The Schoolroom and Where We ACTUALLY Do School

When we started homeschooling last year, I just knew that I wanted to have a schoolroom. I honestly thought that Dawson would not be able to concentrate or settle down unless he was in a school setting. I honestly wanted to be able to "put school away", out of sight, out of mind, when the day was "done". I honestly wanted a teacher's desk. I honestly wanted our schoolroom to look like the place where we did school and the rest of our house to look like the place where we lived. I honestly thought it was the way to go. And I spent a ton of time on it. NEWBIE!  hee ... hee ...

Here's what we had.

Then we brought Brynne home after about six weeks of public school and added her schooling area.

And then after about two weeks or so we gradually starting taking our schoolwork one room over to the upstairs t.v. room to do our learning on the comfy chair and couch. It was more comfortable and we were starting to realize that we might have a more laid-back approach to homeschooling.

Then I realized that I was running up and down the stairs a gazillion times a day copying things, getting things, throwing in a load of laundry, unloading the dishwasher, taking the dogs potty, and on and on and on.

So, although we left our books and supplies upstairs, we moved our learning to the couch and kitchen counter and table downstairs. And when Dawson was doing independent work, sometimes he went to the office, or his bedroom, or the upstairs t.v. room, or even the bathroom ** ahem **.

And then school started to take over every aspect of our lives. It wasn't just a 9-3 endeavor. Learning was going on all the time, everywhere! And THAT was just the way it was going to be.

So, this year, I wised up! I moved all of our books and supplies down to our closet under our stairs that is minimally utilized for any other purpose. Now I just have a few steps to take to get anything we need. The rest of the supplies are in our office closet, downstairs as well. In preparing for school, this system has worked famously!!

We'll mostly be doing school here

and here

and here.

Because Brynne loves to play school when she's not actually doing school, we left some of our schoolroom intact.

Dawson took the desk to his room, so we moved Brynne's desk to his corner. I kept my teacher desk there so I could use it if we needed to do some special kind of teaching/learning up there.  And the whiteboard is still on the wall, in case we need to do some kind of special teaching on it.

Basically I have learned that we do school as a way of life. I like to be able to be doing my daily responsibilities in the kitchen while my children are learning just a couple of feet away. I am more productive, we are spending more time together, and they are seeing me perform the life skills that are necessary for a productive day.

For our family, the schoolroom is wherever we are.

I am linking up to Heart of the Matter's "Not" Back to School Blog Hop ~ School Room Week.