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Angela, The Unclutter Angel shares her fantastic homeschool organization ideas!
You have decided that homeschooling is a good choice for you and your kiddos. But now you are saying to yourself, “We have no space to create a classroom for the kids!”.
Homeschooling in small space can make things a little trickier but not impossible.
Getting creative will be the key to accomplishing homeschool organization for your small space.
Homeschool Room Setup Ideas
There is no one right way to set up a homeschool room. Especially when space is limited!
With any organizing project, there is no ONE way to get organized. It all depends on your space, your needs, and the way you operate your classroom.
Setting up a homeschool room needs to be functional not only for the students, but also for the grown-up who is teaching. When you think of a traditional classroom, they are typically set up into stations.
A traditional classroom is set up in a way where you can find everything you need to do certain activities in specific areas.
Think of a preschool room. It has one area for dress-up, one area for reading, one area for creative projects and then the center or front of room for gathering, sitting on the carpet, or sitting at tables.
Your space may not be big enough to create stations, but you can be organized in a way that your “stations” are easily accessible.
HOMESCHOOL DESK IDEAS
Creating a non-distracting homeschool space can start with the basic need of where to work.
If you have a small space, your work space may be the biggest challenge you have!
Here are some creative homeschool desk ideas for small spaces:
- Portable TV trays
- Small kitchen table
- Folding tables with adjustable height
- Multi-purpose side table
- Sofa side end table, fits on sofa arm side
- Sofa table, fits behind sofa
- Small rolling desk
- Coffee table with drawers
I have tried a number of these.
There are no hard, fast rules that a workspace has to be an actual desk or kitchen table, especially if you have a small space.
Small spaces force us to get creative, PLUS encourages us to be more efficient!
HOMESCHOOL DINING ROOM IDEAS
After we lived in our house for a few years I realized how silly it was that we rarely used our dining room.
If we did, it was because my kids needed a space to spread out to do projects, or they needed a separate area to do their homework.
I have done a few things in our home that are unconventional, so it didn’t seem strange to turn our dining room into our new “study”.
We love it!
Our dining room receives way more use! Now that it has our home computer, printer, school supplies and dining room table, it is a productive area that can be used for many tasks.
We have shelves where bins hold papers and supplies the kids can reach for when needed.
Because our dining room is visible to people that walk through our front door, it is essential that it stays picked up. The exception to that would be if one of the kids has a big project that needs a few days to be completed.
DUAL PURPOSE FOR DINING ROOM
If you are pressed for space, and have a dining room, this may be the perfect solution to your homeschool space needs.
If you use it to eat, and have a school supply storage system in place, you can easily clean up and have the dining room ready for meal time, or for when guests come over.
A dining room doesn’t have to be only for dining, it can be whatever you want it to be!
Organize School Papers and Supplies
Your kiddos need all the same supplies that students at public school do. The only difference is that a school has a designated classroom with lots of space!
Homeschooling in a smaller space isn’t impossible, it just gives us the opportunity to get creative with what we have.
SCHOOL PAPER FILING SYSTEM
You probably have papers that are assignments a work in progress, and papers that are meant as supplies for future projects or upcoming assignments.
There is more than one way to create a filing system for your homeschool papers.
VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL FILING
A school paper filing system can be either vertical or horizontal. Vertical is for the pilers. Horizontal is the typical filing style.
Many organizers say to not stack or pile. However, if you have the right system, filing vertically can work!
You can use file folders that are labeled to store current school papers, future lessons, as well as paper for creative projects.
Keeping your papers in one place will help to keep the kids focused and productive. That way, they aren’t wandering somewhere else in the house to find what they need for an assignment or project.
Being tight on space where you conduct your homeschool sessions means keeping papers under control is important.
It is amazing how crazy paper can get!
Take the time at the end of each day to put all the papers where they go, unless you have a project where the papers need to be kept out.
STORAGE BINS FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Keeping your supplies within reach and easily accessible will help to keep school sessions focused. It also helps to be more efficient.
When working on projects and assignments you don’t want the kid’s focus to get shift if you or them need to go somewhere else to dig out the supplies you need.
Creating the bins to be easily identifiable, and not require to slide out every bin to see what is in inside will also save time. This can be done using clear bins, labeling bins, or taping pictures of the contents on the bin.
Setting time aside each week to go through the homeschool shelving and bins will keep all of your supplies fresh and organized!
STORAGE BIN ORGANIZATION IDEAS
This is a brainstorm list of ways, and tools, to keep your school supplies organized.
- Open bins can be stored on books shelves
- Use storage baggies to keep supplies organized
- Plastic food containers for smaller supplies and are easy to stack
- File folders can stand upright in bins to store papers
- Bins can contain similar supplies and labeled
- Each child can have their own bin that they are responsible for, like a “locker’
- Colored files, one color for each kid
- Children take turns being the teacher assistant, in charge of organization and keeping the schedule
Homeschool Organization Printables
Kids love whimsical papers that are fun and colorful. Kids also can benefit from learning early on how to keep track of their assignments and completing them on time.
Learning how to motivate ourselves, having a system for accountability, and learning to be good planners are valuable skills in all stages of life. The printables below can help to further the great habit of planning ahead!
DAILY PLANNER FOR HOMESCHOOL
A daily planner for homeschool can be a sheet for a week, month or year for your family to use. It can show what is coming up and help both the adults and kids to plan ahead and be prepared.
The adult can fill out the planner, or the kids can alternate on who will fill it out with deadlines, projects and tests. It can be hung in a highly visible place in your homeschool area.
STUDENT PLANNER SHEET
Keep track of assignments with the assignment printable. You can use a different sheet for each class, or you can use one sheet for each week. Label and use which ever way is more efficient for you. The sheets can be kept in a binder, or hang on a bulletin board in your homeschool space.
CLASS PLANNER SHEET
This weekly planner printable can be helpful for planning ahead, and the daily planner printable can help break down each day into specifics for the planning of projects and daily lessons.
Find Angela’s printables on The Unclutter Angel
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Even with a small space, you can create a creative and functional space for homeschooling. Test these homeschool organization ideas for small spaces and see what works for you. Not every idea or system works for everyone.
We all have different learning styles and ways we operate to be successful!
Cheering you on to a more simple life!
Angela – The Unclutter Angel
oxoxox
More organization ideas from the Resource Room:
- Organize Your Kindergarten Homeschool Room Today!
- Get Your House Under Control with a Household Chores Schedule!
- FREE Family Organization Calendar! Get Organized NOW!
- 100 Home Organization Ideas that take 5 minutes or LESS!
- Find the BEST Homeschool Planner! Flip Through and Compare
- Organizing Homeschool Books: Stop them from TAKING OVER!!!
Ashley
Ashley helps parents who want to homeschool find the resources they need to successfully teach their children. Ashley is a former teacher, current homeschooler, published author, and designer behind Circle Time with Miss Fox printables as well as the creator of this website, The Homeschool Resource Room.
