Do you need an Instagram worthy homeschool room?
The obvious answer is no, you don’t. When we first began homeschooling, I was overwhelmed seeing all the huge, beautiful homeschool rooms posted all over Instagram. I wanted it all and thought I needed the perfect space before we can really do any learning…not true at all. I’ll be honest, the first 7 months we worked on the dining table, dressing table, coffee table, on the carpet and even on the bed.
We didn’t even have that many resources, stationary or curriculum that needed to be stored away perfectly. With just paper, a pencil case and a few library books we were able to work anywhere in the house or outside.
Gradually, as we got comfortable with our routines we started trying new things, ordering curriculum, manipulatives etc. This is when I decided to dedicate a small area of her room to our ‘homeschool room’. It started with one IKEA Kallax storage unit..then another one…then the whiteboard…it’s like Pringles, once you pop….!
Long story short, after accumulating enough homeschool resources and accessories it was time to get it all organised..because it can get chaotic! The idea was simple, when everything has a place it’s almost impossible to mess it up. The best way to organise (and stay organised) is if you have a specific place for everything.
How do I set up a simple and organised homeschool space?
The only big items I invested in were the storage cube shelving units and a foldaway desk/table, both from IKEA, reasonably priced, and multifunctional so can be used in any room.
This system is working for us, because it’s fairly simple. Each storage cube has all the books/workbooks/resources for a particular subject area, and all the manipulatives/ educational games/ flashcards etc have their own box. Keeping these in a pretty box helps keep the room looking neat and tidy (I might seem a little extra but all the different colours/shapes of items can end up looking a little cluttered).
I remember coming across the Clutterbug style theory a few years back and realised that I’m not the only one who feels this way! It made sense of my obsession with storage boxes/bins. The idea is that many people get stressed out with surface clutter and any ‘mess’ should be hidden out of sight. So, it could be as chaotic as ever inside the storage box but on the outside it looks nice and organised and clutter-free so you can be happy and stress-free 🙂
In addition to this we keep our curriculum in the labelled folders, all ready to open and go.
We keep the surface of the storage unit fairly empty, with separate trays for pencils, felt pens, paints, school supply essentials like glue and scissors. These trays were bought from The Range store and were very reasonable.
I also decided to keep a little teacher’s essentials area where I keep a hole punch, stapler, electric sharpener and whiteboard markers.
To help our week run smoother we have a “today’s work” magazine holder. Rather than trying to pull out of the boxes everyday, on Sundays I fill it with the workbooks/sheets to be done over the next few days and rotate the contents through the week. ⠀
I hope this was helpful and gave you an idea of how simply and inexpensively you can create and organise a homeschool space if you wanted to.
