Does your house look like a homeschool house?

[Parrothead]

Yeah, my house looks like a homeschooling family's house.

[MamaT]

Yes, it does. Things are "mostly" confined to the sunroom, but the microscope, maps on the wall, whiteboard, etc. would give us away. Also the amount of books and their titles if anyone cared to look.

Edited June 9, 2010 by MamaT

[Plucky]

I don't think my house looks like that. Exept for the microscope on the top shelf in my family room and the maps in my mudroom, we just look like a family that values learning. Surely, public and private schoolers also have lots of books.

[NanceXToo]

We have a few maps and educational posters up, a couple of bookshelves filled with various school things and books and educational supplies, and projects the kids did on display, etc. So... probably? :)

[LibraryLover]

We look like a family who loves books. A lot of our friends (who are not hsing) have as many. We know tons of crazy book people lol ....and people who decorate their homes with kid art. :D We don't have a school room. We do have a room with a computer and even more books, a globe etc. But that's pretty standard stuff here.

Edited June 9, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Starr]

Books, books, books, maps, globe, computers, projects, scales, musical instruments, cat toys, everywhere! :tongue_smilie:

[BridgeTea]

My debit card is smoking from overuse; can you tell we homeschool??:)

 

I have dead bugs in jars in the freezer. Dozens of magnetized Scrabble tiles on the fridge, and they are always moving. The wall maps have trade routes marked in fluorescent string, and roadtrips marked by post-its. 3 pairs of binoculars are out on the hoosier cabinet, along with the bird books. Telescope pointed out towards an open field. Tangrams and a Scrabble game stays stacked on the end of the kitchen table where we eat. Mineral charts, constellations on the ceiling, multiple mismatched bookshelves, the usual.

 

I've had kids for 30 years, but have only homeschooled a very short time. Honestly, my house has always looked like this. The only thing "new" is DD claimed an antique library table as her desk and plunked it down smack in the middle of the upstairs floor of the house - one giant room that we use as office, guest room, and now school central.

[radiobrain]

I didn't read all the posts, but maybe it is the TV/Video game:book ratio? Or amount of trendy clothing/ crap toys: normal clothes/decent and fewer toys?

 

And a globe. Globes will always give you away.

[nono]

What gives it away in our home is stepping into the entrance hall, looking to the left and seeing a big sign that says, "Welcome to the XXXX Homeschool." :tongue_smilie:

Edited June 10, 2010 by nono

[Dmmetler]

having been in and out of several public school homes, I think the big difference is when they know you have school age children. And you don't have a backpack park are somewhere. Or the "docking" area. Even my neatest most decorated OCD friend has the spot that indicates kids get ready to leave or go somewhere for large amounts of time. There's usually something that screams " leave home for hours " in place.

 

In contrast, homeschool homes might have something similar but the area is much smaller or a basket. Nothing that would suggest my kids ever leave the house.

 

I worked as a maid and it was always apparent despite the clutter and filth (or clean and neat)those that were out just to get out of our way and those that simply were not there during the day. you can just tell.

 

Do your DC not have activities that require stuff? We don't have "school stuff" to go out, but we certainly have a staging area of sports and activity stuff, which stays in one place when it's not in use.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Do you think the 24 bookcases are a give away?

 

The posters? Science kits? Multiple desks in one room?

 

I'm far from worried if my house gives off the impression of our being homeschoolers. One can have a homeschool house and still have it be tastefully and comfortably decorated.

[LibraryLover]

Do your DC not have activities that require stuff? We don't have "school stuff" to go out, but we certainly have a staging area of sports and activity stuff, which stays in one place when it's not in use.

 

We have an area for backpacks! My hsers have very substantial backpacks/messenger bags filled with art supplies, ballet togs, and more! :lol: I am not even talking about our barn & more muck boots area. We absolutely have designated places for 'activities' stuff!

 

Wait! What about athletic shoes? Library baskets?

[Peela]

Yes, but only parts I guess.

The toilet has a timeline and various quotes. The bathroom has quotes.

The main living area has 3 large desks, computers, bookshelves, maps on the walls etc- The dining room has another computer and ds's workboxes- he schools in there nowadays.

Other parts of the house look like other things- I have dozens of glass bottles, dh has a room filled with both buddhist and hindu statues and paintings and paraphernalia, as well as lots of armour and vairous other medieval things. Our main entrance has a huge quan yin statue. People usually comment more on the spiritual things- the Buddhist statues and paintings etc- more than the homeschooling stuff, but once you get to the main living area, the homeschool stuff becomes pretty obvious.

Our home is very homely and full of many beautiful things. Many peoplecomment on it. We buy it all 2nd hand.

[FO4UR]

The white board, desk and child-size table in my boys' room give it away. That, and all the books. Most of our books are in the basement, but we have bins full of books upstairs in each room.

 

A little funny: A neighbor girl is part of a family that is well-aquainted with HSing (one brother is still HSing). She saw the dc's bedrooms for the 1st time and exclaimed, "Awesome! We can play PUBLIC school here!!!":lol: And, they do whenever she comes over.:lol:

[Tree House Academy]

Well, the school room probably gives us away.

[mycalling]

Well, gee, now that I look around, yes, we look very homeschooly. I've always thought we just looked very large family-y.;)

[Mommyfaithe]

my house looks like a homeschool tornado.

sigh.....

[kalanamak]

Do you think someone who didn't know could tell that you homeschool by walking around your house? What do you think gives it away?

 

Two entire walls of kids books. Desk Apprentice full of texts. Rubbermaid bins full of science equipment. Three ring binders. A desk skeleton, a globe, and wall map. A desk. Art supplies in easy reach. Educational toys and vids. Rock collection in bathroom. A night sky bedspread. No TV in the living room?

[mcconnellboys]

For us, it might be that we decorate with found objects from nature. So, for instance, touring round my den, fronting all the books on the shelves, you'll find things like Native American carved objects; driftwood; shells and rounded cobbles collected from various beaches; preserved butterflies in frames, and other such sundries. Children who come to visit with their parents generally find interesting things to look at, ask about, etc.

 

In my entry and dining rooms, I have oriental dolls and other related objects on display; in my kitchen are many styles and sizes of old-time market baskets.

 

There are books in every room, of course, but the majority of children's books used for school are upstairs in our bonus room. I don't think you'd have to get all the way up there, though, to notice that our house might not be like a lot of others one would see these days.....

 

We're on summer break now and haven't been studying animals this year. When we are studying animals, we often have a veritable menagerie of critters surrounding our kitchen eating area (where we congregate to watch birds). Right now, we only have one ten gallon aquarium up and running.

 

For many months this past school year, our dining room table was festooned with four different crystal growing set-ups. Right now, there's just a Nutshell soil studies kit sitting in the kitchen; all else has been removed. I'm not sure you'd find much of such stuff in most houses.....

[TravelingChris]

We have educational dvds stacked up, loads of art books, science books. THere are lots of testbooks around and a few more things like globes. NOw if they are moving packers, they know because they are packing chemistry glassware, two expensive microscopes, and loads of electrical project equipment. NOw the funny thing is that while the textbooks will almost all go away, the rest of the things won't. DH loves using all the equipment and while some dvds will go away, others will take their place. After all, I will have more time for my learning when last child goes to college.

[Supertechmom]

Do your DC not have activities that require stuff? We don't have "school stuff" to go out, but we certainly have a staging area of sports and activity stuff, which stays in one place when it's not in use.

 

 

Everything has a out of sight place. I have a very nice bookcase/cabinet that has a line of baskets on it. Those contain various bags hidden away. you wouldn't know what it was inside it if you saw it walking through. The kids grab their bag out of the basket, run to the "place" and load up and place bags in the car once loaded. We don't have bags that sit stuffed with "stuff" LOL! because we normally only have the one of everything and it gets used at other times of the day. When we were in co-op and had very specific items needed for co-op that was only used there, they have a place in the closet to store the bag of stuff but no one would notice that. When we come in , they put everything back in place and put the bag away in the basket.

 

Everything sports related is in a handy shelf unit in the garage including those stinking shoes. They come through the laundry room and strip their clothes off and put in the washing machine and put on their other clothes.

 

So I've somehow managed to not have an dedicated area that is filled with such stuff. Just my 4 basket holder bookcase that doesn't scream staging area. Library books have their own space on the book shelf or desk (we go several times a week) or a storage ottoman in the living room holds them if we have more than the space allotted.:001_huh:

[Annie Laurie]

A nurse came to my house when I applied for life insurance, and when she was here she asked of we were hsers. We were downstairs, and there's really no school stuff down here. But our living room is lined with bookcases and we have a giant world map on the wall in the hallway from the foyer, so maybe that was it.

[cjbeach]

i think the maps and the whiteboard hung in the dining room might give it away.

lol.

Love it! :d

[lovemyboys]

I'd have to say yes, with books everywhere, a microscope out, etc.

 

YES! That and all the things we collect to look at under the microscope, do projects with, explore. Plus lots of pens, pencils, colored pencils. And the books, always the books. We don't do the maps or boards on walls upstairs because we have basement walls, but all the other stuff gives it away. ; )

[Desert Rat]

Obvious homeschool house here. We have shelves in our kitchen with school things and a science stuff on windo ledges. Oh, and books everywhere.

[Barry Goldwater]

LOL! Guilty as charged! I love this thread!

Books, books books (history, languages, math, science, literature)

Balance, microscope, terrarium

Musical instruments - piano, guitars, accordian, clarinet

Multiple computers

Kitchen cabinets covered with childrens' artwork. Counter tops covered with seasonal projects (rock collections, germinating plants)

 

Catalogs!!! Dead giveaway.

 

Ours is an OLD farmhouse, very small closets, smaller than average rooms (by American standards). Dining room table is primary flat-surface for writing/computational work. One living room (no family room) 3 BR for 6 people. We don't entertain guests formally, and anyone who visits knows what to expect.

[swellmomma]

Yes, I have books and kits everywhere, posters and projects on teh walls, white board up etc. I have been told by many people my house looks more like a school than a house when they walk in

[knoxhomemommy]

I'd say the floor to ceiling bookshelves in almost every room give it away.

[lllll]

..

[Nestof3]

Yes, people would know right away that we homeschool. I've had people buying things from Craigslist and such ask me if we homeschool.

[Nestof3]

Honestly, I've never seen this to be true from my own experience. I have never seen picture books and young adult books about Shakespeare, Monet, Jacques Cartier and ants at a person's house unless the children were homeschooled. Not to mention, the numerous teaching resources we homeschoolers have. How many families have Life of Fred and binders labeled "Completed Story of the World" lying around?

 

I don't think my house looks like that. Exept for the microscope on the top shelf in my family room and the maps in my mudroom, we just look like a family that values learning. Surely, public and private schoolers also have lots of books.

Edited June 11, 2010 by nestof3

[Jean in Newcastle]

Honestly, I've never seen this to be true from my own experience. I have never seen picture books and young adult books about Shakespeare, Monet, Jaques Cartier and ants at a person's house unless the children were homeschooled. Not to mention, the numerous teaching resources we homeschoolers have. How many families have Life of Fred and binders labeled "Completed Story of the World" lying around?

 

I agree, in my experience. I also see that we are the ones bringing in a rolling suitcase to the library and other moms are asking their kids to choose 2 books for the week. Obviously my experience does not encompass every single public or private school home out there but I have gone into many houses in our neighborhood as well as family members etc.

[Nestof3]

I agree, in my experience. I also see that we are the ones bringing in a rolling suitcase to the library and other moms are asking their kids to choose 2 books for the week. Obviously my experience does not encompass every single public or private school home out there but I have gone into many houses in our neighborhood as well as family members etc.

 

:iagree:

 

The librarians ask if we homeschool too -- even if we were there during evening hours. They say they can tell my the kind and quantity we borrow.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I don't know if our house looks like a homeschool house or not. I didn't homeschool until DS entered junior high so we don't have any of the elementary school accessories. I think people can tell that someone in our home loves knowledge and learning. Our house has always been filled with books and items from nature and history. Books are in every room, tucked away in antique crates or bookcases. Every room has some treasure to pick up and inspect or explore. We have reading chairs and lamps readily available in the coziest spots. We joke about moving into a museum of natural history, which is where three of us would be most comfortable.

 

I am in the process of trying to make a science area in the basement but the recent rains and water issues have derailed that plan for awhile. I am currently waiting for a water tray and sump pump to be installed. I am sure once that area is complete our home will cry out "Homeschoolers". I have great science posters to hang and shelves for all of the science equipment. DH is making a lab table for wet labs (thank goodness he knows how to weld and has access to a weld shop).

[orangearrow]

whoaaaa, yeah. Our house screams "Homeschoolers Live Here!!!!" For many reasons. lol

[Guest rubilynne4]

Every room in my house has a bookshelf and every bookshelf has educational books on it, we have science things all over the place, a telescope, microscope, several laptops, dictionarys lying around and every room looks lived in. Although its clean, it looks very lived in. I think those are the things that give us away. :)

:iagree:

[TheModestMom]

My laundry room does not look like the typical laundry room!! I have a bookshelf and lots of school stuff stored there. We have books every throughout the house, but no maps up yet. My oldest is only 6...

[bnbacademy]

I think that our homeschool would not be too obvious until you poke around a bit and walk into the schoolroom. Years ago, we decided that the 2 dc could have bunk beds to share a room so we could make the 2nd bedroom a schoolroom. We just close the door and nobody knows...

[swellmomma]

I agree, in my experience. I also see that we are the ones bringing in a rolling suitcase to the library and other moms are asking their kids to choose 2 books for the week. Obviously my experience does not encompass every single public or private school home out there but I have gone into many houses in our neighborhood as well as family members etc.

 

 

My librarian at my new town has to go to the board to see if she can get a special membership rule for my family. See they technically have a limit of 4 books per patron. She said for most families in this town that is more than ample, occasionally the families where a parent is a teacher they take out 20 books per week. As of yesterday my family had 52 titles out and she tried to tell us we could not borrow any more(but in the end let us). We are one of the only homeschooling families in town and the others I have spoken too don't seem to have the same love of books we do.

[Nestof3]

I'm glad you had such a great upbringing. I don't intentionally draw the lines. It's simply an observation. I have never in my life encountered anyone with what I have described, and nearly everyone who comes over comments on two things when they come in:

 

1. the number of books

2. the level of organization

 

These are simply observations. I'm not looking down no anyone else. I'm just speaking from experience. I know homeschoolers who don't keep many books and things. This isn't a judgment either -- just an observation.

 

Nope, because I don't think bookshelves identify one as a homeschooler, just someone who enjoys reading. My son's 16 now, but we've never done the student/teacher desk type seating, or whiteboards, etc. Maps, supplies, and projects were stored away when not in use. We do have a microscope on a shelf, tho.

I've never understood the "we're obviously hsers because of all the learning stuff around the house." Growing up, in public school, my family was swamped with books and such. Our friends today, whose kids all attend ps, have the same stuff most of you are speaking of. I make an effort not to draw such lines between us.