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Syncletica
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 4:59pm | IP Logged
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I've finally hired a professional organizer to help me get things in order. Today we did the 2 bedrooms for the children. Wow! What a difference and is it ever great for peace of mind.
When we got this house, I had intended to use the basement kitchen/dining room/playroom as our 'schoolroom', since the basement had a full kitchenette of cupboards that I figured would be great for storing books. It didn't end up working that way, I love being able to sit at the kitchen table to do schoolwork. (It's brighter, warmer, I'm closer to the kitchen if I have to get lunch started....) However, our dining room is small as it is, never mind the big bookshelf I just got before Christmas to store a bunch of stuff. We could use more room. She's suggesting that it would give me so much more room to move my homeschool stuff downstairs, and then the littles will be able to play with their toys that are down there as well.
I'm looking for encouragement one way or the other. What works for you? If it's not quite what you want it to be, what would be the ideal?
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 5:13pm | IP Logged
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Intellectually, I want to do school in the basement. But that doesn't seem to happen for verfy long. I NEED the sunshine this time of year. I need the huge west facing windows in my kitchen. But it makes keeping things tidy so much more difficult.
Sorry, not much help am I?
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 5:44pm | IP Logged
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We had our schoolroom in the basement, but I found it's a LOT of travel back and forth. I have a baby who naps upstairs. I'm in the kitchen on the main floor more often than not. And what ended up happening is that the kids came up to the dining room or kitchen with their books and left things lying around because they don't want to tramp up and down stairs all day, either! This may not be feasible for a lot of people, but we converted our 2.5 car garage into a big school/toy room. ETA: The garage is just off the main floor kitchen.
Right now we're in the midst of (wow!) a mess of books and tubs of toys. We hope that within two weeks, we'll sort through at least 90% of the mess. The room that *was* the schoolroom will be a bedroom for two girls. It requires serious brightening, as LeeAnn mentioned, but I think it will do. We're getting awfully crowded upstairs.
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Lara Sauer
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Kitchen homeschooler here as well, for all the same reasons that you have already listed: light and food!
Good luck.
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domchurch3
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 7:18pm | IP Logged
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We live in a small house but our 1 car garage was converted into a room by the previous owners so I've always had the advantage of a learning room. We have floor-to ceiling bookshelves that store everything and lighting is not an issue. Where do we homeschool? On the living room couch, on my bed due to pregnancy or on the kitchen table. I love the kitchen table. Clutter and moving around is not a problem for me because I keep everything I need for her schooling in a basket that I organize at the end of the day to prepare for the next day. I realize I only have 1 homeschooling child right now, but when our newborn comes I'll find myself in our learning room even less. Could each of your children each have their own basket that they are responsible for putting their materials away and then have them put the baskets in a designated area?
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 7:22pm | IP Logged
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I don't like the travel back and forth either. Esp when the kids are young like yours are....it puts A LOT of pressure on you.....keeping things organized, moved up and down, getting kids to take things back downstairs, etc. I prefer to live in a bit more messiness/clutter in the main living space and use the basement or other areas for more storage. Kids being able to work and do things is more do-able when i'm in the kitchen.
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Bridget
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We're the same. We do use our too small dining room as a school room, because it's right off the kitchen, but mostly we school at the kitchen table. The basement is semi-finished but it's all play and storage space. I wouldn't give up that big, get-rowdy play space down there.
The older kids do have a school room upstairs in the extra bedroom. The highschoolers really need a quiet place to write. But we'll lose that when this baby moves out of our bedroom too. We'll have to figure out some way for the highschoolers to work in their too-small-for-desks bedrooms then.
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mom2mpr
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Wherever everyone is happy 
I have the basement set up for some schoolwork and I like when we are down there-keeps things better organized. But, today we did "bed-school" per the 6 year olds request-on my bed. Yesterday was in the basement. Monday was at the kitchen table. I find we get more done and everyone is happier if we move around.
To accommodate this we have school backpacks. Everyday things like math, LA, history reading, handwriting, and reading, are (usually) always in there. I have included crayons, markers, pencils, erasers, tape, glue sticks and scissors. It is great for doctor appointments or even field trips-we can grab these and try to keep up.
I got the idea from someone here and it has made me feel more efficient  yeah, efficient.....
Anne
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PDyer
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 8:10pm | IP Logged
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mom2mpr wrote:
| I find we get more done and everyone is happier if we move around. |
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Same here. We start in our school room (a bedroom on the first floor, near the kitchen and laundry room). I put a cuddling chair in there for reading together, a table for tablework and short bookshelves. When it's time to make lunch I'll suggest she bring along her math book (or whatever she's working on) and move out to the kitchen table. Sometimes she does, and sometimes she stays in the learning room until lunch is ready. When it's warm, we migrate to the sunroom. The learning room is cozy in the winter, but one can't keep away from the sunroom when it's warm enough to be out there. I have one at home, so the moving around is easy.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 8:53pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
| I don't like the travel back and forth either. Esp when the kids are young like yours are....it puts A LOT of pressure on you.....keeping things organized, moved up and down, getting kids to take things back downstairs, etc. I prefer to live in a bit more messiness/clutter in the main living space and use the basement or other areas for more storage. Kids being able to work and do things is more do-able when i'm in the kitchen. |
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DITTO!
We have an extra room upstairs and I tried it for a while. It's an ideal size, but it's just not in the living area of the house. It equals endless trips up and down the stairs.
We took over the dining room and that has been our learning room ever since. I love the sunshine, the close proximity to the kitchen and laundry room. It does take a bit extra time and attention to keep the downstairs tidy because we really *live* in those spaces, but the trade-off is that I'm in the *HEART* of my home and I can do my work alongside them.
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Theresa
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We use the dining room for all the above mentioned reasons. We have room in the basement. The perfect sized room with a great closet and a small family room too but with no sunlight and all the trips back and forth we decided that our dining room was the best place.
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anitamarie
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I need to ask a really dumb question, as we are about to put alotof money into finishing our basement( a schoolroom and a toyroom, laundry room, bathroom). For what are you going up and down stairs so much? I have pictured us down there with all our stuff and coming up at breaktime and snacktime. Am I dreaming? You guys are scaring me! Thanks for any input.
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ALmom
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Ok, my situation is that I have a number of school age children - running the gamut from learning to read to highschoolers and I have mostly had toddlers or babies in tow as well. I also am the keeper of the home - with obvious delegation of chores but overall supervisory authority over it all. I must school where I can operate efficiently - and it takes a little experimentation to find the rhythm.
It is easy for me to throw a load of laundry in or do a few dishes as I rotate working with different folks or while someone is doing corrections or something. This does not happen and cannot happen if I am on a different floor than the majority of the children.
I cannot function well if my dining room table is always a jumble - so here is our solution:
Our table (the one we eat on for all our meals) cannot be piled high with everyone's clutter or we would be an inefficient mess. Therefore, it becomes my command central. My husband built me a small shelf tucked into a corner of this room where my teachers materials, attendance sheets/plans for each child are located. I have each child's TM and plans and records piled in a different stack on this shelf with books that several children share standing upright on the top shelf.
Each child has a meeting with me (preferably daily but for the highschooler it realistically becomes a few times per week). They are responsible for bringing all their books to me for discussion. (Sometimes they must travel back and forth to get something they forgot to bring for my review and during this time, I do some sort of short kitchen chore or fix a glass of tea). As we go over something, I check it off on the daily plan in pen (the child checks it off in pencil). This then is filed in my attendance notebook for said child along with any samples of work we want to file. This will make record checks and reporting requirements easier for me to fulfill. When we have completed our meeting, the child returns the books to their own work area in place for the next day.
Any child who is not yet capable of doing mostly independent work, has a work table in an area easily viewed by me. We use the dining room for this now that we have loads of space and it is set up with our Montesorrish and self correcting materials. All the children use these from time to time particularly when they are waiting to work with me. It is full of our science kits as well. Again this table should not be cluttered with a child's work. They are responsible for returning it home when they are finished working with it. This room is open to the kitchen but not so visible that it is an eyesore or anything. I can easily spot when someone is misusing something or when something needs to be put away. I have a few items - things like pouring, etc. that are stored in the kitchen pantry and come out on a rolling cart when I want to encourage their use. My youngest also always has the option to bring a work from the other room to the kitchen table if they want to work near me while I am reviewing work with another child. If they prefer quiet, they don't come. If they want to see me get excited with their accomplishment or just need to be near me, they bring it.
Those children who work independently but whom I still feel a need to spot check frequently work in a room seperated by doors and on the opposite end of the house from the piano(ie it can be closed for quiet but is still visible to me and I will notice the child who hates to ask for help who is about to have a meltdown). None of the non school age children or children who are not working on independent work are allowed in here while the others are working. There are only books, the computer and lots of table space in this room - no games. (Well there is a locked closet with games, but the toddler will ask me if he wants to play a game and I will retrieve it. He may walk in to retrieve a book off the shelf but may not enter for any other reason. I'm not a monster about talking, etc. but this is the room for quiet, independent work and I try never to answer the phone, discuss work or such with anyone in this room. If I notice chatter unrelated to reasonable exchange of ideas or help/support, I will remind them that this room is for quiet work only.
When we were in tighter quarters, I had desks in different rooms and these desks had those lift tops for storage of books, etc. plus we located shelves with supplemental books likely to be needed near the child's workspace. It was a lot harder and school took over most rooms in the house as the olders sought quiet while I worked with non-readers and we tried to coordinate music practice time.
My highschoolers or those who have shown great levels of responsibility and diligence earn the priviledge to study darn near anywhere in the house. One daughter actually does all her independent work upstairs at the desk in my dh and I's bedroom (her bedroom is too distracting with craft projects  ). I know that she will come down to ask for help when she needs it and that she will stay on task with plans. I do require her to join us for physical exercise, meals and prayer. She has to come down for the computer and she will often curl up on the sofa with her history or literature reading (never with math or science which requires a much more intensely quiet environment). She reviews work with me at the kitchen table unless it is easy or convenient for me to go upstairs (this will happen occassionally when all the olders have gone outside as I can still see the outside from my bedroom).
We have found that long tables for each child when we can fit them in, really do work wonders. One child who likes to stack and whose stuff tends to wander, actually has a little set of shelves with doors on the top of his table. He stacks his books inside it and we close the doors when school is done for the day. His table has a lot of his ongoing projects on them - as does the garage and my oldest dd bedroom (while she is away at school). Also the computer is located in the room where the majority of the children who type papers do their work. We do not allow any kind of computer games, e-mail, etc. during school hours and then limit each child to 20 minutes (we used to allow on school days after hours, but have restricted our addicted boys to weekend only while our non addicted oldest we don't say much about when she e-mails as long as her school work is done and she is not using the computer during the working hours of other children who might need to use it for schoolwork).
All my more distractible children must school on the same level of the house as I am at - otherwise I cannot exercise the necessary supervisory responsibilities. Those who like to wheedle out of work, must work close to me.
I would think working in a basement would work really well with children who were extremely independent and had settled into a predictable study routine (ie similar to my highschooler). I can only imagine the chaos if I had my 3rd - 8th graders there. I simply would not be able to be attuned to their needs and take care of the toddler and do chores. However, I don't typically work intensely with children during set hours. I work one on one to get a handle on what has been accomplished, what is or is not understood and then give a lesson on anything that requires my attention. I rotate between children and do not have "group classes". I tend to be generally observant of facial expressions, body language, and what they are up to or engaged in doing. To do that I need to happen by the work area without being an intrusion (ie the glass doors that block the noise but allow me full view are perfect). I do read aloud to all at once, but that is done rather cosily sitting on the sofa at a time when everyone is either just beginning the day, back from lunch or ... Ie I am not interrupting older children's concentration and it is at a time when we have all gathered for something like meals anyways.
So it is hard to answer your question - really. A lot depends on both your children and how you school. If school is never ending projects that require your full and undivided attention and supervision anyways then it might not matter that you are in the basement as long as you have scheduled time in your day to fix lunch, tidy up, get dishes done, run a load of laundry, prepare dinner and set the table. If your children are doing mostly independent study and your role is more a mentor, observer then it would be a major hardship and waste of time for the school room to be on another level. If you have to juggle between play with a toddler, explaining problems to a young child, reviewing or checking work of an older child with occassional teaching moments then it would be hard for them all to be on different levels.
My goal is to find quiet workspace for independent learning and a place where book resources are organized in one location (rather difficult with our quantity of books but doable with the blessings of one very large room that is used for indpendent study) and a play area where it will not cause disturbance to the shooling children for my children who still need lots of play plus an area where I can discuss with children without disturbing others and while still being able to have a corner of my eye on a non-school age child who is very likely to wreck havac the minute you turn your back.
My house is far from the magazine covers and most would call it cluttered. It would not work for a highly visual person who must have lots of beauty to function. It is functional for us. We are working towards a bit more beauty. I do try to reserve one room that looks mostly like a living space so we can fully relax. However, much to my oldest's horror, we have actually put a timeline along one whole wall in this room and brought down the exercise bike so it will actually get used. I do have a living room (where the piano is located) and that room is actually the most aesthetic and probably where we would entertain if we ever did that (we aren't really big into that and somehow we always gather in the room off the kitchen and that is in need of major work - but does not have any cluttered books, shelves or such - just my wall with the timeline and one small table where I'm finishing up lesson planning at which time the small table will find it's way back to the dining room). (Oh it does need a sofa and when we save up for that, I'm sure the exercise bike will go back upstairs). Right now functionality is a bit more important to me than aesthetics but I do long for getting my den back and I re-read the articles on beauty to remind myself not to totally neglect that here).
Oh, and my non school aged children are banned from the independent school area but I am not there so that doesn't matter much. They are incapable of not becoming a distraction to siblings who need peace and quiet to work. However, I am present in the room with my non school age children and do read to them and other things rotating them into one on one time with me like the rest of the crowd. As younger children finish schoolwork earlier, and sometimes are waiting for time with me, they are also available for games or more than likely enticing younger children into some science project. I think I'd love a basement for some real getting the wiggles out, physical exercise kind of stuff. I'd have enough older children finished early enough with their independent work, that they could help with the supervision/oversight. We sometimes use the garage for this, but it is directly under the work area for the children from 2nd/3rd grade - 8th and these folks don't appreciate the noise so I usually cannot utilize this space until these are all done with the day or during regularly scheduled break times. However, I have found that my project oriented children need somewhere to let their mud creations dry or where works in progress don't have to be continually moved. We have set up a table in the garage for this. I've also decided that all painting and such takes place either there or on the deck to save clean-up work and spare the floors.
I do need some major de-cluttering and we will be doing that this lent and summer.
Well that is a long winded way to describe our personal vote for working on one level - but with a caveat. Hope this helps.
Janet
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Sarah
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 10:37pm | IP Logged
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Gosh I am so torn with this. Every year we start out in the basement and end up in the kitchen in Jan.
Anitamarie, the trips back and forth for us are for books, extra paper, various writing utensils, etc that cannot be stored in the kitchen.There seems to be lots of books that just cannot fit in the kitchen, then the scissors, paper, manuals etc.
However, when we are actually using the school room in the fall, we are coming upstairs for drinks, and food for toddlers.
I think I'm going to declare 1st semester downstairs and 2nd semester upstairs. That way I won't feel guilty about the change because I planned it! I always felt like I failed at the school room idea halfway through the year. It happens to me every year, though. I just cannot stand to be down there. Its even very light with a walkout situation.
Do you think its because we are pulled toward the kitchen as the center of things. . . the front door, the big windows, the easy access to toddler snacks, the ease of flowing from breakfast to school to lunch? It feels easier to keep everyone together.
I just haven't been able to put my finger on why this happens every year.
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Dawnie
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We school around the dining room table, too. I feel too cooped up in the basement and the only finished room down there is too small for both schooling AND a play area. The littles were too big of a distraction down there for those who are reading and writing.
And, yeah, I found myself going up and down stairs a lot, too. And everytime I had to go upstairs to change a load of laundry, answer the phone, start lunch, change a poopy diaper, get the baby who just woke up, etc, etc, etc, my dd would end up getting distracted and off-task.
I feel more at the center of my household upstairs in the dining room, which is right off the kitchen and laundry room. Our living room is there, too, and I have toys in there for the littles. I am also within earshot of any nappers (not an issue right now, but it will be in about 2 more months!). Last summer, I re-organized our dining room and living room to make it more homeschool-friendly. I put a big bookshelf in the dining room with all the children's schoolbooks and teacher's manuals that I'm using this year, a paper organizer, basic art supplies, and a few games and preschool stuff. My intent was to ONLY have the stuff that we need on a daily or weekly basis upstairs. I also have a locking supply cabinet right off the dining room with an activity box for each of the children and things with lots of small parts/messy stuff. The "teacher's desk" is right next to that (in the living room) with the laptop computer on it and a bookshelf right next to it with read-alouds and current picture books and children's Bibles and prayer books and reference books.
The basement room is like our library. That's where I have all the books I want to keep, but don't need daily or weekly. I also have my sewing/craft stuff down there, as well as our TV and more toys. That's where the kids watch their Math U See videos and kids' movies. Once I get it organized a little better, I'll be able to sew down there, too. 
We also have a big supply closet (it used to be a dark room) in the basement where I store puzzles, games, toys, and craft supplies not currently in use. The door has a lock on it to control chaos.
I wish I had space for each child to have a desk of her own to keep her schoolwork in, but I don't.  My dining room table is probably the biggest hot spot in my house for clutter, and my current mission is to KEEP IT CLEARED off when it's not in use! I hate having to shove books and papers and art projects around to sit down and eat. But, that "stuff" is important and it needs a home--besides the dining room table! My 2 school age kids have notebooks and baskets to keep their papers in, but it hasn't become habitual for them yet to *put their own papers away*.  Another thing to work on...
Dawn
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 14 2009 at 11:06pm | IP Logged
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anitamarie wrote:
| Am I dreaming? You guys are scaring me! Thanks for any input. |
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Yes, you're dreaming. Let me clarify.....IN MY HOUSE you'd be dreaming.
Go Upstairs to:
Changing diapers
Getting someone's toy
Draining the black peas that just finished cooking for dinner that night.
Getting someone's book, sweater, pen, etc. that they left upstairs
Child's book is in my purse from the day before and they need to get it.
Neighbor knocks and needs me to transfer a car seat
5yo pulled a nail and it needs to be trimmed immediately
2 yo needs her milk
Kitchen needs to be cleaned up
anitamarie:
I guess it depends on how old your kids are, but when they are little and Mom is basically the only preparing meals, there is a lot of time in the kitchen. Feeding the troops 3 times a day is not a 20 minute deal like it is in schools.
In a perfect world I would be sitting with my kids on the floor all morning reading to them and playing and helping with all their fun things.  And, some days that DOES happen.
Truth be told, I listen to new-readers and narrations while cleaning up the kitchen, prepare dinner while they are doing watercolors or playdough at the kitchen table, and take muffins out of the oven in between read aloud chapters. Kids hop up on the countertop to measure with cups, or dissect an insect while I'm scrubbing the drip-pans and the microwave. And, we sing loud songs and recite poems while pureeing soup. Otherwise, we'd starve.
To me, it's part of learning in the context of real living that everyone talks about. I don't really want learning to be confined to just a room. Don't get me wrong....I'd love to have such a room but I can't picture us staying there for more than an hour at a time.
That's interesting, Sarah that you notice the pattern of starting in the basement, gradually moving upstairs.
I've been having this conversation with my dh.....
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Suzanne in ID
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chrisv664
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We mostly school in the kitchen. I have a big table there which is great for art projects, as well as book work. I have a portion of our large family room which I tried to make a small schoolroom, but we always end up back at the kitchen table! The laundry room is right off the kitchen, I can fix meals while the children work. Not to mention the computer, phone, and constant access to snacks!
Hey...no wonder I'm having such a time trying to lose some weight!
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mooreboyz
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| Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 8:09am | IP Logged
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We have a "school room" upstairs that is shared as an office area for my husband. I tried keeping schooling to this room in the morning hours last semester, but as my littlest got older and wanted to be doing what his brothers were doing it became a real problem (crawling up on tables, screaming for markers, etc.). December was a real school relaxed month for us and everyone worked wherever they wanted which gravitated to the kitchen as it is the warmest room in the house (we live in N. WI).
When thinking about starting back after the holiday I decided that I was going to need to give the littlest 2 my attention in the morning hours or there would just be chaos. So, I explained to the older 3 that the morning hours will be for them to work independently. If they have a brief question they can ask, but anything major they should save until lunch and we'd go over it then. After lunch I put the littlest down for a nap, the 4 year old works/plays on his own (montessori style or just play), and the older 3 and I head up to the school room for intense studies together like science and history type work for a couple hours. I then leave them to work on their choice work for the final 1/2 hour to hour of the day while I play with the baby and 4 year old.
This has worked out really well (knocking on wood) so far.
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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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sunshinyliving
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| Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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-I'm not sure what ages your children are, but if you have any teenagers perhaps the basement could be turned into their new bedroom and a bedroom nearer the kitchen etc could be used as schoolroom/storage for school stuff. (I had a basement bedroom as a teenager and loved it!)
-A friend of mine who has a very small house homeschools in the dining/kitchen area. Each of her children keeps all of his supplies in his own huge plastic crate which is stored next to the table. (She is a neat-knick and this works for her).
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 10:16am | IP Logged
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No actual experience, but if there is a kitchenette downstairs, could you set up some of your food prep stuff in the second kitchen? I have extra cabinets in the basement for kitchen items I don't use often (cake pans, cookie press, etc...). I don't know how you do lunch. If you consistently do sandwiches and such that you aren't doing for dinner, would it make more sense to move part of your kitchen downstairs than keeping your kids in the crowded area near your current full kitchen?
I do think I would miss the light in the basement, but could you put in better lighting in the basement or get one of those light tubes installed that brings natural light to places kind of like a skylight? It sounds like your basement is a nice space--so, perhaps it would be worth it to find a way to make it work by bring what you miss upstairs down to it?
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Where is the ideal place to do schoolwork
