Over the top homeschool room tour!

[2 much chickenetti]

I don't know if we've talked about her before, but I just found justlaine (who I think is fundie-light) via pinterest, and she provides a very snark-worthy homeschool room tour on her blog: justlaine.com/2013/09/home-school-room-tour.html. It is a beautiful room, but I am amazed by the effort she put into it- it's just a bit over the top, after all, god provided her with her wall maps. Anyone know anything about her?

[Sobeknofret]

I don't see how it's over the top. She put a lot of effort into the room, and she's proud of it. It's pretty, well organized, and a good space to work in. I love the chalkboard walls.

[littlemommy]

I think it's pretty cute! I would really struggle not to be surfing the internet at that computer desk while the kids got their learn on.

[keen23]

I wonder if her "vintage" maps show the USSR and Zaire?

[Verin Sedai]

Not seeing the snark potential, personally. I mean, yes, she put in more effort than just SOTDRT, but don't we snark on fundies for NOT putting effort towards their homeschooling? Yes, yes, cute school room does not equal good quality education, but given no info on her educational standards, I don't see why one would pick on her for having at least a cute, simple room to do school in. My only beef is those desk tops are too small to hold a book on easily (which she admits and says they hope to change).

[DarkAnts]

Its nice that she has a dedicated space for her children to study at. Its a nice room and way better then the Duggars study areas.

[FreeJosie]

She did a great job on the room...I mean, compare her homeschooling efforts to Michelle's!

[RosyDaisy]

I actually like her setup. I'm thinking that if she put that much effort into the room, she's probably putting a lot of effort in the homechooling. But that's JMO.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I like her room. It's quite charming and creative. And she looks very organized and resourceful.

Now hopefully her homeschooling skills are better than Mullet's, Kelly 2 Chicken Breasts' and Penelope Trunk's.

[Shoes Grace]

Well, looks like we've farked the site server, I'm not seeing anything there at the moment. It sounds cute, but I've got to say, depending on how it's put together, it seems strange to devote an entire room to such a single purpose. I mean, I'd consider homeschooling any future progeny, but I don't think I'd devote a room to it- we have rooms. Maybe if the kids don't have desks in their bedrooms, so that all "schoolwork" can be done in "school" and it can also function as an adult office, or if it's more of a school themed playroom.

But I know, totally commenting without any knowledge of what it's actually like.

[Gertie]

Aw, the kids have the teeniest tiniest desks ever! Looks like enough room on the desk for taking notes during a lecture, but there's no room for spreading out even something simple like a textbook and a notebook. Is she standing at the front of the room teaching her kids most of the time or what? I'm glad she's putting effort into it, but I hope the kids also have a place to spread out and work comfortably. (She says they use the big desk for math and Spanish, so maybe it's not as bad as I'm imagining.)

[Jinderella]

Aw, the kids have the teeniest tiniest desks ever! Looks like enough room on the desk for taking notes during a lecture, but there's no room for spreading out even something simple like a textbook and a notebook. Is she standing at the front of the room teaching her kids most of the time or what? I'm glad she's putting effort into it, but I hope the kids also have a place to spread out and work comfortably. (She says they use the big desk for math and Spanish, so maybe it's not as bad as I'm imagining.)

It's supposed to be a schoolroom, I would have given the children the larger desks, not the mommy. I have a question about this schooldesks, I see them a lot in American movies and I was wondering; don't you have left-handed people on the other side of the ocean?

[aelar]

It's supposed to be a schoolroom, I would have given the children the larger desks, not the mommy. I have a question about this schooldesks, I see them a lot in American movies and I was wondering; don't you have left-handed people on the other side of the ocean?

I had desks like those all through high school and college, and did plenty of reading and writing on them, so they don't seem too bad to me. Though it sounds like the father might take the tops off and make bigger ones eventually.

For lefties, most classrooms had a couple desks that had the writing surface on the other side. The awkward part was when you had a really full class, and had to take a lefty desk when you were a rightie.

[Mama Mia]

I wonder if her "vintage" maps show the USSR and Zaire?

She's says in the article that they are post USSR.

I think it's a great room, I think it would be really helpful to have a separate room to keep all the supplies, especially since she says she also has two smaller children.

And how is it "over the top" to make the room the kids spend a good part of their day in nice and welcoming ?

[Iokaste]

I would love to teach in that room and I would love to be able to offer all my students such a calm and cosy learning environment.

[Patsy]

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2471

You want over the top homeschool rooms? Check out the last pic in Burris's first post here. That was for ONE toddler.

I've had some lectures in rooms with desks like that (adult size, obvs), and there were a couple left-handed ones scattered around.

[polecat]

I love how she has a dedicated room with bright colors and an airy feel. It's nice.

Our home schooling "room" is in our family room. In fact, it's the wet bar, lol. It is dedicated solely to educative purposes, and the shelves underneath are perfect for holding all their textbooks and workbooks as well as supplies. Plus, there's a little sink where they can wash off after messy projects. There's enough room for all of them to spread out a bit, and I can even set one up with the laptop and the other on the desktop across the room when they have an assignment that requires research or they're working on a website -- Khan Academy, XTra Math, StudyDog or whatever.

But I definitely drool over a room like this. We'd need a bit more space, but I love the feel of it.

[Conuly]

I've got to say, depending on how it's put together, it seems strange to devote an entire room to such a single purpose.

Heck, most municipalities devote entire buildings to it!

If you think your children might focus better in a dedicated room, or that you can control the spread of the stuff that way, or you just have an extra room you want to put to good use, why not?

[Sobeknofret]

Honestly, if I had an entire room I could dedicate to homeschool use, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Right now, we've got bookshelves and a set of drawers in the living room dedicated to homeschool supplies, and indeed work at the dining room table, but I'd love to have a chalkboard or whiteboard on the wall, and a separate place to store some of the detritus that comes with homeschooling (the plastic bag filled with Karo syrup and cell parts, the movable arm showing muscle action, the Latin flash cards scattered all over the living room, partially complete math pages, laptop...).

[halcionne]

I had desks like those all through high school and college, and did plenty of reading and writing on them, so they don't seem too bad to me. Though it sounds like the father might take the tops off and make bigger ones eventually.

For lefties, most classrooms had a couple desks that had the writing surface on the other side. The awkward part was when you had a really full class, and had to take a lefty desk when you were a rightie.

Oop I'm a leftie who always preferred the rightie desks. Something about the way I hunched over my papers worked better that way! :geek:

[Shoes Grace]

Heck, most municipalities devote entire buildings to it!

If you think your children might focus better in a dedicated room, or that you can control the spread of the stuff that way, or you just have an extra room you want to put to good use, why not?

Hah, true.

I was thinking more in terms of, "I've got a living room, a kitchen, a family room, an enclosed porch, and a finished basement. Even if I had four kids, I think we could probably function without turning one of them into a classroom." However, if they have a house with an open floor plan and not all the children yet school age, that makes sense. And now I can see the pictures, it's basically an office space with the addition of those four little desks. I thought maybe she was going in hardcore and building cubbies and installing a projector or something, but it's really just the desks.

[JinjaNinja]

Hah, true.

I was thinking more in terms of, "I've got a living room, a kitchen, a family room, an enclosed porch, and a finished basement. Even if I had four kids, I think we could probably function without turning one of them into a classroom." However, if they have a house with an open floor plan and not all the children yet school age, that makes sense. And now I can see the pictures, it's basically an office space with the addition of those four little desks. I thought maybe she was going in hardcore and building cubbies and installing a projector or something, but it's really just the desks.

I do think it's nice she puts effort into changing things up when something isn't working. I logged too many hours in our boring home office last year and completely understand the need for a change.

That said, I really dislike the "classroom" at home makeover. Those desks and wall maps are a step back imo. I can't imagine the kids preferring to spend time at those tiny, hard desks after the novelty has worn off. I predict they will start fighting over the big desk more and more often. Also supersizing the earth does not make it any more memorable :lol: an atlas and globe work just fine for learning geography. The globe I spied tucked up high needs to be pulled down for kids to manipulate. If they break it, replace it. It's not a major purchase! She can even buy blow up globes for the tots. Mapping the world with art is a fun course the kids would get way more out of than purchasing any more wall maps.

[Mudball]

I find that room complete dismal. Cramped, cold, austere. Not at all warm, welcoming..

We had a nice homeschooling room and we kind of hated it. I was proud of it at first and I loved the way I decorated it, but it became a room we hated. It separated homeschooling from real life too much. Maybe because it was the only room upstairs? I don't know... it was a cute room, but it just became..."come on, time to go upstairs..." and we'd go plodding up and then count the moments until we could rejoin the rest of the house again.

Now I keep our homeschooling stuff in a microwave cart.... KIDDING!.... I keep it in a bookcase in the living room. The bookcase has a closed cabinet portion on the bottom where I keep art supplies and paper and messier stuff. We just sack out on the couch, or sit at the kitchen table or even lay in bed to hs now and it's much better.

[salex]

Well, looks like we've farked the site server, I'm not seeing anything there at the moment. It sounds cute, but I've got to say, depending on how it's put together, it seems strange to devote an entire room to such a single purpose. I mean, I'd consider homeschooling any future progeny, but I don't think I'd devote a room to it- we have rooms. Maybe if the kids don't have desks in their bedrooms, so that all "schoolwork" can be done in "school" and it can also function as an adult office, or if it's more of a school themed playroom.

But I know, totally commenting without any knowledge of what it's actually like.

We went on a "parade of homes" tour and one custom house had a computer room with a long built in that could serve as a desk for 5 or 6 people with laptops and had another table in the room. I thought it likely was for homeschooling. A long desk like that with indiviual rolling file and it would be very versatile. My cousins had a devoted room (before they went co-op). As with anything else, the ikea room could easily be changed out.

If I were homeschooling (my imaginary children) I can see having a dedicated room.

[MamaJunebug]

I knew a woman who homeschooled her children when they lived in a very rough neighborhood and couldn't afford private school.

She had a small room set up in their apartment as a classroom, so that the kids knew it was time to be working and studying whilst in there, and not distracted. Never saw it, understand it wasn't fancy, but .... when they eventually moved to a better 'hood and a higher economic class, the kids did great in school and at this point are either in university or working gainfully at their chosen professions.

So a room set aside makes sense. If the homeschooler has the means and creativity to make it purty, what's the problem? :|