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LucyP
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| Posted: March 18 2009 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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After our little crisis over sending our son to school, we decided to stick with home education as that seems the best choice for him. Dh has suggested setting up a stand alone home learning room to remove DS who is 5, DD who is almost 2, and me from distraction. It would be a garden room, at the end of the garden, and set up with a computer, maybe a sink, tables, bean bags, bookshelves etc. I'm just not sure what the pros and cons would be. I quite like a more relaxed, round the kitchen table style of learning, and at his age DS is not doing hours of study a day: it's about an hour of "table time" (phonics/maths) and then extra bots of journalling, crafting, nature "study", painting and lots of reading and free play. So I'm just not sure how that would fit well with a learning room - I think it may be an expensive resource we use very little. Has anyone got any opinions or experience?
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Maryan
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| Posted: March 18 2009 at 6:59pm | IP Logged
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So you would leave your house to do schooling? I know we do most of my schooling during naptime, so I like having school in the house proper although you could use a monitor? We started at the kitchen table too... but then ended up taking over our dining room which I like better now. So I like separate but maybe not so separate?
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Jody
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| Posted: March 18 2009 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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Bathroom breaks may be a hassle. Back and forth.... and what if one doesn't come back promptly?
peace,
Jody
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Martha
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| Posted: March 18 2009 at 10:08pm | IP Logged
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other than the previous mentioned concerns I think it can be good for some and not others.
IS he relaxed around the kitchen table?
for some this is NOT as comfy cozy as it sounds it's a place of constant distraction, frustration, interruption, and aggrevation. If that is the case, go for the seperate area.
We didn't have a seperate area until about a year and half ago. And we did just fine.
But wow. just having a place for everything and being able to get everything to its place without a hassle is great regardless of learning! and I must admit that it kind of sets the mood for learning to step into this room and see nothing but educational stuff and know that it is not just another play/living area.
That said, only a few children school in here. Others follow me around and work where I work. (not always littles either, my 13 yr old, 8 yr old, and 4 yr old prefer to work whereever I am) Others work at the kitchen table or counter bar. The living room desk or in their rooms. Oddly enough where they work changes depending what subject they are working on too.
interesting critters these children of mine...
anyhow.
probably no help at all 
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 19 2009 at 12:11am | IP Logged
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Lucy - This is just my own experience, but I definitely would want a learning space located within the home.
My learning room is in what *should be* my dining room. I like being central in the home - near the laundry room and kitchen. I also like my separate learning room space. We don't stay in there exclusively, but we are there primarily and it is nice to organize spaces, learning centers in one general room that is still near the working part of the home because so much learning for a 5 year old takes place within the context of what I consider mama's apron strings - baking alongside me in the kitchen, following me through the house to gather laundry, helping me set out art supplies, snuggling up next to me on the couch.
At 5 yo my children don't have any required table time. They may choose it, but in general prefer a mat on the floor with Montessori work, flipping through a picture book at the table on their own, crafts at the table sometimes, reading with me on the couch, but generally lots of flitting about happily from activity to work to play to reading/snuggling to activity to work to play to reading.
I think it would be a lot less expensive to invest in some nice baskets or maybe some trays to set up in the kitchen or living room on a shelf. Some ideas:
**basket of picture books
**counting cards
**lacing cards
**sorting beads
**building blocks
**sorting shells
**art supplies or a craft project's supplies all ready and set out in a basket
**alphabet stamps and pad of paper
**scissors and paper printed with wavy/curvy lines in patterns for practice cutting
**collage basket with magazines, garden catalogs, scissors, glue, cardstock for making collages of things spotted on nature walks.
You could even set some up for the 2 yo to have some play centers. You could set these up neatly on a shelf in your kitchen and just have your son choose his basket or tray. Then, do a little nature walking outside and come in and choose another basket. Then, maybe snack and choose another basket. Craft/Art time, choose a basket. Read aloud together, free play.
I'm going to throw this expensive idea at you...'cause I figure if your dh is willing to go for a garden room he might be willing to entertain a few other options/investments...if you don't have a room on the interior of the home you could set aside as a dedicated learning space, consider carving out some creative storage and display spaces. Lakeshore Learning has some nice stuff (pricey) for organizing activities, books, and supplies. There are other vendors with better prices, and if your husband is handy, a couple of these neat shelf ideas could be a summer project. Or, a simple shelf from Target or Staples with baskets and trays from the thrift store can be just as lovely!
Just an idea. I think I'd be frustrated running back and forth between outside with the kids in the learning room, and inside to do laundry, bathroom breaks, meals, clean-up. Maybe invest some of that money in a lovely smallish table and chairs, nice bookshelf, new picture books  . I can see these things as investments in your children that will see lots of use over the years.
Just my 2 cents.
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LucyP
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| Posted: March 19 2009 at 9:01am | IP Logged
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Thanks for your replies, ladies.
We don't have room in the house for a special learning space. We literally use our dining table, which opens off the tiny kitchen, and store a couple of boxes of specific supplies in a cupboard. We just have no space for anything else, even special kid szed table/chairs etc. I suggested moving bedrooms round upstairs - the children and I sleep together in a medium sized room, and dh sleeps either with us or in the huge master bedroom on his own, and I thought he could have the smallest room as a bedroom and we could use either the medium or large room as a learning space, but he disagrees.
We do have baskets similar to what you sugegst, Jennifer, which DS uses for his sel-directed learning/playing time. I think though as he is 5 we need to show the local authority that he is in full time, suitable education with a balanced curriculum, so we do need more "formal" learning - although it is a small part of his day and kept very low-key - other children might do it in 15 or 20 minutes, he just takes longer.
The one good thing of dh seeing the price of school fees is that he is now amenable to me spending some money on education "stuff" - so far it has all been a few pounds here and there, and he hasn't seen the need of spending "serious money" to meet the children's needs.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: March 19 2009 at 1:04pm | IP Logged
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LucyP wrote:
| I think though as he is 5 we need to show the local authority that he is in full time, suitable education with a balanced curriculum, so we do need more "formal" learning - although it is a small part of his day and kept very low-key - other children might do it in 15 or 20 minutes, he just takes longer. |
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Lucy: So, this is "state-requirements-driven?" Can you give us an example of what you're required to do, and maybe we can brainstorm different ways of accomplishing it, geared for active little boys. Making it more do-able for him without it being "painful".
Although you WERE specifically asking for feedback on the learning room  , so maybe I'm going off on a tangent.
I definitely wouldn't want to "be away" from regular living spaces. Running back and forth would drive me batty and the expectations would be too high for me to "enjoy the journey" with them. But, that's just me, my kids, their ages, etc. I'm not trying to replicate the classroom experience. I do, however, sometimes need more focused quiet time....which happens when little ones nap, when a neighbor is outside with some and not others, later at night, on the weekends when dh is home, etc. So, I DO get the whole "focused/uninterrupted-thing." It's just in different and unusual ways.
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snowbabiesmom
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| Posted: March 19 2009 at 9:42pm | IP Logged
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Lucy, we lived in Army post housing and homeschooled for years with "no where to go" space. Our post house did have a coat closet near the front door. I used that space for storage for school things ( and do now in our current home as well) Coats are now hung in the bedroom closets. This is a perfect spot for games, books, and manipulatives if you have one you can use. We used our kitchen table for years and still do. My kiddos follow me everywhere I go. When I am working at the table with some of the children, I have taught my 2 yo how to roll out her "mat" ( which is a soft bathroom mat) to play puzzle or blocks. She tries to stay on her mat. When she wanders off I will call her back to clean up her toys and mat. This Keeps her busy while I am busy. I am too much "all over the house.. changing diapers, laundry, meals, etc to be away from the house during the day. A lot of our harder subjects are done at nap time.
I guess this is really a tangent to your request for help.. just trying to help you see that you can still use your kitchen table and do "real school"
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: March 20 2009 at 5:15am | IP Logged
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Lucy, the local authority shouldn't be looking for much in the way of formal "table-time" type education at his age. The new Early Years curriculum is very heavily play-based. At our local lower school they now spend a large proportion of their time in free play activities up to the age of 6 - it is much more like an extension of play group, rather than school as we knew it. Their formal time starts off in very small (5-10 minute) doses, and then it is mostly small group work. There is very little table time until late in Year 1. They recognise that wiggly little people learn better by doing than by sitting.
As your ds is only Reception age, being able to show that you spend some time doing literacy and numeracy activities and have educational toys available should be more than enough.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Separate Learning room
