Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Creating a "good" environment at home

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum but there seems to be lots of great ideas here so I thought I'd jump in right away with a question. I hope it's not too general!

I've got 2 children, a preschooler and a toddler. We are planning on home education for both the children, so it hasn't been necessary to test them or anything like that, but both display signs of being gifted - that's one of the reasons we are home educating!

However, I'm having trouble figuring out a way to keep up with their needs. The oldest, in particular is very aware of the environment and enjoys lots of novelty. My youngest is - of course - into everything. Some days I feel like I'm always being reactive instead of proactive IYKWIM.

I feel like the solution is in the environment - but have no idea about the nuts and bolts of implementing something that will work for everyone. So my question is:

How do you structure your home so that you can meet the needs of your children without running yourself ragged?

It's probably a lot harder with two, and one of them just a toddler.

I don't feel the least bit ragged (or, at least, not on DD's account). Basically, we've organized her room so that she's got easy access to books, pretend toys, art supplies, building toys, and puzzles. She does very well occupying herself for the most part. But then, she's the sort of kid who can amuse herself for hours with nothing but a couple of pine cones and her own imagination.

That would be great no5no5. My oldest is actually quite extroverted and has a low frustration tolerance. (He has since he was a baby and he screamed for a month straight because he knew he wanted to crawl but he just couldn't make his body obey!) They kind of combine to make him quite full-on.

I don't think it gets easier as they get older. Here is GS10's schedule for this week:
Sunday morning church.
Sunday evening - 5 to 8 - Destination Imagination. He missed Scouts & evening church this week due to DI.
Monday after school - DI, then music lesson
Tuesday - Foreign language after school until 4:45, 7pm concert at the middle school & signup for band
Wednesday - Aerodynamics meeting 3-4:30, then DI 5-8
Thursday - catch up on reading.
Friday - DI 5-8
Saturday - DI competition all day
Sunday - in the afternoon we'll go to a maple syrup festival, then scouts, church in a.m. & choir practice in evening.

DI is rapidly coming to a close this year, but he also has 4H & a junior cattleman program ramping up. He'll cross over to Boy Scouts in 2 weeks and meet every week after that. And his first campout as a Boy Scout is the last of this month. He'll need more swim practice this summer because he needs that to start working towards his Eagle Scout rank.

That wasn't any consolation or help, was it? Sorry, this is the first break since lunch time for me, and I've got to get up in 8 hours to start this all over again. Enjoy each stage as much as you can, you only have that for too short of a time.

DD is also very intense, but fortunately not too much of an extrovert. When she was younger, before her imagination really kicked in, she did need constant interaction. Now, at 4, she still gets overwhelmed if she plays with other kids for more than a couple of hours once or twice a week. I do expect that to change, and probably soon. But I don't expect my role or our home environment to change much. Fortunately we are going to be moving to a child-dense area in the next few months, and she'll probably sign up for a few activities this summer or fall.

I'm not sure if this is what you were asking or not, but I have always like the idea of getting out of the house and exploring a lot of different places, but trying to do it in a relaxed way when we are there. So, for instance, a trip to the zoo but with no particular agenda; a trip to the science center that includes the omnimax movie or the special exhibit but then no other agenda; a trip to the children's museum where they get to try out whatever they want and either run from activity to activity or just linger at one or two. We also like activities like hiking, walking, biking, playing in the snow, playing in the sand, etc., with no time table or goals when possible. My kids love to play outside endlessly. Swimming and gymnastics are fun, as are other sports as long as they aren't too competitive. So, basically, anything that seems fun. I always have liked to have some structure to our days, but with a lot of flexibility within the structure. KWIM? And, if you follow the kids' leads, you can't go wrong. BTW: there are times when it is good to have an agenda, like when you want to investigate a particular topic that you're interested in.

If you're asking about setting up the house, I have to admit we have a LOT of stuff: puzzles, marble mazes, building materials of all sorts, tons of recylables to create with, art supplies, baking materials, a million books in places throughout the house, some computer games, balls, bikes, scooters, board games, card games, etc. I do try to have a place for everything and try to keep the house relatively orderly, but sometimes they like to play with three things at once or we have to leave or go to sleep in the middle of something and I'm okay with temporary mess as well. I encourage the kids to pick up, and require it on occasion, but I'm not a fanatic and there is a difference between what is messy for an adult and what is messy for kids. Still, it's important for kids to learn to take responsibility both for their things and for the house.

Sleep is hugely important, I think, in creating a "good" environment at home. I'm a big believer in a regular, predictable bedtime with a predictable routine to go with it.

Of course, as the kids get older and get involved in more outside activities your schedule gets crazier, but if you can somehow manage to stick to as many of your eating, sleeping, and family time routines, I think that helps.

Is this what you were asking?

Oh, I forgot to say that we incorporate chores as well. We don't do it exactly like most people I've heard about, where each person is assigned a particular chore. But, we are all expected to do our share. The kids know they have to sort and put their clothes in the laundry baskets (we have only three, in our closet: one for darks, one for lights, one for reds/yellows/purples, etc.). They know that they have to take their dishes into the sink. But everything else they do just because I ask at the time. If I'm unloading the dishwasher, I ask one of them to put away the silverware. If I'm doing laundry I'll ask one of them to help. If it's 5:00 and the dog is begging for his dinner, I'll ask the nearest kid to feed him. So, what we consider a "good" environment at home includes everyone doing their share according to their abilities.

Jeesh, I write a lot!

Hi,

Welcome.

I have a DS 2.8 and he runs two adults ragged unless he's ill. He's been intense and in need of novelty since the first weeks and it has gotten steadily easier as he does entertain himself more, but it's still a challenge. It's hard to imagine two of them. Spending large parts of most days out of the house seems to be necessary for us. For example we found a homeschooler's school that allows toddler and up kids to attend their field trips if a parent accompanies, we go to library story hours, playgroup, errands, a few hours of babysitting, etc. We're looking forward to preschool for next year not for academic learning but just for an experience of independence in social interactions, ie learning to manage socially without a parent present. Plus it will be novel, at least for a short while, and novelty seems to do for his brain what a good book does for mine.

Home is just well stocked with more stuff than I thought I'd ever buy. The stuff seems interesting to DS when he has been away from it for a bit. I also have lots of games or books etc that are way beyond age level such as chess, scrabble, adult level picture books tied to his interests, real model kits, etc that I am okay with getting destroyed, all bought used to be used up during this stage of life. Surprisingly most things so far pretty much intact. We try to follow a put it away before getting something else out rule but it's more of a guideline. Much of it goes in mixed 18 gallon open bins: playdoh bin with ziploc bags full of old playdoh, plastic toys bins, books bins, puzzles bins, paper and crayons bin, etc.

When he was a younger toddler I had to search far and wide for a table low enough that he could actually use it. Traditional children's tables (and chairs) seem to generally be too tall for toddlers, which isn't fair at all. Tables made for daycares are great but I never found one reasonably priced. I ended up with little plastic step stools rather than chairs as it was the only thing that didn't just tip right over. The table ended up being a cheapo large plastic coffee table from goodwill. Worked out really well.

So in a nutshell my approach to keeping the home environment interesting and stimulating (and somewhat organized) is to have a lot of bins and go out a lot.

Polly

The dishes is a good idea. It lasted for a little while with mine; and he still helps with it if he wants me to come help him with something and wants me to go more quickly.

Also, check to see if there are any Gymboree locations around where you're moving. That's how I met most of my DS's (and my) friends. They have art and music classes at most. Any other art of music classes for kids are good places to find other playmates for your kids as well...oh, or swim or gymnastic/tumbling classes.

My DS always liked blocks, puzzles, puzzles, puzzles (the puzzles just increased in size as he got older, and drawing. Everything sat out (mostly) sorted in baskets; so he could see them, but I could keep a bit of my organizational sanity. We have tons of books as well. I never worried about torn pages, especially if I got books at garage sales. My child actually never tore a page though. Lots of bitten corners on the cardboard ones though from teething.:) We got him a Leapster when he was 3 to help with his writing (Petpals has a writing game) and other fun/learning things. It was also a good way for him to retreat into something by himself for somewhat of a downtime. All the cartridges are in one baggy. Whenever I could consolidate things into a plastic bin or basket, I did. He loves his Legos (not duplos). Lots of wheels for mine is very important. He loves to build trucks, tractors, race cars, trailers, rv's, trains,.... All the Legos are in one big plastic see-through container. My DS always liked pulling things around behind him. So the simplest toys like this were the best. He has always been great at self-entertaining; although he was an extremely needy infant.

I also got a bag of small musical instruments that he loved to play marching band with, where your toddler could now join in. They are kept in the bag when not in use; but can be easily dumped out. Another big hit, when my DS was a toddler were these Dora and Backyardigan book/musical players. They had these little plastic cds that he marched around the house with replaying the music over and over. Mommy and Daddy joining in made it last forever.

We are now outside constantly; and the only thing I make sure that is scheduled is the time for eating - all mealtimes have to be held to a fairly strict schedule or we get major crankies...including snacktimes! We go to the park all the time. Around here, toddlers and preschoolers go in the mornings around 10am before the kids get out of school. Zoo trips are a huge hit for my friends with toddlers and preschoolers as well. We made a point to get season passes that don't include Dad (to save money); and then on the odd occasion that he can come, we pay for him separately.

I think that an end of the day clean-up worked out best when he was a toddler; but as a preK now, he knows to clean up between activities. We all share the house; and we can't run around and play safely with stuff laying everywhere. Hope this helps a little.:)

One more thing, I just saw someone else's post about a table. I have this step2 table.: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-LifeStyle-Folding-Table-Chairs-Yellow/4232151 It is the best thing I ever bought for him as far as a place to write, draw, do crafts, eat, paint. I like the edge on the side to somewhat hold things on the table. SO easy to clean and can be put away; although he has breakfast, lunch and dinner on it; so we don't.

Boxes, building toys (duplo, blocks, etc...) and art supplies. BOOKS. BOOKS. BOOKS! Boxes and more boxes. Playdough.

Did I mention boxes?