Kitchen table schooling. What does your kitchen look like?

[MrsMe]

I am perusing through posts on school rooms and and trying to figure out what to do. I like to change things every so often, but many times what I want to do is a tough fit. I have a ton of school related things. I'm not getting rid of them and you can't make me. :tongue_smilie:

 

I've always done an all or nothing room wise. I've been either all in the FR, or all in the bedroom or all in the kitchen. The kitchen proved to be pretty disasterous! Piles everywhere of unfinished work! The FR works well, but adding a table to it confines it. So I'm considering using the FR as our sole homeschool area, just using the kitchen table as our work surface. The rest, we do on the floor and sometimes it's just nice to have more space! KWIM?

 

I'm so anal. I hate it. I don't want my house to be a wreck, but I wonder how you do it at the kitchen table without schlepping? A mobile cart? I worry more about not having my working office close by to work on school related things as I use it often. Maybe a mobile cart to pile on things and roll it to my computer IF I need to work on it? What about the pencils and markers and such? I can't imagine rolling things back and forth daily.

 

I've seen pictures of homeschooling through out the house, in dining rooms and in bedrooms, but what does your kitchen look like? :001_huh:Any pics of the kitchen? I don't know how to incorporate some of what I would need to the kitchen without my analness driving me batty.

Edited March 1, 2010 by alilac

[Dawn E]

Well, I don't have a picture...but we do a lot of work at the dining table, and we don't have a separate dining room. It adjoins the kitchen. I use a cart like this to put all of her school materials in (each subject/material has its own drawer). It has wheels, so we can easily move it elsewhere in the house if needed. Of course, I am only schooling one, so we only have one cart. :D That makes it easy right now. We have talked about renovating our garage to make a separate family/school room area, but this has been working fine for us so far.

[delaney]

Well i only have 1 right now to deal with but we have to use the kitchen island b/c the toddler climbs on the table if the chairs are not tied up to the table...yes you read that right! we only untie at dinner time. I am lucky to have a large kitchen and island. I have a hutch in the kitchen and all the school books and curriculum are on/in that. Next year I hope to set up the sunroom and use it for the girls. The kitchen is the best place since I am there all day anyway!

[Lori D.]

We school in the livingroom; each boy (we have 2) has a heavy-duty plastic crate with all of their texts, notebooks, and other materials in it (spines up so we can quickly find what is needed). These sit on our big heavy-duty coffee table (wood, topped with formica). Alongside is a much smaller plastic tub with the pencil box and all the loose miscellaneous materials to be used that week. As they finish with items they (supposedly!) put them back in the bins. At the end of the day, the bins and tub get put away into the laundry room. Not too much effort or mess to clean up when company is coming!

 

Would you have room for one of those Walmart stacked units that is about 4 or 5 clear plastic tubs that slide in and out like drawers? One drawer per kid, plus one for miscellaneous "group" materials? Just a thought! BEST of luck in finding what works for you.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Lori D.
fixed typo

[Karen in CO]

This is my dining room table.

 

-

It is where we do school every day. I have a bookshelf about 10 feet from the table and have a basket for each girl on the shelf. My art supplies are in another room. I schelp a lot. But my morning school planning consists of sitting with my coffee in front of the the bookcase and pulling out books that get stacked on a chair and then moved through during the day. We put everything away throughout the day. I have other bookshelves in other rooms and boxes full of things for other times. My science supplies are in canvas bags on hooks in the garage by subject or topic. I have the space for a school room, I just don't like being locked away all day.

 

Oh - here is a picture going the other way - you can see the bookshelf over behind the spinning wheel and the dog.

Edited March 1, 2010 by Karen in CO

[prairiegirl]

We seem to go in phases as far as where we do our school work. Right now, we do the basics in the kitchen and the content subj. in the living room. I have a built-in cupboard in one side of our kitchen island, we use that for art supplies, paper, files, etc. In the living room, we have a shelf where each child has a plastic box that contains all of their school books. They pull out what they need, bring it to the kitchen and then take it back to the boxes when they are finished. This works well for us, at least for now. Who knows where we will be in June? :D

[Mommyfaithe]

Well, I have to school in the kitchen, but we generally flooowwww into the l/r for read alouds, Bible study and games etc. My kitchen has a pantry across the back wall which I turned into a school closet. I cover it with a shower curtain with a map of the world which we use dry erase markers on. One wall has glass doors which open onto our home office. These doors have become my bulletin board...It has our timeline going vertically, the newest paintings taped to it etc. Next to the doors I have a round table and chairs (not where we eat), school boxes on the floor and a white board which is magnetic.

 

My kitchen is a mess...LOL. It is always covered with books, papers, glue sticks, construction paper snips, play dough, sparkle paint...you name it! Right now I have all the books strewn out all over planning for next week. I wish I didn't have to use the kitchen, But I do...otherwise, I would have to move some beds in here and that would be much worse :-)

 

I am now looking for some low shelving to put in the corner behind the round table to hold our school supplies and extra books. I will try to post some pics on my blog when I get my new camera.

 

~~Faithe

[Melissa B]

We school in the dining room which is only separated from the kitchen by a partial wall. It is a good size so I have three small bookcases and a file cabinet in there so the books don't have to be moved far. On top of the file cabinet and one of the bookshelves I have caddies to hold pens/pencils, etc. One of the three bookcases holds different types of paper, a container of crayons, science equipment, etc. The other two bookcases hold the school books. All papers get filed in the filing cabinet (different folders depending on whether they are completed or on-going) before lunch and again before dinner.

[mom31257]

We do school at our table in an eat-in kitchen. I used to have a baker's rack next to the table, but we got rid of it and put bookcases. Here is a picture. I have an easel that I keep in our bedroom, which is right around the corner of the bookcases. I also have bookcases in our garage. That is where our resources that aren't used on a daily/weekly basis are kept.

[Erica in OR]

We school at the kitchen table, but the homeschool shelving is in the master bedroom. We haul all the needed materials out for the day, then put them back. A separate shelving unit that I can close up is being built by DH to put near the kitchen table. Yes, it does look chaotic during the day, but it's all put away by supper time.

 

Erica in OR

[eternalknot]

I wonder how you do it at the kitchen table without schlepping? A mobile cart? I worry more about not having my working office close by to work on school related things as I use it often. Maybe a mobile cart to pile on things and roll it to my computer IF I need to work on it? What about the pencils and markers and such? I can't imagine rolling things back and forth daily.

 

I have an eat-in kitchen that is packed to the gills. We dine and do schoolwork at the medium-sized table; it's circular (oval if we extend it) which adds a smidgen of room because it lacks sharp corners. The room has two solid walls - one tall (floor to ceiling) and one shorter (underneath the kitchen counter bar), a third wall of french doors, and the fourth side opens to the kitchen.

 

The tall wall holds: 500g aquarium, taller five-shelf bookshelf holding HS-related things (in baskets, organized by subject), and a kid-sized table & chair for my preschooler. Above her "desk" is a small shelf holding her art supplies and other misc to keep her self-entertained while I do school with my older student.

 

The smaller wall holds: long two-shelf bookshelf that holds games, puzzles, Montessori preschool stuffs, and other shared "fun" school stuffs. The top shelf holds a basket for each of us to dump our day-to-day stuff when we need a quick clean (for lunch, e.g.) and also to hold work-in-progress. A fourth basket holds daily shared supplies - rulers, wet-erase markers, pencils, pens, staplers, tape, pencil sharpener, etc.

 

Just above this shorter wall is the kitchen countertop. It's too tall to eat at, so I use it as another "shelf" -- it holds plants, art/science/history projects, baskets of paper, dictionary and other reference books, and supplies I want out of my preschooler's reach (permanent markers, push pins, brads, etc.)

 

The wall with the french doors I have blocked one door with a narrow five-drawer shelf. The drawers hold our non-HS stuff: napkins, kitchen utensils, etc. The top drawer is small and holds my flyers, homeschool ID cards and other HS misc that I intend to file 'somewhere, at some point'. The top of this shelf holds window markers, and my binder of The Big Plan and Year in Progress type of stuff. We have window stickies on the windows - money, numbers and letters, the solar system, body parts, etc.

 

My older student keeps his everyday books and work in a backpack. He has it at his feet during the schoolday, and puts it between the tank and the bookshelf when his schoolday is done. It makes it easier for HIM to schlep it to the dining room, the library, my mom's, or wherever else we decide to do school that day. He keeps pencils, pens and paper in there as well so he can always find what he needs.

 

I prefer my desktop to my laptop, but usually just plug my laptop in so I can work alongside my students at the kitchen table. I've considered moving my desktop into the adjacent room but have decided the area is about at capacity (crowded enough!)

[rose_king]

We school at the table in our travel trailer during the week. Talk about no space! I try to be organized and only bring out 1 subject at a time...not very good at organized :tongue_smilie:Even when I'm at home and have the whole house it's still hard to keep everything in one area. We tend to spread out everywhere. :001_huh:

[amyco]

We don't have an eat-in kitchen; we have one of those great rooms that is for dining/living. Also we have another family room. We school in the dining room, which has a bookshelf. The great room is divided by a sofa with a long, low bookshelf behind it, facing the dining table. There is yet another bookshelf on the wall perpendicular to the low shelf. (I also have two shelves in the basement that hold books and things we don't use often).

 

It gets very annoying, having to clear everything off the table three times a day to eat. There's another smaller dining table in the family room for projects and such, but the vast majority of school is done in the dining room. We hardly ever use the formal living room for "living" and I would love to turn it into a school area...someday, maybe. But our main shelf is right by the table, and we just shelve everything when we're done. And our dinner guests just have to deal with looking at school stuff and the periodic table on the wall (and our latest decor--Latin charts!). I'm over it by this point!

[meet me in paris]

I cover it with a shower curtain with a map of the world which we use dry erase markers on.

brilliant!!

[Mommee & Baba]

Here is our setup for now.

 

 

However the lil table has more tools on it now. I have placed a paper rule on each side for the kids and a number chart to 12 as well to help them...also I placed a hand on each side of them with the correct term Left and Right on them. They love these tools!

 

This area is in our "office" area. In this area we have a 2 wall computer desk and on the other side of the room is my shelving unit for my sewing things and a desk that has my sewing machine and serger on it :p

[Lori Di]

A MESS!!! Durin the week and on the weekends, I clean it up. AAH, the beauty of homeschooling!!

[kewb]

We school at the dining room table. The joke in our house is that the dining room is decorated in early middle school. The table is a wreck during the week. School work and projects get stored at one end of the table and their is space for us to eat at the other end. School supplies (pencils, sharpeners, rulers, etc.) are in the credenza. Library books are stacked on the chair in the corner. I have book case in the kitchen with all current texts and the globe. 2 boxes of overflow behind the couch in the living room.

 

A mess, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

[MrsMe]

Thanks for all your replies. I am an analy organized person. LOL! It's such an annoying trait. This doesn't mean I'm not messy, I just need everything in it's place and to look good while it is. :glare: I have a long kitchen and the table is never, ever used (except for company which is rare). We eat at the island..I only have one child.

 

I can store all my books stuff in the adjoining FR, but it's all the marker board and artsy stuff. I could use a nice enclosed cabinet for the kitchen for all the writing stuff.

 

My dh already as the armoire...the perfect piece that I need, but he's messy, so his is best kept behind doors, LOL!

 

I just have a FR that is unused basically and half a kitchen unused and it seems like such a waste. But putting a table in our family room really doesn't fit. But my house lacks walls. Sheesh.

 

Thanks...you've given me things to think about.

[MyLittleWonders]

We school at the dining/kitchen table (our dining room and kitchen are combine - the kitchen is a galley kitchen that "empties" at one end in the dining room). Under the side window of the dining room, I have a 2-shelf bookcase for all our books. I try and keep it neat, but that doesn't last very long (usually only long enough to have family/guests over for dinner, and only then if it's a big deal and not just sharing a meal!). I also have one lower cabinet and "silverware" drawer dedicated to hs'ing materials (paper, art supplies, pencils, etc.) that also needs continuous cleaning.

 

Eventually we'll redo the one of our walls in the living room (just a bit away from the kitchen/dining room) with a built-in bookcase/lower cabinets) where I hope to hide most all hs'ing stuff except their main curriculum, which will be very neatly arranged on the bookcase/sideboard by the table. ;)

 

Looking at dining table from the kitchen.

Our "school room" when it's not being used for meals. ;)

The wall opposite the bookcase with our chalkboard. (It transforms into a "greeting" area for family parties!)

Edited March 1, 2010 by MyLittleWonders

[TracyR]

We do our school work at the kitchen table ( sometimes on the couch and on the floor too) but mostly the table. Not sure if you want a picture of our table. I am constantly cleaning it off on a daily basis. I do have a small roll away thing to put books in and a huge book shelf. Usually by the end of the day though the books are stacked all over the table. Grrr.

 

I would love to have this all seperate from the rest of our apartment but we just don't have the room.

[Guest]

And I thought it was just me whose kitchen looked like a hurricane hit it daily! It sometimes seems like my entire homeschooling life is a quest for more surfaces to put things on.

 

When my daughter was younger we had a never-ending mishmash of paper, glitter, glue, markers, books, Legos, dolls, playdough, string and tape (these formed a huge part of my daughter's life when she was around six) and projects-in-progress or science experiments all over the kitchen. I had open shelves so she could get any materials she needed by herself. Like many others, we had to clear the table off three times a day or else go eat a picnic outside (which we did on far too many occasions).

 

Now that she's a middle-schooler, we have graduated to closed cabinets, which helps a lot. The table top is still piled with books. It is now the playroom/study that takes most of the hit: Legos, toys, maps, puzzles, all the art stuff, computer, Star Trek collection, etc. The living room actually stays basically clean (except for lots of dog hair).

 

I did often find it very hard to live like that, as I am naturally kind of obsessively tidy and my taste tends toward miniminalist. But it's funny that now the living room seems kind of unnatural to me -- no signs of the life and curiosity and engagement that other rooms carry when they are full of things being made or read or played with! There are times when I actually feel satisfaction that my house is very well lived in, well used. It's not just a place where we all come home at night, cram dinner in and go to bed.

[TengoFive]

Here's what ours looked like when we schooled in the kitchen at our rental house. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Victoria/669070/

This is before I found I replaced the cart shown with one their schoolboxes fit on. In the Desk Assistant I kept all the books we did all together (science & history) and also extra paper and art supplies. The boxes hold each students books and they carried them to the table when they were ready to do school. We'd pull out one book at a time, do it, and then put it back away. All of my extra stuff I kept in a bookcase in another room. Once I week, I'd add to their boxes anything extra they'd need that week for reading. The other thing I'd do is load their binders (kept in their box) once a week with their worksheets from First Language Lessons, Writing With Ease, Story of the World, etc. from my big binders in the other room. So, basically it kept it all contained to one cart after school was done and while we were doing school each kid would only have one book out at a time.

[brijen97]

We homeschool mainly in the dining room but I also do in home day care. Our house daily looks like it got hit by a hurricane of toys, school stuff and the library. We just deal with it for now since we figure in the whole scheme of things this will last for such a short time. I will have years to have a "nice" house later on!! :0)

[Leola]

What a great thread - you have inspired me to clean off the table.

[Leola]

Here's what ours looked like when we schooled in the kitchen at our rental house. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Victoria/669070/

This is before I found I replaced the cart shown with one their schoolboxes fit on. In the Desk Assistant I kept all the books we did all together (science & history) and also extra paper and art supplies. The boxes hold each students books and they carried them to the table when they were ready to do school. We'd pull out one book at a time, do it, and then put it back away. All of my extra stuff I kept in a bookcase in another room. Once I week, I'd add to their boxes anything extra they'd need that week for reading. The other thing I'd do is load their binders (kept in their box) once a week with their worksheets from First Language Lessons, Writing With Ease, Story of the World, etc. from my big binders in the other room. So, basically it kept it all contained to one cart after school was done and while we were doing school each kid would only have one book out at a time.

 

I love that board!!

[johnandtinagilbert]

I took some pics and blogged them today...my house is a hot mess, so be nice :)

[MrsMe]

I took some pics and blogged them today...my house is a hot mess, so be nice :)

 

 

Thanks! See that's my biggest concern is that MY workstation wouldn't be near the schooling area if I changed it to the kitchen/FR..... that's what I need. Love that workstation!

[lovemykids]

We are dining room table homeschoolers. Our dining room table stays clear and there is almost no evidence of homeschooling (when we are not doing school), except for a small moveable easel type chalkboard, a pile of books on the floor (can’t seem to get rid of it), three hanging file totes, and another nice basket of books. In the kitchen, the school boxes stay stacked on the countertop. My piles of bills and papers are in a bowl on the same counter and currently it is overgrowing...:ack2:

 

The open bar/ledge from the kitchen to the dinning room may have a few books or papers on it, but it all gets shoved in a cabinet if we have company. The living room stays clear for the most part, but we do have one end table that is a catch-all for homeschool books, or things we are currently reading.

 

Downstairs in the family room/den/playroom, we house the five bookshelves that hold most of our materials and the piano as well. That is the space that I hang a few educational posters, but I don’t hang posters all that much really. There is also one desk down there that is completely empty; apparently, no one likes to sit at desks around here. Dd much prefers her bed or the couch for concentration moments.

 

The computer is in my room on a small table. And my room is a mess; DH just set me up with a nice bookshelf, so I could stop leaving piles of books on the floor and on top of my dresser. Guess what? The bookshelf is full now and there are still piles of books on the floor and on my dresser. Sigh. I don’t know where they come from, they just grow all by themselves, I think. :glare:

Edited March 2, 2010 by lovemykids
stew-pid spelling mistake ;)

[lovemykids]

I took some pics and blogged them today...my house is a hot mess, so be nice :)

 

Maybe that’s my problem, no organized workstation. My whole bedroom ends up being a workstation-mess. LOL. Nice pictures.

I enjoyed all of the pictures that were shared!

[johnandtinagilbert]

We are dining room table homeschoolers. Our dinning room table stays clear and there is almost no evidence of homeschooling (when we are not doing school), except for a small moveable easel type chalkboard, a pile of books on the floor (can’t seem to get rid of it), three hanging file totes, and another nice basket of books. In the kitchen, the school boxes stay stacked on the countertop. My piles of bills and papers are in a bowl on the same counter and currently it is overgrowing...:ack2:

 

The open bar/ledge from the kitchen to the dinning room may have a few books or papers on it, but it all gets shoved in a cabinet if we have company. The living room stays clear for the most part, but we do have one end table that is a catch-all for homeschool books, or things we are currently reading.

 

Downstairs in the family room/den/playroom, we house the five bookshelves that hold most of our materials and the piano as well. That is the space that I hang a few educational posters, but I don’t hang posters all that much really. There is also one desk down there that is completely empty; apparently, no one likes to sit at desks around here. Dd much prefers her bed or the couch for concentration moments.

 

The computer is in my room on a small table. And my room is a mess; DH just set me up with a nice bookshelf, so I could stop leaving piles of books on the floor and on top of my dresser. Guess what? The bookshelf is full now and there are still piles of books on the floor and on my dresser. Sigh. I don’t know where they come from, they just grow all by themselves, I think. :glare:

 

Maybe that’s my problem, no organized workstation. My whole bedroom ends up being a workstation-mess. LOL. Nice pictures.

 

I enjoyed all of the pictures that were shared!

 

It doesn't get any better when you're organized. I am always reading in bed before I go to sleep, so currently, I have self-ed, planning, pleasure (sci-fi, poli-sci), spiritual, Latin, and Pooh Bear next to my bed (The Ax Man snuggled in last night). Then there's a laundry basket full of magazines, stationary, and books on South America I have yet to organize for school on Wed :glare:

 

They're everywhere!

 

I admit, however, having those little white bookshelves under the board has been the greatest! I just whip out my books, set them on top, read to review, start teaching and we're off. Clean off only takes a min. to put back together. It has helped.

 

And my desk :001_wub: my friend just gave that to me. I love it. Finally, a place to compute, plan, grade papers, whatever...all in one spot! Brilliant! The board is only 5 ft. away, so I can grab my stuff fairly well. Being the Lazy girl I am, I Need it all together. It was worth the take-over of the dining room....plus, believe it or not, b/c it is all in the open, I'll clean it up each day after school. I can't take the chaos otherwise.

[lovemykids]

It doesn't get any better when you're organized. I am always reading in bed before I go to sleep, so currently, I have self-ed, planning, pleasure (sci-fi, poli-sci), spiritual, Latin, and Pooh Bear next to my bed (The Ax Man snuggled in last night). Then there's a laundry basket full of magazines, stationary, and books on South America I have yet to organize for school on Wed :glare:

 

They're everywhere!

 

I admit, however, having those little white bookshelves under the board has been the greatest! I just whip out my books, set them on top, read to review, start teaching and we're off. Clean off only takes a min. to put back together. It has helped.

 

And my desk :001_wub: my friend just gave that to me. I love it. Finally, a place to compute, plan, grade papers, whatever...all in one spot! Brilliant! The board is only 5 ft. away, so I can grab my stuff fairly well. Being the Lazy girl I am, I Need it all together. It was worth the take-over of the dining room....plus, believe it or not, b/c it is all in the open, I'll clean it up each day after school. I can't take the chaos otherwise.

 

I seriously doubt that you are lazy while taking care of eight children. That would be impossible! I only have four, and I don’t know how you do it. I feel like I have a million. LOL. Love them to pieces and all, but whew!

:blink:

I know what you are saying; I love to read several books at a time as well, thus the book piles. The two books I am concentrating on right now are Wuthering Heights and Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy (religious), but there are others. I also get teacher/student book piles while grading…:glare:

 

I love to have an organized and clean house; my goal is to have my room and my storage room organized eventually. It is so much work just trying to keep up with everything else. I should bring that desk from downstairs into the bedroom, and have a workstation. Duh. It would go nicely with my teacher bookshelf!

:)

Edited March 2, 2010 by lovemykids

[Ellie]

For two dc, a bookcase in the dining area, a surface to keep some file folders on, a few maps on the wall, some artsy-craftsy/office supplies in a nearby closet...that's about it. No family room. Living room looks like a living room. :-)

[TengoFive]

Thanks! It was less than $20 at Lowe's. DH found me a real white board that size with a frame for free, so I'm using that now. It erases a little easier. That one worked awesome though, if I used a tiny bit of water to erase.

I love that board!!