Actually, though we school all over, inside and out, when we moved into our home we made the "formal diningroom" the computer room, with shelves that we put our schoolbooks on, and our treadmill is in here as well! The poor people that owned this house before would be horrified to see it now! :lol:
Ok, ladies I am so excited here! I just talked to DH and he said that he felt the boys needed a space to "do school" because then they would be more cooperative...and while I don't agree with that perspective I do agree that I need a school space! So he decided that since we all rarely eat at the dining table that we should get rid of the dining table and make our little dining room our new school room....so I have just spent 3 hours moving all the school shelves, cabinets, and supplies around and taking out the table...Tomorrow I must go and hunt for a table/desk for the boys to work at and then I will take some pictures and show you all our brand new Birbitt Family Classroom!
I have to run, but wanted to put my vote in with the no's---you certainly don't need a classroom. We're starting our 11th year of homeschooling and have never had a room. My kids prefer lounging on comfy chairs and couches or the floor or walking around or whatever, to having a room specifically for schooling! We have maps up on the wall in one room. We have a large portable whiteboard that we use whever we feel like being. For me, that was a good thing about homeschooling--NOT having one classroom! BUT, some like it so then, homeschooling is good for them because they CAN have it if they want!
Guess what! I'm going to "hedge" my opinion a bit! this year, we're doing things a bit differently. I am taking three Language TM's to the table, and the kids come one at a time to go over yesterday's work and get today's. Same with math for my younger two. I've decided I wish I had a place to keep my books within arm's reach of my kitchen table. That AIN'T going to happen! So I'm going to try and clean off a desk in the computer (ie: dining) area, and try to KEEP it cleaned off (yeah, right!!!).l I can put those TM's there. So, after 9 full years of no real "school room", I'm kind of wanting one now, lol!
My books were all over for the longest time. Now I keep them in a large cupboard or coat closet that I purchased unfinished. I fits nicely in the living room. It is large enough to keep all the school supplies and most of the craft supplies.
Well my camera batteries are dead so when they are charged I will post pics but we got our school room done...and it's a great space. The boys got up from nap today and said to me "can we write?" so I showed them the different areas I had set up and they took pencils and paper and wrote stories. I love this little school room with the mismatched desks lol.
They do patty..they really love it! To be honest I love it too! it has everything I need right there in one place and I can do school so much easier each day! I can't wait to use it tomorrow.
We didn't have a school room until we moved last summer. I LOVE having a space just for school. We do use it. Before we were in about 900 square ft and now we have a bi-level and school downstairs. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v729/Kristinemomof3/schoolroom006.jpg there is a homemade wipe off board on the wall left of the table. The other half has a t.v. area. Kristine
My son and I started off using our spare room as a classroom. But it got too hot in there, and there wasn't really enough room to work. So our classroom moved to the living room. My husband got tired of seeing school stuff in the living room all day and night, so we got moved to the kitchen table. Now we do a cross between the living room and kitchen and just make sure that everything is put away before Daddy gets home from work.
Nope. Currently, the boys use the center island in the kitchen or somewhere in the living room. Dd prefers to work in her room most of the time because it is quiet. The books are all on a bookshelf in the living room. I would love to have a room, we just dont have extra room here.
WOW, nwo that is a dream room! the photo bucket one! We dont even have a room in the house big enough for that .... I would love to have the wall space! But we make do...
here are some pictures of my new classroom! The boys love it, and so do I! I had to put them on photobucket so you can see them since they are too big to upload here. http://s363.photobucket.com/albums/oo80/Birbitt_2008/
We use the dining room table, which also doubles as the laundry table, craft table, catch-all sorting table, etc., etc. We also have a custom built desk area with cabinets, work spaces, and three computers (we're a techno-addicted family). We used to do Switched-On schoolhouse, but now we use it for research, etc. I have a side business on my computer so one of the workspaces is mine (curiously, it's the smallest...hmmm.) I like being around the table. We start there and spin off for other stuff.
Birbitt, you have the same map as I have up this year and we have a similar table top, its actually a file cabinet in my house but I used it ias lap top desk last year and will use it for my bins this year! I am not set up all the way yet, but today is our BACK to School day, we will get our stuff and go to the movies if they kids behave!
That's funny, the boys love their maps...DS5 will come to me with the us map and ask me what a particular state is and I'll tell him and he'll remember! I think that's just great!
We have a room but we don't use it. For some reason it seems to make school cold and formal. I store their stuff in the room and then drag it out as needed. They do best doing their bookwork stuff at the kitchen table and reading in the living room.
I like that we have had our "family room" be the school room for most of our schooling years, we had desks for years untill the kids grew out of them. Now ds works at the kitchen table, and dd at the computer desk with SOS. eventually she will do her lessons at a lap top, we are searching for second hand one at a good price. We need this for her to take school with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And on holidays. But I like my walls to have things to learn on them in the 'school area" because we learn a lot with out realising it just by things being around us. I can recall a lot of things just by the pictures from the class rooms my teachers had up. lol that sentence needs work but you get the jest of it!
