Developing a Home Classroom

A library

In addition to a desk, you also will need to provide the space and equipment to instruct your students. There are lots of things you can use, such as a whiteboard, blackboard, easel and paper, overhead projector, and so on. You need to be able to present information to your kids, and these are ideal tools to do so.

If possible, mount a corkboard or other surface on a wall to which you can attach maps, timelines, and other things to which you will refer. (Of course, if you don't mind a few holes in the wall, you can tack stuff directly to it.)

Building a Homeschool Library
No matter how much you take advantage of experiences, the Internet, and other nontraditional teaching tools, your homeschool will involve books, and a lot of them. You are going to need shelves to hold both the books that your students are working with during the year along with reference books you might want to keep in the schoolroom at all times. You can't have too much room for your homeschool library and you are bound to fill up your bookshelves sooner than later! The more bookshelves you have in your schoolroom, the more convenient accessing the materials you need will be. At the least, you should provide a place for the books your students will be using in the current week or month. Ideally, you will be able to keep all the books you will need for a year in your schoolroom with current materials.

In addition to the specific materials you will use as part of each subject's criteria, consider adding the following books to your homeschool library:

• Dictionary

• Thesaurus

• World atlas or map

• U.S. atlas or map (or other country if you live in a different one)

• Encyclopedia (check out our sister site Infoplease.com's encyclopedia for your materials)