Our little ol' homeschooling room in South Africa

So I posted yesterday about Homeschool Dream rooms - but today I am posting about a regular ol' homeschooling room in Kalk Bay, South Africa.  A room with no decorating budget beyond the stationary and books (which by the way makes excellent decor - I love the way a room feels with LOTS of books and clean, crisp stationary.)

 This is Ruthie's desk and my chair, I keep her things separate from the boys and near me because when she does "school" (colouring in, cutting, gluing or making) she can be fairly disruptive.  I like to keep her busy with me and then she hops off her chair and comes to sit on my lap so I can read her stories. 

Ruthie spends most of the time she running around outside, playing on the floor or chasing the cat (poor cat).  It just gives her a sense of belonging without disturbing the older boys.  I am busy painting flowers on her desk, so that its a special place for her.  You can see I've done one (experimental), and hopefully I will finish the rest today.

 This is where the boys work.  I took an old toolbox and painted it pink (much to their disgust - probably should paint it blue!) and we put all their stationary in there for everyone to use.  We tried having different boxes, and different desks but then they waste time asking each other for things and walking around - and I don't want to buy 4 of everything every year, lots of it just gets recycled.

The two older boys keep their books on the shelf in the left (yes on top of the fireplace - I might need to revisit that idea in winter as they might decide to 'accidentally drop a book in there!).  Seriously though we don't use the fireplace as it makes the room far too smokey.  I also have a little white board on top of the fireplace which I use to write some things down for the children.  This is normally a date, a heading, maybe some keywords or maybe just a thought for the day.

 

The other two children store their books here and all my books are here too.  My read alouds, portfolios, files - anything I may need for the day.

 

This half of the room is the place where the kids can just enjoy some time if they finish part of their work quickly(this really helps them and keeps them motivated).  On the left we have our old computer which we mostly use for some of our history, maths and geography CD learning games.  Pillows to sit and read or lie on.  We normally have a laptop on the other table (as one computer between 4 children is very challenging) and this is often for further subject research, projects, Mandarin lessons with Rosetta Stone or those lovely Usborne Internet Linked books.

The table in the front has a selection of puzzles or activities which I rotate every day.  Also the table has been painted with chalk board paint so the children can scribble and art all over the table.  Every day the children leave me a different picture, word or message.  This is also a great place for Ruthie to be in the same room and enjoy playing her own games.  I have a CD player which generally plays either worship or classical music in the background.

So now you've seen mine! It may not be picture perfect like those mentioned yesterday but we love it, its comfortable and it works for our family.

Again just to say again - this is just our base.  I think its vital not to spend all day here but it does help with focused core subjects.  The rest of our learning takes place everywhere else - even on the beach on hot summer days:)

So I would still love too see where you learning space! Why not send me a photo. Whether its your dining room table, your garage, the garden or any place that you do "school" or  learning, submit your photo.