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Abandoning The "Schoolroom"

We visited a home a couple of weeks ago that had the MOST WONDERFUL schoolroom ever.

This family had taken their garage and turned it into a beautiful area for school.  The floors were tiled, and she had tables specially made that were high (her children are teenagers).   There was storage everywhere, with large windows overlooking their wooded yard.

I had schoolroom envy.

How I would LOVE to finish my basement and create a space dedicated for school.  There are, however, more pressing financial needs and I am thankful for the spaces we DO have in our home.

The past couple of years I have shown you our area upstairs (the "bonus" room) that is a dedicated area for all things learning.  It's a perfect space, except for a couple things:

  • My husband sometimes works from home, and the computer he uses is in that room.   It is a quiet area of the house.  We've tried moving my husband's work space, but this is really the most remote place in our house.
  • The space upstairs is removed from the laundry room and the kitchen - two places where I spend a lot of time.  I was always going up and down the stairs, and leaving children (who didn't always stick to their schoolwork!) alone. 

The room has a large closet, which is exclusively homeschool storage.  

We still use this room for school occasionally, but mostly it is a computer, family, and reading room.   It has an entertainment cetner, extra shelving, and artwork by my children.  Last spring I added more shelving for the ever growing collection of books.  The room is cozy, but removed from the day-to-day activities in the rest of the house.   

     

This is where we have "school" this year:   

It seems we have migrated to the kitchen table!  

This actually works very well for us.   Last spring I showed you this part of our home.  I added 2 Expedit shelves from IKEA to our family room, where we store the current binders and books needed for most subjects.   All of our pencils, markers, rulers, etc... that we use for school go on a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table.  There is also a comfy window seat with pillows where the kids can birdwatch and read.  

There is also a small piano studio off of the family room where the kids practice their music and we have one large bookcase.   This is also where I work part time giving piano lessons.  

Best part of this arrangement:   the laundry room is about 10 steps away and the kitchen is right there, too.

We are blessed to also have a formal dining room (remember when I gave you a peek in our home?), so if the table is ever messy at the end of the day (although we do clear it off most every afternoon) we can eat in the dining room.   

So, while I still have a technical "schoolroom", it is abandoned most days as we live life in and outside of our home.

Where do you "DO SCHOOL"?

 

Visit other bloggers that are sharing their schoolrooms this week!