We are classless homeschoolers. As in we do not have a classroom. Part of me wishes we did. Bulletin boards, helpers chart, number lines, ABC's, calendars GALORE!! In rainbow order. With matching fonts. Ahhh!! The things I miss as a teacher! Then part of me remembers that glorious moment we cleared our attic of all my teacher stuff when we moved from KS. And I can only imagine the look on Matt's face should I reinvest in building that collection again! HA! I think had we been homeschooling when we moved into the house we might have done the office differently to make it more of a classroom. Then I laugh at the irony of our transition from primary colored formal dining room to pretty home office! However, starting homeschooling mid year and rather last minute in a home we seemed to have just settled into, I didn't make a classroom and we have survived fine thus far.
The PRO to our classlessness is the portability. We can work in the living room, our office, around the dining room table or in our playroom/bonus room upstairs depending on the day and on our need. I think the change of scenery is good for us. This past winter when our heater went out for two days we worked upstairs and found Aidan did well in the bonus room where there is less echo and smaller feel. Naturally our playroom/bonus room upstairs would be the ideal "classroom" but it is very HOT in the warm months and very FREEZING in the colder months. Thus the continuing saga of our home's inefficiency. :)
To keep student materials together I purchased these file totes. I labeled each tote with child's name and picture schedule. It's an adaptation of sorts to the workbox concept. After Pinterest browsing I put the tote idea together with the picture schedule idea. It's a nice, compact way to keep our materials together and ready to go. Luckily, our curriculum is in a consumable workbook format and has minimal hardback textbooks so it can all fit in the tote- even my teaching manuals are in the boys' totes! Each tote also contains morning calendar binder with color coordinated zipper pencil pouch which contains their picture schedule cards. The picture schedule is a bit "elementary" for Emma perhaps, but she loves every bit of it since she aspires to be a teacher. Maybe not for Junior High next year. ;)
As the day progresses picture cards are turned over as a sign of completion. At the end of our school day the totes stack next to a cabinet near our dining table. If I wanted them totally out of sight I have a coat closet they could go in, but I don't consider this too unsightly and there are days it seems we barely get it all put away before it's time to drag it back out again! I guess if special company comes we could put them away....so if you come over and they are out you know if you are "special" in our book, or I forgot. Ha!
Our supply tote holds crayons, colored pencils, markers, Vis-a-Vi pens, dry erase markers, scissors, glue sticks, rulers, pencils, erasers, student clock, base ten manipulatives, counting bears, coin jar and any other daily supplies we need. We keep it centrally located to where we are all working to minimize distraction of kiddos searching out supplies needed. And as with our work totes it's very portable!
I also LOVE, LOVE this Expo dry erase board. It's a perfect size! It folds, is magnetic AND it's two sided so I can list Aidan's vocabulary words for his reading story on one side and on the other assist Emma with math problem. A fairly cheap find on Amazon and worth every penny. At day's end I tuck it away behind their stacked work totes as can been seen in the photo of the stacked totes above.
Our office bookcase has served me well since we began our homeschooling journey. I store Aidan's flashcards, our supply tote and all my teaching manuals on the top shelf. The bottom shelf holds future curriculum for the kids along with a larger container of math manipulatives and flashcards. It's been a great storage solution.
Over time I have purchased two student desks. They are great for the boys when they are too squirmy for the kitchen table and are a better size for their handwriting posture. Emma used one last year, but prefers the computer desk or her personal desk in her room or even the couch. :) One is painted and even has a chalkboard top. The other I still need to paint to match this one-
Some day's we use them, other days we do not. The joy of homeschooling is the ability to adapt based on our needs for the day at hand! Am-I-Right?!?
If you have read to this far or stumbled upon this post and have any questions or want copies of our picture schedule cards just let me know and I'd be happy to share. I will also help you learn from my mistakes in implementing this idea. :) HA!
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