Our school room and living room are combined. It is a very cramped living space. We have our computer and computer desk, our T.V. and couch, and my sewing machine and ironing board (which is temporarily in there because I'm currently working on a quilt). We don't have cable and cannot pick up any television stations. We turned our television off more than five years ago and it was the best decision that we have ever made for our family as far as family time. We do rent the occasional movie and I have tons of educational dvds and movies for the girls.
You may not believe this but even though the room looks very chaotic it is in fact very organized for me. These pictures are after the fall cleaning that I went through to get us ready to begin homeschooling again this year.
Do you see that shelf right in the middle of the floor in front of the couch? (You are seeing the back of the couch here with folded blankets on the back. We do our bible and history on the couch and snuggle in the blankets each day!) The shelf contains everything I need to get to complete our school day. The shelves lining the wall are so packed it was too confusing to remember where our needed material were. I have a friend who was throwing this shelf out and she gave it to me. It was perfect for me to put everything on and its easy to get to. It slides easily and I often move it close to the couch so I can reach it without having to get up. I read from so many different books that its easier than trying to lay everything on the couch or in the floor.
I really need to purge my bookshelves, dust and straighten them but its such a huge task I keep putting it off. As you can see I have a pretty nice collection so trips to the library aren't necessary. For us, I found that library days took so much time away from our schedule that we weren't able to finish our days. I also do not like venturing out in the cold a lot in the winter so it helps in keeping us in. In the spring we will go to the library as a treat, but I really like NOT having to go.
This is view from the front of the couch. I have cardboard stacked against the wall between the wall and the shelf on the end for projects. The back wall you see is actually the hall and I have collaged some of Meadow's work there. You can see the girl's desks too, these are used mostly for storage. They each keep their own notebooks and workbooks so they don't get lost through out the house. They do use their desks to do independent work too.
The good news is that in May when my oldest daughter marries and flies the coop I will have another room. Her room is actually a den. It's a huge room. It's the length of the house, it has a fireplace and carpet. Tony is planning to put in gas logs, paint and put in new carpet for me.
I have debated for the last couple of months on whether to move the living room into the den or the classroom into the den. My front door comes into the hallway you see there so Tony wanted the living room to remain in the front of the house. If I move the school room that will mean moving every single one of those books shelves. I have six. There isn't one single wall in the den that would hold them all and I would have to separate them. The more and more I've thought about it the more I've decided that it will be easier to move the living room. After all peering into this room how much moving do you think we'll have to move? Not much!
The tall table and chairs and television will go. I haven't decided on the computer. I think I'll just leave it in the classroom since the girls do use it for school. In all actuality the classroom will not change that much. However, the living room I could design myself. A new living room suite would be gorgeous! New curtains and blinds. The only drawback will be having to walk through the hallway and the kitchen to get to it. I don't think that drawback is big enough!
I was very proud of all of them. They worked so hard.
