If you could have a house in your community for homeschoolers to use, what would you want it to be? I know there aren't a lot of unschoolers on here, but that's most likely who it would be targeted at. So it wouldn't be formal type classes for sure. This is a very real possibility around here in the not so distant future. Some of us have talked about it and what we might like it to be, but I wanted to get ideas from all of you. It's an empty house, it can be anything you want. What would you do with it?
I would set up different activity centers ( kind of like montessori) Where a child can chose which activity they want to do. Have like a Lego center, a baking center, an art center, a sewing center, etc. That way the kiddos can choose what they want to do
A HUGE library room... where the kids can request the kinds of books they want to look at/read through and lots of magazines too.
Definitely a mess-proof room for all your tactile exploration(clay,paint,sand,etc) the library room was a good idea, I would say a working kitchen( kitchen math,real-life skills) little nooks and crannies for hiding away with a good book, science "lab", oh gosh I'm getting excited just thinking about it! what a great idea!
Oh, gosh!!! It would have to curriculum lending library! At least so you can get your hands on the book to see if it would work for you or not, before you decide to actually buy it! And it should have a quiet, no-talking "study hall" type room for those who want it. And a music room with all kinds of classical music available.
I would definitely want a huge library of all types of books. Plus, a huge supply of art and crafts supplies to do any project anyone could ever think of. Plus, a huge lab for the science stuff. One thing I wouldn't want is a TV. We use videos for some of our schooling, but I think in a group environment it might be hard to monitor. Plus, if the activities are limited, the kids will think of more things to do with their minds and hands.
As much as I love the unschooling concept for our HS, I would want the house to have structure to a point as well. A schedule of sorts, like so much time allowed for which activity. So that the kiddos don't just fixate on the one activity they know they like, but move on to experience the rest and get new loves. This also keeps it open for others to step in when one moves to the next activity. Rotate them, so to speak. Plenty of videos, music, art supplies, books. A home ec area with a kiddo sized workstation. Big pillows or comfy chairs tucked into the corners for reading. Computer station along one wall, loaded with educational software and the lists of free sites for fun learning. Plenty of posters that can be changed out and ask questions about, history, presidents, economics, in a way that makes the kiddos want to look it up. A yard with play equipment to burn off energy of course, but also areas to study rocks, bugs, plants and talk about the animals or birds that visit, or the sun and solar system. Lol, now you started something. I've tried to do a lot of this at my own house, even have a couple of DS's friends asking to come to school here.
Your thoughts are going the same as ours have. We were thinking of a working kitchen. And of course a library with lots of comfy places to sit. Art supplies galore. Oh, did I mention it has a garage? Workshop!! The walls could be decorated with finished artwork by the kids. Maybe a garden outside. The kids would be responsible for everything with us moms just there to make sure things go smoothly, they would decide what to do, clean up, etc. Some of the problems we think we might face are...if it were limited to unschoolers (there aren't tons of us around here), would other homeschoolers feel bitter? It might cause hard feelings and split the group. But if it were open to everyone, either the owner of the house would have to hand out keys to everyone and hope for the best, which she doesn't want to do for obvious reasons, or she would have to alter her schedule constantly for everyone which isn't fair either. Also, the house needs work which would hopefully be done as a group effort. Now of course this is going to increase the value of the house, so when their family is finished homeschooling, if she were to decide to sell the house (or anytime before that), the question is whether people would feel as if her family "owed" them anything, or get jealous of her profits. And, who would pay the bills along the way? There would be electric, insurance, etc.
Sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you guys. Hopefully you'll find the answers to those questions as a group and make this work.
Since a family will still be living there you could set it up as stations that can be utilized within the home. In the room for the library you could have an art station. A set of shelves that bins could be store on. If you paint the wall with chalkboard paint, and on one side a sheet of metal that holds magnets. It could be used for lessons by any homeschooler, un or not. And also you could use magnets to hold the paper up, for painting or displaying finished art. A wide, low bucket bench could be used for a work table in both the classroom and the kitchen. The top could lift to store items needed for a particular station, and when not used for a table/workstation, a cushion can be added for a seat when dining. I have tons more, im me if you want to chat.
There is this place a bit of a ways from here. It is largely an unschooly, hands on, school. http://www.centerforlivingethics.org/ They stress ecology and they grow gardens and all sorts of things. So, if I were going for an unschooling type thing, this would be it. I would want NO computers there, btw. Kids get computers enough at home. Computers entertain children one-on-one. I cannot stand when schools have computers. Why leave the house if they are just going to sit in a chair interacting with a computer once they get there?
I would not limit it to unschoolers, but rather make specific things available that everyone would like, but you don't have to take it all. For example, anyone would like art. I would be careful about allowing any lack of supervision or letting the teens have a room to hang out in. They can hang out at home. I would keep it activity based, even if it is within the limits of free exploration. One place here that had homeschool stuff going on started to go downhill when the teens stopped going home and started to bring in things like electric guitar. No one could even think straight anymore and the environment because unpleasant. I like the Waldorfy aspects, the all natural, organic, type stuff. So if music starts blaring, xbox360 starts to be played, and so on, you will start to lose a lot of people, unschoolers and everyone else. I would still have stuff for teens, but I would keep it to natural, organic type stuff. They are free to do art, work in the workshop, maintain the garden, do science experiments, etc.
also enclude gymnastics room... its an awesome way to build strength in kids! I enrolled my 4 year old in gymnastics and within 2 months (twice a week) he easily can stand on his hands (wall supported) and do basic tricks but the whole room would be awesome for them to burn their energy off.
A sun room with plants, an aquarium, and maybe some birds. Something where the kids can sit and read in the sun, have some animals to care for, and plants, place to start seeds ect. Maybe an indoor goldfish pond? A few rabbits, maybe could breed them. A rock collection and a rock tumbler. A small kitchen area of course. A stage for putting on presentations, singing, and plays ect.
Funny you should bring this up!I was just talking about this with a friend of mine who runs daycare. She was saying we should buy this beautiful house in her neighborhood and turn it into a HS house. She was talking about adding a lot of the ideas that have been mentioned here. Love the centers idea-lego,baking,sewing ect. I also love the idea suggested by peanutsweet.
You guys have such great ideas...but this will be low key. Us mama's can't afford the world! We're really just talking about taking an existing house and doing what we can with it, it's a simple 5 room house, nothing elaborate. FTS, there will not be a family living there if we do this. We were going to do it with unschoolers because it seems all of the unschoolers around here are in the same age group, and that way they would get to grow up together. I think the youngest is 4 and the oldest is 8. If we open the doors to everyone first of all it would be a lot of kids to keep an eye on, and the time slot would never fit everyone and the fear is people would want to use the house for this class or that meeting or whatever, and it would be inconvient for the owner. So what if you were thinking about doing this but the house belonged to you? What kind of rules would you have then? Thanks for the great ideas so far, keep em coming!
Okay, then you need at least one TV, a computer center, (room) and stuff to cook with in the kitchen for cooking lessons... a room for reading with quiet stuff comfy chairs big pillows etc, a room for science experiments ( Could be part of kitchen) to be perfomred at any time Out doors I would have a water play area, an area for garden too for science! an area for any group ( room again) study to be done in, maybe tables set up for that kind of thing and chairs?
Rules -- you break it you replace it Leave home as nice or nicer than you came to it make a mess clean it up! Quiet working for quiet room Noise allowed for noisey room... This could have educational toys, legos etc PARENTS MUST MIND THIER CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES! I can imagine some parents would think it was a free day care! lol
