It's difficult not to get sucked into thinking that to homeschool you need to have a large space. We're constantly shown beautiful, pristine, dedicated home schooling spaces on social media and it's hard to not get sucked into it all!
But the reality is you'll be spending most of your time gathered around the kitchen. I saw a post on Instagram by @simplyhappy.homeschool the other day and found it interesting that even people who DO have dedicated school rooms tend to gravitate back to the kitchen and it made me wonder why?
Having had a good think about it I've come up with a handful of reasons that I can think of as to why we collectively make the kitchen not only the heart of the home but also the heart of homeschool!
It's easier to multitask as a care giver. Whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner it's far easier to be able to start the required cooking and answer questions if you are or guide your children through what they need to do if you are in the same room. You can stir porridge whilst fielding questions on mythical creatures. You can boil noodles and look something up at the same time. You can keep and eye on the frying pan whilst helping with a math problem. If you kept having to go back and forth between rooms or stop and start lessons based on meal needs it can really disrupt the flow of the day. Best just to stay where you are!
The social feeling. I can't speak for everyone but I always feel that kitchens are the most social room in a home. People naturally gravitate towards the kitchen. Chats around tables, leaning against counters, spontaneous dance parties, they usually happen in the kitchen! We create strong social connections in the kitchens of our lives and since wanting to create deep family bonds is a big + for most home schooling families that makes it a natural base.
Often the kitchen is the warmest part of the home. This might seem a strange thing to bring up in the middle of summer, why would I want to be in the warmest room in the house? But many home educating families choose to follow a similar structure to mainstream schools in when they stop and start. This means that just as we're starting to dig into structured learning, the colder weather settles in. Everyone works better when they feel warm and cozy. Plus being close to the source for hot chocolate is a real bonus!
Speaking of hot chocolate... Being near the hot drinks is another great reason to stay in the kitchen! There's something grounding about the feel of a warm mug in your hands that I can't quite put my finger on and I always find that I am more ready to focus when I have one near!
Snacks. Need I say more?
Easy clean. For us home ed involves a lot of hands on experiments, arts and crafts which go hand in hand with a big mess! The kitchen table and counters are the perfect place for these messes to happen with minimum damage to any furniture, rugs, carpets or walls.
Cooking/baking are a core subject. Life skills and real world learning are so important to me and I know that many other home educators feel the same way. The kitchen is the perfect place to start learning those life skills. It might seem like "just baking" but it's actually math and science. Peeling and chopping vegetables are actually perfect fine motor skill practice. Learning the basics of cooking and nutrition help to set up a strong foundation for when they eventually go out into the world on their own.
The table. In place of a desk to work at the kitchen table is perfect. It's the right height, has plenty of space for any resources you might need and has the bonus of everyone being able to sit round for working together or can be separate enough for individual work.
I'm sure that the list of reasons could go on and on. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what space you use to educate your children in as long as both you and they are happy, healthy and thriving.
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