If you have a basement, do you school down there?

[Mosaicmind]

I am in a predicament here and I need some sound advice and suggestions on what to do. We have a full finished basement; it has a bedroom, bathroom, family room, large play/school room, and an storage/office area we use to store extra clothes and such.

 

About 2years ago I had dh put up a large blackboard, 2 tall 5-shelf bookcases, and other assorted things so we could do school do there. Needless to say, we ended up back upstairs because I wasn't as diligent about making us get school done without the tv on. Long story.....

 

Now, we are upstairs but I hate having everything upstairs cluttering up the living/dining room and there is no place to put books, maps, or school supplies so we are constantly going up and down the stairs to get things, or work on our maps.

 

Should I just move back down there? We are now in a very rigorous schedule where the tv doesn't even come on until we are completely done with school, chores, and folding laundry. Now, really it hasn't come on much at all lately. It would be so much easier to be down there, but I am worried that I will feel like I am trapped down there with little sunlight. I don't really know how to explain it.

 

I guess I should just make the move down there, uh?

[katalaska]

There's this odd little nook between the bedroom and the bathroom down there (that, strangely enough, the previous homeowner had decorated with old-fashioned school desks!!) that just fits three little desks. Across from it is the (large) laundry room, which now houses another desk.

 

Sometimes I do think the lack of natural light down there gets to me...but there's no way around it. The big window is on the north side of the house (in the bedroom) and the window on the south side of the house (where all the sun is) is tiny and high up (and in the playroom).

 

Most things are done in the basement. Sometimes we bring *A* subject up to the living room or family room so we can spread out on the floor or sit on the couch.

[SnowWhite]

We have a full finished basement but I know myself well enough to know we would not do school efficiently there. My kitchen is the heart of my home and we all just naturally gravitate there. We had a two year experiment of using one of our bonus rooms back the hall from the kitchen as our school room... it still contains our computer and weekly-used school books. I moved two desks into the corner of our dining area (open floor plan with the kitchen), moved in a three drawer Sterilite storage set, converted 3 existing dining room drawers into school supply drawers, and now we're not constantly running back the hall to get things from the "school room".

 

With all that in mind, I recommend you make yourself a space in your main living area where you can all be comfortable.

[Diana in OR]

Not only do we homeschool in the basement, but we make our dc stay in the basement and never let them come upstairs. We do feed them and all, but we make them stay there so they will have no contact with the outside world.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. We don't really have a basement, but if I did, that's where school would be set up.)

[Mosaicmind]

Not only do we homeschool in the basement, but we make our dc stay in the basement and never let them come upstairs. We do feed them and all, but we make them stay there so they will have no contact with the outside world.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. We don't really have a basement, but if I did, that's where school would be set up.)

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Margo out of lurking]

We've had a large finished basement; a medium sized, carpeted basement; and currently an unfinished walkout. I would never school in my basement. Not only would the temperature difference (and there is one!) bug me, but I like to be near my kitchen. We've always schooled at the kitchen table, moving back and forth between the family room/couch.

 

My dh likes our house to look like no one lives in it--EVERYthing put away. The first time he came home unexpectedly to find all of our school stuff spread out on the floor (outside of my cabinet), he about died. In addition to the cabinet, I had a bookshelf along the wall in my basement staircase,

 

I can't fit a bookshelf along the stairs now, so we bought a large buffet for our kitchen (which is also our dining room), and I store daily school stuff in there. Extras are in the basement.

 

Works for me!

[Susan in TN]

...with a play/rec room, office, misc. room, and half bath. Originally, I had everything planned out and organized to do school down there. But because I spend so much more time upstairs in the kitchen/bedrooms/bathrooms, I gave up and moved upstairs. I still store our "not currently being used" curriculum and books downstairs.

 

In the kitchen, we keep our lesson materials in a microwave cart near the kitchen table. It has a cubby that fits our binders and workbooks, a large drawer where we keep paper, pencils/sharpeners, glue, rulers, etc, and a cupboard below that where we keep more books, science materials, art materials, and other misc. things. On the very top we keep a tape dispenser, stapler, and a box of tissues. It's very handy, compact, and doesn't look out of place in the kitchen.

 

My oldest (7th grader) does a few lessons in the office downstairs so he can use the DVD player on the computer, and where he can have a quieter place to do science.

 

Oh, I do keep a very few things in the living room - things that we mainly do in the living room like Phonics Pathways for K'er, Latin for 4th grader, read-alouds, etc.

[Cedarmom]

We have a basement, but it is too far from life. I like doing it upstairs, then I an cook and do other things upstairs. Besides in winter, it is just too dreary. We have bookshelves and cabinets for school stuff upstairs. One of my friends kept telling me how much nicer my bookshelves would look if they had pretty things in them instead of crammed full of books(usually with paper hanging out) :D

[Tammyla]

I'd feel trapped down there. We spend enough time down there when the tornado sirens are going off. Our basement is nothing special and there isn't enough natural light for me/us. I'll always say...Do what's best for your family.:001_smile:

[fivetails]

We have a basement, but we don't do school down there - we don't do anything down there.. well, I go down to do laundry, but that's it. There's mold growing through the cement walls and floor in various places (it just keeps coming back), it's dark and dreary and just, yuck.

 

Now, if I had a nice carpeted fancy basement thing with rooms and such, I might have a lot of fun making it into a school area. :)

[Remudamom]

Make yourself do it for a week and see how you like it, then decide.

[JudoMom]

We school in the basement. And I really do lock the door. But that's just with a latch up high so the 2 & 4 year old don't sneak upstairs while I'm schooling the older boys :D.

 

I love having a school room. It's in the finished basement, along with the playroom and a bathroom.

[wide eyes & laughter]

to say. I can see why folks say they would feel trapped were they to school in their basement - but this is why I *like* to school in our basement! I love that our basement is the quietest part of the house. We school in a bedroom w/adjoining playroom so my youngers often play or do arts/crafts there while I school my oldest.

 

The only thing that *might* cause me to want to be upstairs is if we didn't have a window which allows lots of light into our school room. But we do. I guess I wouldn't be able to work well without something of a view. And it's a very cozy, comfortable room - used that Ralph Lauren denim paint look. Cozy. We use a space heater in winter and love the cooler temp in summer. I don't even hear the phone ring or the doorbell :D I'm not near the kitchen where I'd be tempted just to step out and do those dishes. It is the room where there's the least distraction for me and my dc.

 

I suppose it just depends on one's self-discipline - and I need all the help I can get! :D

 

Hope you find what works best for your efficiency and comfort level!

Best,

Cheryl

[myfunnybunch]

We also have a basement, and fully intended to use it for a school room.

 

I realized that I hate spending time in the basement. Instead it's the play room and we school at the dining table--lovely light from the picture windows, we're near the kitchen, we can see the world going by, and it's not so dark and confined.

 

Cat

[Mom2boys]

I also have a finished basement, with a school room, but we don't do school down there. The lack of natural light (one tiny window) really bothers me. Instead we sit at our dining room table next to a large bay window. :) And the former living room is now our home office, with a desk and computer for me, and a bookcase with our current curricula. I like that our dining room is next to our kitchen and our laundry room, so I can do some quick chores and still monitor the kids to keep them on task.

[Once]

We have a school room in the basement too. I just today rearranged a little to make more play room for the soon to be three year old. I am worried about the light in the winter and we can move upstairs if we need to. However, for now it makes sense for us because it is cooler there and we can do without the A/C. Not to brag or anything but I have a really comfy couch to snuggle in when I do read alouds. I brings me back everytime. :D

 

So the end result is we move around according to what is needed. ;)

[Kate in Arabia]

We have a basement (which is actually unusual for here), but the house is more of a split level -- you walk up a half flight of stairs to get to the main level from outside, or down a half flight to get to the basement. It is finished and has a half bath, and has a lot of windows that are pretty much full sized. But the view is at foot level so the light is still a bit restricted, but is still there.

 

We just finished moving our homeschooling area to the basement and some of the non-school books upstairs. (Dh and I have a bit of a book addicition problem.) First it just always looked cluttery in our main sitting room, even if it was picked up, and that made it awkward (for me) to receive guests (it is common to have drop-ins here). Second it is just generally cooler down there and that's a big advantage for us. Third now our school area is where the tv and the main computer/printer are, which will be a big help to me.

 

That said, I haven't actually tried homeschooling down there, we'll be starting in the next couple of weeks, so I'll see how it goes. The only downside I see right now is the handy access to water/coffee, so I'll have to think about taking down a bottle of water/carafe in the mornings.