The Design Behind Homeschooling

How to make the most a kids'study space? Ask a mom of three who fosters a love of learning in the comfort of home.

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Janel and Dr. Jacob Peyton’s home is a two-story modern farmhouse complete with vegetable garden, flock of free-range chickens, and acres of land that separate it from the family’s nearest neighbor, 2 miles away in De Soto. The living and dining rooms look out onto a large wraparound porch, which in turn overlooks a vast wooded landscape. But the purpose of the rooms has less to do with aesthetics than with their practical use. Since 2014, the year that the couple began homeschooling their children, Janel has transformed the first-floor spaces into a schoolhouse for their boys, ages 9, 7, and 5.

“Homeschooling chose us, not the other way around,” she says. When the Peytons’ oldest son was 4 and already reading, they decided not to wait one more year before enrolling him in kindergarten; instead, they decided to undertake the job of teaching him themselves.