Our Homeschool Classroom

Okay, my secret is out. I homeschooled just so I can make a cute classroom! Hah! You got me.

Seriously, though, I think my first thought after I finally decided homeschooling would be worth a try for us was, "Holy cheese, I get to make a homeschool room!!"

YAS.

The only hang up, as with most of my endeavors, was that I had to do it on a budget. Fortunately, with some babysitting money, a few generous donations, and birthday gifts (and of course, my amazing husband who works so hard to earn an income for our family!), I was able to make a homeschool room I'm proud of, but for very little money!

Ta da!

 This is what the room looks like when you first walk in. I actually have another table that I put into an "L" configuration, with my cushy teacher's chair, but Dan stole those for his nefarious hobby crafting purposes. Thief! Still, you get the idea. It's flippin cute.

 The amazing map was a gift for my birthday, and that whiteboard I found on a garage sale site for $15! Can you believe that?

 I found these at Target for $1 a set. Gotta love Target dollar spot!

 This is the reading corner--probably my favorite spot in the room! Rug and pillow were from IKEA, and those bookshelves are actually rain gutters that I cut and screwed into the wall. The posters were $1 each from Target.

 I don't remember when I got the "alphabet center," but I'm pretty sure it was from Zuiliy at some point. I also have a laser printer, industrial stapler, and heavy duty pencil sharpener.

 Yay cuteness!! How could I pass up appropriately themed window clings? I'm not a soulless monster.

So here's a dresser we already had that I turned into a sort of supply station. Daisy Duck, Brother Duck, and Curly Duck have their own drawers where their daily workbooks and worksheets are kept. They can grab the correct learning material on their own if I happen to be working with a kid one-on-one. I also keep my teacher supplies and extra crafting things in there.

 If you want a good school supply list, I found a great one at notconsumed.com. She tells you, roughly, what and how much you should buy at the beginning of the school year when the sales are best.

 Our little blackboard/art corner over here is great for keeping Curly Duck entertained with little projects while I teach the older two.

 A bookcase I have yet to fill. I have educational books scattered around, so I need to gather them. And then of course, hit up library sales as they happen!

 The Auchlings don't get to pick out fun backpacks like other kids (for obvious reasons), but I still wanted them to pick something that gave them character, and that they could use every day in school. So here are their pencil boxes! You get 20 house points if you can guess whose is whose. ;)

My mountain of crayons. Funny story about this. I bought 30 packs of crayons at Staples, and as I dumped all of them on the counter, the lady asked, "Are you donating these somewhere?"

I don't know what was wrong with me, but for some reason I just didn't feel like going into the whole, "Oh we're homeschooling!" thing. Sometimes people ask about it, and I was in a hurry, and also, I was worried she might give me the, "Oh you're one of THOSE people" looks, so in a grand effort to look totally normal and not at all weird, my face contorted for half a second while all these things zinged through my brain, and then in a deadpan voice I just said:

"No."

........

Awkward silence ensued.

And there was no back pedaling without making it worse, so we completed the crayon hoarder transaction and went our separate ways.

Glad I was able to handle that smoothly. Definitely avoided looking like a weirdo.

Anyway, so there you have it! I am so thrilled to begin our schooling adventures in this room, and I will savor its cleanliness while it lasts.