Homeschool room in Formal Dining Room or Office?

10 years ago

We moved into our newly built home over the summer, and we love everything about it. We did, however, add more time to the morning commute to school than we had anticipated with the move. Because of that and many other things, we are strongly considering homeschooling next year. My kids will be in 4th and 2nd grade, and I will have a four year old who will most likely attend a local preschool 3 days per week.

I know that a "homeschool room" is not a necessity, and we will likely end up homeschooling all around the house. However, I would like to have a home base for all of the school materials and a room set up comfortably for learning. We have a home office that is 10x12 and currently my husband and I each have a desk in this space. I use mine frequently and he never uses his. We could remove his desk and put a common table, bookshelves, white board, etc in here to make it work. It is next to the side entrance to our home and close to the kitchen with good light.

The other option would be the formal dining room, which rarely gets used for dining since we have a breakfast nook and generous seating at our kitchen island. It doesn't have doors that can be closed, but it is separated somewhat from the kitchen and living area. It is much larger at 14x16.
The drawbacks are that it is directly off of the foyer, but most guests use our side entrance anyway, and my desk and files are not located here.

In both of these locations I would be OK with things being left out on the table/desk overnight and such since they are both somewhat removed (not visible) from the heart of the house. I know some of you out there homeschool, or have some experience with this, so I would love your feedback.

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Comments (8)

Christy Bell
10 years ago
I would do the office. You will probably want to use your whiteboard from time to time and it is important to have "somewhere" all those books and materials will be housed and can be tucked away from view when people come to visit. We did most of our schooling around the house, but I had all my stuff in one room.

You are going to have so much fun. My kids are 18 & 19 now, but we home schooled from 3rd grade through 8th (high school was spent at a local small private school). You are starting at great ages! Have fun!
myfoursquare
10 years ago
I know the way we do it is not for everyone, but I will tell you what works for us!

We do not homeschool, but we do believe that education happens all day long, and much of it comes from us as parents. We keep educational things all over our dining room. Our dining room is also the main eating area for us, since our kitchen is not an eat-in kitchen. Almost everyone that comes to visit sees the dining room from where they are sitting or standing, or has to pass through it at some point. The underlying dÃÂ©cor in the dining room is nicely done and the school materials are fairly well organized. There is no one that would visit here that would not understand why our dining room looks the way it does, and we have never been embarrassed by it.

Our kids have grown up with placemats that have maps, math, presidents, etc. on them, and have learned many things from the conversations we have at the dinner table while using these placemats. We have had conversion charts, periodic tables, maps, money charts, clock posters, and number lines on the wall over the years. The kids have learned from them because they are where they can see them any time of day. The room is constantly changing as the kids grow. The kids also have their desks in the dining room. We don't really have another place for them. We have an extra room, but we use that as a craft room, which is usually somewhat messy...their desks stay clean and useable when they are out where we can see them. They do use the craft room for school projects, and that way the projects can stay out until they are completed.

Our dining room is never in magazine-worthy condition for sure, but I know that the kids are only kids for a short time, and it is so fun to use every opportunity to teach them new things. Also, this is our own home for raising them, so I don't really think about how the dÃÂ©cor looks to other people that might stop by for a visit. I will have a beautiful dining room later in life, when the kids are grown and gone. To me, at this stage in our lives, this is beautiful dÃÂ©cor to me!

This post was edited by myfoursquare on Tue, Oct 8, 13 at 13:31
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I am an adult who was homeschooled almost fifty (egad!) years ago and I think that it would be best to have a separated area for the home school activities. I like the idea of French doors (maybe even Dutch style French doors - does that make them Flemish doors?? - so they could contain the dogs on the lower part but still be opened on top) to set the space apart visually and functionally, even if you leave them open a lot of the time. Although you presently use the room for FR-type activities you may find your kids take a more workman-like approach if the room function is dedicated more to schooling. I think I see a VCR/cable box so I was wondering if you also use the space for after-hours TV viewing. That would be a huge temptation, I think. One of the things that is important for homeschooling is to have some demarcation between your time spent supervising home school and your time spent strictly as a parent. Otherwise it can get very intense. So using spatial cues to reinforce the distinction may help. I know when we had a separate school room for home school it was better and when we homeschooled in the sitting room and dining room it was hard to not have one activity spill into the other. It was much better to have a designated school room where we settled down to work and could also leave things set up on desks and tables for the next session. I'd also vote for putting your desk in there, no matter how functional it looks. That will give you something to do when you kids are working and at the same time they can watch and model your approach to paperwork. Your kids' artwork and maps and posters and natural history specimens will make handsome and stimulating wall decorations. Plus, I'd add a big white board so you could use that space collaboratively to work on problems. Molly
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User
10 years ago
I homeschooled our youngest child in middle school so we could travel the world and he could compete seriously in a strategy game called Go. We used my office for this purpose:

The plexiglass books on the wall above the bookcases is relatively new; when used as a schoolroom it was a large map of the world. The shelves were devoted exclusively to books and supplies--- it was nice not to have that stuff all over the house. He often read by a fireplace, but the desk on the right is where he took tests and did math and writing. We had two computers and a printer in the room. There was a desk for me to work or read. I think if I had two kids I might want a table instead, plus a nice armchair for you to stay and be accesible but able to read or work on a laptop, etc.

I have friends who used their dining room because they didn't have any other options, and they felt it basically took them back to a time when their kids were little and they had toys everywhere. But they did it and didn't regret it for a minute.
Holly- Kay
10 years ago
Christy and Myfour, WTG. It is your home and the biggest value that your home has to offer is the education of your children. I am a grandparent and never homeschooled but my favorite part of being a parent was educating my children and it is extra fun to work with my grandchildren. Best of luck and have fun!
anele_gw
10 years ago
We homeschooled for 4 years, though now my kids are back in public school.

I think the office setup is better because it allows them time undisturbed and apart. You can work together in the DR or really anywhere, but the office can be set up as a home base/independent workspace with supplies, computers, etc.

I hope you enjoy homeschooling! There are so many opportunities out there for it to be a great experience. My sister is now doing it--I call what she is doing hybrid schooling since it is a virtual charter school. Everything is paid for and her kids go to a learning center once a week. Very accommodating for all needs, inc. gifted children. Some states have it for free to all residents.

Here is a link that might be useful: k12
violetwest
10 years ago
just a comment that I think myfoursquare's idea of the map placemats, maps of the world, etc. is wonderful (trots off virtually to look for stuff for grandkids)
lavender_lass
10 years ago
I think some of this has already been mentioned...but I would make the dining room in to a library (comfy chairs, maps, bookcases, reading table, etc.) and turn the office into the school room.

When the kids need to do 'research' they can go in the library or if they need a quiet place to work. Laptops can travel everywhere, so it would be nice for that, too. The office could contain the school clutter (lots of storage) and all the files, etc. necessary for home school.

What I like about this, is your library 'reading' table can also be your dining table, when you need it. Something substantial that has lots of leaves. The comfy reading chairs can be used as host/hostess chairs and other desk chairs or breakfast room chairs can be brought in, when you want to have a more formal meal. A very flexible space :)
TxMarti
10 years ago
I homeschooled for 6 years and we mainly used the kitchen and family room. It definitely helps to have a dedicated storage space for materials. I had a slow learner and a gifted and found they worked best on most subjects if not in the same room, but both within my sightline.

There are so many things about homeschooling that are different than classrooms. It will be trial and error for several months, and then you'll find what works for you and for your kids. At least that's how it was for me. I was a public school teacher and dd#1 was in 6th grade when we started and it was probably harder for me to get those pesky classroom regimens out of my head than for my kids.

So my advice is don't make any hard and fast rules yet. Find a place (at least for now) for materials and then give yourself a few months to figure out where you and your kids work best. Be flexible. You might change places several times. You might change curriculums several times. You might even take the unschooling approach.

Homeschool room in Formal Dining Room or Office?

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Christy Bell

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