kristinannie Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I am trying to get things organized for when we start HSing in the summer. Here are my three options for where to HS: Dining Room: Right now this room is empty since we just moved and didn't have a dining room table. My mom has an old table we can use and put in there. It is nice because it is a separate room and I can see it from the kitchen (where I spend a lot of my time). It is a good sized room, but it doesn't have any doors on it and you can see it immediately when someone comes to the front door. In fact, it is the only part of the house you can see from the front door (other than a foyer and some stairs). There isn't room for a couch, but we could do read alouds in the living room. Kitchen: We have a nice breakfast nook area with our table. It would be nice to have them in the kitchen where I could keep a close eye on them when they are doing things on their own. Another incentive is that I would have to clean up our school stuff every day to use the table for dinner every night. I would also have to clean up the dishes before bed so it would be ready for the morning (this is a bad habit I have gotten into...leaving the dishes for morning). However, there is no place to hang artwork or maps since there are windows all around the breakfast nook. Also, if we are working on a long term project, it might be a pain to clean it up for every meal. Playroom/exercise room: This room is gigantic. There is plenty of room for everything we would need and two couches that we can do read alouds. We already store all of our art stuff and books in there so that would be at our fingertips. We also have a wall painted with chalkboard paint so we have somewhere I can teach if we need a chalkboard. It is also closed off from the rest of the house (and I could shut the door if someone came over). However, I wouldn't be able to see them as well from the kitchen (even with the door open). The biggest potential problem I see here is distraction since all of their toys are in this room. It might be better to have a separate school area and they can take their breaks in the playroom. Obviously I can change my mind if an area isn't working for us, but I thought I would ask input from all of you veterans out there! I would rather be organized and ready to go when we start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Ours is in our playroom which there is no way to see from the kitchen. I like that it is seperate from the kitchen becuase it is easy to keep everyone from grazing all day and when we go to the kitchen they can all come and help do kitchen chores (which includes our laundry). I also have a hard time keeping my kids working if I am not focused on their school, or at the very least sitting and reading by them. If I try to do chores and teach/keep kids on task then things don't go as well. I also like that the toys are there because that way my littles can play and not drag all thier toys into the kitchen everyday. Just some reasons I like our room that you didn't mention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'd vote for the dining room! And I'd put up a curtain rod so I could hide the mess if need be for leaving projects out. I think it's great to be able to leave a few things out so you don't need to clean up everything before dinner, and being able to see them from the kitchen is a big plus! You should really get in the habit of cleaning up the dishes before bed though! A clean kitchen sure makes the day start out nicer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 How old are your kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 How old are your kids? My son will be 5 and in kindergarten. I also have a DD3 and a DS9months. We will only be doing about 90 min of actual work per day. Everything else will be read alouds, art, music, science experiments. DD3 does do some stuff at the table while we are doing school (coloring books, manipulatives, art projects), but would usually rather play while we are schooling. DS9months is very easy going and is happy wherever he is (playpen, high chair, floor). I know that will change when he starts walking...probably right before school starts for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'd either pick the dining room or the big room. I need a place for my whiteboard, and I like having different areas of the room to set up "stations" for learning. Like Judomom, I'd like to know the ages of your kiddos. If they are quite small, I could see you organizing several areas for them in the large room. If they are older, the dining room would be perfect for table work. We have ours in the basement (walk-out). Toward the end of homeschooling 4th grade, we decided to do most of our work upstairs, in the dining room. Dd just got her books from the shelves downstairs, and worked at our dining table. Only had one child hsing at that point, so clean up was so easy. I could see wanting some projects and work to stay out overnight on occasion, and I definitely would want an area to hang up posters and such for younger kids (and even older ones--my hi school kid needed to hang up posters of the periodic table, cells, latin declensions, a timeline, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skueppers Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I would use the dining room, because my kids would find the playroom too distracting, and I would definitely not want to use the breakfast nook. Proximity to the kitchen is a non-priority for me, since I sit with my daughter the entire time she is working (this is kindergarten). I do not expect to accomplish any household chores during school time. Whether people could see my school room from the front door isn't important to me. We usually do school in our school room upstairs, between the kids' bedrooms, but sometimes work in the dining room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Posted the same time as you! LOL I'd go with the big room for now, and divide it into little areas for your 3yo. Do you have a kitchen set, some dress up clothes to hang on the wall, a small table for her, and a sensory bin? A shelf with boxes of Montessori-type activities, or other typical preschool stuff (a bin of wood blocks, small set of dolls, preschool puzzles, basket of books, etc.) would come in handy. I'd set up a "mini-preschool" for her there. Then you could use a low shelf to divide the area into that and a work area for your older K'er, who probably still needs an area to do puzzles, playdough, sensory, etc., too. You could keep the littlest one closer to you with a packnplay for 15 minutes here or there. Totally depends on what you have out for your 3yo, but most can handle kitchen set ups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'd go with the playroom, but I would try to put up some sort of divider. A line of low bookshelves or something similar. Our school room is in the basement. Also in the basement is the playroom and a bathroom. I like being able to have my younger boys play in an area where I can keep an eye on them (there's a door leading to the main level, so I was able to keep them locked in the basement when they were destructo wonders). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I'd vote for using the large room for your classroom, at least in terms of storage, shelving, and a place for a large white board. But you can (and likely will) use the whole house for schooling. We have a large finished basement and my kids have desks down there and we have lots of shelves and all of our curricula, manipulatives, art supplies etc there, too. Sometimes we'll work on bigger projects down there, especially history, because we often have to save some for the next day and I don't mind keeping it out down there. That simply wouldn't work anywhere upstairs. But we often do things at the kitchen table like the breakfast board, read alouds during lunch, and even worksheets or something. If I need to be in the kitchen cooking or whatever, they can sit at the table and work. We also have our family room where the couch and TV are, and we use that room a lot for reading and watching things on netflix. I think it is nice to have a room dedicated to all of the books and supplies, so everything has a place, but we don't really do a "school at home" scenario where we are in one spot all day. HTH! You are lucky to have that much space. Definitely post some pics when you get it all ready, we love to see school rooms. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasar31629 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 My vote would be the dining room for now. You can see it from the kitchen where you are for a good bit of the day. I know what you mean about the incentive for the kitchen as far as cleanup...but I can say for myself this did not help! There are project I've had to leave out...then there are times we've wanted to roll out cookies with the kids helping at the table and the schoolwork is in the way. I love the idea of a schoolroom and perhaps one day we'd move more toward that. For now though, I'm in the kitchen and so is dh and we all like to be near each other. We feel secluded when we're in one of the other rooms for an extended amount of time. I am also very involved in dd's work right now and she's fine taking an assignment or activity and going at it for awhile, but needs to be moved along afterward and will intermittently need my help with certain areas. It's easier for both of us if we're in the same room. That's my take! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Oh, and I wanted to add...our basement is also our playroom. My son really hasn't been distracted by his toys. But it is nice to be down there with all the toys so my other two kids are occupied. You may find this helps with your two youngers. You can set up some "stations" for your 3 year old to keep her occupied while you are doing things with your DS. And then have a baby safe area for the 9 mo and you are all set. :) We make a little "baby jail" :lol: for my 11 month old with the ottoman between the chair and the couch. He can't get out! :) He has all of his toys, some baby safe books, nothing is in there that he can hurt. I'm only 3 feet away, but I still like being able to sit beside my older son and not be worried about the baby. My DD does school work now too, but not as much. She has her dollhouse, all of her babies, and plenty of art stuff to keep her busy, too. And of course I love that I can go upstairs, close the door, and forget about it if we leave a big mess. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 our school room is in the basement which serves as family room, play room and school room. it works wonderfully, because dd5 has had the space to play while ds 9 and i work (for the past 5 years). we have a mini-trampoline where they take exercise breaks, book cases and shelves for all the school stuff, and play cubbies. they are all in different areas. photos on my blog... http://accidentalhomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/08/finally-redecorated-learning-space.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in STL Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I would vote to make the dining room a dedicated school room. That's what we have done and it works great for us. Yes, you can see it first thing when you come to the door, but we are a homeschooling family, so that is what you get! People usually love to comment on our school room when they enter our home. My main reason for loving the location is the proximity to the kitchen. I can make a snack, start lunch, or unload the dishwasher with the kids working independently. Even when my kids were quite young I could leave for five minutes or so, while they colored or did Spelling Workout,etc. We started out in a playroom, but it was too big of a distraction. Little sister was playing with her toys, and the atmosphere was just not good for paying attention. That's just our experience. I guess it kind of depends on the personalities of your kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 I would vote to make the dining room a dedicated school room. That's what we have done and it works great for us. Yes, you can see it first thing when you come to the door, but we are a homeschooling family, so that is what you get! People usually love to comment on our school room when they enter our home.QUOTE] That was my main reservation for the dining room. Other than that, it seems like the perfect use for a room that is currently completely empty! Plus, I will still have the incentive to keep it mostly clean since everyone can see in there!!!! The playroom is so perfect in every way except for the carpet in there. I would rather have wood floors in the school room (thanks to PP who brought that up). Plus, my son is very easily distracted and seeing all his toys would probably be a disaster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 You could go either way. Personally, I wouldn't want to have to clean off the table every day to eat. But what if you go ahead and put a table in the dining room and eat there? Then you can school in the kitchen. Personally, I would do your schoolwork in the most cheerful place. Half the time when you eat dinner it's dark. In the summer you eat outside, and for breakfast you might have stools in the kitchen. I'd eat dinner inconveniently and make your school spot the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I could go either way - dining room or play room. I would not use the kitchen since you east there. My son does school at the kitchen table, but we eat in the dining room. Supplies are stored in the master bedroom (where little ones are not slowed without a parent). Books are stored in the living room. I don't yet have a whiteboard on the wall. We have one leaning against a dresser. My first grader still needs me to sit with him most of the time he's working. I can leave him during math (checking in often) and while he's reading to himself. That's it. So I don't schedule housework during school time. I'll do it during our long break in the morning and after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I was in the dining room for years which worked great because the younger would come and go. Now we do lessons in my office. It is the quietest room in the house. The kids only come in here to read or play quietly or do lessons. Nothing else. The are asked to leave if they make noise in the office. It has been awesome. I still do read alouds on the couch and art in the dining room and science in the kitchen, but sit-down work gets done in my office. I think part of where you choose to "do school" is dependent on the ages of your children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I would definitely setup shop in the basement, but that doesn't mean you can't move around. We have everything setup in our basement. Half the room is setup as a playroom for the little ones and the other half is a workspace. I did remove any particularly noisy toys from this room to the upstairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaHadley Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I would start in the playroom, dividing up a bit, as the others have suggested. However, as the kids get older, I'd probably move to the dining room. You'll be spending more time doing school, and you'll not be sitting right with someone all the time necessarily. I would be watching for furniture that can be used to store your school stuff that is attractive, but I wouldn't necessarily try to hide the fact that it's a schoolroom. For example, our schoolroom is the room you walk into at our backdoor (it's a converted 2 car garage). I have our "mudroom" type stuff in there, my sewing set up, all our school stuff. We have a fireplace that I have a couple of chairs and a rug full of big pillows for a reading area; there is a wicker armior thing that I have plastic drawers inside of for storage, I have a dining room table for us to sit at for schoolwork, and I have a chalkboard (rather than a whiteboard because it's homier). I also have pocket charts and other learning posters on the wall. It is obviously a schoolroom, but I like it in there. I'll try to take some pictures of my schoolroom tomorrow and post them. try doing a search here for schoolrooms for some ideas too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Seeing the ages of your dc, your goal here is to keep the littles entertained long enough to get some school time in with your 5yo. I'd go with a corner of the playroom. Make sure you are sitting so you can see the whole room and your little student cannot. Really, you don't need a dedicated school space for K...and sitting in the hall OUTSIDE of the playroom (so you can keep one eye on the littles) may be the best spot (ask me how I know;)). For projects, I'd go with a dedicated space in the playroom...but we seriously did phonics and math in the hallway, containing the little tornadoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I would vote to make the dining room a dedicated school room. That's what we have done and it works great for us. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brasilmom Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 My vote is for the big/playroom. I put our schoolroom in our sun room. I like the idea of being able to see outside. At first my dh wanted me to use the basement, but the thought of it made me nuts. We live in WI and the winters are long and dark. I certainly do not want to stay most of my time in the basement where is dark too. So, the sunroom serves as schoolroom and also playroom. I can partly see from the kitchen and it has a door that we can shut. We have lots of windows, so the we are always "outside". Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I vote for the big playroom because your kids are so little. You'll need to keep an eye on the 3yo while you're teaching the 5yo. I agree with the other posters that you could put up some sort of divider or arrange the sofas in such a way as to create 'zones'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipling Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Another vote for the playroom considering the ages of your children. We do school in what could best be described as an office or library - my computer is in here along with a small dinette set from Ikea for our school work and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the walls. It's a little cramped, but it works well. The kids' toys were always in their bedrooms. Things changed when the baby became a toddler this year. As the year has progressed and she has become more active/challenging/demanding/toddler-ish, more and more toys have moved in here. The bottom two rows of shelves on each unit are lined with Little People, blocks, and other miscellaneous toys. I need to keep her in the room with us so that she doesn't destroy the rest of the house, and the only way to keep her happy in here is to have lots of toys. We weren't getting a lot of school done when I was having to contain a screaming child or when I get having to leave the room to find out where she was and what she was doing. That's my experience. If your children were older, I would say dining room for the reasons you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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