Every so often the question comes up on homeschooling forums or lists: do you have a special place set aside for homeschooling? I know some people have schoolrooms but I would imagine they are a minority. I can see it working quite well with Montessori-style methods, which are actually quite popular amongst homeschoolers here in France. Strange to tell, I also know of at least two non-homeschooling families who have created schoolrooms in their homes, just for their children to do homework. Apparently, their children can only study in a school-like setting!

I have also talked with some homeschoolers who just feel more comfortable with everything in neat little compartments. They prefer to have a particular time and place in which they do their studying, and although I suppose they know that the children are still learning outside that time and place, they consider it to be outside the sphere of what they do as home educators.

We are quite the opposite, and a schoolroom would definitely be contradictory to my educational philosophy. We don’t separate life and learning and we don’t separate work and leisure in the same way as people who work or are educated away from their homes. I see organising the space at our disposal as one of the more important parts of what I do as a home educator. It needs to be rich in possibilities, as many activities as possible need to be permanently accessible, the supply of resources needs to be kept up. Over time, our use of space has become quite organised and methodical.

The time and space corner and table work space. It contains no less than 5 calendars of different types, one of them geographical, 2 timepieces and a globe + other miscellaneous conversation pieces of the day. Used for pen and paper work, some art and science projects, … oh and eating meals. These are also the bird, wild animal and cow observation windows. The bird feeders are just outside, and the wild animals tend to cross the land at this corner of the house.

The indoor floor space. Used for constructions, manipulatives, board games, dance and gymnastics practice, …

The outdoor table space. Currently in the process of being revamped for the new season. We are generally outside whenever the temperature is even remotely suitable.

The outdoor floor space. Here it is in use last summer.

The read-aloud corner, with the read-aloud books behind it. Also used for tv, video and computing.

The music corner. It used to be full of miscellaneous noise-makers, but now it’s just the piano, Suzuki book 1, the stereo cupboard and lots of CDs.

The painting corner, with all the small-scale art materials in permanent use.

The museum or cabinet of curiosities in an old typesetter’s tray. There are other display spaces scattered around for artwork and constructions. And a bunch of larger objects outside.

The dressing up stuff, pretend play stuff and independent reading books are all in the bedroom. I’ll leave you to guess why there’s no picture of Antonia’s private domain.

The kitchen: for cooking and some science experiments. It was designed by and for people who like to cook and do science on a big scale. It’s long and thin and unphotographable.

The garden. We currently have a herb garden and a flower garden which is all Antonia’s own. Oh, and a worm composter! Most of our land is semi-wild with some fruit trees.

Important outdoor spaces away from the house

The sunset spot and cabane. This is one of our astronomy spaces. The others are the upper and lower terraces, and the roof windows on all sides of the house.

Favourite stream and all the micro-ecosystems on the way down to favourite stream. And the rest of the prairies and woodlands within a 2km radius of the house.

The town centre. We do city walks the same way we (and lots of other people) do nature walks.