A few weeks ago, we moved out of our homeschool room and made the transition to doing school at the dining room table.
This may seem like an odd thing to do for many of you, but I had several reasons for making this change.
We are moving this summer and hopefully we’ll be living on post in our next location. Living on post brings many advantages that we’ve missed out on here and are longing to experience again. But living on post also means that we’ll be in a smaller home…one that probably will not have a separate room for homeschool.
I wanted to go ahead and get used to operating without a separate room for school, so that transition won’t be as difficult.
Another reason I had for the transition away from the homeschool room is that doing school at the table together seems to be more fitting with my homeschool philosophy. It’s a family experience and I want the whole family to be involved. Yes, it is a pain and a difficult struggle at times to incorporate Will and little Jenny into our homeschool day, but it is a struggle that I want to work my way through.
I don’t see school as something we do for just a few hours a day. School is a lifestyle for us. We’re constantly learning and incorporating the more formal parts of school into the central part of our home just seemed to be more fitting with that belief.
Also, going into a dark corner of our home was getting to be a bit depressing and very discouraging. Making the move to school in the living room, dining room, sun room and throughout the house rather than being limited to one small room really helped to motivate me out of a homeschool funk I was in a few weeks ago.
I cleaned out our homeschool room, moving a bookshelf to our long hallway. I also have a basket sitting by that shelf that houses most of our current curriculum teacher’s books, manuals, and student sheets.
The one thing that I didn’t have space for is the kids’ individual supplies (workbooks, notebooks, pencils, etc.)
My first idea was to give my girls backpacks to keep their workbooks and other supplies in. That worked for a while, but it was disruptive for them to have to look through a backpack to find what they needed all the time.
Then last week I read several organization posts that mentioned the desk apprentice and how useful it was in homeschool. After doing a little research I was convinced that this was the answer to my problem and fount a way to get my crew out of the house and to Staples to find one. We picked up the only one they had on the shelf and after a quick stop by Sonic’s happy hour we ‘re back at home and getting organized!
The desk apprentice has been exactly what I was looking for!
I am able to house each child’s workbooks, pencils, and other materials. I also have hanging folders in the middle to organize our weekly papers. There is a place at the top for small supplies such as staples, push pins, and paperclips. On the sides, I am able to keep all of my pens and dry erase markers.
I am able to lift this up and place it on the table when we’re doing school and then when school is over and we need to clear the table for meals, I simply lift it off and place it to the side.
Right now, this is my favorite homeschool organization tool!!!
Laura says
I love the desk apprentice. I had actually forgotten about the product until I saw it in your post. I got on Amazon and purchased one for my desk at school today =) It can house all of my students files, lesson plans AND my supplies. Thanks for reminding me of this great invention =)
Laura
Kinder Kraziness
LifeAtTheCircus says
THANK YOU!! I too am considering a switch to the dining room table for school. I am going to look into this desk apprentice. Also, I have considered trying to find a wardrobe cabinet or hutch on craigs list that I could keep in the dining room with all our books that would be by the table but would have doors to shut so it wouldn’t look cluttered or out of place when it transitioned back to dining room at the end of the day.
Lori says
I loved the way you had all your stuff set up! It was warm and inviting and “un” disruptive to your home. Our dining room table was a wonderful victim to numbers and cursive carved into them unbeknowst to me that would happen but it was a beautiful memory of the time well spent learning together. I loved seeing how organized everything looked. The journey is always time well spent too!
Kristi says
There is something so satisfying about getting organized. Even if I end up changing it all a week or two later it still makes me happy.
Monica says
I feel the same way!!
Christine says
I homeschool my four children at the dining room table, and was wondering how well the desk apprentice works. Thank you so much for this post. I think the desk apprentice will benefit my homeschool immensely.
Jamie says
I am so excited to learn about the desk apprentice! We started having school at the dining room table recently and we love it except for trying to keep the clutter down. Thank you for sharing!