I have a friend that swears that everyone needs to have a homeschooling classroom. She has one and her kids do all of their school work in their basement in the homeschooling classroom. We do not have a home schooling classroom so obviously I don’t think it’s a necessity. Or at least it’s not as important to me as everyone having a place to sleep!
Last week I wrote an article about the Smiths. . .friends of mine who set up their house so they’d have a couple of rooms for school. Someone asked for photos and I’m sad to say that I don’t have any of their room. But I did manage to get a few from some friends, one of which I’ve included here in the post. I will post some other examples on my mysite page as they come in.
In any case, there are several advantages to setting up a homeschooling classroom if your house can afford the space. One is the old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” A home schooling classroom allows you to set up projects and leave them there rather than stick them on top of the piano like we do! It allows a place for children’s art work, maps and other things that you want to put up without making the rest of your house a visual announcement to the fact that you home school.
I do know a few families who reject the idea of having a classroom saying that they want their children to feel like the world is their classroom. I agree. . .learning happens all the time. But just like buying curriculum, having it doesn’t mean that you have to be a slave to it. Many families that I know, like the Smiths, have a classroom set up but also use their yard, read books in the living room, and do science in the kitchen. A classroom is just merely one way in which to organize your home schooling materials.
Related Articles:
Help! I’m Too Scared to Homeschool!
Lessons from Unschooling Families: The Jones