Setting Up A Homeschool Area

It doesn't take much to set up a homeschool area. Some people have very little at all. Some have elaborate school rooms. We had our school area set up in the "dining" area of our house, just off the kitchen. It worked, although it was messy/cluttered looking and noise control was a serious problem for us. There was no workspace, so the kids did their work at the dining table.


Here is my new homeschool area, or "the study."

It's the same corner of the house, but we walled it off and made it into an actual room.

We replaced a window with a sliding-glass door. There is insulation in the walls for noise control. A french door keeps the room open, yet closed off. The corner is brighter, has better shelves and a nice table from Jeff's mother.

Another big change is that we got rid of the ancient desktop computers and have only laptops now.

Here my son is using a laptop on the partially-built new breakfast bar. :)

Organization is another hurdle. The plastic organizers in the picture below is a tip I got from a friend who homeschools her 8 children. The black 3-drawer organizer has science things in it-- it holds rocks, fossils, and shells. The books on this shelf are the ones being used in school this quarter.

The white drawers are labeled for each of the kids. I can put worksheets and history notebooking sheets in there at the beginning of the week when I'm planning. The kids have been told to look there for their weekly schedule, worksheets to do, and then to place completed work in there for me to check. The bottom shelf are totes that the kids use to organize their consumable workbooks and files for their completed work.

The end result is that when we're doing school, I feel we can stay more focused. When we're not doing school, it's not laying all over the house in the way. Having everything organized into one room means that I can quickly find whatever I want at a moment- yes, I have the shelves organized--all our Cores on one shelf above the sliding glass door, for instance.


Setting up a homeschool area will look different for each homeschooling family. I hope my set up will inspire you to create something for your family that works for YOU!