider. We do school at the table, but go back and forth to the living room quite a bit for reading of any kind. It is open to where you can see both from each other, and they are only steps away. My dd also goes into her room sometimes when she wants to work alone. I love the Desk Apprentice. What is the bottom like? Is it on a swivel base or something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I love the Desk Apprentice. What is the bottom like? Is it on a swivel base or something else? It is round and turns like a lazy susan. The bottom also has rubber feet so it doesn't scratch my table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budeb Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I don't have a photo... but I use the buffet that is in my kitchen against a wall to store all our books and supplies which includes a plastic 4 drawer storage container that holds sissors, pencils, elastics, etc. It is not used to store china or silverware. The doors are closed and you don't see a thing. I even have two decorative storage baskets of books shoved underneath the buffet so you can't see them. In one of the baskets I have the books we use everyday so they are easily accessible. You can't tell we homeschool at the table other than the crafts and creations stuck to one window of our patio door. HTH, Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I have a carousel with pencils and such I bring from the bookshelf as well to the table.http://ournestof3.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-new-tabletop-organizer.html That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. A bit OT, but Melanie has the funniest about me page on her blog. That was the first time I visited! Thank you. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Wow Jean! Great looking room. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 We work at our table. We keep our school books and our most frequently used reference books (along with a shelf stereo system) on the six low bookshelves surrounding the table, and the rest are in the living room. (The books are no longer shelved by color.) There is also a shelf in each bedroom. I use the wall space to display the kids' drawings. ooh -- I love the art work on the wall, and those rainbow books -- how cool. I saw they are no longer organized like that, but it sure was pretty to see. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 We work at our table. We keep our school books and our most frequently used reference books (along with a shelf stereo system) on the six low bookshelves surrounding the table, and the rest are in the living room. (The books are no longer shelved by color.) There is also a shelf in each bedroom. I use the wall space to display the kids' drawings. Melanie, Do you happen to know the name of the yellow paint color in your dining room? I'm thinking about painting our room, which is a cool lavender now. I would like a warmer color, but yellows can be tricky. I think I might have been able to attach a photo. I'm never quite sure if it's worked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 It's called cantaloupe, but I don't remember the brand. We bought it at Home Depot and it wasn't one of the premium names. Your picture worked - I like your room. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 It's called cantaloupe, but I don't remember the brand. We bought it at Home Depot and it wasn't one of the premium names. Your picture worked - I like your room. :001_smile: I'll check that out, at HD. The room adjoining this one is also a kind of cantaloupe, but it's not called that. It looks more orange than yours, so finding a warmer yellow that works with that room is hard! I just noticed that I hadn't put up the curtains when I took that picture! And I did have to switch places -- the bookshelf on the right and my older son's desk were swapped. The boys were too close to each other and things like, oh, breathing on each other were disrupting our work. That room is sort of "found" space. It's 8 x 13 and used to be the dining room. I turned the living room into a dining room -- a little awkward because now you walk in the front door directly into that space, and it's too small to make an entry area that is visually divided from the eating space. Small houses are hard! Thanks, again, Melanie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherLynn Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 A bit OT, but Melanie has the funniest about me page on her blog. That was the first time I visited! Oh my goodness you are right! I had been to her blog but had not seen that. That was hystericaL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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