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Kathryn
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| Posted: Oct 27 2009 at 9:14pm | IP Logged
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I hope this is the right area for this so here goes. How to you organize multiple school areas? I have a dedicated school room but as many know, schooling takes place at the kitchen table as well as the gameroom upstairs and even sometimes in the bedroom. My house isn't that big as it sounds but just having to leave the bedroom to walk down the hall to grab a needed item can cause my son to lose focus and we lose time on a lesson and we BOTH end up frustrated. Well, he prob. ends up frustrated b/c I express my frustration a little too, ahem, loudly at times. 
I usu. find myself starting something and then lo and behold I'm missing some needed item (pen, pencil, dry erase board, marker, ruler etc.) The reason I'm sometimes unprepared is b/c I usu. have to "grab the moment" w/ my DS to latch onto a teachable moment when all the stars are lined up  and he's ready, willing and able and I don't have the toddler climbing on me. I suppose it seems easy enough to just have multiples of these in each location but they tend to wander off. 
What about crafts and other supplies? I have some craft supplies upstairs and some downstairs b/c the kids (mostly DD) honestly do them in both locations but it doesn't seem feasible to have 2 complete sets of everything.
Then the last concern is that I usu. end up w/ 3 areas that need to be cleaned each day and again (honestly) I'm lucky if one area gets cleaned up. It all would work so nicely in my mind if they cleaned up the given area before moving on but usu. (DD) comes downstairs while I'm cooking dinner and have a whiney toddler and a DS that at this point is running in/out w/ his friends and now her friends are over and wanting to play outside. Then dad comes home and by the time dinner is over and dad's done playing it's bedtime and at least 1 (or all) of these areas are always a mess.
Any advice?!?!
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 27 2009 at 9:30pm | IP Logged
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What about bags? like the cloth grocery shopping bags.. you can pick those up for like $1-$2 each. Then duplicate items like pencils and erasers and even the dry erase boards if it's needed for more than one thing.. then instead of grabbing some books.. you grab the bag and everything is in it.. It would also make for easier clean up if you can just dump everything back into the bag.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 28 2009 at 9:09pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn,
I think I'd probably get a nice squarish, fabric lined basket for each area. Michael's craft store offers these and I purchase them with the 40% off coupon, but most craft stores offer inexpensive but sturdy baskets.
I'd stock it with basic materials - a collection of color pencils, scissors, small stack of paper, pens and pencils, ruler - whatever basics you find yourself using mostly. Organize them nicely in the baskets with various containers and make every Friday the "tidy and restock the baskets day".
I'd decide on one central location for everything - your school room. Invest some time organizing and making that room really work in terms of storage and organization. In doing this, even if you do have to go somewhere to retrieve things, it's intuitive and all in one room.
The thing I like about baskets is that they look attractive in any room! And, if you kept the baskets near the areas where you primarily worked, materials would always be accessible.
Another idea would be to use canvas bags like those from Lands End. I like to purchase mine from their overstocks. I like the canvas bags, and use them for a lot of things around here... I just have this weird thing for baskets  and find them so useful!
Now...dealing with the messy areas...
First, NONE of my kids are allowed outside, on the computer, or ANYWHERE unless our living areas are tidied. We do a quick tidy AT LEAST 3 times a day - once before school, once before daddy gets home, once before bed. If we don't keep up with this the mess quickly takes over. I get EVERYONE involved, and we don't spend more than 5-10 minutes on this. I definitely cannot keep up with all the tidying and this is something the children can and should help out with! The finite and very short amount of time makes this digestible for antsy children who want to play. Everyone is issued an empty bin or laundry basket. They scoop and swish as they run through the house and then they deposit items and bins back in their proper home. I reward with at least 15 - 20 minutes of free time. Children who don't help or complain while helping don't get the free time - they get to go straight to school or afternoon chore time.
Hope there's an idea here for you!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 6:58am | IP Logged
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I keep basics in every room. I also try to plan out the upcoming week and move needed materials to the room they'll be used in. Notice I said try....
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Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 7:11am | IP Logged
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Kathryn,
I went through the same dilemma with my boys. If I had to leave the room to get something, or, if I sent one of them, it would completely break our stride and some days I might as well have just hung it up for the day.
So, in desperation, I went through my entire house one day. I actually took the idea from the book A Mother's Rule of Life. I listed for each room the learning activities that might take place there. Then, for each room, I set up some sort of storage area to keep any supplies we might need, which meant duplicating things like crayons, pencils, scissors, pencil sharpeners, etc.
So, for example, in my living room, the only thing I let the kids do there is read. We have a basket on our hearth that contains lots of good reading books. The kids can plop down on the couch or floor and read to their hearts content.
In our sunroom, we start our day with prayer and do religion all together. I have another basket there with everything we need from rosaries to crayons for the Liturgical year pictures they will color. I also have clip boards for each child in the basket which hold their papers that aren't yet complete, and give them a hard surface to write on.
Our dining room is where we do crafts so my china hutch has the lower drawers and cabinets filled with craft supplies. (The top still looks like a china hutch so it's disguised  ).
Everything else is in the learning room. I have lots of book shelves down there so most of the books we will use are stored there. Each week when I plan, I make sure that any books we will need for reading are brought up.
It's not perfect. Occasionally I still have to run and get something that got misplaced, but it's helped a lot!
Editing to add: My supplies tended to wander off too, but I had to put my foot down. I took the kids with me on a "tour" and told them what I expected of them in each room. I made sure they knew that just because I wasn't allowing them to do crafts in the sunroom doesn't mean they couldn't do crafts. They just needed to do them in the proper area. I think they like the fact that things are more organized now, and they can find what they need as well.
Also, I hesitated to duplicate supplies because of the expense. But really, it was just the very basics that needed duplicating - pencils, crayons, etc. I do have two white boards but one is small and portable to it's easy to store in the sunroom where I occasionally use it.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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I also wanted to add that I love Jennifer's clean up plan!  I take it a bit farther and tell my kids we wont be having our tea time snack until the house is cleaned up. My kids really work for food!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
| I went through my entire house one day. I actually took the idea from the book A Mother's Rule of Life. I listed for each room the learning activities that might take place there. Then, for each room, I set up some sort of storage area to keep any supplies we might need, which meant duplicating things like crayons, pencils, scissors, pencil sharpeners, etc. |
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This is a really great idea, Becky!!!! Really great!!!  I actually do this once a year in my home so that I can keep the lid on clutter and to ensure that each room is purposeful and organized. But, your idea for this in Kathryn's question is perfect!!! It allows you to really think about how you use your spaces and then address the needs there! BRILLIANT!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Becky Parker
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Kristen in TN
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 2:46pm | IP Logged
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FYI - Hobby Lobby has 50% off baskets this week. We were there yesterday and I picked up two nice sturdy fabric lined baskets. Now our African study and our teen boy study have basket homes. I just need to find several more now.
Jennifer, thank you for reminding me about the Michaels coupon again. Perhaps I will have a nice basket collection one day. It would look better than the piles that are currently on top of the bookcases!
God bless,
Kristen in TN
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AndieF
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| Posted: Oct 30 2009 at 4:42pm | IP Logged
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I was really worried about homeschooling taking over my home, and I set up a learning room in one of our bedrooms. But then reality hit. We still use the learning room about half the day, but it is used primarily during the baby's nap time because a) the learning room is not toddler proof, and b) it is in a bedroom, and so I can't really see the baby if he wanders off, etc.
So here's what I did. I turned the living room into more of a playroom. I put the train table in place of the coffee table, and there is a play kitchen in there, and a basket of dolls and a basket of silks, and toddler toys on a low shelf of a bookshelf. There are toddler books above that, and then preschool type books on the next shelf, and then books for the 7-10 years on the top two shelves. So we read in the living room while the toddler plays. (I still have the coffee table for when we have company, but that doesn't happen that often.)
Then I got the itso plastic organizing system from Target. I got two cubes with large plastic bins to hold our morning subject binders (History and Language, two cubes with shelves to hold paper, and a couple small bins for art supplies, and two medium bins to put on top of the cubes - one for my manuals, books, etc., and one for office supplies. This system is set up in the corner of my dining room. (My dining table is the only place for eating. I have a very, very small kitchen with no room for a table.) So we do our morning work at the dining table, which is open to the living room, so I can keep an eye on the toddler all the time.
And then in the learning room, we have a table, a number of bookshelves, and our materials for our afternoon subjects (Math, Science, Geography and "specials" - music, art, poetry, Shakespeare).
I do have duplicates of markers, colored pencils, and crayons, and basic office supplies in both places, but I keep the watercolor paints, water color pencils, charcoal, modeling beeswax, etc. and the office supplies like paper cutter, 3 hold punch, etc. in the school room.
We've been living with it this way since the end of August, and I like it. It is very quick to clean up, the kids can put the things away themselves for the most part, and I know where things are, and the kids know which subjects they will usually do where, and what supplies will be available there.
Andie, homeschooling a 5, 7, 8, and two 10 year olds, and babysitting a toddler!
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Michiel
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| Posted: Oct 30 2009 at 8:45pm | IP Logged
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I think I'm kindof echoing Becky, but here's my spin. I had to decide whether to have teachable moments or stay focused. I sided with focus, as that is a huge challenge for my son. I dedicated a spare bedroom as the classroom: computer, bookcases, desk, whiteboard, and away from the distractions of the rest of the house.
Down in the basement, where there is a wetbar from previous owners, I have made that the art center. All art things are there, and it's great to have the bar storage, counters we can mess up and a sink for cleanup.
Besides these two places, I have the piano in the dining room and we do music there. So except for music, art, and outdoor nature study, we stay in one room, and it REALLY helps a lot with staying on-task. there is a phone in that room, and if it rings, I check the number and don't answer, choosing to keep us on task.
And the teachable moments still come, and then we grab what we need and know where the stuff we need is b/c it's always there. yeah, right, but it's a good starting point.
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Organizing Multiple School Areas
