Articles for Teachers
One benefit of home schooling is that education is not limited to a classroom. You can study with your child outdoors, at the kitchen table or at the museum. However, it's still a good idea to have an area of the house dedicated to learning. Whether you have a room or an area of the house for this purpose, choose furniture and decorations that will maximize education and help your child stay focused while studying.
Look for home school furniture that is child-friendly, comfortable and colorful. Choose pieces that offer a lot of space and can serve multiple functions. Use storage cabinets that have multiple shelves, modular furniture that can be sized to fit the child, or storage blocks that can be stacked and added to as needed.
Assign different parts of the room to certain areas of learning. Read with your child on a cozy sofa or bean bag chair, but always the same one. Have a small table or desk with a straight back chair and cushioned seat for listening and studying. Provide a larger table for science activities and other lessons where you need to spread out. Use another desk, larger than the first, for your teacher's desk.
Buy a bookcase to establish a resource center. Store textbooks, novels for use in class, educational audio/video resources, record-keeping and all other school materials there. Use one shelf for library books and other items that are on loan.
Install a computer and printer in the classroom with a word processor and Internet so you can use technology with your children. The computer can also be used to play music and show videos, if you need to incorporate those in teaching. Make sure your desk is near any necessary outlets or modems.
Avoid distractions by putting the classroom area in a little-used part of the house. Keep the home school classroom devoid of foot traffic, phones, doorbells and pets. If you have more than one child, have them work on group projects so they can learn to assist each other.
Decorate the classroom with your child's framed artwork. Find educational posters from the school section of bookstores and hang them on the wall. Use one or two bulletin boards to tack up essays or important notes.