Looking on Instagram or Facebook for homeschool inspiration can be both encouraging and overwhelming. For those of us who can’t possibly keep our bookshelves straight for more than a few days, usually it’s overwhelming.
Many people don’t have an entire room to dedicate to homeschooling. I know when I first started homeschooling and realized there was no dedicated space in my house for education, I felt envious looking at all these Instagram homeschool moms and their perfectly curated spaces.
Then we got a house that did have a room I could use in that way, and we never did! While it holds some homeschool supplies and bookshelves, we don’t even have seating in that room yet. It’s also usually a mess until we get to the designated day to tidy it up.
A room does NOT make or break your homeschool. You DON’T need a homeschool room in order to successfully educate your kids. Check out our always chaotic room where most of our homeschool stuff lives.
- Your Kids Probably Don’t Want to Work in One Spot
Even in classrooms these days, flexible seating is gaining in popularity. Children are antsy little buggers and most of them are not meant to sit at a desk or on a hard chair day in and day out. Wiggle chairs can be great. We have a few of these bean bags that double as stuffed animal storage in our basement, and the kids love them! My kids usually just end up on the floor, though, when it comes to doing any kind of bookwork..
That’s not to say that they won’t occasionally prefer sitting in a chair or working at a table, but once you declare a room a “homeschool room,” it only adds to your own stress level when you see them moving around the house.
At one point in our homeschool we used this cart to move our work from space to space. It worked well, but as we really tapered down our work load, it wasn’t really needed anymore.
Now, I just keep a bin like this for all the things we do together in the dining room, while the kids use baskets for their independent work.
Having everything be portable allows us to work where we feel most comfortable on any given day. Just because my things are parked in the dining room, doesn’t mean that is where we will be doing them! I might grab our read-aloud and snuggle up by the fireplace, or put a history video on in the living room that goes along with our current topic.
Flexibility is key here and will make all the difference when it comes to meeting you and your kids needs and expectations!
- School at Home Isn’t the Goal
Almost every new homeschooler attempts homeschool in a “school at home” way in the beginning. And almost every homeschooler I know has gone on to realize that this method doesn’t work.
Most of us chose homeschooling because we wanted something different for our family. Either the school system wasn’t working for us, or we avoided it altogether knowing we were meant for a different path.
When we try to recreate that system, including putting walls on where education happens, we box ourselves in to not only believing that learning is a sit down and do what your told event, but that learning isn’t happening every minute of every day.
Desks are made for classrooms, not for homes.
- Dedicated Space is For Stuff, Not People
Similar to the last point, we look at differences in home and school. At school, there is no way that we can shift kids around, with the exception of any special classes they attend like art or music. In homeschool, the world is our classroom.
At home, some rooms can only be used for certain tasks, like the kitchen, and it is unavoidable. I mean, you’re not going to bake a cake in the living room. That is not the case, however, when it comes to learning.
As adults, we learn from all different sources in all different environments. Want to learn to crochet? You could watch a YouTube video or seek out someone who already knows how to teach you. Learning how to cook a steak? Recipes or a book could show you how. We don’t sit ourselves in one room at a table and say, “this is where I go when I need to learn something.” We have that freedom with our kids also!
A homeschool room might work great for some people, and I am not knocking them at all! My kids and myself were not those people. The monotony and rigidity of working in one space all the time doesn’t work for me or my kids, and it is okay if it doesn’t work for yours either!
At the end of the day, whether you are restricted by space or noticing that trying to work in one room isn’t working for you, it all comes down to whatever works best for your family and your situation. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to homeschooling, and that’s the beauty of it! We all get to choose and do what feels best for us.
But if you’re looking for reassurance, I got you! You’re doing great, mama, and having a specific room in your house with an educational purpose is not going to get your kids reading any faster or make you more successful as a homeschool parent!
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