This is our current homeschool organization in our dining room. We have five kids and an average sized house, but everything is still neat, tidy, and inviting! Plus, check out a mega list of our favorite homeschool resources, and get a few free printables for your homeschool space!
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We are finishing our first week of homeschool today. We are definitely going for a “soft start” and gradual beginning as we get back into the habits of schooling and figure out a new rhythm. Since this is also the week of launching the new site, it’s been nice to take things slowly.
Today I’m sharing with y’all a tour of our homeschool space, a MEGA list of our favorite resources, and free printables to help you organize and inspire the beginning of your homeschool year!
I have shared a tour of our homeschool spaces every year since 2015, and it’s so neat to see how the same room has changed over the years. Every year it’s a little different!
If you want more details about how our homeschool space is organized and a better look at the layout and what’s on our shelves, you can watch the entire tour on YouTube.
And finally, since this post is a part of our launch week fun, be sure to go all the way to the end to enter today’s giveaway!
Then & Now :: Homeschool in the Dining Room
Starting with just one in kindergarten, we only needed a small homeschool “nook”. I created a gallery wall to display inspiration, nature finds, and current work. Then I set up a small table for the kids to work and set out a few book baskets. Easy, but we grew out of it before long.
The next year, our homeschool space expanded to include the opposite wall. I added a framed display for the kids’ art, we hung a wooden sign with our school name, and switched the table to the other side. A rolling cart and handmade wooden benches added extra storage options.
Three years in, and I reorganized again. The gallery wall came down, and I moved the bulk of the homeschool items to the other side of the dining room. The two storage benches were pushed together along the far wall, and I bought a storage cube organizer to hold our books and supplies. We also got a snake.
One year ago, and different again. The benches were moved to under the long window in our dining room– still storage, but now also seating for the table. I bought a desk to hold my new computer, and set up a shelf and hanging mail organizer on the wall. We also moved our nature table to where it is now, and the original gallery wall became plain again. (I like having that wall plain and the opposite wall with school items because you see the plain wall when you first walk in. This helps the room to look less cluttered).
NOW, Homeschool Tour 2019
Surprise! I changed things again. I really like the set up now, so I think it’ll last a while, but who knows because I love change.
I moved the benches downstairs and out of the dining room completely because the storage was unnecessary (storing a lot of things that I rarely needed access to), and because the benches collected a ridiculous amount of clutter that fell behind them.
I also moved my desk to the other side of the window, bought another set of storage cubes and rearranged how they were set up. The books and baskets were reorganized by subject to be more user-friendly.
You can get a closer look at the shelves and in the baskets in the YouTube tour, or get links to everything if you keep going in this post. You can also find printables of the labels, tags, and prints I used.
On our school wall, I hung six clipboards to display art prints that were otherwise sitting on the shelf.
Mega List of Favorite Resources
These are our favorite, go-to resources homeschool and just a learning life in general. Because I believe less is more, I try to keep what we have somewhat minimalistic and high-quality.
Bible
- ESV Family Bible
- The Ology
- The Biggest Story
- The Biggest Story ABC Board Book
- ABC Bible Flashcards
- Names of God Flashcards
- Jesus Storybook Bible
- God’s Wisdom for Little Boys || God’s Wisdom for Little Girls
- This Is The Gospel
- Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing
- The Lightlings
- The Bible ABC
Math
- Turn to Learn Multiplication
- How to Measure Everything
- First Illustrated Math Dictionary
- Geoboards
- Pattern Blocks & Puzzles
- Counting Bears
- Multiplication Flash Cards
- Unifix Cubes
Alphabet & Literature
- James Herriot’s Treasury for Children
- Dangerous Journey {more Pilgrim’s Progress versions}
- The Children’s Homer
- Story Orchestra: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
- This is My Home, This is My School
- Seven Silly Eaters
- Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury
- Make Way for McCloskey
- Animal Antics Level 1 Readers
- Animalia
Games
Nature
- Nature Anatomy
- Fun with Nature
- Keeping A Nature Journal
- Nature Connection
- The Flower Alphabet
- Who Eats What
- Planting a Rainbow
- Crinkleroot’s Guide to Walking in Wild Places
Charlotte Mason & Homeschool Inspiration
- Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child || Anthony Esolen
- Know and Tell || Karen Glass
- The Read-Aloud Family || Sarah Mackenzie
- Laying Down the Rails || Sonya Shafer
- Pocketful of Pinecones || Karen Andreola
- Seasons of A Mother’s Heart || Sally Clarkson
- Honey for A Child’s Heart || Gladys Hunt
- Charlotte Mason Companion || Karen Andreola
- For the Children’s Sake || Susan Schafer Macaulay
- Last Child in the Woods || Richard Louv
- How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare || Ken Ludwig
- The Artful Parent || Jean Van’t Hul
- Drawing with Children || Mona Brookes
- Everyday Watercolor || Jena Rainey
- 101 Kids’ Activities that are the Ooey, Gooey-est Ever || Jamie Harrington
- Genius Lego Inventions || Sarah Dees
- Adventures in Cursive || Rachelle Doorley
- Sticks and Stones || Melissa Lennig
Free Printables
Labels ::
Wall Art ::
Launch Week Giveaway #3!!
I’m giving away TWO awesome prizes— a copy of Every Moment Holy (a beautiful prayer book for the everyday that I share about all the time!), and a copy of the most recent Common Place Quarterly (a beautiful and inspiring magazine for Charlotte Mason educators!).
TO ENTER, you must follow Common Place Quarterly on Instagram, leave a comment on my Homeschool Tour on YouTube, and leave a comment at the bottom of this post sharing where you homeschool in your house.
Want to see even more homeschool organization tips, inspiration, and resources?! Head here!
Sharing is caring! Don’t forget to pin and share. Thank you!
We have a homeschool room that also serves as an office/computer room, and an educational playroom for my kids. It’s big, but still can get cluttered if we’re not careful. Right now, I’m choosing to not have a take in that room. We have a couple of small desks, but we often move to the living room couch or the dining room table too.
This is a great resource! Thank you! We use our dining room table.
This is a great resource! Thank you!
We have a folding table in once section of our living room that we use!
We homeschool in the dining room, living room, and always ready aloud on the bed, all snuggled up together.
I love how all of your homeschool materials are so organized. My son attends both private school and has to take one class at home. We dont have a designated location for this class, although most of the time he completes his assignments in his room. This gives me lots of ideas though! Thanks for sharing!
I also have 5 kids but my youngest who are twins are 15 and they are not homeschooled., but they do all homework at the dining room table. I love your website, you have lots of great tips, recipes as well
Either on the dining room table or the couch!
We do most of our school at the dining table but I store all our curriculum in bins in our living room book shelf
Hi Lisa,
First, what a fantastic Giveaway! These have been in my list. ?
Second, love the clean lines in your homeschool space this year, it looks lovely!
We homeschool in the dining “room” (our house is quite open), on the couch, outside, you name it! Our official homeschool spot is the dining room though. I was blessed with a carpenter husband who built a library wall that spans that area to hold all of our books and supplies.
I so enjoy getting to hear about your homeschool choices, so thanks for sharing!!
We homeschool in the dining room, in the kitchen, outside and in our vehicle-always learning somewhere!
I have 2 girls ages 3&1 so not quite homeschooling but we have learning opportunities all day wherever we are!
We also homeschool in the dining room, although I think we may have a little less space than you do. Many of my books are in the dining room, But many are also on bookcases in the living room, hallway and bedrooms. #homeschoolnprobs
I’m looking forward to buying a new laptop (my computer recently died) and printing out some of your resources. We are Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers, too!
I do not homeschool my children are adults but a lot of our schooling would be in my dining room & outside as much as possible.
I love seeing similar and many new resources for homeschooling. As well as new ideas for organizing. I’m always rearranging trying to find the best use of the space we have. Thank you for sharing!
I am now a retired homeschooling mom (of 23 years), but still enjoy seeing the organizational tips and tricks!
I am now a retired homeschooling mom (of 23 years), but still enjoy seeing the organizational tips and tricks!
We homeschool in our toy room. It’s half toy room and half educational workplace. We live in a smaller house with 4 kids so we had to get creative haha
Love seeing all things homeschool! Thank you for this post. We homeschool in our kitchen at the table and sometimes in the living room. Never consistent places but we get it done and in a timely manner.
Love this!! It looks so homey!
I read Know and Tell this summer. Love looking at your homeschool room.
We’ve turned our dining room into a play and school room. This will be year one for us… hopeful that it will go well!
So inspirational! Love to see how your home is cozy, but also practical. Love it!
We homeschool in our dining room mostly and have a similar set up as you with shelves along a wall for materials. 🙂
We also homeschool at our dining room table so I really loved seeing how you have a similar set up!
It’s so neat seeing how your homeschool has evolved over the years!