Re: [unschoolingbasics] Set up of an Unschooling house
Melissa
We have everything spread out, because there are so many of us that
it really impeded on others to have a loud TV on in the middle of the
house. So, in one corner of the basement, is the TV room and the room
next to that has most of the toys and crafts. We (ok, me, dh kind of
came home and said "Bored today?") cut a hole in the wall between so
there's a doorway of sorts between the two (actually, it's more like
a hobbit hole). Everyone has a computer in their room, it was worth
the money (haha, we bought them at university overflow sales for way
cheap) so that everyone had the opportunity to play. So the TV room,
play room and girls bedrooms are in the basement. The boys rooms are
on the first floor with the kitchen and dining room, but those just
have our music setup, so not a lot to play with there. except sam and
dan's room, with the hotwheels and knex, and Josh's room has a
second TV with the n64 and wii, no cable though. They just migrate
through the house, moving to what's most interesting at the time. I
spend a LOT of time running back and forth, up and down. I should be
much skinnier. I look at it as having stations, we just rotate
throughout the day. It's kind of nice, keeps things interesting.
Why not move her kitchen and craft stuff to the basement? Our
basement is kind of kid's zone, definitely all about the kids.
Melissa
Mom to Josh (12), Breanna (10), Emily (8), Rachel (7), Sam (6), Dan
(4), and Avari Rose (19 months)
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
it really impeded on others to have a loud TV on in the middle of the
house. So, in one corner of the basement, is the TV room and the room
next to that has most of the toys and crafts. We (ok, me, dh kind of
came home and said "Bored today?") cut a hole in the wall between so
there's a doorway of sorts between the two (actually, it's more like
a hobbit hole). Everyone has a computer in their room, it was worth
the money (haha, we bought them at university overflow sales for way
cheap) so that everyone had the opportunity to play. So the TV room,
play room and girls bedrooms are in the basement. The boys rooms are
on the first floor with the kitchen and dining room, but those just
have our music setup, so not a lot to play with there. except sam and
dan's room, with the hotwheels and knex, and Josh's room has a
second TV with the n64 and wii, no cable though. They just migrate
through the house, moving to what's most interesting at the time. I
spend a LOT of time running back and forth, up and down. I should be
much skinnier. I look at it as having stations, we just rotate
throughout the day. It's kind of nice, keeps things interesting.
Why not move her kitchen and craft stuff to the basement? Our
basement is kind of kid's zone, definitely all about the kids.
Melissa
Mom to Josh (12), Breanna (10), Emily (8), Rachel (7), Sam (6), Dan
(4), and Avari Rose (19 months)
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Aug 9, 2007, at 8:56 AM, Kendrah Nilsestuen wrote:
> Currently we have our computer in our basement, and our TV when we
> had one as a family room set up. It seems to me though that in an
> unschooling house it may make more sense to have everything central.
> We don't have a big living room or dining room, but if I got a
> smaller desk we could probably find space for it and the computer up
> there. We have set up our TV stand with our laptop on top of it so my
> daughter can watch her DVD's when she wants. But our modem is not
> wireless so I can't just move it up to the lap top if she wants to
> play on the internet. Her play kitchen is up there and it is big
> taking up space, but she uses it a lot. Her craft area is too. I'm
> just wondering how you guys set it up. I hate to clutter up the
> living room when we have all this space in the basement but I'd like
> the kids to have access to whatever they want to do at the same time.
>
> Kendrah:)
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Lisa
We have many computers set up in various places in our home as well as
a couple of laptops that the kids(or parents!) can take and go find a
quiet place to work or play. We have 5 desktops and 2 laptops...
various folks have given us parts over the years and it's hubby's
hobby to put the various parts together to make a working system...
sometimes he gives them to folks he knows that need a computer (single
parents, special ed classrooms etc) or if one of the kids has a need
that requires a better sound card or video card etc he pieces together
another system that fits that need.
We also have two big tv's one upstairs and one downstairs in each of
the family rooms, both younger kids have a tv in their room and we
have a tv in our room. The older kids enjoy having a tv room
downstairs so they can watch things that the littles don't want to see
or find too scary or mature.
We have video games in various places... one upstairs one downstairs
and one child upstairs has their own in her room because that is her
need. There are bookshelves in every room stuffed with books and
interesting things, stacks of board games in various places, legos,
knex, Playmobil, craft supplies, math manipulatives, science
experiment books and supplies, cookbooks, reference books etc all in
various places in our house.
Our house is NEVER clean... it's just NOT, we have busy clutter
everywhere but it's what works for us. We have a fairly spacious
house and my kids like to spread out to pursue their various
interests, the two older girls share a room downstairs where they
have their own tv room, bathroom etc (they currently say if I would
put a fridge and microwave down there they would never have to come
upstairs! HA!) they chose not to have a tv in their bedroom since
they have a tv room (so we put one tv in storage) and because they
both wanted the option for their bedroom to be a quiet refuge if
either needed it to be (without negotiating with each other about it
being on or off etc)
I kind of think of my entire house as an unschooling pantry and make
sure it's stocked with interesting things all the time. I sort of
drift during the day to various areas to see what they are doing, they
drift back and forth as they need me or need something they can't find.
I think that it's vital for each family to figure out what scheme
works for their family... if no one in your family likes clutter they
aren't going to find our scheme comfortable, if things were too
orderly my family wouldn't find it comfortable for their style, some
folks prefer that tv always be a group activity (that's their time to
snuggle on the couch and enjoy something together) My kids use tv in
varying ways so while my 6 yr old often proclaims a certain night
"family watch a movie together night" or "father and son movie
watching night" typically everyone has different things they enjoy
watching individually. One tv wouldn't work for my family but might
work wonderfully for someone else.
I think if you were to walk into any unschooler's home you would find
something different. The beauty of unschooling just like
homeschooling in general is that each person can do what works for
them and their family. Now if I could just get my garage cleaned out
for the indoor playground I want to make my life would be perfect!
Lisa Blocker
a couple of laptops that the kids(or parents!) can take and go find a
quiet place to work or play. We have 5 desktops and 2 laptops...
various folks have given us parts over the years and it's hubby's
hobby to put the various parts together to make a working system...
sometimes he gives them to folks he knows that need a computer (single
parents, special ed classrooms etc) or if one of the kids has a need
that requires a better sound card or video card etc he pieces together
another system that fits that need.
We also have two big tv's one upstairs and one downstairs in each of
the family rooms, both younger kids have a tv in their room and we
have a tv in our room. The older kids enjoy having a tv room
downstairs so they can watch things that the littles don't want to see
or find too scary or mature.
We have video games in various places... one upstairs one downstairs
and one child upstairs has their own in her room because that is her
need. There are bookshelves in every room stuffed with books and
interesting things, stacks of board games in various places, legos,
knex, Playmobil, craft supplies, math manipulatives, science
experiment books and supplies, cookbooks, reference books etc all in
various places in our house.
Our house is NEVER clean... it's just NOT, we have busy clutter
everywhere but it's what works for us. We have a fairly spacious
house and my kids like to spread out to pursue their various
interests, the two older girls share a room downstairs where they
have their own tv room, bathroom etc (they currently say if I would
put a fridge and microwave down there they would never have to come
upstairs! HA!) they chose not to have a tv in their bedroom since
they have a tv room (so we put one tv in storage) and because they
both wanted the option for their bedroom to be a quiet refuge if
either needed it to be (without negotiating with each other about it
being on or off etc)
I kind of think of my entire house as an unschooling pantry and make
sure it's stocked with interesting things all the time. I sort of
drift during the day to various areas to see what they are doing, they
drift back and forth as they need me or need something they can't find.
I think that it's vital for each family to figure out what scheme
works for their family... if no one in your family likes clutter they
aren't going to find our scheme comfortable, if things were too
orderly my family wouldn't find it comfortable for their style, some
folks prefer that tv always be a group activity (that's their time to
snuggle on the couch and enjoy something together) My kids use tv in
varying ways so while my 6 yr old often proclaims a certain night
"family watch a movie together night" or "father and son movie
watching night" typically everyone has different things they enjoy
watching individually. One tv wouldn't work for my family but might
work wonderfully for someone else.
I think if you were to walk into any unschooler's home you would find
something different. The beauty of unschooling just like
homeschooling in general is that each person can do what works for
them and their family. Now if I could just get my garage cleaned out
for the indoor playground I want to make my life would be perfect!
Lisa Blocker
[email protected]
I think it's more of a mindset than the physical placing of things. (
although I am always *strewing* ).
A mindset that EVERYTHING is of value ....and to overlook clutter of projects
in the making ( a creative mess is better than tidy idleness...and process is
more important then product <<G>>.
I do think it helps to have things accessible or to at least know where they
are and to keep like things together.
I also think it's important to have public areas and private areas depending
on what child needs on any given day. We have Tv's in family rooms and
bedrooms for that reason.
~marcia
HarmonyWoodsFarm
my blog: _http://www.xanga.com/livefreeinharmony_
(http://www.xanga.com/livefreeinharmony)
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
although I am always *strewing* ).
A mindset that EVERYTHING is of value ....and to overlook clutter of projects
in the making ( a creative mess is better than tidy idleness...and process is
more important then product <<G>>.
I do think it helps to have things accessible or to at least know where they
are and to keep like things together.
I also think it's important to have public areas and private areas depending
on what child needs on any given day. We have Tv's in family rooms and
bedrooms for that reason.
~marcia
HarmonyWoodsFarm
my blog: _http://www.xanga.com/livefreeinharmony_
(http://www.xanga.com/livefreeinharmony)
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]