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Our School House

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I said I would post about where we school weeks ago! How the time flies when you are back in the throws of homeschool!  Well, better late then neverWinking smile
Our school is sprinkled throughout our entire house. I guess our family room would be as good a place to start as any.
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Wow! These need some organizing! Here is where is I keep supplies, manipulative pieces, puzzles, activity bags, etc., etc.  You know…all the “stuff” that helps them learn without them knowing it.
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Ahhh…  That’s better!   Now each shelf has a category like craft supplies, or games and puzzles.  This way I know where to go to find it and more importantly the grits know where to put it back when they are done!
***I have my little brother labeler and use it to label what I can.  But, my favorite way to label all those shoe boxes with supplies in them is so simple.  Those are just 3x5 cards cut in half and written on with Sharpie. The cards cover the front and make it all look very uniform. Very low tech…very effective.***
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Every good preschool needs a play kitchen.  I got this one for a steal at a yard sale this summer.  Baby Grit really loves it.
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This is the view from the doorway.  This room is part school room, part family room, and part office.  (In it’s former life it was a garage.  I had no idea I would be home schooling when we closed it in, but I am so glad we did!)
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Here is a better view of the Family Room portion of the room.
See our beautiful new (to us) piano! It was passed down to us from family!  Dancing Grit started piano last year and loves it.  She was going to the neighbor’s to practice every day…which was such a blessing.  But, we have been praying for our very own piano.  Now practice will take place right here. I am looking forward to having a house full of music!
We also do book basket, devotion, read aloud, and any other school we can gathered in this space.  I also love to throw in educational videos and TV shows. So much more then a Family Room!
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I carved out this little the office space behind the couch on the other side of the room.  Can you tell  from the picture that it is off to the right when you enter the room? This little space houses my desk, printer, and more school books and supplies.
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My desk.  This is a working space.  I wanted you to see it that way. I didn’t put anything away or make it look all neat.  This is my hub.  This is where lesson plans are made, meals are planned, worksheets are printed and copied, games are laminated, and current curriculum is kept.  I also run my house from this desk!  See the coupon box and the soap pump I have to call about?  Like I said…this is a working space!
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This is where I keep any paper the grits might need.  I put scrap paper in the top for random drawing.  Then there is lined filler paper,  construction paper and cardstock. I keep my computer paper under my printer above. 
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This shelf holds more school.  This is where the grits keep their school boxes. (the plastic dishpans you see) Each grit keeps all their independent work in these along with pens, pencils, crayons, markers, art pencils and any other supplies they need on a daily basis.  I also keep their binders, file folder games, and art supplies on this shelf right now.
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These drawers are on the other side of the shelves. We call these drawers our “done boxes”.  Anything they want to save, but I don’t want in their binders goes in these boxes.  I have been using this system since Dancing Grit was in Kindergarten and I love it! It was so helpful when they were little and coming home from everything with a picture or craft? Everything went straight into the done box.  What about the myriad of things they draw and doodle? Put it in the done box? VBS, Sunday School, Mother’s Day Out? They were able to put it in their done boxes themselves. Then, at the end of the school year, we go through it and decide what they love enough to keep.  I have the keepers in bags and boxes in the attic. When they get homes of their own guess what is going with them? You got it! Their done boxes.
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When you leave the family room this is what you will see. This also happens to be what you see when you enter our front door.  (Except for the sewing machine...it is usually in a closet) But, yes..there is a pool table in the front room of my house. Hubbies and their toys.  This room does house most of our books, too. 
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You know you are a homeschooler when… you have more bookshelves than children. Smile
We are definitely homeschoolers!
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Then we head into the dining room.  This is where we do the majority of our school.  We used to have a big table in the family room. We really like using the dining table  much better.  They just carry their school bins in every day.  They pile it all back in the bins and put them away at the end of the day.  This room is decorated simply and has a minimal amount of “stuff”.  I believe they work better in here because they are less distracted by visual clutter. 
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I love using this room because of the location, location, location!  It sits between my bedroom, the laundry room, the kitchen and the front door.  I can wash dishes while testing a memory verse, or change out the laundry while someone works on a math problem.  I am able to  work on dinner, fold laundry or whatever I need. All while being close enough to help when they need me.  
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I just added this cabinet to the corner of the dining room. It is working really well.  I have put things we use on a daily basis in here. Our Math U See blocks and DVDs, All About Spelling Cards,  and few other things are in here. I like having them close at hand.
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But, I also like being able to hide it all away at then end of the day.

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The longer I homeschool the better I become at hiding things.  I look for things with lids that you can not see through.  I found this at a yard sale a few years ago.
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It is a great place to keep art bags handy but hidden.
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I inherited this basket and plan to use it for all of our MFW book basket books. 
Well, there it is.  That is our school house.  We don’t have a huge space, but we make the most of it!
What do you think? Any ideas or tips for me? I’d love to hear them! Just leave them in the comments.
Have a Blessed Day!
~Joyce

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