Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Designing our Homeschool Classroom

My thoughts are occupied this summer with designing a classroom in our home for our upcoming school year. We've always schooled at the table, but the table is constantly filled and covered with books, etc., that I really want to have a designated school room.

I really like this shelving unit with baskets. Each child could have all their work in a basket and I would have no problem filling the rest. I also like the color of this room. This shelving unit can be found at IKEA, but we don't have an IKEA anywhere near us so if anybody is coming to Nebraska anytime soon and feels like bringing me one of these, I'll be your BFF.



I found this exact table from Pottery Barn on Craigslist last week although it is a different color (which I will paint), but still I clicked my little heels together three times. It also came with six chairs. I also like the idea of the long green boxes pictured on the shelves below for our board games. Board game boxes make me c.r.a.z.y. I really do love board games, but the organizing of them is sinful. So, if you have ideas, I would love to hear them.

I've been needing a chalkboard since we began homeschooling for the kids practice math problems and handwriting. I've always loved the idea of framing a chalkboard with a pretty frame. I've debated back and forth about painting a whole wall with chalkboard paint, but have heard various opinions. Any thoughts?


My friend, Renee (who just found out she is expecting someone new) showed me these maps from Cavallini Company. Oh my, are we in trouble.




She also showed me this site for more kid friendly maps.

I plan on filling one wall with maps, our timeline, and alphabet cards. I found these lovely vintage cards that would be fun for the kids. The cards were found at this Etsy shop.



I have enjoyed these Chart Tablets for memory work, poetry, and other randomness that we need to memorize.




Someday, we would love to have an entire room devoted solely to homeschooling, but for now these ideas will meet all my little fancies. I would love to hear your ideas or better yet see your ideas for your school room. I found this room at Mommy Matters to be quite charmando. I think the orange would hurt my ears after a day, but I love the way she displayed her books. She used gutters from a hardware store. Smarty pants. I think it would be fun to display the books outward according to the seasons, celebrations, and what not. Doesn't it want to make you go and start Kindergarten all over again?


11 comments:

  1. You might consider Idea Paint instead of Chalkboard Paint. It makes your wall like a dry erase board, with one simple coat of paint. As a teacher and speech pathologist, I like that better than chalk (especially for handwriting), as it is more similar to writing with a pencil or pen on paper. http://www.ideapaint.com/
    One can create story boards, brainstorm bubbles, multi-colored charts and graphs, or just doodle!
    I hope to include it in my homeschool class one day in the future :o)

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  2. hey Lindsay! Did you ever see our house in Lawton? In the boys' room Jay put wood trim midway up on all their walls and on one wall, we bought a whole sheet of whiteboard for around $13 at Lowes and he just cut it and nailed it from the trim to the floorboard. an idea if you didn't want chalk. Jay refused chalk. He said because of chalk allergies ha!

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  3. My inbox this morning had a couple of "Reallys?" so I had to announce it myself to verify for everyone. Hee.

    Which room are you wanting to use? The front one? That table rocks.

    I'm soooo dreaming of a schoolroom too. sigh.

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  4. I know you posted this a long time ago, but did you know about www.omahamodern.com? It's a couple who travels to the closest IKEA to bring back their products to the Omaha, NE area. I live in MO and really wanted one of those Expedit bookshelves too, but I couldn't justify a 12-16 hour trip for a bookshelf. That's when I found Omaha Modern. They're totally legit. You'll have to pay a little extra for their time and expense of travel, but it's well worth it. It's one of the best furniture purchases I ever made! IKEA is also coming to Kansas City in 2014. Totally random, but I know what it's like to want a certain piece of furniture . . . ha!

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  5. Hello, I love all the ideas, but I LOVE that white table from Pottery Barn!!!! Does anyone know the name of if? I can't find anywhere. Thank you

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  6. I love the board in your space and would like to invite you to share it on Four Little Thiiiings here: http://www.fourlittlethiiiings.com/about/share-space

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