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gracie4309
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| Posted: July 21 2007 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
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This may be a simplistic question, but in thinking about what worked and what didn't last year, I'm realizing that having my three ds's (ages 8, 5, and 5) work side-by-side at the same table made for problems. How many of you have your kids sit at one table, vs. desks? How do you deal with squabbling and/or silliness? It seemed like one boy would do something silly, and the others would be off track for quite some time.  This was not very helpful for learning anything. The difficulty is that my older kids need more sustained concentration time, so I can't seat any littles with a big kid and work with the little kid, or the big kid will be distracted.  I'd appreciate any input.
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nissag
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| Posted: July 21 2007 at 6:11pm | IP Logged
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Same table for my ducks. Mostly, that is. Often, they will find a spot on the floor in the next room as well.
With two 5s and an 8, I'd expect a bit of that. With my more fractious children, I assign an older one to help them while assisting others and that way I have fewer problems. There is an added benefit in that my older children get experience teaching - and practicing patience!
I think we'll have nice down cushions for this year (rescued from the sofa that will be tossed).
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ALmom
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| Posted: July 21 2007 at 7:12pm | IP Logged
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My olders work wherever they prefer - ie they move to the quietest place they can find which is generally a desk in the school room (the 13 yo preferred spot) or scrunched on a sofa in the music room (the 15 yo favorite spot). We have a medium sized table in the school room (Sams adjustable height version), 2 folding tables and a desk in here (10 yo main workplace). At one time we had 3 desks. We also do have a mini desk (little tykes garage sale) for the toddler and a small school desk for the 7 yo. They use these desks for paper work like writing and independent work that involves writing or workbooks. The 4 and 7 yo don't spend much time in here but it is available to them and is a reminder that this is a quiet room. It has French glass doors that can be shut so you can still see what is going on but it does block out the sound.
All the books we own practically are in this schoolroom which is lined with bookshelves. It is a large room and looks like a small library. Our fish tank is also in here as is the computer. It is the most cluttered room in the house, but the older children and I seem to work by having piles of stuff - so this at least confines the clutter to one area that can be closed off when we have guests or don't want to have to look at the piles.
The 7 yo works mostly with me at the kitchen table and the 4 yo either listens in quietly where I am or works on a small, child sized table in the dining room (I can see this from the kitchen table though I am not right on top of it). I expect more of the children will be spending more time in the dining room as we are making this into our Montessori classroom - but keeping the clutter in the school room.
Anyone who works/discusses with me, does this by bringing their materials either to the den sofa or to the kitchen table. This way I am not explaining history to one child while another is trying desperately to wrap their brain around a new math concept. The 7 yo is usually finished in less than an hour with formal work and then does more hands-on, independent stuff in the dining room, so the kitchen table is open for discussion/questions on an as needed basis about 1 hour into the school day. I will call a child to discuss with me once per day - and this is done mostly at the kitchen table.
I guess the kitchen table is my command central - and I can generally see the backyard, the Montessori room and my pile of dishes  from this spot. Plus it is close to the laundry room - so I can poke my head in there to throw a load in and peek on the olders to try and assist any frustrated scholars.
This seems to work tolerably well. We tried letting olders do work in their bedrooms upstairs but that was disaster. Still they needed more quiet than is typical when mom is discussing with someone a better part of the day. I guess we pretty much use the entire house for school. The piles of incomplete projects and stacks of research books don't bother me now that it is confined to this one school room. We are very fortunate to have the space to do this. I know my olders often did school outside in our other house - just to get a bit more quiet. (Then we only had one room for school, discussion and music and it was hard to juggle).
Janet
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jugglingpaynes
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| Posted: July 22 2007 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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Sorry, I needed to laugh. I once blogged about our homeschool "desks".
We live in a small house, so during the school year the kitchen table and the living room become our work areas. It is harder when they are younger, my oldest was always interested in what her brother was doing, and I'm sure now that my youngest is "officially" starting, my son will be distracted by his little sister's work. I don't mind this situation. I've learned that life is distracting, so why not learn to focus while you're young?
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marihalojen
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One of the first things I posted about on my blog was Our School Room. Part of the joy of homeschooling is being flexible. Why stay cooped up at a table below decks when all the cool, interesting things are happening up top 
Even in "traditional" classrooms teachers are allowing students the freedom to move about the classroom and work where they are most comfortable. My students favorite spot seemed to be the pile of pillows on the rug in the reading corner. We stuffed a few pairs of jeans and tucked them under other pillows. Not only were they oddly comfy, but they looked so funny, like some kid was burrowed under the pillows, snoozing. But if this does not play into your idea of "school" don't stress about it. My Mother could hardly tolerate us girls working on the couch, much less the floor or the bed! That was back when homeschooling was much more like school at home though...Dad brought home individual desks for our rooms once. They made nice book storage areas, I suppose, but they weren't used much as desks.
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graciefaith
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She only sits for one subject which is writing/spelling and she sits her desk. It's small and just her height so its better than the kitchen table for now.
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JenniferS
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Our first year of hs'ing, the local parish school was giving away old desks, so we bought them and fixed them up, and my kids never used them. They all like sitting around the dining room table, and I liked it because I could, at a glance, see what everyone was doing. Our oldest does have a desk in her room, and if anyone is bothered by another, I send one child there. I am thinking this year i will get new clipboards(as I can't seem to find all of our old clipboards) in case I need more then one child to leav the table to complete work. As we finished up our spring term, my oldest ds liked being in his room working on top of the toybox lid. I guess we work where ever we are comfortable.
Jen
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lapazfarm
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My kids work sitting at the table,lying on the couch, staring at the computer, lying on their beds, standing at a workbench, sprawled on the floor, rocking on the porch in rocking chairs, sitting on the front steps, sitting on a blanket out in the yard,swaying in a hammock, perched in a tree, down by the creek...Hey! Where did those kids run off to?!?
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LLMom
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lapazfarm wrote:
| My kids work sitting at the table,lying on the couch, staring at the computer, lying on their beds, standing at a workbench, sprawled on the floor, rocking on the porch in rocking chairs, sitting on the front steps, sitting on a blanket out in the yard,swaying in a hammock, perched in a tree, down by the creek...Hey! Where did those kids run off to?!? |
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I was going to say the same thing! If I am trying to play a game or do an activity with the younger ones and want the babies out, I will shut us up in our office and have an older child watch the youngers. Our office has two nice big tables for the kids to work on plus our dining room table. My oldest works up mostly in her room so the noise doesn't distract her.
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: July 23 2007 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Mine are like Theresa's and Lisa's. I've actually considered "instituting" a brief "table time" this year, because it seemed to work well when we were at my parents' house. Of course, there it happened naturally (more by coincidence). I don't know if it will work as well if it's actually part of the plan.
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 23 2007 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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I never wanted desks. Our house is WAY too tiny to have a "schoolroom" - and too small for desks too, IMO  . And I never WANTED desks - I just wanted us curled up on the couch or - when needed - to use the kitchen table (there is no dining room table, as there is no dining room .)
But!
Oh, my - they lay on the seat (it is a bench seat), they flop around, they are NOT focused at all!
So - someone was giving away a school desk. And I thought - well, okay, let's just see. So I brought the school desk in (to my already too cozy living room), and much to my shock and amazment, Math that used to take EONS now took the 20 minutes it should! Handwriting took less time and looked better! ds8 worked better for seat work in a desk - unlike at the table, which really was a joke most days. What?!?!
And of course, dd5 announced that she NEEDED her OWN desk too! She could not POSSIBLY live a happy life if she also did not have a DESK! 
So - after a few thrift shop searches I now have TWO desks in my even more cozy living room, and DH says it is becasue it is "defined space" that it works the way it does.
So - we have desks. Much to my bemusement, we have desks...
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Becky Parker
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Cute post Laura!! We have desks too. My kids are given the choice to use them or not. Since we have a classroom that is "sort of Montessori-ish" the kids work all over the place, but I notice when it comes to anything like Math or handwriting, they go to their desk. I also have taken it a step further...
Our desks are in a cluster, so that it is really more like a big table. The kids tend to bother one another so I made a "board" for each of them. I used those big science fair display boards that are divided into 3 sections. I spent quite some time, decorating each to fit the personality of that child. Each board also has things on it that that child might need for school work. For example, my 3yo's board for next year will have the alphabet and numbers to 10, shapes and colors, etc. My 8 yo's board has a place to post her latest poem to be memorized, her list of books to read, etc. The kids actually can choose whether they want to put their board up on their desk or not. Funny thing is, my ds (6yo) who has distractability problems, ALWAYS puts up his board!
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Lisbet
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We start out all gathered around the table, then some wander off or are sent off here or there...my oldests often works in his room at his desk, when it's nice a few kids may work on the front porch (it's coverd and very comfortable) one or two may work on the back patio, reading is more often done cozied up on the couch. Reading lessons with one learning to read is often done in my bedroom.
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vmalott
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For workbook-type stuff, most of the kids tend to gather around the kitchen table, which makes it easier for me to answer questions. However, they always have the freedom to choose to work elsewhere, as long as they are working and not disturbing another. The older kids, when assigned something to read, will choose a cozy spot. For 11ds, that is the chair in the corner of my den. Soon-to-be 13dd will usually read in her room. Same with her younger sister, 8. Now that we have nice chair pads for our outdoor furniture, they might choose to sit on the front porch or back deck to do work. We also have a long shelf-desk area in their upstairs bonus room that they are free to work at, though it hasn't been used since the beginning of last year.
For my littles (6, 4, and almost 3), I'd like to have a nice little table and chairs for them to sit and do work at, so they wouldn't be a distraction for the older ones when they are working at the table. I'm uncertain whether to put it in the den or in a corner of the living room (which is off of the kitchen). The den is where I have some Montessori baskets and trays set up, so that would make sense, but I also like the proximity to the kitchen for a living room set-up. Right now, when they choose a Montessori work, they use the floor in the den, sadly, without a workspace mat.
What a great topic. It has gotten me to think about this again! 
Valerie
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nissag
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cactus mouse wrote:
So - after a few thrift shop searches I now have TWO desks in my even more cozy living room, and DH says it is becasue it is "defined space" that it works the way it does.
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Your husband is very wise! That's exactly right - and it works for a lot of people - wee ones and adults alike. I liken it to putting on your church clothes before Mass. It puts you in the proper frame of mind.
I'm longing for a place where we can have a whole separate schoolroom.
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gracie4309
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cactus mouse wrote:
| I never wanted desks. Our house is WAY too tiny to have a "schoolroom" - and too small for desks too, IMO . |
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We don't have room for desks, either. We do have wooden tv trays the kids used to use to play school. Maybe ds 8 can work at one of those so as not to distract the twins.
Thanks, everyone, for the input. I like the idea of letting them work where they want (we use the floor and couch too, for reading and discussion), but am not comfortable with letting them lay on the floor, couch, etc. for writing activities. They just seem to do better sitting up at a hard surface. My 13 yr old dd prefers the kitchen counter for written work, and my 17 yr old ds prefers the dining room table, which is fine if the younger ones don't distract him. We used to let him use a desk in the finished basement, but found out he wasn't always working.  
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sewcrazy
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We are blessed to have a larger house, with a large finished basement. So we have an actual "school room". The kids each have a small table, office chair, bookcase, drawer unit, white board and cork board. Then there is a larger table in the middle for messy things, or things that need spreading out. One corner of the room is my sewing stuff, another corner is one of those giant beanbags with a little TV, cd player and reading light.
We found that we need a specific place to do school work. This does not mean we don't grab out stuff and go elsewhere. Yesterday we schooled down by the creek, the day before at the butterfly farm. But we need a central spot to return to. And my dh needed not to be surrounded by the clutter we seem to generate.
LeeAnn
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helene
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My olders also work wherever they prefer. Usually this is a livingroom couch or out on the deck. They were often wanting more peace and quiet, so I bought some terrific foldable lap desks that sit on the floor from Company Kids. They can take them into any room. They use them for crafts or board games, too. When not in use they fold up and tuck under the couch. We really only need two. Usually no more than two kids really need them at once.
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TracyQ
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They're almost 17, just 15, and 12 now, so they work at the computer when it's available (which is a problem with one computer, because we have to try to figure out the schedule for that), or wherever they feel like it otherwise.
If the oldest (a.k.a. the noisiest ) is distracting them, our 15yo son or 12yo daughter will retreat to another room, either the schoolroom/office where I have a table set up in the room for school/crafts/whatever, or in my bedroom on my bed, or their own room, depending on what they feel like.
My oldest doesn't like quiet. He needs to work with music or distraction, which I understand, because I'm like that too, while our 15yo needs no distraction, and for it to be very quiet. It's funny to see how different kids are, isn't it????
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Where do your kids sit for schoolwork?
