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Theresa
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| Posted: Feb 11 2008 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
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Currently my computer is in the dining room/homeschool room. It is very handy as we use it for school quite a bit but it is also a big distraction for me. It can be too easy to just sit down and check e-mail and blogs when I should really be doing other things.
When we move we will have a room for our homeschooling that will be separate from the main living floor. I think that having the computer up in that room and not so accessible will be good for me.
So I was just wondering where you all have your computers.
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Theresa
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Maryan
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In my bright yellow kitchen where we do everything except read books and play basketball. I like it near where we are and in the public arena, but I can understand the distraction factor.
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
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JodieLyn
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"dining area" of the kitchen.. which is next to the living room.. and the dining table is actually in one end of the living room..
I like it at the central part of the house.. I can sit for just a couple minutes.. and seem to need that couple minute sit between things, especially when pregnant. And it's a whole lot easier to sit at the computer for a couple minutes.. than read for only a couple of minutes or whatever. I'm accessible to the kids.
For me, having it elsewhere would mean I'd have to remove myself from the main part of the house.. and with a traveling dh I don't find that a reasonable thing to do. Not to mention I find it way more accessible for watching over any children with permission to use it for a bit than I would in a seperate room that I'd have to somehow manage to watch that child and the others in the main part of the house...
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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JodieLyn
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oh.. of course, if the computer is really being a problem.. I just shut it down.. then I *know* it's not just a couple minutes to sit there and get back online 
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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
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Theresa
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Hmmm Jodie, you've brought up a good point about the internet and children. The kids can not be on the internet unless I am around.
We have a second computer that is not hooked up to the internet so maybe that one could go in the homeschool room and I could have this smaller one some where on the main level for times when I'm preparing lunch or dinner and the kids want to be on.
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Theresa
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Dawn
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We have a desktop in the family room where the boys can access pbskids and pokemon.com etc. My laptop is usually parked at the kitchen island, in the midst of command center.
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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Theresa
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Am I the only one who finds it distractable? 
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Theresa
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lapazfarm
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Well, unlike the majority it seems, mine is in my bedroom. I like having mine away from the hustle and bustle because it helps me to have another way to separate out the kiddos during school time.You know, one kid at the kitchen table, one in the living room, one in my room on computer and one in a bedroom playing with the train set. Divide and conquer!LOL!My house is arranged so that I can easily access all of those areas to keep an eye on everyone.
And then I really only get on the computer when the kids napping, having breakfast, watching a video, or asleep, so it's fine for me if it's in my room.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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Rachel May
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We keep ours in the office with the exercise bike and the scrapbooking stuff. I like it being in a quiet space (not that the kids don't follow me in sometimes), and we can close the door during narrations. I do find it "calls to me" sometimes, but I'm fighting it. Sometimes if everyone is engaged and I'm making dinner, I'll set up the laptop on a cookie sheet on the counter, but I do it planning to be interrupted.
Right now, the kids only use it for Rosetta stone, and that has to be on the laptop since it has speakers so I move it out to where I can supervise and help.
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Rachel
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Mary Chris
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All over the house. My FIL bought me a laptop a few months ago, I love it. Sometimes I use it in my room, sometimes in the kitchen, if the kids are playing in the front I can sit in the living room and keep an eye on them, I can browse on it while we are watching a movie.
We also have two computers in the basement school room that the kids use.
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Mary Chris
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I forgot to add, it can be a huge distraction for me 
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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mellyrose
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I have a laptop, so mine travels throughout the house. I spend snippets of time here & there on the computer.
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Melanie in AZ
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SallyT
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I just moved mine from the bedroom, where everyone had been tending to congregate, because we only have the one computer -- I grew to loathe having my private space be the family infotainment center 24/7 -- and into the kitchen. We, too, keep our smaller drop-leaf dining table in the den, so the computer station is in the little alcove at one end of the kitchen where the table used to be. Yes, it's a distraction for me, but it was a distraction for me in the bedroom, too, and it was too easy to get sucked into "disappearing" for too long at a stretch, or for the kids to go in and shut the door and be on too long as well. They've never given me reason to be worried about what they're doing, but I find I FAR prefer having it all based in the kitchen. It's much easier to use it for school or my own work, and if we've got other kids over, as we did for history group last week, it's much easier to have a computer activity available for them to gravitate to (I tend to do lots of "centers" when I'm working with a group). Before, it was a little weird to have all these kids who didn't belong to me gathered in my bedroom to watch clips of ancient Greek drama or whatever. We don't have a television, so the computer does double duty as my A-V resource.
Anyway: another kitchen computer, and happy to have it there.
Sally
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Erin
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Theresa in MN wrote:
| Am I the only one who finds it distractable? |
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No, definitely not. The secret for me is to NOT turn it on and check emails before lesson time. I only turn it on when needed to type narrations or the older dc need it for internet use relating to their lessons. If I don't check emails and blogs and 4 Real till after lunch the day goes much smoother. Now confession time it took me a LONG time to work this out and even longer to become self disciplined, I'm still not perfect but am definitely better.
On another practical note, we used to have out computer in the study a fair way from the learning room, it really didn't work as I would be called away to a child needing computer help or would leave the children set up in the learning room and adjourn with a child to type a narration and return to discover either chaos or an empty room with not a child in sight. Having the computer (well the main one ) in the center of our learning environment works much better. I can be there for both groups of children.
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Erin
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Mackfam
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I have a laptop - so I'm mobile. But for the most part it stays here in the living area. If I'm feeling tempted to sit at the computer rather than tend to the daily duty, I just close the lid and send up a prayer. I think of time on the computer as a reward for having used my time wisely the rest of the day. Some days I get to blog, come here, and visit other blogs...some days I don't. It is a matter of self-discipline.
I do like having the laptop computer in a central location so that I am always aware if someone is looking at it. The dc are not allowed to get on the computer without permission. We have a non-internet computer in the school room.
And yes...it is a temptation for distraction for me as well...so it's time for me to get off and go tend to the day! 
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Jen Mackintosh
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PDyer
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"My" desktop is in the great room. We decided we wanted it in the center of the house where we can see who is on the internet, and how much. The computer can be a huge distraction for me; thanks for providing suggestions for taming it, everyone.
We just bought the kids a desktop we're going to put in the basement family room. (That reminds me I have to go buy a desk, surge protector, etc. tomorrow) My son can play his drive-hogging games on it. We've decided it won't be internet-capable, at least for now. We're trying to minimize the isolation associated with computer game playing by putting it in the more public, in-the-thick-of-things basement than the away-from-everyone learning room.
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Patty
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DominaCaeli
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We only have littles, so my husband and I are the only ones using our computer right now. It is in our bedroom, for a couple or reasons:
1. We have lots of financial information on it, so we like to have it in a shut-away place. Our file cabinets are also part of our computer desk, and we don't feel comfortable having those in a "public" area.
2. If it were in the living area or kitchen with me during the day, I would use it more. Right now, since it is all the way upstairs (we spend our whole day downstairs) I only go on when my children are napping or in the evening.
3. My husband and I spend most of our free time together in the bedroom. It's where my sewing machine and reading chair are, so I often read or sew while my husband reads online in the evenings.
Anyway, that's our system!
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Celeste
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Cay Gibson
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My computer is in the living room.
Children's computer is in the kitchen.
I hate both locations but I say that putting theirs in the children's bedrooms is totally out of the question and dh says putting mine in our bedroom is totally out of the question.
I don't have an office... 
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Cay Gibson
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8kids4me
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In the dining room, and it is definitely a distraction!
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Cindy B, mama to 8 great kids, and 5 grandbabies!
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Paula in MN
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I've always had mine in a separate room. When we got married, dh moved his office things into that room, and I really had a hard time adapting. About three weeks ago (during a mojor cold spell) we decided to move the computer into the kitchen/family room area, and let him have the office to himself.
I really like having the computer in the room where the kids and I spend the most time. We have a learning area downstairs, but haven't used it with all this cold weather. It's cheaper to only heat one level!
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Paula
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Where is your computer?
