LisainVirginia Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We are blessed to have a 10' x 20' playroom that we've turned into our schoolroom/playroom (first year of homeschooling, one month in), thinking that would keep the papers, mess, etc. in a contained area. Yes, I know...go ahead and laugh, then keep reading. I thought I would love that set up, but I'm considering moving school to the kitchen table (upstairs in a split-level, while playroom is downstairs) for a few reasons: When I'm working with one child & the other wants to play, it's a distraction. The dog thinks the playroom is hers so she's always defending her territory and bugging us. There's nowhere comfy to sit for reading (thought about bean bag chairs) but upstairs we have a sofa, loveseat. And the biggest thing is probably that school feels somehow 'separate' from life when it's mostly in a different room. I think the kids like having their little desks and a school room, but it feels kind of weird to me. For example, why do I have crayons, markers, paper, etc. in two different places? (Upstairs for 'regular' life, downstairs for school.) And it feels like we kind of rush through and are more regimented rather than lingering over our learning and seeing where it goes. Does that make any sense? Anyone with a simliar experience or ideas/pros & cons? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We have had schoolrooms and we never used them. We use the dining room table. I even have a desk in the dining room and my son doesn't use that either. Sometimes we sit on the couch. I am trying to figure this out myself. We need a whiteboard and I am trying to decide whether to alter the dining room so that it is now a school area, or use the upstairs playroom. We have an open floor plan, but only one child. The thing I worry about is that she might be distracted by the TV. Not that we have it on, but if I was teaching her would she stare at the TV and long for Dora instead? I just wonder if it would be easier to keep my daughter in a disciplined, working frame of mind if she has a specific work area. But I'm hesitant about the playroom for the same reasons as the OP. Advice from veterans welcome!:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We have a huge playroom downstairs that I could easily turn part of it into a school area but I don't want to. Our living room, kitchen & dining room is very open so we mostly use the kitchen table. I like having the kid's there while I'm cooking or making snacks. We have a whiteboard on the wall where they can all see from the table. Also, our kitchen has an extra big closet so I keep all our supplies & books in there. It just works out perfect really. Sometimes we like to go to the couch for read alouds and different things. I don't really want a "schoolish" feeling either though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 With kids the ages of yours, definitely "all over the house." My little ones might sit at the kitchen table doing copywork and math, but snuggle up on the sofa for reading, sit on the floor for a phonics game, etc. The only thing beneficial about having a "space for homeschooling" is for keeping all of our stuff and books. Now that I have high schoolers, we have an office that has desks set up for them and the little kids are banded from going in there and disturbing them (distractions add time to their already very long days.) But for younger kids, nope.......it is not school at home; it is homeschooling. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekmom Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I love having a schoolroom in the basement!!! We did school at the kitchen table for a few years, but I got so tired of clearing the table every day for meals and then getting it all back out again! I also liked being able to "get away" from all the school books and papers. I felt like I couldn't relax in my home when school stuff was always staring at me and seemed to be saying, "Don't relax, you have lots of school work you could/should be doing right now!!!" Also, by having it all centrally located, I can keep it organized better than when I was stuffing it in our blanket chest in the living room. Projects can be spread out, papers scattered across the table, playdoh stuck to the floor, and it doesn't drive me crazy like it would up in the main living area. In other words, having a separate school room has helped me keep my sanity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I found that having a schoolroom meant I was "trapped" in there. If I left the room, my kids stopped working. Staying in there all day meant I couldn't get anything else done. We tried the kitchen table, but I didn't like having to clear it all off for meals and such. We still do use the kitchen table for projects and experiments, though. We moved school to the dining room this year and I love it! I set it up so that I can easily switch back to a dining room and it's working wonderfully well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We have always had a schoolroom or school area in our house. It is great for keeping all of our school supplies, books, etc. together, but it has rarely been where people actually "do" school. My kids like to spread out all over the house to do their work. My two youngest usually do their work in the living room, while my oldest two like to do their work in their rooms. I do like having one place to store things and have them out of the way of our living/dining space, but we never actually do school there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova mama Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We used to use the dining table, but my husband didn't like that it was constantly covered in papers. We have a pretty big kitchen, so we bought another table and have school in there. I also like that whenever we're about to eat I don't have to clear everything off the table. The "play" crayons are in reach, but they need permission to use the special (still somewhat pointy) crayons. We also keep toys in the kitchen, but they're not allowed on the school table. Sometimes the little one plays (somewhat) quietly while I'm working with an older child. You can see the toy shelf on the left in the picture. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102064&highlight=vika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earth Yarn Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 we store our school stuff in the office and then we have a little fold up height adjustable table we got at sams that we can carry around to wherever we want to do school :) I agree that a playroom would be a bit of a distraction with other kids playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (4 bedrooms up - only 2 kids). It is a huge bedroom and we use it daily for school. To me, the best thing is compartmentalized mess. Also, I really love having a place where we work together, but doesn't clutter up my kitchen (which we used for about a year and I couldn't stand). Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I never had a choice, as we lived in small homes with no family room or basement, but I really liked doing Official School Stuff at the kitchen table. A separate room for storage and big artsy messes would have been nice, but for everything else, the kitchen table was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christielee7278 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We use both. We have the schoolroom with the desktop computer and all of our school *stuff* neatly put away inside, but we do most group work and the k'ner work in the living room or kitchen table. Mostly we have a schoolroom as a storage space to keep the littles from messing with things. I do send one or both older in there to do independent work while I keep the little ones in the living room with me. We had a schoolroom/playroom for a while but it was a distraction having the little ones playing with the toys while one or two did school work. I can see in the future, when we don't have a need for so many art/craft supplies and the children are older, just using our kitchen table or bar area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We made the decision to convert our dining room to our school room. Our floor plan is very open so I'm still able to get up now and then and be nearby. However, neither of my children are able to work independently. Both have ADHD and if I'm not right by them pointing to the next line of work very little gets done. I have my computer desk against the wall so I sit about two feet away from both kids (I'm kinda in the middle on the "corner" of an oval table) and can turn around my computer chair to work with both or either of them at the drop of a hat. We have done work at the kitchen table before and that never worked well for us. Having to clean the table for every meal was a big issue. I do read alouds on the couch usually and sometimes go outside and read or verbally "quiz" the boys while they swing. I have a 3 year old running around as well - sometimes he sits at the other end of the dining room table and builds or colors, other times he goes to his (nearby) bedroom and builds train tracks, etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyOwl Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We have always had a schoolroom or school area in our house. It is great for keeping all of our school supplies, books, etc. together, but it has rarely been where people actually "do" school. My kids like to spread out all over the house to do their work. My two youngest usually do their work in the living room, while my oldest two like to do their work in their rooms. I do like having one place to store things and have them out of the way of our living/dining space, but we never actually do school there. Our setup is evolving (oops - is this a bad word?) into this as well. I'm finding that having a separate room to keep all of our books and supplies helps tremendously, but we may be found doing school anywhere (today is my bedroom:)). When we first started, I thought we might put our schoolroom in our finished basement - but like you (OP), I realized that wasn't going to work. So I begged my husband to let us take over his office - now our room is on the same floor as the kitchen and no one has the excuse of being too lazy to return books where they belong! On the other hand, we may re-name the room our "Zoo Room" because we just added a rabbit to the three resident guinea pigs that live in there. My son's allergist is going to have a cow! Of course, allergies are another reason the boys don't actually do much work in there. Mary Alin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 You're probably going to go back and forth on this. In a year or two your older will start wanting more independence, at which point you'll like having a dedicated place for him/her to work. The more subjects you get going, the more messes you'll have, especially with two kids. As for the one playing and disturbing the other, well at age 4 they're old enough to sit and do something. I'd set a timer and build up their stamina for seatwork. Find what makes for peace and do it. It's ok to work at the kitchen table, but I think you'll like having that dedicated place, even if it's just for storage as your collection of curriculum, materials, science supplies, etc. grows. You probably haven't started collecting books, 4 years of art supplies, 12 sculptures, the previous timelines that you can't throw out, posters, drawings you did of them when they were 5 that just CAN'T be thrown out, etc. lol. Be flexible and enjoy having your room. When you want to work in your room, work there. When you want to work in a tent in the living room, work there. But your schoolroom can hold the clutter to keep your flexibility peaceful. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Having a separate schoolroom didn't work for us when it was upstairs (we have a ranch with a "finished attic"). We moved downstairs into our sunroom, which is just off the dining room, and it works really well. We're looking at possibly moving, and my biggest concern about the otherwise perfect house we've found was - where to put the schoolroom?? We finally have decided that if we move, the "living room" will become our schoolroom, and the basement will be our family room area. Most people would probably reverse the two, but for us, we won't use a room on a separate level as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We are on our third school room. This one we have used the last two years and it gets used because it is off the kitchen which is the other room we use regularly for school. The key to having a school room is to be sure it is convenient. Our first school room was the upstairs game room, which is the ideal size and plenty of wall space, but we never went up there! Gradually the things we stored up there ended up downstairs. The second room was my master bedroom because I had wall space for our white board and we often laid on the king size bed to do our reading. DH and I got tired of it real fast so the formal dining room, which was just an office lost out to the school room. I would prefer it to be bigger, but it works and one of the doors leads right into the kitchen where we do our experiments and most of our general hanging out. There are pictures on our blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara K Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We combined the living room and school room. We sit on the couch but took a small kitchen table that we no longer used (too small!) and cut the legs off. That way it's the same height as a coffee table but it's big enough to spread out on. We have baskets under the table with scrap paper and a larger basket for supplies. This table can be covered with a table cloth to dress it up a little and help hide the baskets if we have company. We put in a bookshelf that has the binders for schoolwork and the books they use everyday or often. The rest (think a couple truckloads) of books are in my office and if used a lot we can add them to the living room bookshelf. Since the TV is already there we have our latin DVDs right there, I can work on the laptop while still sitting with the kids. If one child is waiting for me to finish with another child the one waiting can listed to memory work on the stereo while I'm waiting. Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen in NJ Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We started our first year homeschooling in our Playroom and moved to the kitchen table to get away from the toys. They were too tempting. This worked for a while, but then dishes started to get in the way of schooling and books got in the way of our eating.:tongue_smilie: My girls and I noticed that dh hadn't been using his office for weeks. So, we took over his office for a bit. This was nice. We could leave our school work out to be finish later. The dishes didn't get in the way of schooling and books didn't get in the way of our eating. It was wonderful.:D Then for some strange reason, my dh started to use his office again. He would place things on top of our work and move it if it were in his way.:001_huh: We couldn't live and work like that, so us girls kicked him out of his office.:lol: He was very nice about it and painted it pink for us. My girls love their own desks and I have mine. He also built us some pretty book shelves. Before, I had stacks of books all over my home. We still use the kitchen table for our grammar lessons since they are on the same level. Read-Out-Louds and silent reading are done in the living room or their bedroom for comfort. Since we are using a DVD for Latin, we view it in the living room. We could do that at my computer in the school room, but it is better on the big screen TV. We have a nice back yard with tables and chairs. If it is a nice day, I allow them to complete their independent work outside. I like having the space to store our schooling material. This year he added a black board to our room. Yippy! Two or three days after he finished painting his ex-office pink, his boss informed him that he would now be working from home.:lol: I am glad that he finished the painting before he found out.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiegirl Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We have a schoolroom but we never use it. It is good for storing books and supplies but we never use it for what it was intended for. Our schoolroom is in the basement and, even though the room is painted bright colours, it still feels dark and claustrophobic down there. So we do school all over the house. We do use the kitchen table for copywork and math sheets but, other than that, we have our learning time in the living room or family room. Right now, I am recovering from surgery so my bedroom is our schoolroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I started out 2 years trying to use our bonus room/playroom and we always ended up at the kitchen table. Our living room is visible and open to the table, so we go in to the couches (literally a few steps away) for reading and such. This year I just gave up, moved out the baker's rack and put book shelves beside the table instead. I LOVE it all being there. We just put the stuff back on the shelves when we're done. I do have more books on shelves in our garage (lots of our resources that aren't used daily). Here's a link to the pictures on my blog. http://lovingjesusandourlife.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-school-area.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) We are in the process of designing a new home. We are putting in a playroom / schoolroom just off the kitchen and dining area. We won't have a formal dining room because we are not formal people, so we have planned a larger eat-in area off the kitchen plus a large kitchen island with seating for at least four. The kitchen and eat-in dining will be very open to the great room on one side but will have a wall and glass french doors to the play/school room on the other side. I hope/think having it so close to the kitchen and dining area will help us to enjoy using it more. So I have been thinking about what I would want the play/school room to look like. Our kids are both just turning 4 now so we are just starting out. In the beginning, we will have more play than school but I want to plan it to also work for later years. Current thoughts are to have a sink area for cleaning up after art or science projects without having to drag stuff through to the kitchen, in addition to very durable, easy to clean flooring, space for black/white/cork board, lots of built-in bookcases, a nice size table and comfortable seating and lots of windows. We have been using our kitchen table to date but are now at a point where I would really like to be able to leave out crayons, markers, pencils and books and stuff for the kids to be able to do whenever they want without having to ask and wait for me to set everything up for them (have to cover the table with a plastic tablecloth). I too am getting tired (already!) of clearing off the table, only to have to get everything back out after a meal. So I am thinking we will likely use the planned separate room a lot, hopefully. I anticipate that we will still do school stuff in the other rooms at times but hopeful that this room will be so convenient and well planned that it will be a joy to do work there and will be easy for me to keep an eye on from the kitchen when preparing meals and snacks. Anxious to see what others have to say, as I was just getting ready to do a search on this type of thing to see what those experienced homeschoolers think about these ideas.:lurk5: Edited October 7, 2009 by Lea in OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krw Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Thanks for asking this question. We have a dining room that we're using as an office and I want to completely turn it into an office/school room. Need to do a lot of purging and reorganizing in order to pull it off. Right now we're using the kitchen table and counter - ds8 at the counter, dd4 at the table - I can't have them together. I have workboxes for them but it still doesn't eliminate the amount of clutter that seems to accumulate throughout the day. We try to pick up as we go so that by the time I need to start preparing dinner I'm not looking for empty space to work. I like the idea of keeping everything contained in one space. I have a plastic bin in the dining room/office that keeps my instructor things as well as the "good crayons" :) and some other things that I don't want them to bother. In our playroom which also serves as our guestroom with a futon which is why I can't convert that to the schoolroom, ds8 puts all of his subject binders when he's finished with them and I really don't want them in there. I want to be able to have a contained and designated space for schoolwork so that if the rest of the house is in shambles, school-related work is not to blame. :laugh: Like Lea in OK, I'm looking forward to hearing how homeschooling pros are creatively handling their school spaces. :lurk5: krw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura W. Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 With this house we have an area that would be perfect to use as a schoolroom - except it just didn't work for us. Working in our living/dining area is just more comfortable. Oldest dd has a desk in her bedroom and does some of her work in there, too. Our schoolroom has turned into a great library and storage area for curricula and books we aren't using. Now, except for the current week's school supplies which we keep in bins, our school things are in the schoolroom. It helps keep the rest of the house a little less cluttered (keeping all our "stuff" put up is a challenge anyway, with 6 dc). Blessings, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Didn't read all the replies, but we just transitioned to a desk/school area instead of the kitchen table. I got tired of having to clear it off for every meal, and of having stuff everywhere. We now have the desk and several shelves, but they are still in the main part of the house, and ds only uses the desk for writing or coloring. We still do reading on the couch ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland_Mom Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 We LOVE having a separate school area. Ours is actually shared with a large "L"-shaped playroom. When we first began using the playroom/school room there were distrations, but that didn't last long. The kids got used to having their toys nearby. I like being able to leave our school things out (if I want to), which keeps our kitchen and/or dining room table clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlee Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 This is my first year of homeschooling, and when we first started out, my plan was to use our dining room table as our central school area. We don't have a separate eat-in area in the kitchen, so this table is also where we eat all our meals. I tried it out during the summer to see how it would go and quickly discovered that it would not work for us. My eldest is 7, and I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old, and as soon as I would start schoolwork with the eldest, the little ones would come running and want to be involved. But keeping them at the table with us and quiet/occupied was always a challenge. I found it too distracting for our eldest for this to work and decided we need to be somewhere else in the house. Our basement is our playroom, and I realized that with some reorganization, I could turn one wall of the room into a school space, using furniture that we already had and adding a bookshelf. (You can see a photo here on our blog.) This has ended up being the right solution for us, at least for now. I can work with the elder two boys and the youngest has enough to amuse himself; or, if it's too noisy, the eldest can go to his room or upstairs for some peace and quiet. And especially because I have boys who like to move around, trying to keep school confined to a dining room table wasn't working for them. So this is working for us now, and I do like that I have a space that has all our school materials in one place that's a little bit out of sight. Of course we use other areas in the house when needed--kitchen, office for any computer work, etc.--but our basement is where we spend most of our schooltime. Hope you find a solution that works for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) We are blessed to have a 10' x 20' playroom that we've turned into our schoolroom/playroom (first year of homeschooling, one month in), thinking that would keep the papers, mess, etc. in a contained area. Yes, I know...go ahead and laugh, then keep reading. I thought I would love that set up, but I'm considering moving school to the kitchen table (upstairs in a split-level, while playroom is downstairs) for a few reasons: When I'm working with one child & the other wants to play, it's a distraction. The dog thinks the playroom is hers so she's always defending her territory and bugging us. There's nowhere comfy to sit for reading (thought about bean bag chairs) but upstairs we have a sofa, loveseat. And the biggest thing is probably that school feels somehow 'separate' from life when it's mostly in a different room. I think the kids like having their little desks and a school room, but it feels kind of weird to me. For example, why do I have crayons, markers, paper, etc. in two different places? (Upstairs for 'regular' life, downstairs for school.) And it feels like we kind of rush through and are more regimented rather than lingering over our learning and seeing where it goes. Does that make any sense? Anyone with a simliar experience or ideas/pros & cons? Thanks! Are you me?????? We have a 12x26' playroom/office downstairs in our splitlevel that I was going to use for homeschooling. TOTAL DISASTER! We now homeschool at the dining/kitchen table sometimes and more at the tiny desk I made for DS by cutting down an IKEA chair I picked up for $6.50 and a TV dinner tray table I got at Wal-mart for $8. I got a 5x5' cabinet from Home Decorator's Collection. With shipping, the regular price for that one was $900(!!!), but it was on clearance for $380, including shipping, and it arrived dinged, and since they had no more, they offered me half off everything if I wouldn't send it back and ask for a refund. So for a pint of paint, that's an attractive $190 cabinet that holds most of my HSing supplies in the dining area. The living room becomes the school room during school hours, though, and I like that. When just doing the kitchen table, it was too hard to manage dinner and school, and the kitchen was always a pit. Edited October 8, 2009 by Reya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaik76 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 We have a schoolroom that doubles as a playroom for "off" times. All the art supplies and stuff are down there, so that's where the kids do that. I've had school in the dining room before, and just didn't like it. I don't really like spending time in the kitchen (don't like to cook!) so it just annoyed me to do school there! It also keeps the upstairs mess (the schoolroom is in the basement) to a minimum, since play and school is for downstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGin Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 We're on our 10th year of homeschooling and though we have had a school room a time or two it just never felt right for some of the same reasons you mentioned. So the kitchen table has become our main work space, along with the living room and the car. It really is ok, actually better than ok, it works for us. Some things I've found that work well in using a non-school room space are: I cut a foam presentation board in two and we use these for dividers to keep the younger two who sit on opposite ends of the table from distracting each other. (Oldest dd works in her room.) They like having their own insta-cubicle and I like the peace. :) This, btw, is a new idea this year and I'm very happy with the result. They each have a locker, i.e. a big plastic file box with a flip top lid that all their school materials are organized in and a small bin for pencils, pens etc, these and the dividers stack in a corner when we're done. I use the slider door window as a dry erase board and in the past I put a heavy gauge clear plastic sheet over the table and under it went a big map, and/or various learning posters. Easy to change out, and easy to throw a table cloth over when we don't need the table for school. I haven't done that this year, but I'm thinking about doing it again. A shelf in the corner holds our most needed reference material and my command central is at the kitchen counter. I've learned to keep it simple and like I said, it works. Love homeschooling because of this very ability to do learning where it works best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Our schoolroom is right off the kitchen (it's probably meant to be a formal living room). I'd keep your options open. Try the dining room for a while, see if you can make it work. Even better is if you don't really need a formal dining room, and can turn it into your school room. It would be difficult for me to use a dining table as a school table and an eating area--all the cleaning up, etc. At our house, the older kids do a lot of their work in the school room. They prefer to be together, although they have desks in their rooms and are free to work wherever they'd like. Our computers are in there, the books are in there, all the supplies are in there. Whenever they need something, it's there. The only thing that isn't there is me. :D I'm in the living room doing school with the second grader and watching over the 2yo. So if they need help, they just bring whatever it is to me. The only thing I have to be careful of is the goofing off that can ensue if I don't keep an ear open for unnecessary chatter. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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