Distance Learning

Who is still doing distance learning? We are located in Southern California and are still doing school from home! To say the least I am so sad for my sweet girls, they need their friends and their incredible teachers, in person. It has been tough but we have created a really positive environment at home and a very solid routine. I feel like I have a small advantage being a former teacher and a stay at home momma. I have used a lot of what I learned and practiced in the classroom, at home, and have the time to do so and focus on my girls. My heart goes out to the families with two working parents, single parents and to those of high school students… I don’t think I could do that math if I tried! I pray continually for our kids (and I mean all kids) to be back at school. To be learning that socialization that they are missing on a daily basis. Hopefully this post sends some encouragement to adults who are on this train with me, it is not always easy and some days are better than others, but I think the consistency and routine make a large difference in our day to day success.

Our Routine in a Nutshell – I am excited to share with you what our day looks like and some of the items that have made it just a little easier! We start our morning off with our morning routine chart (make bed, get dressed, brush teeth, do hair, eat breakfast, use restroom)! I downloaded a chart to my liking from Etsy! They have a ton of customizable option! We then do a Cosmic Yoga or Go Noodle physical activity and then sit down to start school! The rest of the day is worked around both girls required Zoom Meeting times. Right now, my kindergartener finishes most of her work and two short meetings by 11:00 and my 4th grader finishes for lunch about 11:30. We do lunch and a short playtime until about 12:15 and then my 4th grader is back at it and my kindergartner and six month old take a rest/nap time for about an hour and a half to two hours (this is when I get the bulk of my work done). By the time rest time is done my oldest is done too! So we then have a snack and some playtime before we start dinner and baths! We have a calm down time before bed and then start our bedtime routine!

We have a small cube system for organizational purposes. This gives a place for everything and everything in its place – (life Moto)! Each of the girls have a basket where they keep all of their essentials for school, and then a paper tray with their weekly assigned work and textbooks! They simply take their tray and basket to the table and are ready for the day! I should probably mention we do not have a fancy area for school, the girls work at our dining room table. Although it is not perfect and not always ideal, the fact that they can set up and take down their school supplies each day makes it very managable. They tuck it away each day and we have our dinning room back in a flash.

Something that has always been super exciting for my girls is smelly pencils, colored pencils and crayons! We use the Mr. Sketch brand twistable crayons and twistable colored pencils and the Smencil brand for pencils. I don’t know why this makes their work so much fun, but I am here for it! One of the items that has been so helpful in all of this is a great pair of headphones! We tried quite a few different types of earbuds and headphones until we found the perfect ones. These bluetooth to her Chromebook, are super comfortable, and have a microphone so she can speak to her class without unplugging! Please note, there are two size cube organizers listed below. Were have the organizer that fits the larger bins (13X13), but I listed a cheaper option that uses the smaller bins (11X11). I personally like that larger storage option because the paper tray does not hang over the edge, but with would work well for distance learning purposes. I hope, if anything, this has sent some encouragement and some ideas to help for everyone who is on this train with me! If you are in the market for any of these items you can click the picture to shop! If you have any questions or want more info I’d be glad to help! Leave questions in the comments below or on my Instagram post about Distance learning!