The Well Designed Home School

Homeschooling is rewarding but often that comes at the cost of order.  Piles of supplies, books and assignments build up, cleaning the household to keep projects from spreading into every nook and cranny can cut into learning, relaxation and even living time and the question of storage can be daunting at times.  If you are faced with these issues, perhaps a room dedicated to homeschooling is just the solution you are looking for.  Here are a few considerations when setting up a home school room in your house.

You will need shelf space - LOTS of shelf space! Space for books, educational games, more books, math manipulative tools, supplies, more books, completed assignments for documentation, assignments still being worked on and, if your children are any kind of readers, more books. And did I mention books? Without LOTS of shelves, you will be stuck piling everywhere leaving a cluttered appearance and making cleanup an exercise in futility. Buy or build as much as you can fit or afford here – there is no such thing as too much shelf space!

After you have placed your shelves, you undoubtedly will be wondering how to decorate the rest of your wall space - that is, if you have any left.  Wall space tends to be taken up easily by chalk boards, whiteboards, educational posters, science fair posters, art projects, crafts and pretty much anything else you want to put up where your child can study it or take pride in having made it.  As long as you have a fairly durable cheerful color on the walls before everything goes up, you shouldn’t need to worry too much about decorating the walls.

Nothing says school like rows of desks neatly lined up and facing the front of the classroom – and nothing is less necessary in a homeschool. Much of the reason for having desks in the first place stems more from the flow of traffic and organization of large classrooms than it does from any real educational consideration, so you have considerable leeway with how and where your children sit.

For much of the day, the floor is fine!

Have a large oval rug for morning prayer, story time or Bible study. Get a few cheerful kids area rugs for the kids to sit on during individual study and reading times. Consider also, a rug for your toddlers and preschool children to sit on and play (young children can learn to stay on a rug for short periods of time, giving mom time to catch her breath).

Other options include bean bags, children's chairs, small stools and pretty much anything else a child can sit on. The rule of thumb is “whatever fits in with your children and their learning styles.”

Eventually, your children will need to have a clean flat surface to draw, paint, cut, glue and perform other crafty operations on.  Any reasonably sturdy table can be used for crafts - just make sure that it is over a floor that resists staining – hardwood, treated carpet and even an outdoor  rug are all solutions here.

If you are homeschooling or planning to, a dedicated room for learning is a worthy consideration.