school rooms

[ninipelley]

i am getting the strong desire to redo the school room. UH OH
Wondering if there are any pic's here or ideas to organize a craft/school room. ... I do have 4 kids, 2 are still toddler/preschool age.
My hobbies include: scrapbooking, sewing, blogging, pretty much anything.
Thinking a couple desks with bookshelves on the end/side for their own books and a craft/desk for myself with cubbies to store my paper, yarn etc.
the biggest issue is we live nowhere near an IKEA. I want to be able to have 2 at their own desk very close to me so i can turn to help them. I'm not sure how to teach 2 levels at the same time with toddlers in the same room as well. Thinking the littles can play in their bedroom right next to the school room but right now i am getting up at 6:30am to have school with my 3rd grader & trying to have her watch the littles while I teach K.
But I really feel like I have to rush both of them
Any ideas here?

[jessie410]

Hi! We are getting ready to renovate our attic to turn into a school room. If you search homeschool on Pinterest, a lot of great room/organization ideas come up. I have repinned a lot of them to check back for ideas! Here is a link to my Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jessie1122/homeschool/

I have the same problem of not living near Ikea. Their stuff is perfect for homeschool rooms! Luckily my sister lives near one and we go visit her a couple times a year. Next time I go I'm going to have a big Ikea list! The Container Store has a lot of good shelf/organization stuff too and you can actually order off their website. Not as afforadable as Ikea though. Hope this helps!

[MelInKansas]

Just a couple of thoughts for you:

I like my craft supplies organized in drawers rather than on shelves. One of those rolling carts with the drawers would be pretty great for that, it'd have to be a big one to hold all my stuff, but it could at least be a start. I put small things, like things, in old sour cream or butter tubs in the drawers. I have a really small set of small drawers that I keep stickers, glue, stamps, and paintbrushes in.

My girls have two desks right next to each other and they distract one another endlessly. So I have taken to doing my 4.5YO's workbooks with her across the room on the couch (this is our big downstairs family room) while my 6.5 YO does her spelling and copywork at her desk. So... maybe put your desk between theirs? Or something between their desks.

My 2 YO has to pretty much be out of the room when my others are sitting and doing work that requires any focus. She either plays with one of her sibs in a room right next door or is up in her room with some music, snack, and her own toys. She is with us while we do things that we can tolerate distraction during. Scripture memory, music, reading our poem of the week, she occasionally joins in the rotating box activity depending what it is.

[STXkjo]

Just thought I'd post a couple of pics of our space. We basically have a playroom that I use for school I store our several books and things we don't use often in a lateral file cabinet in our office and the puzzles, craft supplies, workbooks, etc. in the drawers in the playroom. The weekly assignments are in the hanging file and I pull their table out when we are working to the middle of the room. I store our craft supplies (glue, markers, crayons etc) in large ziploc bags and they are all in a plastic bucket that is taller and the lid has a handle on it. As they get older and need separate desks we will probably take the train table out and totally rearrange...I don't think I'd put them side by side. I've seen similar cubby bookshelves at Target and Walmart. I may even use the bookshelves as dividers for their desks down the road. You can't see it in these pics but our paperback books are stored in magazine containers on the bookshelf. I got the dry erase board used from a neighbor for $50...love that thing! The boys love to color and play on there all the time! I'd love to see other people's spaces!

[my3sons]

STXkjo - The pictures were fun - thanks for sharing! What a sunny homeschool area!

I was thinking of a few threads that may be helpful as you dream up your new homeschool area..

How to organize home for homeschooling:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3118&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Using more than one area for homeschooling:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093&p=35802

Best tips for peace, sanity, or really helpful stuff!
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4929

I hope something here helps - enjoy organizing your area! We have such an opportunity to make our homeschooling atmosphere a cheery place to be. I'm glad you are taking advantage of this opportunity!

In Christ,
Julie

[inHistiming]

I was also going to recommend Pinterest! I've seen some really cute and economical ideas on the 'boards' there.

[homefire]

I've also been thinking a lot about this as I'm getting ready to start back up in January. When you're doing searches don't limit to just "homeschool", try things like craft room, workspace, kid's office, ect for ideas.

[ninipelley]

I did search pinterest & that's when I started finding some awesome things..
My dh doesn't quite understand that the schoolroom may need to be changed according to our growing needs. He is INSISTING he will never do this change again. OK Hitler I tell him.
I could not open the other pic's - rats.

[MelInKansas]

LOL. My husband never wants to change rooms, rearrange, paint, or anything. He does it under much duress, he likes what he's used to I guess. So I can totally sympathize with you there!