One look at the searches for homeschool rooms and you are flooded with images of beautifully set up children’s rooms that contain huge work stations with organizers and shelves. Some of the homeschool rooms also include a little art corner and space for invitation to play set ups, charts on the walls and storage systems for book and toy rotation.
For those of us living in cramped city apartments having a spacious and detailed homeschool room for kids is a little tough. But, we can bring in the same key elements and fulfill all the basic needs of a study area even in small spaces.
Let me share our space and some small homeschool room ideas we use for our son’s room.
OUR HOMESCHOOL ROOM LAYOUT
We have one extra bedroom in our flat which is designed in a playroom/classroom style. We live on rent and unfortunately this extra room came with a huge bed that belongs to our owner, one we cannot get rid off. Since it occupies most of the space, we are left with an L-shaped space around the bed to work with.
SMALL HOMESCHOOL/STUDY CUM PLAY ROOM CONSIDERATIONS
I first checked everything we already owned to see how I could use it in our study cum play space.
Next, I thought of the must haves for a homeschool room. In order to build a functional and practical space every homeschool room/study station needs a table and chair, books storage and school supplies storage space. At the core, that is it. That is all you need.
For creating the storage space I bought the IKEA Trofast as it easy to store different toys and I can use the table top for setting up sensory bins, invitations to play and keeping books that we are using currently in our thematic studies.
Next up, I needed a place to store and organize all his books for each semester and any other homeschool resources we need in one place. I love the IKEA Flisat toy storage. It fits all our kindergarten level books perfectly without taking up too much space. I especially like that it is a rolling cart, makes it that much more easier to move around rooms.
Finding a good quality small study table and chair was tough though. Most tables and chairs in the market cater to dedicated kids room with a lot more space. I was lucky to find a compact size study table and chair. Unfortunately, that same design is no longer available. But I found something similar here.
Another work around to fitting a table into a small space is to choose a wall mounted foldable table set up like this one.
Every homeschool/ classroom setup needs an easel. The Shumee toys table top easel and whiteboard combo is a great space saving option.
Make use of the wall space for shelves or other vertical storage systems. This keeps the space clutter free and the floor open for the child to use for play and movement.
Check our other homeschool supplies list here.
HOW TO BUILD A STUDY STATION WITHOUT A KIDS ROOM
You don’t necessarily need a dedicated kids room to set up a small study space. You can use your living room space as a homeschool room in the day and family room at right. Or even have a bedroom and study room combined design.
Setup a table and chair in the corner of your room with a little basket or organizer next to it to build a small dedicated space for your child.
We did just this when my in-laws were living with us for a few months. I put my son’s table and chair in our room and a set of three boxes next to that, one with his books and the others with his arts and crafts supplies. This way he could continue Quiet time in his space away from distractions.
Here are a few pictures of our space over the years.
Ultimately, our aim as parents is to create a fun and engaging space for our son. We make sure to put up some of his art prints above his desk and any new projects and crafts on the walls. These make the room bright and colorful and encourages him to take ownership of his space and feel proud of his work.
Related reading : What is child led learning?
Raising internally motivated children.
Here are a few examples of small homeschool room ideas that I found make a good use of space. You will find some inspiring ideas for sure.
Small space homeschool room idea – Thrifty and Chic
Homeschool organization for small spaces – Farmette Kitchen
Amazing homeschool room ideas you must see – Keep Toddlers Busy
How do you set up your small homeschool space? Leave me with some of you ideas in the comments below.