Homeschool room design help- going crazy!

[Tamberly]

Ok, if you could design your ultimate homeschool room (or already have!) please share! I need to redesign mine because some of the kids have outgrown the little low table and are tired of the 2 year old coloring on their books. They spend too much time looking at each other's assignments and staring off into space! I currently have 4 children: 2, 5, 7, and 10. The 10 year old is HIGHLY distractible and needs to be separated somehow.  Will be adding another one late this year that will probably be a toddler too. 

I need ideas! Show me what you love! I have a designated homeschool room and a decent budget to redesign it. The room is fairly large. 

Thanks in advance! And if this has been discussed recently, please just link me to it! I didn't find it on the search function.

 

[rmtzc2009]

Pinterest has a LOT of ideas for homeschool rooms if you haven't already checked that out.  The following link has a nice set up but it does put multiple kids (4 I think) at one table.  http://confessionsofahomeschooler.com

 

I don't have much to offer since I'm currently only homeschooling my oldest, he's 10.  I am planning to add my 8 year old into the mix next fall and that will create a challenge since my oldest is easily distracted.  My thought is main teaching were my kids will be combined will be done in my school room.  Then I will place one at the kitchen table and one at the dinning room table for work that they need to focus on individually.

 

Best of luck!

[T'smom]

There are lots of ideas on Pinterest. One cool one that I remember had built in desks along one wall, with dividers between them. Each space had it's own cork board, calendar, and maybe a whiteboard? Then there was also a table and in front of that a couch. It would be a great place to work with one kid at the table, another doing independent work at their desk, and another reading on the couch. It was a pretty big room.

[Tamberly]

Yes  I saw the one along the wall! I love that too. I need something like that but I don't want built in since I'm not sure if we will need this room for something else in the future or change to a different room for homeschool (we have options). The room we currently use is quite big, but I seem to be lacking in creativity to solve the distraction issues.

[momee]

Here is my school room.  I put money into it (not too expensive, Ikea even!, but I got what I needed without worry over every $10) and dh and I put alot of work into it.  If I were to take a picture today it looks almost the same.  I love! that it is still working after we've actually been doing school in it a while.

 

I would suggest to take some time first and really think through what you do in a day and build the space around that.  I knew my kids would be with me AND without me for periods of work times.  I also knew we would be hosting alot of kids at various non-school events here.  The space needed to be easily cleaned (cube baskets inside the organizers are easy to throw stuff in) and open.  I know I like to change things up (I haven't had to though) so I wanted rollers and easily moving pieces.  I put rollers on the bottom of table :) it easily glides against the wall or I can clear things off and it slides to middle of room for a two sided project space - swoooooooon.

 

Hope this helps, the school room pictures can be found under environment.

http://tochoosebetter.blogspot.com/

 

I tried to read a bit about environment (Charlotte Mason stuff mainly) and organization both.  I looked at some blogs and decided on colors/textures that made me feel calm, but ready to learn.  I also noticed what would personally make me feel rushed, unorganized, and ill prepared in terms of environment.  Here is one site that helped me think about things from a kid's perspective and really give thought to environment  http://www.explorationsplaystudio.com/coaching.aspx

 

I'd say involve your kids and hear what their thoughts are.  I think it's tough homeschooling sometimes for them.  Can get lonely and depressing this time of year especially.  Find ways to involve what makes them happy in their day and bring that into their space (and yours!).

[La Condessa]

I've always thought it would be great to have a large room to use as a combined homeschool room and preschool/playroom for the littles. I would get some of those wide, sturdy, double-sided shelves used in day cares and use them to divide the room, and install a baby gate so that a kid has to go through the gate or over a shelf to go between the school side and the play side. That way, I could have my littler ones in the room to supervise them during school time, but still have them somewhat contained and not have to contend with them trying to climb on me during a phonics lesson or steal their sister's handwriting sheet.

[PeterPan]

For us, the distractibility thing became such an issue we finally gave up.  Now I have a separate floors rule.  Dd works in her room or in the office and wears noise-canceling earbuds.  

 

I wouldn't even try to keep them together.  The olders need places where they can work well and checklists or other structure that helps them know what to do next.  You keep the youngers busy.

 

As for the school room, well we've rearranged every year, which might be a personality flaw or something.   :lol:   I suggest having things be flexible and not too permanent.  I have several tables and really like it when the tables are adjustable height.  Then you can push the tables together for an island, pull them apart to make work stations, and basically just change it up as you go.

 

I've seen set-ups with say a 3' table flanked by bookcases, and I think that's good.  It creates sort of a study corral, so they can focus.  Really though, older kids want to blast off on their own. 

 

When dd was young she had a "nest" and would listen to audiobooks.  Ds is much more active, so he listens to the iPad while he plays.  I think it's good to have an area for that with a few bins of their preferred toys, a place where they can play quietly.

 

Not to be freaky, but a lot of the Ikea stuff is particle board and high in formaldehyde.  Just something to think about.  We use milk crates for flexible storage or have hung our own shelving.  

 

Just for your trivia, you might try to put your intended school table or work space near a window or natural light.  It will make your pictures and adorable moments look better.  That was the one thing we screwed up on when we made our space.  I used it for several years with dd, but my pictures are all orange from the white balance, meaning I need to go back and fix them, ugh.  Now I put a table near a window so when we work the pictures look nice.  :D

[scrapbabe]

Pinterest has a LOT of ideas for homeschool rooms if you haven't already checked that out. The following link has a nice set up but it does put multiple kids (4 I think) at one table. http://confessionsofahomeschooler.com

 

I don't have much to offer since I'm currently only homeschooling my oldest, he's 10. I am planning to add my 8 year old into the mix next fall and that will create a challenge since my oldest is easily distracted. My thought is main teaching were my kids will be combined will be done in my school room. Then I will place one at the kitchen table and one at the dinning room table for work that they need to focus on individually.

 

Best of luck!

 

The school teacher in me loves this room! However, I wanted more of a family library space. Here are some pictures of rooms that inspired me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the ideas I gleaned from these rooms:

 

1. Wall to wall bookshelves.

2. A comfortable seating area.

3. Fun, bright colors. (we're renting our home though, so I can't do much about the color)

4. The table(s) to work at.

 

Things I would change:

 

1. In the second space behind the seating area would be a couple of tables/desks for my kids to work at.

2. More bookshelves. ;)

 

 

In my homeschool room I tried to emulate a library as much as possible. I love being surrounded by books. It's like I walk into the room and my books are hugging me. I have plenty of bookshelves. I have a couple of tables interspersed where people can work, do projects, play games, etc. Then my one son likes a school type desk, so I have one of those too, as well as a computer desk. We also have a tv in the room for educational movies, but it's not a must. Every space, nook and cranny in my room has bookshelves (without looking too cluttered). I went to college to be a school teacher, so I've always wanted a "school room" with desks and bulletin boards. But what gets me "juiced" the most, is having a large library type space that just screams, "come in, relax, and enjoy learning!"

[scrapbabe]

Nm