The last official School Room.
When we first started homeschooling, I didn’t have a very large home, so school had to be done in the dining room. It was simple and it worked. But somewhere along the line, I became enamored with the idea of a room set aside just for school (probably because I was sure I could shut away the mess of homeschooling if I had such a thing), so when we moved to a home that would accommodate a School Room, I created one.
However, I quickly found my family isn’t the School Room type.
We follow what is called a Lifestyle of Learning. Simply put, this means our homeschool encompasses ALL of our life. When you live like that, it is very difficult to school in ONE room. Life just sort of spills out into the entire house and you and your children end up frustrated by that room you call the School Room.
The room shown above is what we call our Sitting Room. It is a smallish living room on the main level. This is where the bulk majority of school happens as this is the place we spend the most time together as a family.
This room contains:
- most of our bookshelves
- the piano
- the kids’ computer
- my chair, Dad’s chair, and the couch
- my basket of books with read-alouds
- library books
School always starts here with devotionals. School continues here with individual subjects, computer-based curriculum, read-alouds, and any other reading we may do. School ends here at night with deep discussions and Family Bible Time.
Sometimes school takes place at the kitchen table with experiments and crafts and the occasional lesson that needs a little more peace and quiet away from the family.
Sometimes school happens in bedrooms, propped up by pillows on beds or in closets where solitude and quiet foster imagination and focus.
Sometimes school takes a walk outside or sits on a blanket and marvels at God’s creation.
Sometimes school whips something up in the kitchen and teaches fractions and home management.
Life is our school.
Living it is our education.
A formal School Room cannot contain it.
So, we don’t have a School Room anymore.
{Of course, we still have school-related paraphernalia, so you can read more about how we organize our homeschooling supplies.)
To learn where other homeschoolers “do school”, visit the:
That sounds about like us! We had a school room, but it was tiny, and our family is not. Besides, I was always somewhere else cooking, doing laundry, etc. Keeping the kids cramped in there wasn’t nice. So the room sort of became our library. The kids have crates that they bring out to the dining room each morning, and school happens wherever is most reasonable for whatever it is we’re doing!
We have had a similar journey. We tried to have a school room, and like your family, it just didn’t work for us. We constantly gravitated towards the dinning room table. Now, we do the majority of our work in the dinning room and I have given in to ( and now love) the fact that blackboards, maps, solar system models, etc adorn the dinning room walls and shelves. I thought I wouldn’t like that, but I LOVE it. In the cooler weather, a lot of our schooling is done outside on a big blanket in the rabbit run, with our bunny jumping around us and exploring what we’re looking at. In the Fall, a lot of school happens on nature walks. And at night, school happens snuggled up in bed during read aloud time. Our kids are younger, so not much school happens independantly in their beds or quiet places yet, but I’m sure those days are in our future. Like you, we’ve learned you just can’t contain home school in a school room box. And thank God for that!!!
And P.S. – I love this post. Do you mind if I do my own version on my blog?
We converted our ‘living room’ into the ‘school room’. My desk, two desks for kids, a craft table, the craft cabinet, and a giant hutch for toys/books with our TV on it, are all in this room. Our library is in the basement, and we have a small sitting area for reading. We no longer have formal living room furniture. We have beanbags that our children sit in when we have TV (Netflix) time. Hubby and I will sit in the beanbags with the kids, or sit in a desk chair. Often times, unless we’re doing school or sitting enjoying a movie together, mom doesn’t sit.
We have a room that holds most of our schooling items and books, with a few desks, but we do school all over. Some of us in the dining room, some the kitchen, and some in the actual school room. To fit 6 people in one room was way to much clutter, noise and mess. When we are done with what we are working on it goes back in the “School room”. And the computers are set up there, but if we are not on them we don’t spend much time in the actual room. Most of my kids are independent type learners, so it works best if they are not distracted by others. Having 6 people in one room is just not the best for us, plus this way I can watch or have someone keep a eye on the two little ones as they play in the living room.
We’ve tried the school room & given it up as well. For us, the available room was too disconnected from the active areas of the house. I’d go to make snacks or put the baby down for a nap & everyone would lose focus. We school in the living & dining rooms, which are open to each other & the kitchen. I have a tall cabinet, a cabinet above my desk, & two short bookshelves that hold all the things we need for school. This year my husband conceded to hanging a cork board & a white board in the dining room, & I’ll be hanging a map, too. Other than those items, you wouldn’t really be able to tell that it’s our school area. We have a homeschool closet that houses our extra resources, supplies, & bulky stuff. It works for us!
This is our first year “officially” homeschooling, and my husband was just expressing this same idea to me the other day. We don’t want just to do school at home, we want to homeschool…and I think there is a difference. I know you have no idea who I am, but I wanted to let you know that you have been a great resource for us as we try to figure out how we want to homeschool, how I manage our home, and finally submitting to my husband’s wishes to let the Lord control how many children we have and when (not that He doesn’t control it anyway, but I think you know what I mean). Thank you for being so transparent, and for being such an encouragement to our family!
I found this soo encouraging! Thank you!! We are entering our 10th year of homeschooling and have never had a designated *homeschooling* area. I have never really wanted one but always wondered if my kids were suffering from it.
This is great Amy! I’ve always loved the way you call it a “lifestyle of learning.”
I think our family does well with our school room because it is basically centered around a dining room table! LOL We would probably gravitate there anyway…
It has been so fun to see all the different way folks approach using their spaces to accomplish their homeschooling… Thanks for sharing too!
Thank you for giving a wonderful explanation of how we can educate without the need to copy school. Everyone has there own way to do this and in England there is much freedom, it is good to hear that in America there are Christians who feel able to branch out from the terrifying array of curriculum which would have a mummy glued to the schoolroom for hours each day. This also frees children up to discover there individual gifts which God has blessed them with and makes home schooling the large family a more possible option for most. However this can feel quite scary as I often wonder, am I doing enough? I remind myself that there is no perfect education school or home, but with prayer God keeps leading me back down this road and calming my fears.
I like this post. I think other people’s schoolrooms look pretty but the thought of having one of my own makes me want to cry. That just isn’t our style at all. Maybe as my littles become bigs they will need to have a more designated space for independent studies but for now we cuddle on the couch and pile around the dining room table.
When a Lifestyle of Learning is going well, “homeschool” doesn’t even fit into a home! It goes outside!
This post makes me feel better b/c we don’t have one room that is set aside for schooling. One of the ladies in a facebook group that I am involved in said she was getting her school room in order so she could start school today and it made me kinda sad that we don’t have one specific room devoted just to schooling. I am glad I read this article b/c we can have school in the family room, living room at the table in the breakfast nook and when ds10 needs to really focus he goes up to his room and does some work.
Sounds like here around the mountain! We have most of our supplies and text in the diningroom, but we’re not always IN THAT ROOM. Our large dining table is great to spread out on, but sometimes other places seem more appealing. It’s a great way to learn, huh?
we, the kids and I, laughed so hard at your post. our reading library/piano/computer/school space looks almost identical to yours. They thought it was a picture of our house! the whole house (and the yard, and the park, and the river) is our school “room” as well. it was a great start to our homeschool day. THanks!
I think it’s possible to have a lifestyle of learning and still have a school room where materials for specific subjects are stored and done. Where craft materials are store and such. Where a whiteboard or bookshelf for specific students and subjects are placed.
I don’t think just because someone has a school room that they don’t have a lifestyle of learning that spills over to every aspect of their lives or that a school room contains it.
We never had a designated room, but I am working on following a schedule.
I love that you know what works for your family! That’s so important!
I want a school room someday. It may end up not working for us, but we’ll see. I think it’ll actually help ME focus better on school! Sometimes it’s hard for me to get motivated to do sit-down schoolwork with the kids.
We don’t have an official school room either (just official storage and surfaces for our “stuff” – see my post http://www.dearlylovedmist.com/2012/08/organizing-our-homeschool.html). The learning happens all over our house and beyond!
We school around the kitchen table, in the living room on couches or outside on the lawn. School rooms never worked for us.
thank you so much for this. After seeing pics of others school rooms I was feeing a bit inadiquate. And this post post sounds like us to a “T”.
Thanks for this post. I don’t really have a school room either (due to lack of space) and sometimes I feel bad about it or that I should have one dedicated space. But the truth is, it just wouldn’t work for us. Like you said, school for us takes place everywhere and we like it like that!
Love it, love it, love it – especially those books lining the sitting room! I would spend all day there
Just came across your blog and have loved reading about your family! We’re the same way in that we’re learning all day and have no actual “school room” (not that we have room for it anyway!). I think that’s one of the benefits of homeschooling, we can do it anywhere!
Yes, sometimes when you don’t have room for it, you realize you never needed it anyway!
Welcome!