Last year, we did hybrid homeschooling and homeschooled just two days a week, so I got a little taste of what homeschooling would would be like. This year, we’re going with full-time homeschooling. We actually made this decision back in October before Corona virus even happened and it’s something we really feel God is calling us to in this season of life. It may not be what we do forever, but I know it’s where God has us right now and I’m so excited and VERY nervous at the same time for it! As with anything I do, I feel less stressed if I can get everything organized and get a good system in place so, after I picked out and ordered our curriculum (more on that soon), I got to organizing the school room.
We don’t have an extra room in our home that we could use scrictly for school, so I decided to turn our formal dining room into our homeschool room. I actually think this is going to work out perfectly as our dining room is the center of our downstairs and I’ll be able to go about my daily chores easily during our homeschool day. I’ll also be able to keep the younger ones more entertained in the living room and playroom and still be able to keep an eye on them.
I really wish I would have taken a before picture of the dining room for you, but I totally forgot. It looked pretty much the same though except more decor and less school supplies. All of the furniture you see in the picture was already here, so I didn’t have to purchase any furniture or do anything to the room as far as painting and such. The paint color by the way, is Indigo Batik by Sherwin Williams and the walls have been this color for 4 years now. I love the color and I think it’s a great color for a homeschool room as well as a dining room!
The first thing I did was clean out and get rid of stuff. Goodbye dining room, hello school room! The green buffet was full of candles, dishes, napkins and so many things that never got used, so I went through it all and donated anything I hadn’t used in a while and moved the rest of the stuff over to my China cabinet and to the kitchen cabinets. That left the buffet and bakers rack free for homeschool materials.
Next, I scoured pinterest for organization ideas for days until I figured out what I thought would work best for our family and got a system in place for planning out our year, curriculum, and organizing my materials. Here are some blog posts I found exceptionally helpful:
How to Prep for your First Year or Homeschool by Simply be Wild and Free
The Best Homeschool Planning Secrets and Hacks by the Deliberate Mom
5 Simple Homeschool Organization Ideas by Simply be Wild and Free
Simple Homeschool Record Keeping by Homegrown Learners
How to Create a Homeschool Portfolio by Not Consumed
One thing I knew I wanted/needed fromt he little homeschool we did last year was a teaching corner. I already had a marker board collecting dust in the boy’s room, so I just gave it new life by painting the frame white and distressing it. I also picked up a cheap cork board from Hobby Lobby and painted it’s frame white to match the marker board. And of course we had to add a flag for our morning pledge. 
I also added this little wire shelf I got from Hobby Lobby years ago to house my markers, push pins, etc. 
I also came across this beautiful map while at Hobby Lobby and fell in love with it. It was definitely a splurge, but it’s on a high-quality canvas and I know it’s something we will use year after year, so I was ok making the investment. Here is the darker version of the one I have. I believe the lighter version is only found in store. Here’s another really great option too. I also hung this cute “Look what I did” board to display the kid’s current art work, a story they wrote, etc. 
Another addiontion to this space was this cute print I found on Etsy for $4. I then had it printed as an architectural print at FedEx for $2. The frame was an $8 Goodwill find that I painted with chalk paint. 
The next thing I did was create a basket system to house everyone’s daily work, books, anything they need for the day. These are the baskets I’m using and I love them! So stylish yet functional. 
Basket #1: My basket. This includes my homeschool planner, teacher guides and answer keys, my pens and supplies, etc.
Basket #2: Gabe and Landon’s baskets. These are where we will house their daily work folders, textbooks we’re using that day, and any other supplies they need for the day like math manipulatives, art supplies, etc.
Basket #4: Morning Basket. If you want to know more about what a morning basket is, I recommend reading this post. There’s also a really great podcast about it. In our morning basket we have things like our doodle devotion book, scripture memory cards, fruits of the spirit cards, Ten Tales from Shakespeare, as well as some history and science books that I’ll talk about another time.
Next up, our sensory & learning center. I plan to replace this bakers rack with this Ikea shelving unit soon, but we are making this work for now. This is where I am housing all of our sensory and motor skills activities. I have things like blocks, pattern blocks, magnetic tiles, IG builder stem toys, magnetic wood blocks, Leapfrog fridge magnet phonics learning set, magnetic letters (we use a cookie sheet from the dollar store to stick them to and make words), stringing set, lacing set, wiki sticks, etch a sketch. We also have a lot of dollar spot activities, workbooks, and homemade sensory activities here.
I used these pencil boxes and these shoe boxes to organize it all. 
Next up is our reading/listening center. This area is still a work in progress, but the boys are most excited about this space for some reason. Maybe it’s because they love a good cozy space like their mama haha. My beanbag is an old photography newborn prop that was gathering dust in our attic, but here’s a great bean bag option that would work great too. We’re also using these headphones plugged into our Ipad to listen to audible and itunes books here. And of course, my boys have to have a blanket anytime they’re sitting. This is such a cute one! This pillow and this pillow would be so cute here. I also love this rainbow one. 
To organize their books for the reading center as well as their coloring books, I’m using these sterilite drawers that I used last year except mine have 4 drawers and this one I linked has 3. 
Additional organization items I’m using: This 10 drawer organizer for storing all our different papers, labels, and extra school supplies. I have a hall closet to house this in. I’m also using this to store all our flash cards. It’s on MAJOR sale this week and it is the PERFECT storage solution for flash cards. I’m obsessed with this!
The other SUPER helpful thing I used to organize everything is my handy-dandy label maker. It’s the greatest thing ever, cheap and easy to use! And of course, we couldn’t live without our HP printer. I love this thing SO much, mainly because it’s wireless, works with my phone, and it knows when you’re getting low on ink and automatically ships it to your door! It’s amazing and we LOVE it! The other thing that has been SUPER helpful for us is this Smart Globe. We got it for Gabe for his birthday last year and it was definitely an investment, but it grows with them and has settings for every grade level, so I know it will be a very worthwhile tool in our homeschooling arsenal. It has already helped Gabe learn SO much. It is super cool! 
And there you have our modest, fun-filled homeschool room! I hope this gave you some inspiration for your own schooling space whether you’re homeschooling, distance learning, or just need a space to do homework. I am not a pro at this by any means, I’m brand new at this, but if you’re like me and thrive from organization I think this will really help your schooling flow. Let me know if you implement any of these ideas and tag me in your social media! I would love to see it!
Love you guys!
Anna
