The spring was a bit of a disaster with homeschooling at our house, with the virus closing schools and everyone scrambling to adjust to the new semi-permanent norm. We learned some lessons about space management for our 7-year-old homebound student, and we’re prepared for Fall!
Setting Up a Station
We’ve learned that our son does best when he’s a little separated from us from learning, but close enough to let us help him navigate the online resources and instructions that parents are learning to navigate. One challenge we faced was allocating space in our house that was just for our son but not in our office where we have to work. To help our new Second Grader Succeed this fall, we’ve set him up with his own station – in the dining room. Check out our hacks!
Similar table | Magazine Holder | Similar Tote | Pencil Jar | Headset | Chair
Find a Table
We found a table on Facebook marketplace for $15 to start. We think it was an Ikea table, kind of like this one. We didn’t want a square dining table, so we disassembled the table to cut it down and change the color. We started by cutting 6 inches from the table, based off the lines that were already there from the wood. We aren’t too concerned about the finish being perfect because this will be beaten up by our son when he’s writing, but we sanded for a smooth finish and added a coat of this stain. We also sanded the legs and base of the table to prepare for a good spray down. I’m loving black matte paint right now, so we used this spray paint. It’s amazing what a little color update can do.
To get our son set for online learning, we are using an old Lenovo laptop I have. I love Lenovos for their light weight. Then we found some charcoal Bigso magazine holders to hold papers and miscellaneous handouts elementary schoolers tend to pile up.
From our spring chaos, I’ve learned having a good headset to muffle some of the noises from online school will come in handy. My son broke his latest one, but I found this one that has a microphone that I think will work out well.
With our desk, our little guy needed a comfy chair he can sit and focus in. I found this Midcentury Modern White plastic one – with a memory foam seat to keep his tush comfy while he focuses. We actually disassembled it and stained it a slightly different shade, to give it some richness.
Similar table | Similar Tote | Pencil Jar | Headset | Chair
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