Welcome to our school room, complete with a cute dog to greet you!

(Lacy the WonderDog: star student)

Bookshelves are my friends. And I’m fickle about tables.

I always tweak our schoolroom from year to year, but there are no huge changes this time around. The bookshelves have been rearranged to accommodate this year’s books and rotate out last year’s books. I’ve reorganized a little. There’s a new lamp (which I painted turquoise) on the smaller bookcase. And once again this year, I’ve swapped out the table we’re using.

We really liked the table we used last year, but it was an odd height that didn’t allow for comfortable dining. Although we seldom use our school room as the dining room it was originally intended to be, I do like to have that as an option for when we host holiday gatherings or have another family over for dinner. This trestle-style table was my grandmother’s, and I refinished it over the summer. {That was a nightmare project!} It is larger, is normal table-height, and has two leaves to allow even more expansion for get-togethers. Another factor in wanting to switch to this larger table is so that Lindsey has room to work here too, if she chooses; we had no need of that last year.

A spot for Kathryn’s school things:

Behind Kathryn’s chair is a smaller book shelf specifically for her things: stationery for pen pals and thank-you notes; craft supplies, including a bin dedicated to duct tape; yarn for knitting; and binders for several subjects. Those little drawers hold her math books, copywork notebook, and things like that.

Ahh… my own office space!

I moved my desk area {again!} from the corner of the living room, where it was last year, to make myself an office. Now it’s around the corner in the sunroom, with the piano — which I don’t play {yet!}, but makes me feel creative to have it sitting nearby. I love how open and bright this room is, and I have a little antique china cabinet to store my office supplies and such. I still have a few things to organize in here, and curtains to make because I get a wicked glare on the computer screen during certain hours of the day. I have my fabric waiting in the corner behind the velvet chair, but have to actually take the time to sew them!

A spot for Lindsey’s school stuff, too:

Since Lindsey prefers to work in the living room or occasionally in her room, her school things are in a plastic crate on my [seldom used] sewing table in the corner of the living room. It’s easier for her this way to keep everything together. Big books stand up in back, file folders hold spiral notebooks and loose papers, and she has a little pencil box with pens and pencils in the front. {Kathryn’s hula hoop is nestled in the corner because you never know when the urge to hula might strike.}

Wide angle lenses are fun.

This wide-angle photo shows how everything all fits together. You can see the school area, the living room, and Lindsey’s little corner. To the right corner is the front door. Closer to you on the right is the kitchen. At left, it opens to my sunroom.

Another wider shot here, to piece it together. Even though my desk isn’t in the same room, it’s all very close. I really don’t mind that this is what you see when you come in the front door. So what if it looks like a school room? For us, home educating isn’t limited to just a few hours of the day; it’s become our lifestyle, and our home reflects that.

Are you curious about other homeschool rooms? I always love to see how other families use their space, so I’ll be hopping around the “Not” Back-to-School hop!

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »