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What kind of desk do your kids use?


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We've tried the kitchen table thing and it doesn't work well for us. My DD does better with a desk meant for school time. She has the little one from ikea, but is getting too tall for it. I'm also considering getting one for my DD4, or maybe passing down the ikea one for a few years. 

 

If you use desks for school, what brand/style does your DC have? Does it work well or do you wish for something different?

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My kids have this IKEA Micke workstation desk since they were 5 and 6.

http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/spr/09903014/

 

It works very well except for when they clutter up their writing area. They have an IKEA 2x2 expedit cube each for their school books.

 

If we had more floor space, I would have wanted something different like a U or C shaped desk. Since we don't, this combination has worked decently.

 

This kind is what my cousin has and it is really convenient.

http://m.staples.com/Bestar-Connexion-U-Workstation-w-Hutch-Slate-Sandstone/product_370085

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We have a roughly 3'x4' table in our homeschool room that has three chairs (so the two kids and I can sit together at it). I like that it has a big surface for projects and for spreading out all our books. (We do skill subjects one-on-one, so there is plenty of room for me and one child at the table.) We bought ours a couple years ago now from Land of Nod (on sale). They don't have the exact same model available now, but this one is very similar. We bought the extra legs to make it taller so it grows with our children. (Though, my ideal would be two tables like this--one for each child. But we don't have the space or money for that right now.) 

 

 

Edited by EKT
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The first year we had a long desk that both of my girls shared but they kept bickering so I bought seperate school desk the next year. This last year we were sort of all over the place. Partly back at the long desk, kitchen table, couch, computer desk. I am currently looking for a round table that will seat 4 right now since my twins will be starting school next year. I plan on getting some upholstered chairs to go with it. One thing we need is a completely flat writing surface. The long desk had slats and if the paper was over the crack the pencil would make a hole in the paper. So to summarize, in our experience, you need a flat surface, kids not too close to each other and room for mom to sit next to student.

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My DS uses a 6ft plastic folding table that I think we got at Sams. The size is perfect. There is enough room for his computer and most of his stuff and room for both of us when I need to work with him. The not good part is that is a table meant for eating and is a little bit too tall for typing comfortably. Also, the surface is not smooth, so he needs to use a clipboard under papers when writing. I have been looking for something that is more desk like, but I have not found something large enough that is within my budget.

I almos bought s floor model corner desk on clearance at office max, but it was too big to fit in the truck already put together.

Edited by City Mouse
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I got the cheapest desks I could find at Walmart, since the kids desperately needed their own space to save everyone's sanity and budget was my main concern.  I like that they are very spacious (20x36 top, so room to spread a book and notebook), and the price was definitely a draw (listed at $35 right now).  They've held up well for about two years now and I have no concerns about their long-term viability.  The only thing I don't love is the open-shelf storage--our binders and notebooks were always tipping over and falling off the shelves, so this year I got each kid a plastic bin for each shelf to keep their stuff in place.

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We bought (at a school surplus sale) a trapezoid-shaped classroom table with adjustable legs. There's no brand label on it, sorry, but it looks like this one: http://www.staples-3p.com/s7/is/image/Staples/m000053030_sc7?$splssku$. It's big enough for DS and me to sit together, and we could put another person on the shorter parallel side if we needed to.

 

We also have chairs from the same source--his a wooden one marked Holbrook, mine a low classic school-type chair with metal legs. In another year or two we'll need to replace the chairs with taller ones as we move the table higher.

Edited by whitehawk
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  • 4 weeks later...

2 of my kids have an ikea tabletop (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80251141/) with walmart bookshelves under each end (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ameriwood-3-Shelf-Bookcase-Multiple-Finishes/17480009)... LOVE LOVE LOVE this!  

 

My younger two each have this walmart desk.  I put them back to back and in between built a rack to hold bulletin boards facing each side... https://www.walmart.com/ip/Student-Writing-Desk-with-6-Fabric-Bins-Multiple-Colors/17188421 On each side I have a 4 cubicle shelf to hold more of their curricula/books...

 

You can see some pics of the desks in our homeschool room tour {youtube link in my sig}...

Edited by Love My Life x4
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My oldest used to have an architect's desk we found second hand.  The thing was amazing.  He could sit, he could stand, he could have it angled or flat...I wish we had kept it.  We now have built in desks for each child and small tables to work at, but I think when we move to our final home we're going to look for a fold down wall desk, something that can be put away when not in use and raised over time for a growing child.

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I converted my son's crib into a desk using a sheet of birch plywood. It's really spacious and when I get around to it I will anchor some shelves or folders or writing containers to the crib slats.

 

We went the DIY route because we couldn't find anything appropriately sized for a 4.5 year old. He doesn't spend a lot of time there but I figure this setup will last as he grows even if I have to get DH to drill a higher set of holes for the box spring (plywood support) to rest.

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The kids and I meet for "class time" at the dining room table, but they have desks of their own we put together out of Elfa components.  I am BIG on proper ergonomics and the kids each have a computer at their disposal for schoolwork, so by using Elfa freestanding legs and uprights, some desktops, shelves, and drawers (and adjustable desk chairs) we have been able to build each child a desk that not only allows for proper sizing and ergonomics now, they (the desks) are also adjustable to allow for later growth of each child.

 

We also put other tables and surfaces to use as needed.  Today I have set up another folding table near eldest's desk so she can have a dedicated microscope station for biology and not have to set up and put away the microscope every time she uses it.

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