Hi! Does anyone have an great doman inspired play/learning space setup they could share? Specifically, I’d like to see how some of you have incorporated physical development and/or learning words. Ideally, I’d also like our space to be pleasing to the eye since you see the room right as you walk in the house. Our room has sat pretty bare for months now - I just can’t seem to make final decisions on how to best utilize the space. If you have any pictures - I’d LOVE to seem them! Thank you!!
in the Homeschool forum there are some pictures of ‘Our Homeschool’ that you might be interested in.
Jad, this link http://picasaweb.google.es/ahazbun/ExplorationRoom?authkey=zSOkGGJ1C-c# is a web album of our learning spaces.
There´s a lot of info, so if you have questions regarding a specifica area, just ask.
Andrea, THAT IS AMAZING!!! What a wonderful learning set up you have. I’m so envious!!!
K2u
I know, I wish I had space to do even half of what she did!
that was some room… i loved the table that you can play with mud on it. how did you find the inspiration, Andrea? It was soo organized as well.
Do you find that your kid plays with himself, like use all those folders to find something interesting in geography, or other categories that you had listed? or does he seek for your help? or do you have fun games planned for the day?
Awesome, Andrea! Thanks for sharing!
Andrea,
Your learning spaces are amazing. I’m feeling motivated to redesign our basement using some of your spaces as inspiration.
Lori
Did you have the table custom made? I haven’t seen anything like that. I love the idea. I was thinking that I could design one and have it made but design it for my kitchen table as well. We don’t have a lot of room except for our garage but there is no restroom in our garage so that makes it hard with a 1 and a 2 year old. However designing one for outside on the patio???
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
I am green with envy! My husband is seeing this post the minute he walks in the door!
Andrea would you mind posting where you bought your outdoor sand and water table that you have outside for your son.
If you didn’t buy it would you mind posting the instructions on how to build it. That is something i would love for my little girl.
Love me
really nice space created …u must b proud.and i c many are truely motivated.thanks for sharing
Hello everyone,
sorry for taking so long to reply, but I had a trojan in my computer and couldn´t use it for a few days. About learning spaces; I have to say that until my son was 1,5yo we lived in a very small apartment. He had his own room, where I kept only his crib and a chair, so he could have a lot of free space. I had the pannels in his room put on when he was 1yo and bought the chair and desk for him to work on. We stored away our whole dining room so we made that his activities room. When we moved to our house, the winter garden was there, and eventhough I firmly believe he should use our whole house as a learning space, I equipped it for him.
About the room: the photos are a bit outdated, but the idea is the same:
- The pannels beside the brachiation ladder are his to use, but the discipline pannels are mine, which means only I can write down the points and the weekly priviliges.
We are in winter now (South America) so there´s a balance beam by the brachiation ladder. In spring (in a few days) it will go out again, to the garden for the whole summer. - Exploration wall: I use this name because it is strictly that: my son is constantly working and investigating with all the materials in the baskets. Nowadays it is better organized (through experience one gets better at knowing that the better laid out the material, the better independent investigation goes for him). I change the materials in the baskets every now and then, specially when he outgrows them. He nearly doesn´t use toys, only “materials”, all the stuffed animals you see there are mine!
The materials all have rules, and every time he wants to use a material for a new purpose, he asks: montessori geometric solids cannot be used as balls because they can get ruined (wood) but they can be used to construct,for example. - Ariel, we have our activities planned out throughout the whole day, and in between free slots (1 to 2 hours). I have found that this serves us better, because generally after having a two hour session he needs one of these: disconnect and go work with sand for a good two hours, or keep on in the topic we were working, but now in an independent way. So, he does always use the materials by himself, except when we are together already making use of one of them.
- The water and sand table is a Waldorf idea that I developed and added the table cover that opened and could stand as a drawingstand. I had it built in a workshop, and I made this album for the IAHP forum, and took the closeup pictures so other parents could see the building details and have it made. The wood is the cheapest that there is here in Chile, pine and the cover is white melamine. I thought of applying a special barnish aganst humidity for the sand and water area, but it wasn´t necessary. This is a huge success because of its dimensions it really has multiple uses. Nowadays Iñaki is into carpentry and we do all of our carpentry there, it is comfortable and the surface is sturdy.
Anyone that has a basement or a free space they can designate for their child´s work inside the house, should have this into consideration: make good use of the walls for storage and holding materials, open shelves are the best. Liberate the floor area and put only one focus point in the middle: a working table if you have the space, mats on the floor if you are restricted spacewise.
Hope this helps, and thanks for the positive comments.
You are awesome Andrea! Thanks for sharing. I am inspired!!! Now I have to think of how to better organize my very limited space…
You’ve got Montessori materials in your Exploration area, does Inaki go to Montessori?
Keep on sharing…
Thanks ZaJa;
I homeschool Iñaki 100%, my husband is the golf teacher and my mother is the practical and sensorial teacher. I use a variety of methods, here is a summary (somewhat ) of what I use as a guideline, but this is not literal:
- Doman: heavily on the physical development and brain speed
- Shichida: I recently studied him on line, don´t have the books yet, but I saw that I did some of the things he develops: memory linking and ESP.
- Classical: Classic Languages, Logic, Astronomy
- Charlotte Mason: Nature Study, Art Appreciation and Music appreciation, Narration
- Montessori: Mathematics, Geography and Culture, Sensorial and Practical
- Waldorf: Eurhythmy
- Suzuki: Violin since he was 18 months
- Multiple Intelligences
- Religion and Spirituality: we study the teachings of the world´s major religions starting with Zoroaster.
It took me years to choose what I thought was worth of each method, and it´s hard to share in a post because I don´t know how to synthetize it, since some things overlap or are much more that they seem on paper (I mean written down), but I have to say that overall I apply an environment of radical brain development, always giving him independence and the opportunity to engage in things that are beyond his capacities, so he develops his capacities by doing.
Hope this helps.
wow! i’m jealous lol that room is amazing
You have designed an incredible learning environment for your child! The layout is better than I’ve seen at most preschools!
Awesome Andrea!! Thanks for sharing the fantastic pics…everything looks so organised. How old was ur son when you started?? Did you buy the montessori materials?? If so would like to know from where?. Does ur son attend Suzuki classes or you teach him from the books n CD’s? My daughter’s 2yrs…any suggestions??
You are a supermom!! Thanks for inspiration & ideas to organise the learning space. Like the design of the activity table.
Wow woman you rock!
andrea h,
hello, how do u start suzuki violin for 18 months old? kindly advise. thanks.