Organizing for Distance Learning Experience

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Hello Friends! 

We are almost at the 2-month mark since the beginning of the stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We’ve all had to quickly adjust to the new normal, changes, and challenges.  One of the very first things we focused on as a family was the distance learning experience and how that was going to work for us in our home. 

Having just moved to a new house at the beginning of the pandemic, distance learning was not in the plans nor in the design of our girls’ rooms, however as the days were passing by and teachers were putting together distance learning curriculum, we were also setting up “homeschooling” stations to make the distance learning experience less stressful, organized, looking beautiful and keeping good habits. 

I’m not a teacher and I’m not going to pretend to be one either but if my girls were going to do school at home, I needed to create an organized and functional space for them. Getting the girls’ rooms’ ready and designing areas for their new learning experience has been the best part of homeschooling. 

My oldest daughter who is in 4th grade wanted a desk in her room where she can quietly work on her distance learning assignments and classroom Zoom calls.  We ordered her a desk and floating white shelves from Amazon used a modern white chair we already had and decorated her new desk with her favorite things.  Keeping the desk area very minimal and clutter-free is so important for their focus and productivity.  

We then got her a 3-tier rolling cart in blush pink from The Container Store to organize all distance learning paperwork, art supplies, and books.  Absolutely love the rolling cart and it gives the area a fresh look and adds fun color to her work area.  Since the rolling cart has 3 sections,  it’s so important to clearly categorize each tier so that when the distance learning experience is done for the day, everything that was used can go back to its home.  In true STR fashion, we also divided the top 2 tiers with bins and containers to keep the supplies looking beautiful and functional.  The top tier has 2 multipurpose bins for school paperwork and notebooks, these bins are excellent to store papers and notebooks in a file system style.  The middle tier has four white tall smart store inserts to hold pencils, markers, color pencils, and note cards.  For the remaining art supplies, we used clear IRIS medium cases to hold everything in place and gave each case a category.  The bottom tier holds her most favorite books to keep her motivated during her distance learning experience.  

Organizing and styling my daughter’s room couldn’t have been done without her help.  It’s important to get the kids involved from the beginning of the process so that they understand the importance of each individual thing that is in their space, where things will go back, and that the distance learning experience is just as important as going to school. 

Creating and maintaining good habits are also very important during this time.  Waking up at the same time as if they were going to school, eating breakfast, and getting dressed for the day make a positive impact.  One habit that my daughters are very diligent about is every morning they wake up, make their beds and they get ready for the day as if they were physically going to school.  Pajamas are an option but during these 2 months, they have only opted to stay in pajamas for 2 days. 

For my youngest daughter, who was in a half-day pre-K class we decided to create a library in her room.  She is a book lover and having all the books in her room brings her so much joy.  We had a white 8-cube organizer from Target that we used to create the library by placing all the children's books on the top shelf and organize them by descending order.  In the bottom cubes, we used grey storage cubes and created categories such as summer hats, special toys, magazines, and one empty cube.  Styling the surface of cube organizers with artwork, favorite stuffed animal, and a basket for things that don’t have a home yet. 

We are big fans of the rolling carts, we had one previously purchased at IKEA.  The teal rolling cart now houses coloring books, workbooks, construction paper, learning supplies, coloring supplies and electronics.  All in one place, organized, beautiful and functional for the little ones to find what they need and put it back when they are done with their distance learning experience.  

If you are sharing spaces with others in your family be mindful to clean and sanitize the common areas especially those shared with your children.  Consistency is essential to success and keeping your children working academically before going back to school would keep their learning activities.  A suggestion would be to purchase a workbook or print lessons on their completed grade level to maintain their learning over the summer. 

We hope this post has inspired you to create your own distance learning experience and that the area is organized, beautiful and functional.  Remember that the key to organization is maintenance.  We love helping you create a less stressful and clutter-free environment in order to live your best life surrounded by the things you love.  When STR cannot come to your house, we can still help you achieve your organizational goals virtually.  Send us a message here, on Facebook or Instagram!  Feel free to share any ideas that allowed you to create a successful homeschool area for your child.  We would love to help you create organized, beautiful, and functional spaces. 

Until next month,

STR