School room ?: Is it necessary to have a school table...

[cseitter]

for preschool/K'ers (I have 3; 2 soon to be K'ers and 1 preschooler) or can you just use the kitchen table? I keep leaning toward buying a school table where their feet can touch the floor but then I think that it really isn't necessary and can use the money elsewhere.

 

What experience can you share? Do you think a school table is necessary?

 

This is an example of what I am looking at:

 

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/847334/Scholar-Craft-Student-Activity-Table-Kidney/?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Google-_-Teacher_and_Classroom_Supplies-_-847334&mr:trackingCode=890E6F1B-EC81-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

[ByGrace3]

We use both. I have a kids table for some seatwork and handwriting. We go back and forth using the kitchen table when I am working with them, depending on what else I am doing at the time. I do like having both though, I think the kid size table is especially important when writing so they have the proper posture, feet on the floor etc. Although I didn't spend a lot of money on my table, maybe $10 at a yard sale. I think you could do either.

[trying my best]

i would buy their own desk (table) their size. For 2 reasons

1. Sitting at the big table can effect their posture. I saw my 3 year old and 5 year old sitting at the kitchen table.. they have to sit on their knees. Their back was all twisted.. I got them their own little desks and now their feet are touching the floor, their backs are straight. Another things if they learn to sit badly (improper) they will crave this way for the longest time. It wont be good for their backs

 

2. Having their own desks makes school time special :)

[Dinsfamily]

I don't know if it is mandatory but I'm really glad I bought a school table. It is much more comfortable for my ds to sit and write properly. We also are in more of a school mode sitting there and work more efficiently. Plus, it gets used for all kinds of things from crafts to the holiday kids table.

 

I bought mine at Walmart and it came with two chairs. It was inexpensive but decent quality and pretty (which was important to me). It's honey colored wood and isn't an eyesore in our house. We've had it for 2 years and it still looks new...which is saying a lot in our house.

 

ETA: this is the one I bought. It was a Christmas present to the boys. http://www.walmart.com/ip/KidKraft-Avalon-Table-and-Chair-Set-Honey/4200617

Edited February 14, 2011 by Dinsfamily

[HoneyFernDotOrg]

I have older kids at my cottage school (in my home), so they generally prefer the couches, but I think everyone is right about the kid-sized table thing. I think when you are building habits and working on posture, a kid-sized table is best, but informal stuff (like building things or finger paints) can be at a bigger table where everyone (including mom!) can sit. When my dd was younger, she wanted to help cook, and everything was too big. A little table made it so much easier for her to help.

 

It is almost yard sale season, so look around to find something affordable!

[nukeswife]

I know there are many that use the dining room/kitchen table for schooling and it's possible to do it. My kids prefer a school room and since we have a formal dining room we would have never used, I turned it into a school room. We have a kid sized table in our adjacent playroom, because I have to have a large table for my olders in the school room. For my little guy (just in K now) he has a chair at the large table with a cooshie booster on it, luckily there is a place on the chair for him to place his feet so they aren't dangling, but I've thought of buying one of these for him since it would be a little easier.

[Cindyz]

We have a school table and a chair with adjustable height. We also use a stool under his feet so he can sit with flat feet and good posture while writing. I wouldn't want everything all over the table all the time.

[lionfamily1999]

My children have survived using our dining room table :)

 

I'll give you one granted. Some days, the only thing done at the table is school work... The kids may eat off the cleared squares in the midst of all their work, but dh and I end up on the couch :lol:

[mazakaal]

I used a plastic Fisher-Price outdoor picnic table with benches when the kids were young. It was a better height for them than the kitchen table and wasn't a lot of money. I had actually bought it to use outside when they were very small and just cleaned it up and brought it in when we started homeschooling.

[JudoMom]

We've always just used our old kitchen table in our school room. I used to have a couple of booster seats attached to the chairs, but not anymore. It's worked just fine :).

[Satori]

Thanks for the link to the Keekaroo! I've been racking my brain on what the name of that chair was called so I could purchase one. We have a Stokke chair, but we moved it to my daughter's desk. Sometimes I lug it all the way up and down the stairs to use in different places because we love it so much. I'd like to get another for the kitchen table once again, but half the price for a Keekaroo is very nice.

 

I like the adjustable chairs with foot rest. You can use them from baby to adult, and that means it's such a great value/investment!

[mnllj7]

My daughter is in 5th grade I would love to have the kidney shaped table for our school room, I like being able to sit across from her and help with her work. It is a perfect table for art, games, or for cutting out patterns for sewing. Or just having a tea party. I like having a designated area for our school so we can post all our accomplishments, and even hang things we have done from the edges of the table. nancyt,.

[HoneyFernDotOrg]

So funny. We are right now deciding whether or not to put a table in the sunroom (instead of the couch that is in there) so they have a surface to work on, and they are asking for desks. I am so not interested in bringing school desks into my house (or anything that smacks remotely of a desk!!), but I will have to take their suggestions into consideration. Mine are older and know a bit more about how they will learn best, and it is becoming apparent that they all want some kind of desk/table. Go figure. Guess the novelty of working on the couch has worn off. :)

[Dmmetler]

I have a school desk in my DD's size for writing and drawing-and it makes her feel "big" to have a real desk ;)

 

Most everything else is kitchen table or floor. Usually floor.

[jwoodbri]

Absolutely not necessary but nice... :) especially when it comes to writing to have some thing properly sized. We do a lot of work on the floor on mats (Montessori style) but we have this table from Amazon that I really love. Our 5 1/2, 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr olds can all sit comfortably and it's holding up well despite not always being treated well. The kids even helped me put it together. http://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-Farmhouse-Table-Chair-Set/dp/B000IYJU36/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297878672&sr=8-1

 

We do use our kitchen table for art and larger projects but they really need to be seated correctly for writing. We have Stokke chairs for them (Craigslist finds) as well although I'm sure any similar chair would work just fine.

[emilia]

I got DD the sansad children's table and chairs form Ikea. She loves it. Table was $49 and chairs $19 each. The table adjusts so I can raise it up as she grows and the chairs have storage. She loves the storage! I keep her markers, crayons, and craft supplies in the chair storage so she has access to them 24/7. It's so nice to have a place for her to go sit and make cards, etc. on her own without any help from me.

We read on the couch or cuddled up in bed, do math on the floor, do science anywhere and everywhere but for writing and crafts I prefer her child sized table. She is an only child but when she has friends over they always ask to sit at the table and do crafts. I like letting them create without me hoovering over them and when they need a break I can say, " snack time" and feed them at the dinning table!

I haven't regretted our table purchase for a minute.

[Brindee]

This is the table (only it was light blue back then) http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/179-5387586-0357968?asin=B00001R3V1&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=|B00001R3V1&CPNG=furniture&ci_gpa=pla&ci_sku=B00001R3V1&ci_kw={keyword}&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001 that we used. It worked for school, tea parties, snack time, finger painting, etc. Otherwise the kids did stuff at the kitchen table or on the floor. Since we didn't have a classroom,, it was nice, since it was easy to move, even for the kids, since it was so light. Also, it was comfy, not hard or "pokey". The kids loved that table!

Edited February 16, 2011 by Brindee

[MyLittleBears]

I went through this when we first decided to homeschool. I really does help to have an appriopriate sized table and chairs for the students. Not only does it help there posture, I found it improves their handwriting. We used handwriting without tears and the TM actually says that students need to have both feet flat on the floor in order to write correctly. We ended up going with the kidcraft avalon table and chairs because they were the only ones that were not too small for elementary grade. The others seemed more toddler/preschool sized. My 10, 7, and 5 year old all fit perfectly!

HTHs!

[susesmiles]

We use:

the kitchen table

kids sitting on stools at the counter

one kid has a small desk that can also be a breakfast in bed tray, he loves the fact that it is so portable

another kid has an old school desk, he likes having a desk to sit an work at

sometimes we sit on the floor

 

They have all worked. You need to do what works best for your family.

[cseitter]

This was on my local Craigslist. Appropriate? It is listed at $45 and I want to go see it tomorrow with my kids (so they can sit in the chairs) It isn't exactly what I wanted but...

 

 

http://richmond.craigslist.org/fuo/2217834384.html

[kkiller]

We are kitchen table users as well, nothing fancy here. :)

[emilia]

I forgot to mention that a friend of mine found a neat vintage 1950's table at a garage sale. She sawed off the legs to be child height. She picked up a mix of kids sized chairs at yard sales, etc. It is a great table for the kids. She got some risers for it so she can use it as an additional table around the holidays. Win win!

[arghmatey]

We have a school room / library with a desk and a child table. My daughter usually chooses to work at the dining room table and sit in a booster chair. She has excellent posture, but it's something we say is required for written school work, sort of like meal time. We do not begin eating / writing until our posture is in order.

[Ariston]

Haven't read all the other responses, but thought I'd add my 2 cents....

I bought a school table last year and regret it. We never use it. I thought it would be important for handwriting at least, but it just doesn't fit our school style. We do most of our work on the sofa and the rest on the kitchen table.

[DarlaS]

I think the school tables are a better bet than typical kids furniture for the smooth writing surface--and they are usually adjustable.

 

KidKraft makes an excellent product though. I can't help but think how much cheaper (and taller!) I could build something like that though (and most would not need 4 kid sized chairs). That's a two year old pictured there, and the apron appears to be quite deep so an older child's legs might press into it.

 

Amazon's dimensions must be way off on that, as I sincerely doubt it is 28.9" tall. That's the height of an adult desk. That could be the height of the chair back.

 

If you're going to buy a table, and appearances matter to you, I'd recommend something like this: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/carolina-craft-table/?pkey=cplay-table-chairs

 

Or build the PB Kids table (slightly taller). This appears to me to be under $50 in materials.

 

http://ana-white.com/community/project-suggestions/pb-kids-caroline-craft-table?value=carolina%20craft&type=1&include=1&search=1&ret=all

 

 

or this one:

 

http://ana-white.com/2010/11/claras-table.html

 

bigger version shown with bench:

http://ana-white.com/2010/12/build-the-bitty-bench.html