Homeschool setup

[catlady22]

Do you have a homeschool room? Work at the kitchen table? Other?

[lildiamondeyes]

We have a school room set up in the spare bedroom, complete with chalk board and kid table/desk.

[hawkward]

We have a cabinet and printer cart in the dining room and the boys work at the table usually, but sometimes on the couch or the older will read in his room. It seems to help him focus for longer when he changes up his seating. DS2 is never at a task long enough for that to matter.

[Deleted]

We are in dining room. We tried desks in a bedroom but the little ones kept coming in. Now they will stay in living room because they can still see us but they are far away enough to not be disruptive

[Queen Mamadala]

Their bedroom. They have a spot for their coursebooks and we store craft/STEM kits and other materials on a shelf in their closet.

[bunnyfungo]

We have this set up in the dining room. My oldest prefers to work at the dining room table, but when we do Logic of English with DD2 we usually do it in our front/formal living room. We also read together on the couch in the family room. So we’re pretty all over the place.

[Radley]

I keep most of the supplies in a bookcase in the bonus room, but what we use daily is on a rolling cart in the dining room and we do school at the dining room table.

[bunnyfungo]

I don’t really know where to put this but don’t want to make a new thread. hawkward, I think I remember that you made your own grimm’s rainbow? If I’m wrong, that’s embarrassing lol. But if you did, can you tell me how you did it? DH has a ton of woodworking equipment that I have zero clue how to use, but if I tell him what to do he would probably make it for me.

[hawkward]

bunnyfungo, yes!! It was actually pretty easy. Here are pics of how they turned out:

I can't find pictures of the rainbow painted, but you get the gist. I used a compass to make concentric circles on a block of 2" thick poplar (I like poplar because it's soft enough to cut well but sturdy enough to take some rough play). I made the circles just over 1/2" apart so that after losing a bit of wood to sanding, they still had a decent thickness to support a bit of weight. I used a band saw with an 1/8" blade to cut them apart and then a drum sander to clean up the rough edges.

Then I sanded them until they were smooth, used paints to dye them (if you use paint, get it with the AP certification on it in case the baby puts them in her mouth), sanded them again, and put a beeswax finish on them. The more muted colored ones were dipped in food dye and water colors, and the brighter ones were dipped in watered down acrylic paint. I like beeswax because it's got a more natural feel and I wasn't worried about the baby chewing on it.

[hawkward]

Those blocks were such a good investment of time and effort. They get so much play time still, and we actually use them quite a bit for school too with science and preschool stuff.

[bunnyfungo]

Thanks hawkward! That does sound pretty easy. I mean, for H lol. But when I saw how expensive they were, and knowing how handy he is, I went....NOPE.

[hawkward]

Mar 8, 2019 17:32:22 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

Thanks hawkward ! That does sound pretty easy. I mean, for H lol. But when I saw how expensive they were, and knowing how handy he is, I went....NOPE.

You're welcome! Yeah, I fell in love with the Arabian Nights set from Land of Nod, and H put a hard stop on it, so I had to get creative. My dad taught me woodworking when I was young, but I hadn't done anything for years, and it was still very much doable. 

[bunnyfungo]

Mar 8, 2019 17:35:46 GMT -6 hawkward said:

Mar 8, 2019 17:32:22 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

Thanks hawkward ! That does sound pretty easy. I mean, for H lol. But when I saw how expensive they were, and knowing how handy he is, I went....NOPE.

You're welcome! Yeah, I fell in love with the Arabian Nights set from Land of Nod, and H put a hard stop on it, so I had to get creative. My dad taught me woodworking when I was young, but I hadn't done anything for years, and it was still very much doable. 

It’s not something I ever did outside of a gumball machine in 9th grade shop. But DH is super into it, so it’s nice when I say I like something and he says, I could build that for $20 or whatever lol. He recently discovered that homeschool co-ops are a thing and excitedly volunteered his services for woodshop and car mechanics. And I’m over here wondering what our liability is if Johnny cuts his fingers off at our house 😂

[hawkward]

Mar 8, 2019 17:41:17 GMT -6 bunnyfungo said:

Mar 8, 2019 17:35:46 GMT -6 hawkward said:

You're welcome! Yeah, I fell in love with the Arabian Nights set from Land of Nod, and H put a hard stop on it, so I had to get creative. My dad taught me woodworking when I was young, but I hadn't done anything for years, and it was still very much doable. 

It’s not something I ever did outside of a gumball machine in 9th grade shop. But DH is super into it, so it’s nice when I say I like something and he says, I could build that for $20 or whatever lol. He recently discovered that homeschool co-ops are a thing and excitedly volunteered his services for woodshop and car mechanics. And I’m over here wondering what our liability is if Johnny cuts his fingers off at our house 😂

I was really little when I learned, like I was definitely using smaller saws and drills by kindergarten. I... cannot imagine turning DS1 loose in the woodshop right now.