At what age does a child need it's own study area? Looking for ideas

[MammabearX1]

My dc are 8 & 6, they share a room but between school & activities they don't play much with toys they prefer to read in their free time. I think older child will need a study space in the shared room for September. Just wondering what works in other mn homes? Thanks

We didn't until Secondary.
DD2 has never really used hers, preferring to use the dining room.

As a child I shared a room with my sister until secondary. The room had two desks back to back, and bed at the each end, so basically shared a room but had separate space/corner.

I have only one dc, so he has his own room with desk and chair, but hardly used it for homework/studying until secondary.

I would wait until secondary before deciding. Kids need the motivation of parents watching to develop good study practices & need to be able to ask questions.

We’re currently deciding wether to create a study area in our 11 and 8 year olds rooms. I’m unsure as I feel at 11 (starting secondary this year) and most definitely at 8 they still require a fair amount of help or input with homework, so doing it alone in their rooms I’m not sure will work.

We are lucky that we’re also able to create a reading nook in both of their rooms, I do feel this will take priority over a study area, at least for now.

My daughter is 11 we’ve have recently created a work space for her in her room - more to do with the homeschooling and zoom calls nightmare in the kitchen!
We would have done it anyway come summer ready for the move to secondary school!

9&11
They both a have a workspace, 11 year old because I thought it was the right age, 9 year old so her craft is not on the dining table. Neither really get used. 11 year olds is now DH's workstation and 9 year olds is buried. They do homework at the dining table with me. I don't think it will change any time soon.

Thanks so much thats really insightful... Yes I completely understand the needimg help, while they are quite independent, they get distracted easily & always have plenty of questions 😅

My eight year old has a study space and has done for a couple of years. They sometimes do school work there but usually do that downstairs with us around. But uses their own study space for endless book and letter writing, they are always cutting and sticking things for some strange reason, or setting up animations on it, Lego building or doing magazine puzzle book type things.

We recently redecorated our dc rooms and built them both desks. Neither have used them for anything other than dumping stuff on. Same for dd’s dressing table.

They are 10 and 8.

My eldest 2 (11 & 8) have desks in their rooms. I will probably get one for my younger 2 when they’re about 8 or 9...

Fwiw I never had a desk in my room and always did my homework and revision on my bed...GCSEs, A levels and a degree...no issues at all!

All of my kid had their own "desk" when they went to toddler bed: IKEA kiddie table with chair.

We upgraded when they got too big for smaller chairs, and everyone has a desk in their room.

It proved useful during the lockdown when they chose to work in their own bedroom. They tend to do homework in their room, they don't like having to pack everything up when it's snack time or diner time and I need the dining table!

DD age 8 did all her homeschooling in the front room which is separate from the kitchen but there is a door between. It worked really well as she could ask for help and I could check she was actually working! Too young for up in her room I think.

She does have a desk in her room but suspect it will be years before it sees any schoolwork...

The problem with homeschooling was the clash of various live classes. I could have bought them all a pair of headphones, but It was easier to have them in their own bedroom. My youngest is in Y2, but follows what the others do.

My DC always did homework at the kitchen table until they went to high school. Then they got desks in their bedroom.

I've just moved my Y11 DS down to our home office when i caught him gaming during online lessons