If your home layout has forced you into homeschooling in a small space, whether you’re a veteran homeschooler, newbie, or forced to do virtual learning, these 7 amazing tips will help you make the best out of homeschooling in a small space.
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What’s your current homeschool room situtation?
If you’re anything like we are in our current home situation, and are homeschooling, not in a homeschool “classroom”, but rather trying to make the best out of the small spaces you have for homeschooling…
I want to let you know that I know how you feel, homeschool mom!
Our current house is an old, 1940’s craftsman house with only 3 bedrooms, no closet space, short ceilings, and very, very small rooms.
Disclaimer: I want to say I am grateful to be in our own home, so please do not take this post as complaining about living in a small house, but rather, use it as inspiration to help you navigate through your own homeschool room situation in the small space you have as well!
Back to our small home.
With our farmhouse being so small, we were “forced” to homeschool in one of our main living spaces, and we chose to do the bulk of our homeschooling in our dining room, which means, all the homeschooling goodness happens at the dining room table.
Pssst… check out my related post, “The Ultimate List of Homeschool Desks” HERE.
So if you’re anything like me, and your kitchen table has become your dedicated homeschool workspace, OR, if you do have a homeschool room or area, but it’s small, then you’ll love these 7 simple strategies to homeschooling in a small space!
7 Amazing Tips For Homeschooling in a Small Space
Over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade to help us feel less cluttered in our homeschool area, (aka, our dining room), and make the best out of our small learning space. And, I’m here to share these 7 amazing tips for homeschooling in a small space with you today!
1. Keep your work area clutter-free
If you’re in a small space or don’t have a dedicated homeschool room, the last thing you need is to feel even more cluttered and closed in.
When homeschooling in a small space, keep your work area tidy and free from clutter while schooling— this includes your kitchen table, dining room table, or homeschool desk that’s being used.
This will make your school room of choice, feel bigger, and not smaller.
2. Organization is Your Best Friend
Bins, folders, filing cabinets, drawers, you name it, are all great for organizing.
Since your doing small space homeschooling, the more organized it is, the less cluttered and messy it will feel in your school room.
Homeschool Organization Ideas For Your Small Homeschool Room
- Bins (like these)- to hold books, papers, and school supplies.
- Skinny rolling carts- to hold your art supplies, papers, craft supplies, etc.
- Cabinets- To tuck away things behind closed doors such as a cabinet, so the homeschooling space appears more tidy and clean.
The key here is to make sure that everything and I mean everything, homeschool related has a space! Whether it be in a bin, drawer, folder, or on a shelf, keep it organized with those homeschool organization tips!
3. Homeschool Workboxes
Do you know those plastic drawer bins (think- Rubbermaid), or those metal rolling carts with colorful drawers? Yes, you can use those in your homeschool for a great alternative to homeschool organizing.
This is called, “Homeschool Workboxes“.
Some people like to dedicate one entire row or set of plastic drawers to each of their homeschooling students, that way, each child has their own bins. These are called, “homeschool workboxes”.
You can put their books, workbooks, supplies, and whatever else in the bins for that assignment and keep them organized by subject (to finish for the day), or by day of the week.
Take a peek at this post, to see what I mean.
These bins can also be tucked away behind closed doors (think-closet) once homeschool is done for the day.
4. Put School Supplies in Caddys and such
Finding a great school supply caddy that works well with your small space is the perfect tip for homeschooling in a small space.
You’ll want a school supply caddy (like this cool one, or this one right here) that you can pull out when needed, and then tuck it away when done.
Having homeschool supplies like, pencils, glue, and scissors just thrown in a drawer, or laying on a desk makes the space look and feel even smaller, due to all the clutter. So definitely, organize your school supplies and keep them organized!
5. Keep Your Walls on The Minimalist Side
I know, I KNOW.
We want that super fun, decorated homeschool room with ALL THE posters, and to hang ALL THE art projects to showcase.
But hear me out, homeschooling parent.
When you are schooling in a small homeschool room, the key here is:
Less is better!
A few posters, educational or pretty prints, and maybe showcasing one art project per child is a great idea for your homeschool space.
But don’t go crazy with slapping everything up on your walls, even if they’re beautiful and would make a great decorating addition to your home learning space.
6. Utilize Your Walls
Haha, okay, this might sound contradictory because of what I just said above on number 5 about using your wall space, but sometimes going vertical in your homeschool classroom and utilizing your walls in more effective ways is a great idea.
Here are some great vertical wall organizers you can use as homeschool organization ideas:
- Wall organizers for papers
- Hanging baskets for school supplies
- Cascading/Hanging File Folder Organizer (like this cool one)
- Wooden Craft Paint Hanging Storage Organizer (this one looks very useful!)
Sometimes when dealing with a small homeschool room, it does make sense to put useful things on the walls and use them in more effective and tasteful ways, without creating the overwhelming clutter.
7. Don’t Shove Everything on the Tabletop at Once
Dear Homeschooling Family- If your child is working on a math assignment, keep ONLY their math books and whatever else they need for that math assignment on the table.
Once they are done with math, put all the math stuff along with their homeschool book away before bringing out the next subject’s homeschool book materials and supplies.
If you start stacking books and papers and school supplies around the table, your child’s study space will feel cluttered and can make studying overwhelming.
Just remember…The Best Thing You Can Do When You Have A Small Homeschooling Room
Out of sight, out of mind!
The more you can tuck away once your student’s schoolwork is done, the better your small school space will be.
Even if you have a designated homeschool room, that just might be on the smaller side, it’s still a great idea to tuck away as much as you can for making the best out of a small space homeschooling.
pin for later reference!
