Our School Room

It's week 2 of iHomeschool Network's NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop! This week is all about the spaces in our homes where education takes place.

I am very fortunate in that I have a large room that my wonderful husband has allowed me to take over as a classroom. Currently it is still in the process of getting all set up for this year, so I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures; however, I promise you that as soon as it is complete, I can overwhelm you with the visuals! *big grin*

Through my last several years of schooling my children, I have pulled ideas from everywhere for setting up a functional space. The most impactive of resources has by far been Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Seriously, if you haven't visited her blog, go there as soon as you are finished here!

My favorite aspects of our classroom...

Workboxes: With two full-time students each with a full course load, figuring out how to get it all done in a timely manner is difficult. These workbox stations have made it so simple, especially for Big Girl, who is an independent learner.

How They Work: I have little tags for each subject on each drawer and fill them with work at night for the next day. When we begin our school day, I go over any special instructions with the kids and then turn them loose. Since we will have many subjects together but with separate assignments, I can present the text/information before having them get the assignment out of the appropriate drawer. This also allows them to move on to reading assignments and other independent work without having to interrupt a sibling's lesson with mom to ask "what should I do now?"

Student Desks: I do have a traditional student desk for my kids to work at. I just find that giving them their own space to work helps cut down on the squabbling and distractions. I was able to pick these up very cheap at a going out of business auction for less than $20 each!

Teacher Desk: My wonderfully generous sorority sister GAVE me a huge executive's desk that came with the house she bought. She is a public school teacher who loves having a big workspace but already had two in her classroom. She knows that I like to spread out when I work, too, and thought this gorgeous approximately 6' x 4' piece would be perfect! She was so right!

In addition to being my desk, it is large enough that I've also made it mine and Big Girl's sewing station. There is just enough of a lip on the front that our legs tuck nicely under. Plus our space is big enough to have two sewing machines sit side-by-side with plenty of room to work on our extremely beginner projects!

Other Stuff:

As I said our room isn't quite done for this year. I still have things to put up on my walls and furniture to move around once we sell a rather large piece - a twin size bed. Yes, last year we had a bed in our classroom, and it was wonderful! I just found it to be too big for our space, so off it goes. I'm glad to be blessing a friend with it since she is expecting #3 and desperately wants to get #2 out of the crib and into a "big bed".

I can't tell you how disappointed I am that my room is not ready. We have been met with many challenges this summer, including my computer blowing up on me. (My husband has graciously lent me his on his days off to allow me to get back to blogging and do things that my phone doesn't quite handle.) I have lots of wall stuff to print and get put together, along with getting some desk organizers into place just help things run a bit more smoothly. Not to mention that if I'm being perfectly honest here, I still have projects from last school year that need to come down.

So before I hyperventilate all the things still to do, I better send you on your way. Check out what other homeschool spaces are out there by clicking on the pic below and don't forget to come back by for my updated school room tour!

Hope to see you all next week for Student Photo Week!