Hello again! It has been years since I have posted on here (because having 2, now 3, kiddos doesn’t really allow for the same kind of free time for blogging I had when it was just D!). I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I am completely overwhelmed at the thought of homeschooling (or virtual learning with the school district, or online schooling, or hybrid schooling, or another name I never dreamed would be part of my biggest’s kindergarten year!) But here we are, twenty days from the start of kindergarten and I am feeling sad, disappointed, anxious, nervous, stressed and a little bit hopeful at the reality that we will be starting (and likely continuing for some time) the year from home. The loss of the experience I’d imagined for years is something I’m still working on processing.
My mom has always reminded us to be “highly effective”…to focus on what we can control. In this situation, what I can control is how organized and prepared my family is for this school year. Which leads me to the meat of this post. I have spent an inordinate amount of time scouring Pinterest the last few days searching for home school classroom ideas. I found a ton of gorgeous spaces that would do a number on my Visa card with all the orders I’d be placing at Wayfair, Amazon, and Target to recreate. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a practical guide to setting up a classroom at home with items you likely already own so thought I would share one! (Disclaimer – I am not trained in any way, shape, or form to be a teacher and I may completely overhaul some of this once we get more information on what will be provided by the school district in terms of learning materials.)
My best friend B suggested a “stations” concept, that way especially if the littles are requiring my attention, D can continue to rotate himself through each. The stations I landed on are:
- READ – A comfy kiddo-sized chair next to a bookshelf with books organized in two sections – 1) Age-appropriate reading books to practice reading out loud and 2) Fun picture books to look at and “read”
- PLAY – Open space we can bring different toys into each week
- SOLVE – Small end table where we can do puzzles
- CREATE – Picnic table where we can do crafts / coloring / play doh / painting / etc.
- PRACTICE – 3 shelf end table with “to-do” and “complete” sections for worksheets/workbooks as well as a section for flash cards that can all be done at the picnic table
- BUILD – Toy box that we can build (magna-tiles, legos, blocks, trains, etc.) at
- iPAD – A shared desk for myself and D when he needs to do online work for school or learning app activities
I’ve also found myself overwhelmed by the amount of kiddo supplies taking over every room of my house so I emptied out some 3-tier plastic drawer containers and organized all of our items from over the entire house into the following categories:
- Supplies
- Stickers
- Flashcards
- Printer / Color Paper
- Math/Reading/Writing Worksheets & Workbooks
- Coloring Books
- Activities for H
I hope you find these ideas helpful! See below photos of our new rooms, including actively lived-in befores 🙂
Before:
Dining Room turned Office/Mom’s Workspace 
Living Room 
Living Room
After:
Classroom 
Classroom/Living/Dining 
New Living/Dining Room Combo 
Classroom 
Classroom 
Books 
Reading Station (with Dolch sight words oon wall) 
Play Station 
Solve (puzzles) Station 
Create Station 
Practice Station (Worksheets/Workbooks/Flash Cards) // Labels are “To-Do”, “Complete”, and “Flash Cards” 
Build Station 
Shared iPad Station / Mom Desk 
Supplies/Stickers/Flash Cards/ Paper 
H Activities, Math/Reading/Writing Worksheets, Coloring Books
In closing, the other important lesson I learned from my mom is to “interrupt anxiety with gratitude”. In these uncertain times, I am grateful first and foremost for my family’s health. I am grateful for the flexibility I have as a stay at home mom. I am grateful for the space we have in our home. I am grateful for my husband who works so hard to provide this incredible life for us and leaves work at lunchtime or early to come home to help me when I need it. I am grateful for my parents who I call all the time to vent my frustrations to. I am grateful for my sisters/sister-in-law and cousins and friends who are my constant cheerleaders. I am grateful for my fellow almost-kindergarten mommas who I can lean on and commiserate with. And lastly, I am grateful to God and my angels’ birth moms without whom I wouldn’t have children to home school. XOXOXO