Homeschool Strewing: Keeping the Chaos at Bay

The other day, I found myself searching the web using terms like “psychology of window displays” and “visual marketing tips in storefronts.” 

Now, you may not know this about me, but I don’t own a storefront, and I have no intention of doing so. Why, then, was I looking for this information? To better homeschool my kids — I hope.

I’ve long been a fan of “homeschool strewing,” but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I was taking the “strew” a little too literally. 

The dictionary definition of “strew” is “scatter or spread things in a messy way over a surface or area.” 

That, of course, is not what a homeschooler means when they say they like to strew things. 

Most homeschoolers use strewing to mean creating “invitations” for active learning without explicitly giving instruction. In other words, homeschool strewing is about leaving great learning materials around in a way that invites engagement. 

For me, though, the two definitions had somehow gotten mingled and most of my “strewing” for education looked a lot like the “strewing” that happens when the cover slips on a grain truck and leaves the highway littered with debris. (I’m from the Midwest. Sorry if that metaphor doesn’t land for everyone.)

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what goals I want my children to reach and how best to get there. I pore over reading lists and science kit recommendations and Common Core curriculum standards. I plan. I choose wisely. I really care about this.

So imagine my delight when I found out I could put all those research skills to work on the back end and then just leave it all in piles around my house and wait for the magic to happen. 

A big bin of educational toys here. A towering stack of great books on a variety of topics there. A huge collection of board games. Done, done, and done. What could be easier? 

Except it didn’t work. The magic wasn’t happening. I believed in the logic and philosophy behind strewing, but most of my well-planned “invitations” were going nowhere — and I now think that’s because they weren’t, well, very inviting. 

It seems like we have lots of examples of invitations for our earliest learners. Just look at children’s museums where hands-on activities are available at every turn. These same principles can be seen in many preschool classrooms where bins or “stations” are set up and activities rotate through to keep things fresh and interesting. 

There are fewer readily available examples for the older set, however. As standard learning models move toward more testing and worksheets and learner interests are more often explored independently, visual checks of classrooms offer fewer insights into how to engage learners voluntarily. 

That’s what left me frantically googling consumer psychology in the hopes for some answers. 

Here’s what I found.

As Princeton researchers put it, “Multiple stimuli present in the visual field at the same time compete for neural representation by mutually suppressing their evoked activity throughout visual cortex, providing a neural correlate for the limited processing capacity of the visual system.” 

To put it another way, when you’re looking at a bunch of stuff at once, it’s more difficult to focus. 

I want my home to be full of lots of options for different kinds of play and multiple subjects, but how those choices are displayed — and, crucially, how many are presented at once — matters. 

That doesn’t mean you have to give up the boxes of fantastic curricula or the shelves of amazing games. It just means that storage and invitation should probably be two separate categories. 

Have you ever been in the Apple store? A minimal design layout invites customers to come in and play in the sparsely stocked main area, but there’s tons of stock — including items that aren’t on the floor at the moment — behind the scenes.

Stores use lots of psychological hacks to train customers to go for the items they want. Eye level is known as “buy level,” and you’ll see the more expensive name-brand products on this level while the cheaper alternatives are often tucked below or above it. 

The same tip applies to our kids and the things we lay out for them to find. Keep in mind both their visual plane as well as accessibility and area of use. So many people create gorgeous “classrooms” in their homes only to get frustrated because their kids never seem to actually use them. 

Identify the areas of your house where gathering and play naturally happen. Tap into the existing rhythms of the day rather than trying to fight against the tide.

Let’s face it, most of these carefully planned invitations are going to end up tousled and disheveled by the end of the day — at least that’s the hope! There’s no reason to spend hours upon hours making every single thing you do Pinterest-worthy. 

A few simple aesthetic principles can help make your invitations look more appealing, however, and that’s not just a matter of form — it’s key to their function. 

I noticed this principle in action when I went into the art room at our favorite children’s museum. The supplies were arranged in transparent containers and sorted by color. They roughly went from large to small. It was not only beautiful, but it was easy for the guides working the room to tidy things up in a hurry, and it definitely invited interaction. 

Clothing stores will often arrange their racks by color to draw our eyes and make everything seem a little more ordered. Size grouping is another common trick for store displays that has the same effect.

I’ll be the first to admit that researching and thinking through these principles didn’t magically make every educational plan I have work, but things certainly go a lot smoother when I use them. 

I also like that they’re simple enough that I can remind myself to get back on track when things eventually devolve into chaos once again. There’s not some complicated system that’s either functioning or not. Instead, there’s a fresh start each day (or even in the middle of the day) to try again.

Incorporating homeschool strewing into your teaching approach can open up an exciting world of discovery for your kids—just remember that it’s all about making learning invitations truly engaging. Keep it simple, experiment with placement, and don’t stress about getting it “Pinterest-perfect.” Strewing can be a great tool, but it works best when it flows naturally into your home and daily rhythms.

Ready to take your homeschool strewing strategy to the next level? Check out these homeschooling tips to keep sparking curiosity every day!