How to Set up a Homeschool
Room on a budget
I’ve been homeschooling for over 21 years and I desired to have a home school room for my kid’s classroom.
When I first started my journey to homeschooling we lived in a 3-bedroom 2 bath house with a garage. Back in those early days, I learned to be creative if I wanted a designated school area.
One day I decided to convert part of our garage into an area dedicated to homeschooling. I even wanted to put dividers up in the garage so I could separate the two parts of the room.
While that was a good idea for a schoolroom, it never materialized because it wasn’t in the budget.
Therefore, I worked with what I had and made it work.
I used some shelves that we already had in our garage. I moved them over into the middle of the room and used them to divide our school area from the rest of our garage.
Although, it’s not necessary to have a separate room for homeschooling your children at home.
However, having a place to house all your curriculum and materials will help keep supplies in one location and will make having them available easier.
New to Homeschooling? Curriculum choices to get you started
Here is a link to the desks we have.
eBay desk links you might find useful.
Having a room or space designated just for homeschooling helps the kids to know this is school time and not just playtime.
Moreover, the children enjoy having a place of their own and they can decorate their desks and area the way they like. It makes their school area very personable to them.
In this post, we are going to look at different schoolroom ideas or spaces that you can set up for your child on a budget.
While it is nice to have a room set aside just for homeschooling. For a lot of families, it is not an option to do so.
Even if you can’t give up an entire bedroom or den, there are many clever ways to make space for your budding academic scholar.
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When putting together your school area or classroom, how creative or spacious you get depends on your budget and space.
You will need to look at those things to decide what your schoolroom will look like.
If you are new to homeschooling, you may enjoy Resources for Homeschooling Your Child
When many homeschooling parents start out homeschooling. Going out shopping for a room full of furniture, deco and homeschooling supplies, and more, may not be in parents’ budget and also isn’t necessary to begin teaching your children at home.
KITCHEN
If resources are limited when beginning homeschooling. Many children use the dining room table for their work area. If you don’t have a place in your home to set up space elsewhere, the kitchen is a good option for learning and supplies.
If you have a small area on a countertop. It can be used for books and binders. If you have an available cabinet, that could be used as well.
A small drawer could be used for storing pencils, flashcards, paints, markers, and more.
As you can see, a small area is all that is needed to give your child an area of their own. When he or she is done for the day. Their school materials can easily be stored on a countertop or special cabinet earmarked for school supplies. When your day begins each day. These items can be within arm’s reach.
BEDROOM
If a child has room in their bedroom a small desk could be placed in there.
My son made this floater desk for his room. It is just attached to the wall and it is a perfect size desk for school work with an area to store additional books and materials.
This desk has just been made with piping to the wall. Floater desks don’t take up much space and they are inexpensive to make. If you have an available wall to attach it too. This makes a great learning area, and a small bookshelf or cube shelf could be added for supplies.
LIVING ROOM
Placing a small desk in your living room over in the corner is another way to make an area for your child on a budget.
If there is enough room a small cube shelf could be added for school supplies. If there isn’t enough room, you could always add school supplies to a bookshelf or drawers you already have.
A small dry-erase board could be added on the wall for practicing such things as writing or math.
The Dollar Tree has small dry-erase boards that can be purchased for your schoolroom.
A small cup could be used for corralling pens and pencils.
Or you could make your own DIY pencil holder with recycled cans or a paper towel roll. Most children enjoy arts and crafts. See how your child can make their own cute pencil holder in this post below.
Here are some other ideas for small schoolrooms or areas. Smaller desks work great for young children. It can be placed in their bedroom or a space in the living room or kitchen.
This learning area shows a mountable bookshelf above the desk. This is another great space saver. A clip-on light works great on a smaller desk so it saves room for writing and school work.
PLACE IN ANY SMALL SPACE
Folding tables and T.V. trays make great options for a school desk. If the room is limited such as if you live in an apartment or another small space. These tables are great options for desks in any room.
It is becoming more popular for people to live in smaller more economical places today such as RVs.
Folding tables are perfect for traveling. Children can still homeschool and then their desks and supplies can be stored when not needed.
A small closet is another great idea for giving your child a place of their own. This is a way to create a fun place for your kids, while not spending tons of money or having school supplies taking over the house.
If you have an extra closet that you can spare, and it is big enough. It is sure to be a big hit with the kiddies.
The great thing about a closet is your school room or area in this case. Is there are already shelves built in? You can use these shelves to store such things as, books, software, paints, extra pencils, and more.
So, when creating an area for your child to have for school. Think outside of the box. Though, in this case, it would be kind of thinking inside the box. Seeing’s, how a closet kind of looks like a box.
Ha-ha, I digress.
When it comes to teaching your children at home. Having a designated schoolroom for your child’s education is not necessary.
However, having a place that is special to your child, and having an area that keeps all the school materials contained, will certainly be a great asset in organizing your home.
Moreover, a great help to mom and dad when trying to keep up with materials your kids will need.