Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Daytime use of the Common House

[Chris Chrysostom (chrisc]

Pamela Silva wrote:

> 
> How many kids are we talking about here? We have an upstairs room that could
> be used almost every day 9-3 and no one would even know, it is so empty.Then
> they could use other space in the CH on an "as available" basis.
>  But if   they  want PRIVATE use of the dining room or sitting room or kids
> room DOWNSTAIRS, I would say No.

I guess I had better answer this question.  Since John Major's
homeshcooling family is mine.  We now have three children.
Unfortunately, though, getting an exact count is a little tricky.

Homeschooling often attempts to pool the resources of the
homeschooling community.  Study exchanges is one way to accomplish
this.  A study exchange involves one family's children joining
another's for study and activities.  The catch to this is when 3 or 4
"students" arrive, they arrive with their mother and siblings.  You
have to remember that many homeschoolers, like most in the U.S., do
not have the means to pay for regular childcare.  So, for each student
you may end up with one adult and several siblings.

I imagine that we wouldn't really need PRIVATE use of the classroom
space (whether it be dining, kids, or dedicated room).  However, those
not involved with the homeschooling activity would probably get
disturbed if they want to use the same space.

However, the issue of privacy would have this flavor.  My wife would
need secure storage space for all instructional materials like books,
manipulatives, toys, musical instruments, and so on.  This is because
it would be silly to ask her to cart our homeschooling stuff back and
forth between CH and our home.

In addition, we find that children are really rough on things.  If the
group allows us to use space outside of the kids room, the homeschool
teacher would have to take on the extra responsibility of ensuring
"stuff" doesn't get damaged, soiled, defaced, or whatever creative
children think of.  (This reminds me of children using my tools to
dismantle my futon frame :-) I believe this added responsibility would
hinder the learning environment.

Well, I think this issue of homeschooling within cohousing is big.  (I
would love to explain why I think its big, but my job calls :-) I hope
more will respond to John's initial post, I really look forward to
reading your reactions.

Always in service to the Cohousing Dream,
Chris Chrysostom
other experiences.