how many here DON'T have a school room?

[Denisemomof4]

I found that having one really didn't work. I didn't like leaving the kids to get some work done around the house as they did their school work. So I now have what is a "storage" room (our now very small office since we had to modify our space to accommodate my mother's needs) with our book shelves, things we make in school and want to display, chalkboard on wall, computer desk, etc. We use it for lessons where I need the board and for storage of supplies, and then the kids go to the kitchen table to do their work. If my oldest really needs to concentrate, she'll go to her room and do her work at her desk.

 

When we had a school room, I'd sit in there and read or use the computer and wait for the kids. It was a waste of my time. But now that I have every intention of having my girls stay at home THROUGH high school (the boys are in phs) I'm wondering. I'm going to keep things as they are for now, especially while my girls are so young, but if you are strongly blessed by your school room and wouldn't have it any other way, can you tell me WHY it works better that way?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have a schoolroom but I don't use it. I need to hire a bull-dozer to clean it out first! My kids do their school at the dining room table or the living room. We do store school stuff in the schoolroom.

[LibraryLover]

We do 'stuff' everywhere. We have visuals all over, esp the bathroom. lol I have a room that i am trying to organize. The computer is there, many books, I am putting posters up. Any crafts or art work must be done in the kitchen/dinnning area. We love to read in the living room, esp in winter when we have the fireplace going. The TV is in my room, so that's where we watch movies.

[Caitilin]

We don't. We school at the dining table, with excursions to the library, a friend's house, and a church. :)

[novagirl]

We don't, we mostly sit on the couch in the livingroom and do writing activities at the table. All the books go into a closet near the livingroom.

[adams101]

We just started HS. I don't have one although dh did offer to take apart the bed in the guest room and push it aside. We would have to put it back together for guests though. It is a queen size, so it takes up most of the room. The piano is in there too since there is no where else to put it.:glare: We have a long, narrow entry, so I put a small folding table in there. DS does his work in there, and dd does her work at the kitchen table. I had planned for them to switch off, but dd prefers the kitchen (plus I can monitor better to keep her on task). I have had to sit here at the computer in order to keep her on task, but this week she is doing better, so I've been able to get some house work done. They do most of their work on their own, so I'm just here if they need me. They can not see each other, so they don't fight. I can't imagine having them in the same room and them not killing each other.:tongue_smilie:

[MistyJ]

No school room. I have an antique armoire in the dining area that contains all our books/supplies. (Or most.) School happens on the dining table. We clean it on Fridays.

[StartingOver]

We don't have a school room. But our next house will LOL Our stuff is in every room, it would be nice to have one room with all the bookshelves, although we would continue to homeschool anywhere and everywhere.

[TrixieB]

Our house is not set up with an extra space to use for a school room. We use the kitchen/dining area.

[Impish]

Kitchen table here.

 

I *dream* of winning the lotto and having a spectacular school room. :D

[CalicoKat]

because we have young ones -- babies who get into everything -- a schoolroom with a locking door is a must.

 

We do our work in there. I can't focus well in a dirty room so that room stays organized for school. I find it hard to do school when the dishes are present or there's laundry or the floors need vacuuming...... The school room is our office.

 

But that's not to say we don't do school elsewhere in the house on occasion. Independent reading is done during nap time in the living room. Art is done in the backyard (while it's warm)

 

It nice to know that the babies won't scribble, destroy, or in any other way damage one of the older kid's hard work while we're distracted by life in other areas of the house. Plus there's a dedicated closet for school books and supplies.

[LibraryLover]

We do not do 'school at home', so any room we have that helps us organize our materials would not, under any circumstances, be called a 'school room' by us. :D

[gingersmom]

My son does school at the kitchen table and at the moment he is reading a book sitting on the floor in the living room. He reads in nearly every room in the house.

 

My daughter does school in our computer room at a long table set up for her.

 

I can be in the kitchen or walking around and still be within earshot/eyesight of the two of them.

[Pretty in Pink]

We currently have a school room for the first time in 7 years of HSing. The only reason this works for us is because we have an open floor plan. I can see the children from the kitchen and the living room.

[Blossom'sGirl]

We are working on our study. We purposely decided not to call it a school room because I don't like being chained to one spot all year. This room will hold all our books and the desktop computer and it will probably have an old table for the kids to work or play at. I will also hang my large world and USA maps on its walls. Right now, we are using our living room for storing these things and its so cluttered.

 

The study still needs trim around the windows, floor covering, and baseboard to be finished. I cannot wait, it has a radiant heated floor which I am going to love in the dead of winter. We tend to do school in different areas at different times of the year. We stick with the kitchen table in the fall and spring but when its colder we retreat to the living room or ,hopefully, our new study.

[Crissy]

No school room in our home. We move around a lot during the day, so it wouldn't be practical even if we had the extra space.

[coralloyd]

No school room here. I actually recently posted on my blog our school "area" :

 

http://www.homeschoolfamily.net/

[melissel]

We don't, we mostly sit on the couch in the livingroom and do writing activities at the table. All the books go into a closet near the livingroom.

 

We are similar. Our LR/DR area is all one big room, and we have big bookshelves on the wall near the DR table (along with a bunch of plastic drawer sets that I know are driving DH nuts, but I need the storage!). I could use our downstairs "playroom" as a schoolroom, and someday I might, but for now, our lives are lived upstairs, so to go down for school is not convenient.

 

At the moment, I'm only really schooling one kid, so at some point it may end up being more practical to dedicate a room to it. Right now, though, this works better for us.

[dirty ethel rackham]

We don't have a school room. We do school all over the house - except the kitchen. No matter how many times we wipe the table after meals, there will always be a sticky part we missed - so we don't like books there. My boys work at the dining room table. My daughter has a table in the family room. They like to read in their rooms. We use couches in many rooms. Also, my teaching style is not a stand up in front of them and teach, but sit next to them and guide.

 

ETA: I do have a couple bookshelves to put their materials. Each child has a zippered binder (useful for school on the road) and a steel-reinforced wicker basket for most of the in-progress work and supplies. All of this fits on the bookshelf. I do have a book shelf with a cabinet underneath for all supplies not being used currently (extra pencils, erasers, paper, manipulatives, kits, etc.) Unfortunately, not everything makes it back into its proper place at the end of the day:). All my curriculum materials not being used at the moment are in a bookcase in my living room.

Edited September 15, 2009 by dirty ethel rackham
hit enter too soon.

[linders]

We just use the whole house.:001_smile:

[johnandtinagilbert]

but as the children got older, they have tended to spread out and work independently, so although I have a room that could be a school room, I don't bother. Ours is more like this:

 

bedrooms: personal cubbies and a desk in each room (kids)

family room: my desk and cubby

dining room: wall space, book shelves and white board for my teaching time

den: storage closet for books not currently in use

laundry room: craft closet

conservatory: ha ha...it's a tiny space between the kitchen and back door. Just big enough for the piano and one book shelf

small bookshelf in my bedroom for what I am reading that is for school

 

they read anywhere they want (I have couches and chairs all over the house), even on the bench in the butterfly garden or in the swinging chair in the back yard, under a tree.

 

The world really has become our classroom and I didn't even try to make it that way :)

[Dirtroad]

No special room, just the dining room. It gets old but it is a central location. We have bookshelves all over the house but keep the current reading lists on the shelves in dining room. Reference books here also. The text books & notebooks in a milk crate for each kiddo.

 

I keep trying to figure out how to shift furniture and swap a couple of rooms around to make it better... but at 9m pregnant... who knows when it will happen!

[phathui5]

We don't have a dedicated school room. We have a large bookshelf in the dining room where I keep all of our homeschooling stuff.

[Garga]

Our "schoolroom" is the playroom. There's just a desk in the corner for one-on-one work. While I'm working with one, the other plays with the toys in the room.

 

I can see later, as they're independent (they're not really independent at all now) that we'll spread out over the house more.

 

Right now, we just need those toys handy for the kid who is not working with mom!

[mrsanniep]

No school room here, either. We use the kitchen table and our school books and reading books are in cupboards in the kitchen and living room. Maps and school projects hang on the walls in the kids' playroom.

[Mrs Mungo]

but if you are strongly blessed by your school room and wouldn't have it any other way, can you tell me WHY it works better that way?

This is our ninth year of homeschooling. We've homeschooled in at least 3 different homes (thinking...I think it's 3, total). We've had a schoolroom and we've not had a schoolroom. I think at the point where we are now a schoolroom works *much* better. When we don't do school in the schoolroom (usually because I have something I really need to accomplish) my kids get off task to easily and stuff gets strewn everywhere, to the point they can't find the book they need, etc. The schooling is my job-we spend the majority of our day in the schoolroom. My husband cannot stand for their books to be scattered everywhere and didn't like all of the stuff in the public areas of the house.

 

I wouldn't mind the public areas of the house looking like a play/school room but my husband really, really minds.

[Starr]

We are kitchen table people as well. Okay, the whole house is our school room. Books line the hallways, kids have desks in their rooms (covered in stuff), computer in the living room, guitars, music stands and piano in the living room and dh has taken over a corner of the living room...

[Zanyan]

Yesterday, we had a plumber come over to unclog our shower that's in a bathroom off the family room. The plumber walked through the family room, saw the school books strewn all over the coffee table, couch, desk, etc. and said, "Homeschool?" :lol:

 

No school room here. The whole world is our school room! But mostly our family room is our school room. :D

[melissel]

My husband cannot stand for their books to be scattered everywhere and didn't like all of the stuff in the public areas of the house.

 

I wouldn't mind the public areas of the house looking like a play/school room but my husband really, really minds.

 

Mine feels the same way, but since his HUGE, unused gaming table is one of the major things impeding me from using the playroom as a schoolroom, he can't complain much. In a few years, when there are fewer actual toys in the playroom, we'll revisit the space issue :D

[TravelingChris]

No school room because we don't need it. The older dd studies in her room or in the family room where she watches a video. The younger uses her room occasionally for reading, the living room, the office for SPanish, the kitchen. Both girls use my husband's workroom in the basement for science experiments. We use the craft room for testing. Occasionally I teach a lesson in the sunroom.

[haysmommy]

No school room-we are out of rooms. We use the dining table and kitchen bar. I do have some cabinets that are dedicated to nothing but school supplies/books.

[jewellsmommy]

I have tried to make a school room work. The house we rent has 2 extra rooms downstairs. One of them is like a bedroom and the other is like a den/office. The one like a bedroom, we use as an "art room." It was set up as a school room, but we never used it. Dd even has a nice desk in there. We mostly use the dining room, living room and whatever floor space we can find:001_smile:. I, like other posters, have a hard time focusing if the house is a mess. We end up schooling in the later part of the afternoon so that I can straighten up in the morning.

[coffeefreak]

In our old house, we had a school room that was also the play room. It was a 1300 square foot house with 3 bedrooms. It was impossible to school in there with a baby/toddler always running away. I simply couldn't sit and do Kindergarten and 1st grade in there. Plus, when kids would come over to the house, they would get in the school stuff and mess it all up.:glare:

 

So, we moved out (both years) into the dining room and. I. HATED. IT!!! It was a very small "great room" and it drove me nuts to have all our school stuff out there. And, because I couldn't possibly fit it all out there it was EVERYWHERE! I had stuff in my bedroom in cabinets, in my closet, in the girl's closets. . .it was an organizational nightmare.

 

Fast forward to last year and moving into this rental home, we are still at the kitchen table and it doesn't bother me! The only thing I wish we had was a bigger kitchen table :001_smile:. We got a new entertainment center, so I took our old Armoire and turned it into a "school closet." I was able to put the supplies we need around a corner by a back door to help with the clutter, and the "linen closet" (notice I put quotes around it because it's a ridiculous waste of space) is our art closet and extra supply closet. The only thing in my closet are the books from my oldest that will go to my youngest some day. That's it! Everything else is in a logical, accessible place.

 

That's why I don't think I need a school room. In my old house, I would have given my left arm for a school room that worked. Now, I like having us all in the living room/dining room. It works!

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

[myfunnybunch]

We had one briefly, then turned it into a play room. We'd rather do school at the table, on the couch, in the kitchen. Easier, brighter, more fun. And forces us to clean up everything at the end of the day, or we'll be eating dinner surrounded by school books.

 

Cat

[littleWMN]

We do school at the table, on the couch, in the backyard, at the park, wherever. We used to have a homeschool room in an old house and it just didn't work out well for us for some reason. Now we have a closet with shelves and some nice bookshelves in the living room that hold most of our school supplies. Some in the garage too. :D We mostly do school in the living room with independant work being done in my oldest's (8) room. Works for us.

 

However, the one thing I don't like is that I don't care to have schoolish posters all over our house. So posters/etc. go on the inside of our school closet doors and in my daughter's room.

[Evergreen State Sue]

We do have a school room we built for that purpose when we made an addition to our house. However, it is used mostly as a place to put all our school books, supplies, manipulatives, etc. There are desks in there for the kids and a desk for me and the computer. But, we found the kids were distracted by each other when they were working in the same room together. So one kid may go to another part of the house to do work and we only use the school room when we need to use the whiteboard or do something as a group together. It is so nice to have a room dedicated to put school stuff.

[prairiegirl]

We do have a schoolroom but we don't use it. It is used for storage of supplies and books. I prefer doing school in the living room/kitchen. It seems more cozy to me and it lends to the type of atmosphere that I want for our learning.

[Erica in OR]

We school on the dining room table, which is also where we eat all meals (no official "kitchen" table). All books are stored on a floor to ceiling shelving unit in the master bedroom. So everything for the day gets schlepped out to the table and then goes back at the end of the day. DH is building a new shelving unit so homeschool stuff can stay in the dining room though, and started staining the pieces last night. Getting close!

 

Erica in OR

[rowan25]

If I had a room, I would use it more for storage or for art/science-y things. We would probably still school at the dining room table, since it's centrally located and near the computer. But I would love to get all the clutter, books, supplies, etc out of my dining/living rooms!!!!!

[silvermine]

Not here. Most stuff is at the kitchen table in the "breakfast nook". Math is often on the floor. Science is often in the other part of the kitchen. But it might also be outside in the front yard. :D Arts and crafts happen in a room set aside for those (or in the kitchen). Reading is usually on the couch or in bed.

[SnowWhite]

We do have a schoolroom but we don't use it. It is used for storage of supplies and books. I prefer doing school in the living room/kitchen. It seems more cozy to me and it lends to the type of atmosphere that I want for our learning.

:iagree:

 

We did the playroom/schoolroom for part of one year (it was nice while middle ds was a toddler). Now we are "all over" schoolers. The "stuff" mostly stays in the dining area of the kitchen/dining room. Storage is in the play room. The kids and I go from the kitchen table, to the kids' desks, to the living room, even to the bedrooms and sprawl out to read stuff. Older ds frequently gets at his dad's desk for his math time to "concentrate". Dh is not crazy about school stuff all over but he just has to deal. He has half of the family room for his computer and desk and a WHOLE room for his music and instruments. Therefore, I am going to do school where we are comfortable.

[runamuk]

We don't have a school room. We usually do lessons at the dining room table, the table in the sunroom or on the screened in porch. We've been known to take our books to the library, Panera, Starbucks in cooler weather, and to the park or the front porch on warmer days.

[Moni]

Used to have a school room.

It was nice to store all the school stuff in there.

 

Now I don't and I just keep books supplies on dedicated shelves anyway.

 

Nice thing about school room...they can do school in there. Everything is stored there.

 

Nice thing about No schoo room. ...they can do their school anywhere. Supplies are still in one place.

 

It becomes what you make of it I suppose.

:seeya:

[Radish4ever]

We use our dining room :) We have a shelf set up in here with all our books and supplies and I use my kitchen countertop/bar area for library books ;) We use the kitchen table for our activities and lessons (or sit on the floor in the living room for reading or reading lessons... kind of kid choice on that! hehe)

 

We do have a room that we COULD use as a school room later on down the line, but for now this works out VERY well for us!

[Denisemomof4]

If I had a room, I would use it more for storage or for art/science-y things. We would probably still school at the dining room table, since it's centrally located and near the computer. But I would love to get all the clutter, books, supplies, etc out of my dining/living rooms!!!!!

 

me, too.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded! I was thinking of expanding our office but thought about how sunny the kitchen/great room are, bright, cheerful, all southern exposure. I don't want to go to the office where the sun doesn't shine in until the afternoon! I'll continue to use it as a storage room and when the kids graduate, it will be a LOVELY laundry/storage room. I do like having the kids computer in there where they can shut the door and have some peace and quiet, too.

 

My hubby thanks you all for saving him the time and money. I had a school room once and we ended up gathering in the sunny kitchen...... after all of dh's work. :rolleyes: I hate it when I do that to him. :blushing:

[Donna]

No school room. We do school at the kitchen table, on the family room floor, outside on the patio, whereever.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

No schoolroom here as well. We do it where we can fit! It works well for us in the living room/dining room.

[LauraGB]

Dining room here, too. Books line the built in china hutch. Don't love the set up, but it is functional.

 

I really, really want a school room, though. In my When-I-Grow-Up-House I have this beautiful octagonal room with lots of windows and shelves so tall you need a library ladder. And, oddly, no desks...just a big dining room table in the middle. :D

[CactusPair]

never had a school room. we usually use the dining room table, couch, or floor wherever we happen to be. we have always moved around a lot during the day and do a little here, a little there. in good weather we use the table out on the deck for some lessons.

 

i wouldn't want to be confined to a school room even if we had enough space in the house, and my dc benefit from moving around.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

My house if big enough that we could have an amazing school room downstairs, but I much prefer being in the kitchen. Our living room and kitchen is all open so it's nice to be able to do it there. I can cook, do dishes or whatever while they do lessons. I have a big white board and a homeschool closet in the kitchen so it just seems perfect for us.