You’re not supposed to be jealous. I know. But there should be a special support group for those of us that are schooling in small spaces. The blasted homeschooling stuff just really seems to MULTIPLY upon itself.
Stuff EVERYWHERE makes me start to twitch, you know. That’s when I start finding “great places” to hide things… only to TOTALLY forget where ON EARTH I put it.
It’s a gift, really.
It only makes sense that finding a zen place for our Homeschool Gear is on ONGOING challenge.
Oh, how nice it would be to have a special School Room!! Maybe one day I’ll be so blessed, and then I will definitely most likely be able to APPRECIATE it. :)
This year will be a bit different since we are taking a stab at Video School, but we are going to try to just tweak our previous “system.” I really hope we can find a method that keeps all the stuff safe from the two who daily attempt to wreak havoc on whatever they can get their hands on. :)
Haylee’s classes are on a small external hard drive that she will use with a laptop, so she really is fairly MOBILE.
Last year we worked at the kitchen table 90% of the time, but for some reason I just don’t think that it will be very comfy for her doing the “video” route.
The remaining options we’re left with are “on the couch” and “on Mommy & Daddy’s bed.” Um, yeah. So, we’ll see.
Haylee’s schoolbooks have found a new home on the bookshelf in her room…
I am crossing my fingers that they are HIGH enough to be out of Wade’s radar, AND that maybe… just maybe… he is getting old enough where I can trust him not to DESTROY everything in sight. :) Last year I had all school books WAY out of his reach, but having her things front and center for her is just so much more convenient!
I managed to come up with a storage solution for Haylee’s Math Manipulative Kit using envelopes and ziploc bags. I’m hoping it will be easy for us BOTH to keep up with. The easier to use and put back, the more likely we’ll be to use it! :)
I repurposed a basket for all the Teacher Keys, and they found a little nook in the Living Room. Davis finds them very alluring, but so far they have been safe. :)
I still have my little rubbermaid drawers chock full of stuff stored in my bedroom with a basket of workbook pages and tests on top.
Wade’s Tot School supplies are hiding here too…
I want to get away from the OVERSIZED workbox from last year and trying out something smaller and thinner this year. Something like a small accordion file maybe?
I need something less space hogging and less tempting for little boys to open and destroy. :) Maybe even just a folder for each day with papers together and ready to go would work.
Regardless of our Small Space Challenges… I am trying to be THANKFUL for the space we have and HOPING for a great year!
I’m linking up to the Blog Hop again… Check out all the Schoolroom Tours for some marvelous inspiration!
You've got some great storage ideas! I love baskets for storing books, and yours are so pretty! We use an accordion file for worksheets for the week. I put them in the workboxes every day but you could just make a file for each day of the week and put her worksheets in that. I've thought about doing it that way too but can't decide if it's better by subject or day of the week. Either way, I hope you have a great school year! I am interested to see what you think of Video School.(:
We have the small space challenge as well. I too suffer for clutter twitch. ;-) I am in process of re-inventing now as we enter Grade 3 with more books.
I love your small space but suffer from the kitchen table sydrome.. I hope to change that soon!
Wow, after that first picture I kept waiting for you to come back and say, "Just kidding, yeah right, I wish that were our school room– this is a stock image from _______ design website!" You have made your small space beautiful. Your home looks sooooo organized and clean! Nice blog you have here I think I'll just have to go ahead and join. ;)
Thanks everyone!! April, unfortunately you are right!!! I did swipe that pic off pinterest!!!
I love seeing real spaces put to good use. I'm also schooling in a small space, and I've found it kinda fun to figure out where to tuck in school storage.
i have that same picture on pintrest as a 'future classroom' wish. I too am in the same situation of "where to put the school stuff". I was really hoping that our garage would be closed in this fall so I could have a real school room, but that did not happen. I hope to post later about our 'school room'.
You have some great ideas for storage. Every year it seems that the school books get a new home based on everybody's needs, etc. This will be our 4th year homeschooling and so much of the storage/organization is trial and error. I'll be sharing my dining room this week because, well, that's the school room! =)
I am right there with you dreaming of that sweet schooling space in the first pic! You have done a great job of being organized and everything looks cute. I especially like the colorful basket you have your math stuff in. :)
I LOVE IT! It doesn't take a mansion of a house or "school room" to learn! All we need is willing hearts and minds and a place to park our tush! Thanks for sharing your small space ideas!
That is such a cute space. We moved the dining table into our living area and turned the dining room into the school room. Still a small space, and it seems we both have the same problem….store suppies somewhere and forget where that somewhere was! Thanks for the share!
Such great small space storage ideas! As a owner of a not huge house either I also fight for storage where I can find it. Finally one day I looked at the clutter and junk in our guest /junk/ throw it in and forget it room. (3rd bedroom that rarely gets used for guests). The closet! its not very large maybe 4 ft long and barely 2 ft wide. I took out the closet rod and installed white closet shelving a foot from the ceiling to the floor. all books and various supplies go into the ‘school closet’. Daily work is done in the kitchen/dining area, so a shelf inside the small dining hutch is designated for current/daily work. Son now works off of a curriculum that is online so books have given way to occasional printouts… but I cant seem to part with the old texts in the closet. Sometimes nothing beats being able to look it up in an actual bound book.
I also had a friend that converted her entire (unused but once a year for holiday dinner) dining room into her school room. (so jealous of that!) Small space schooling is an art form! Blessings.
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