Homeschooling in a Small Space

It's week 2 of the (Not) Back-to School Blog Hop! I'm a little late posting on this one but I've been working on this post for a little bit and it happened to coincide nicely with this week's topic!

If you're like me, you have a Homeschooling folder or two (or 3, or 4...) on your Pinterest account.

If you're like me, you have your boards filled with really cool, inspirational ideas...75% of which you'll probably never do (Really? Is it just me?).

If you're like me, you drool over those awesome, organized rooms devoted to bringing every educational resource available right to your child, resulting in something that looks like it came right out of a magazine. Maybe something like this: 

Source: bit.ly via Gayle on Pinterest

Source: am.newuvision.us via Ardella on Pinterest

Or even this:

Source: aholyexperience.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Seriously, go click on the link under that last picture--you must see the magnitude of this room with lots of pictures. It's like Homeschooling Nirvana! 

*Ahem* 

What was I saying? Oh, yes...If you're like me, you don't have the space of these magnificent rooms. So, how do you make sure that you make the most of what space you do have? 

Up until now, we've primarily done school sprawled out in the living room. It worked for the most part, but it also carried with it a lot of unnecessary clutter and messiness. So I've decided to move things into the kitchen. It's the easiest area we can adapt to fit our needs. Let me show you what I'm working with.

This is our main bookshelf in the living room. We hold our homeschooling books (and my personal books are on the bottom two shelves), supplies and extras here. 

Then I have this corner cabinet in the living room as well. It has just about every supply you can think of stuffed into bins inside the cabinet, plus I have things like felt and stencils in the drawers below. On top of the cabinet I created holders out of cardboard boxes that hold different types of art papers. 

This is our kitchen wall next to the table where our schooling will take place. I'm not thrilled about it looking cluttered but I'm not sure how to arrange it yet. I have our world map and continents banenr sicne we weill be doing a lot of geography this year. The character traits I want them to see every day so it can serve as a reminder of how to behave. The dry erase board is vital for demonstrating things and plus it gives me a place to decorate with my seasonal wall clings! Underneath is our newly created work folders and workbox charts. More on that later...

Finally, this is our little corner of the kitchen. I have a dry erase monthly calendar to keep track of appointments and activities. The coarkboard section holds my appointment cards that I posted about earlier, as well as important papers and flyers we receive. 

The pocket chart on the right doesn't look like much right now, but it is going to be our new chore chart system, along with the laminated gumball machine I made as a reward system. More on that later too...

So, as you can see, I think I'm on the right track but there's still more I'd like to do. There's something to be said for keeping all of our things contained in one space and our schooling a little bit more structured in the kitchen. So it's my goal to really optimize my space this upcoming year, especially using the kitchen space. 

Here are some tips that I've found. Some I plan on implementing and hopefully they'll help you too if you're facing a space issue. 

• Even small bookshelves can work to keep your materials organized. If you don't have typical shelving, plastic crates can also make great substitutes. You can also build a custom bookshelf with apple crates. 
• Limit books to those that are absolutely essential or that you know that you'll re-read over and over again. Utilize your local library as much as possible instead of purchasing books that will overtake your space. Many classic books can also be read for free online using sources such as Project Gutenberg. 
• Repurpose! The cabinet we have in the living is actually part of a bedroom set. We don't have any room in out bedroom for them (there's actually two but you can't see it in the picture) so I decided to put them in the living room instead. Teaching art classes has left me with a ton of supplies that I know I'll need again, so I have the organized in bins, jars and workboxes inside the cabinet. 
• Remember that homeschooling doesn't always mean "home" schooling. Get outside and let nature be your classroom, or get involved in local sports or activities like 4-H Clubs or Scouting. 

As I said above, I'm also implementing the idea of workboxes, based on the idea of Sue Patrick's  system. In our case, we are using work folders instead but the gist is the same. I'm a visual learner and my kids also respond well to visual aids. It's a fun way to see exactly how much work there is so there's no whining "are we done yet?" for the 10th time in an hour. It's also a great way to get the kids involved and help them be more independent.  

Do you have a School Room? Do you use the kitchen or other part of your home as a double duty room? Or maybe you just do school whenever and wherever! Share in the comments below! 

You can also link up to the blog hop by clicking the button below!