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Welcome to our school room! This room is in our finished basement. One part of our basement is finished, and the other part (over half) is unfinished, and contains the garage (and our laundry area). So, this is the view that you see as you come down the stairs into the basement:
We bought the couch when we married, almost 15 years ago. It looks very worn and is torn, so I covered it with this beautiful quilt made by my husband’s grandmother. We have two larger bookshelves and then a smaller one to the right, and also there is a small armoire that houses our stereo and other media equipment.
You can see in the picture below that we have gardening and health books, missionary biographies, Bibles and Bible study aids, encyclopedias, etc. on these bookshelves. The chest contains our board games, and I love having them in there because it has a lock on it! This keeps all of the games together and keeps the pieces from getting lost.
The children know they can use this yarn for knitting, finger knitting, or just anytime they need “string” to tie something:
The nature study shelf holds the Handbook of Nature Study, field guides, and other nature-related books:
There is a little basket for “nature treasures,” and it currently has rocks, some dried-up dandelions, and some moss:
If you look to the other side of the room, you see the sewing area. The large locked cabinet holds sewing and craft supplies:
Here’s a view of the other side of the room:
We have a sewing corner, a piano corner, the children’s computer, a copy machine, another locked cupboard that holds children’s craft supplies (keeping the craft supplies locked up prevents many messes! We do have a bucket of crayons, colored pencils, pens, and pencils that they are free to use anytime. We also keep a large supply of scratch paper available for their use.), and underneath the computer table there is a chest that contains dress-up clothes.
On top of the cupboard I have two baskets. One with preschool workbooks and supplies, and one with my school planner and circle time supplies:
Inside the craft cupboard, we have craft supplies, cuisenaire rods, counting bears, wooden pattern blocks, construction paper, regular paper, watercolor paper, stickers, and much more:
I’m so thankful for my mom and my husband’s mom, who both keep us well-stocked with glue, crayons, and other school supplies–thanks, moms!
Colored pencils in a recycled jelly jar:
Rubber stamps:
Musical instruments:
And the bottom shelf holds supplies for preschool (I’m planning to share a separate post full of fun preschool activities!):
Here’s the view of the other end of the room:
This side holds bookshelves, the play kitchen, and the little table. The top of the bookshelf has puzzles (I like to keep them out of reach of the younger children), some more preschool activities in plastic shoe boxes, and preschool activity bags in a large basket:
Looking toward the doorway:
When I first saw these alphabet flashcards from My Father’s World, I fell in love with the artwork. We’ve had them lying around for the past 6 or 7 years, so I decided they would make a nice decoration. My 6-year-old noticed them right away, and started saying, “A is for apple, B is for butterfly, C is for cow…” She went through the whole alphabet. She’s precious.
This basket holds preschool activity bags:
And you can see the abacus next to the basket:
Preschool activity boxes:
Our calendar/season/weather chart:
I love this daily calendar, and it was purchased with the help of Amazon gift cards won through Swagbucks!
This piano was given to us by friends. We have been so grateful for it through the years. Friends, if you read this, I just want to say, “thank you so much!”
This little rolling cart with drawers is being used to hold free-time activities for my three middle children. I like to fill it with productive free-time projects, such as this cross-stitch sampler my daughter is working on, and a potholder loom:
My son’s drawer currently has a drawing book in it:
The desk my husband picked up for free at the side of the road! It has a little place to put a pencil, and it also has an inkwell. I love it.
The play kitchen area:
I love the artwork of Johannah Bluedorn Stanford, and it is hung at child’s-eye-level, so the little ones can enjoy it, too.
I decided to use this shelf to hold a rotating list of educational toys, games, and themed baskets:
The basket below holds a tea set, and you can see the wooden food on the bottom shelf:
I love this little wooden toy shaped like a bee skep. It opens to reveal a family of little wooden bees! We found it at the thrift store for 99 cents.
This brings me to the end of the school room tour. I wanted to add a few thoughts about obtaining materials. We are so very thankful for the generosity of others. For the piano our friends gave us, the computer my husband’s parents gave us, for the copy machine that someone gave us for free, the sewing table and white shelf my mom gave us, the free desk found by the side of the road, the wooden play kitchen we bought for only $10, and the little table and chairs we bought for $10 over 12 years ago. Our encyclopedia set (in excellent condition, although a bit dated) we bought for $5. My sweet mother-in-law discovered my love for baskets, and she has given me several really nice ones as gifts. So much to be thankful for!
Here are a few other ideas we’ve used for acquiring school supplies inexpensively:
- Use Swagbucks! We have been able to buy several school-related things using our Amazon gift cards won by using Swagbucks.
- Ask grandparents and other relatives for educational games and toys when they ask for gift recommendations.
- Shop thrift stores and garage sales. We have an adorable Lauri puzzle (in like-new condition and no missing pieces!) that we got at a garage sale for only 99 cents! We have also found wooden toys, high-quality games, and a Ravensburger puzzle with all the pieces. Thrift stores and garage sales are also great sources for baskets to put toys and all kinds of items in.
- Be willing to accept all kinds of cast-off furniture–much of our furniture was given to us. It may not be the most stylish, but we’re thankful for it, and I’m often able to re-purpose it to fill a need in the school room.
Do you have a school room? This is the first house where we’ve had a designated school space, and I’ve had fun keeping all the items together. But the beauty of homeschooling is learning anywhere and everywhere! Sometimes a quilt in the grass is the best spot for “school.” I’d love to see your school space, so if you’ve done a blog post about yours, feel free to leave a link in the comments!
My favorite homeschool planner:
How wonderful! This is like what I dream about having one day! I am getting married in a few months and we plan on having lots of little ones and homeschooling them. I will definitely be getting some ideas from here!
Katelyn, thank you so much for your comment! Congratulations on your coming wedding–what an exciting time!
Your origination is amazing! Wow… And I really like your couch. =)
~Aidyl
Thanks, Aidyl!
Hi! I found you through Modest Mom…I love your school room; and wish I had one of my own. Right now, we use our dining room. Our book, game, craft, and video shelves kind of line the dining room and living room. Perhaps one day… But we enjoy our school days, and can sometimes be found reading on the couch.
Thanks for visiting, Heather!
We had all of our school stuff in our kitchen and living room for years, too! We still use the kitchen table for messy art projects like painting. Thanks again for your comment!
What a beautiful room! Everything is so nicely organized. I love how you have made such a well-equipped space using a lot of thrifted/gifted items.
We do not have children, but as college students, I would love to create a nice space for my husband and I to study and for us to use for crafting (me) and tinkering (him)
Thanks for the great inspiration. I found you via the Barn Hop and I will definitely go follow your blog now 🙂
Thank you, Heather! That's a great idea to make a space for crafting, studying, etc. It's always fun to use free/thrifted things, isn't it? Thanks so much for visiting!
Your room is beautiful and the quilt is to inviting to wrap up in and read a book.
Thank you, Debbie!
Oh what a beautiful and inspirational classroom! I love the nature discovery basket. I've got a daughter going into 2nd grade and a son starting kindergarten, and these are just the kind of ideas I need.
Thank you Charlie! I'm so thankful if something here was useful to you. 🙂
That is an absolutely well organized working homey space.
Like it very much…
Sandy
p.s. I am glad you are back again!
Thank you so much, Sandy! Your comments are always encouraging. 🙂
What a lovely room. I have one little boy and so only need supplies for his current educational stage. I keep mine in plastic tubs with carry handles so when we go to our caravan or away visiting I know we have everything we need without having to pack it separately. I keep stationery, workbooks, projects etc. in these and also have a cupboard to keep the extra things like future workbooks. Little Son has a book case with all his non fiction books in it and a couple of shelves for his unread chapter books. Craft supplies and toys are kept in what used to be my dining room but has been re-purposed as little Son's 'office' where he has a table, stools and his collection of cacti!
Lily, I loved hearing about how you organize your school items. The plastic tubs sound like a great portable idea! Your son's office sounds very special!
Beautiful job, Joy! You have thought of everything!!
I'm bookmarking this for when it's time to get our area ready for next year 🙂
Love how you have included things like the play kitchen & dress up clothes in your school area…..very helpful with the little ones, I'm sure!
Looks like a very cheery and cozy place to "do school", too.
Have a blessed week 🙂
Collette
Thank you so much, Collette! I hope your week is blessed, also! 🙂
What amazing resources you have! I love how everything is set up! We do have a school room in our house. Right now it is more of a play room, since my kids are just 4 and 23 months 🙂 But, i do have an armoire with all of their "school books." I foresee making it into a very special space as they get older though! Love seeing what other people do!
Thanks, Heather! Enjoy your days of playing with your little ones! ♥