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dawn2006
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 9:58am | IP Logged
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Hi! The room we've been using for "school" is our formal dining room. There are two entrances to this room. One is door-sized and the other is just that there's no 4th wall..it's open to the rest of the house. I was thinking about closing this space with some low, long bookshelves (if I can find any) on casters. This would allow me to "close off" the room when not working. I was thinking this would discourage random walking in and dumping while I'm doing something else. I was also thinking of putting our household toys away in the garage while we are working and then bringing those out again when we close off the school room. Am I making sense? Does this sound like a good idea? I was thinking that my oldest and the others as they get older could be allowed in the room unsupervised as long as they've showed the maturity to respect the materials.
Or maybe I shouldn't put the toys away so the younger kids can play and I could just tell the older that playing with those toys is not an option for him during school time or the work period or whatever I'm "supposed" to call it.  TIA.
I don't know. I looked at the links to the learning environments and they were extraordinary! But in mind I'm just thinking...oh my gosh! How is all that NOT going to end up on the floor when you have twos and younger running about?? My dd is two this month and she is just getting to where she could be trained not to dump everything or redirected to an age-appropriate activity but then we're expecting again so when this new baby going through the ranks..then what??
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Dawn Farias | wife to Ariel | mom to Gabriel 9, Daniel 7, Elizabeth 5, and Michael 3 | blogger at Be Absorbed | native Texan but currently living near Seattle
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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 10:17am | IP Logged
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I've thought about cabinets on casters... but my little guys like to push things all over the house. Don't know if your little ones are the same.
Personally, I think it pays to sit in your space for a while and look at it from different angles (the floor, a chair, etc.) and think about the room from the point of view of various ages before you do anything with it. If I were you, however, I would certainly toddler proof everything. That'll save you a lot of work in the long run.
--Angela
Three Plus Two
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Land O' Cotton
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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After much self-induced worry, I took a look at my den today and realized (duh!) that I had a whole wall of built in shelves with cabinets underneath. How did I overlook that??? I feel really silly now for all the worrying I've done, and we seem to be doing school in the den anyway. Now I just need to get rid of a box or two of toys and move some books and we're set!
So, my advice is this (and I'm really a newbie at this, so others here can probably help more). Walk through your home from room to room. Look at anything you've got that could possibly qualify as places to set up materials. You'd be surprised what pops out at ya! For example, yesteray I noticed two nice baker's racks, a cart with glass shelves on top and underneath on wheels, one of those low country benches you see in Country Living magazine--found mine at a garage sale for $5), old milk can for storing mats.
Hope some of these ideas help you! I'm really working hard at making do with what you've got. Theresa has some great ideas for her centers on her blog (lapazfarm).
Oh well, I just noticed I didn't help much with the toddler issue, but what about one of those Rubbermaid garage storage cabinets that lock? I don't know the dimensions, but it should hold all your things and solve the safety issue.
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Vicki
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Cheryl
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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I think the learning room will always be changing. The set-up that worked for us last year with a baby is going to be set up differently this year with a curious 18 month old around. 
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Cheryl
Wife to Bob ('97)
Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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ozlouise
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| Posted: Aug 18 2007 at 7:42pm | IP Logged
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We don't have a learning room at the moment and the kids have access to all of their toys in the day. We work in `blocks of time' and my 6yo knows that he has to work until the buzzer goes off. In between, I don't care what he does. It may be easier to keep the younger kids amused if they can get to their toys.
The bookcases sound like a great idea to me.
Louise
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happymama
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| Posted: Aug 19 2007 at 11:34am | IP Logged
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I love the milk can idea for mats!
Learning spaces are in constant flux, i believe, as the children age. Try to have an open mind about it. It will defeat the purpose if you are too frustrated.
We've had a Montessori learning room for 1 1/2 years now, and all i can say is that my 2 year old could destroy it in a heartbeat if he wanted to. :) He is ONLY allowed in the room with supervision for now. Honestly, it could cause enormous frustration for you if your 2 year old has free access to the Montessori trays. Can you put the trays with the most parts up above his reach or in plastic containers which lock?
If you can "get through" the next several months until your son is almost 3, you will then have much more freedom to set up anywhere. My son is 2 years and 9 months and just this morning i found him in the classroom sucking on markers. He had snuck in. Most of the time he does fine in there, but it's just too tempting when mom's not watching! Just some rambling thoughts.
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Mare
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| Posted: Aug 19 2007 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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Dawn,
For the first six years of using Montessori, we didn't have a learning room. Our family room, which was small by today's standards, didn't have any space for shelves. I couldn't use our dining room either since we eat in there for all our meals. Our kitchen is too small to seat all of us.
I had to keep all the toys and Montessori materials down in our unfinished basement. Each day I brought up the materials we were going to use. While it was not an ideal set up, it worked for me since I had so many little ones running around. I didn't have to worry too much about losing pieces,etc. 
I don't have the same concerns now with another one coming up the ranks. We put an addition on to our house. Last September, was our first full school year where we had a learning room. I will be able to close the door and gate the room if necessary. I can really appreciate having that extra space now.
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Figuring how to set up learning room..
