I teach at a K-8 school in NYC, and Mabel and I had been looking forward to walking to school together each morning when she finally started Kindergarten. Of course, 2020 changed lots of our plans, and Mabel and I are both in remote virtual school for the foreseeable future. I spend the days teaching my 7th graders online, and Emily spends her days managing Mabel’s online Kindergarten schedule while taking care of Matilda and Margaret. It has only been 3 weeks so far, but we have already discovered some things that have made our workspaces, screen breaks, and snacks/drinks a little bit better. Today we’re sharing what has been working so far, although it’s all a work in progress.

Remote Learning Workspaces

When we’re at our cottage in Pennsylvania, Mabel usually does her remote learning at the kitchen table. We set up a teal 3-tier metal cart next to the table. One shelf holds workbooks and cups for pencils/crayons/markers, one shelf holds fine motor activities and math manipulatives like Bear counters, and one shelf holds BOB Books sets and other early readers.

When we designed our living room zones, we purposefully set up a large open rug area in front of the couch for the girls to play. We had no idea the area would be used for Mabel’s remote learning classes that require more space to move, like recess or PE class. She sets the computer up on the coffee table and sits on a pouffe seat until it’s time to move her body. Then she is able to do the movement activities on the living room rug, while still watching the teacher on the computer.

When we’re at our cottage in Pennsylvania, I typically work in our upstairs bedroom. I moved a small table from our deck into the corner of the room, and set up my workstation. Margaret’s crib is in that room, so I am able to help get her down for naps. I typically use headphones to help keep the volume down.

After Margaret falls asleep, I usually move into the closet. We have a tall dresser in the closet, and I put the computer on top. It is the perfect height for a standing desk! It definitely helps me to feel like I’m not just sitting for the entire day.

It is also important for Matilda to have a space where she can play and learn. We set her up with a lap table where she can color and play. Right now we’re especially loving Color Wonder markers that only show up on Color Wonder coloring pads, so we don’t have to worry about marker messes.

Matilda is very interested in letters, numbers, and books, and she desperately wants to attend Mabel’s online lessons. Sometimes she is able to join in special classes, but we don’t want her to be a distraction to Mabel. We signed her up for an account on “Anywhere Teacher” from School Zone, an online educational platform with Adventure Paths for learning activities. They are sharing a FREE 30-day trial with my readers! You can use the promo code SMARTKIDS at www.schoolzone.com/anywhere-teacher to try it out.

When we are in NYC, Mabel typically does her lessons at the kitchen table. She frequently asks us how many minutes she has left, and similarly, during her breaks between classes she often wonders how many minutes until her next class. She can’t tell time yet, so we wanted to set her up with a visual timer. We reached out to Time Timer, and they sent us their Time Timer Mod in charcoal. We simply twist the dial to the number of minutes, and the red section disappears as it counts down. This is so useful during remote learning! I know we’ll also be able to use it during cleanup time and homework time, and let the girls visually count down how many minutes they have left.

When we are in NYC, I work in our bedroom using a pull-out desk drawer in Emily’s closet. It is an amazing feature!

Screen Breaks

We have set up multiple play areas for the girls to take screen breaks during the day. Our playroom nook is really an unused entryway area that we transformed, because we use the backdoor entrance.

We added a fun mural, a colorful rug, and a magnetic chalkboard, and the girls love to play in this little space. We have all the details in our blog post: “Playroom Nook”.

Our of our favorite projects at the cottage was to transform a storage shed into a play gym. The girls love going outside and being able to play, jump, climb, and swing! We have all the details in our blog post “10 Items for a Kids Play Gym”.

We try to give the girls a quiet time break during the afternoons to relax and read books together. We keep a large basket of picture books in both bedrooms and in the living room, and the girls love looking at them together. Of course, it also includes the books from our list of Top 10 Tidy Books for Kids!

Our living room has a cabinet full of markers, crayons, coloring books, arts and crafts supplies, and construction paper. These are items that we let the girls access independently and be creative. We have messier items like stamps, paint and small beads stored in a high cabinet where they can’t access them without adult supervision. We organized our art supplies using a 3-tier system of accessibility from Lindsey of @rubyandfrances.

We love using a toy rotation closet so that the girls can have more open space to play, without having all of their toys out at once. We started by completing a toy inventory, and then organized the toys into a closet using Sterilite flip-top containers to store small pieces.

Snacks/Drinks

One thing that has helped us is having breakfast and snacks ready to grab between classes. CORE Foods sent us some of their CORE Bars, and they are easy and delicious.

Mabel needs a water cup WITH A LID when she is working on the computer. Cupkin sent us a few of their stainless steel insulated cups for kids with lids and reusable silicone straws. Mabel loves the bright colors, and we love that her water  stays cold and doesn’t spill. 

Everyone is busy with varying schedules during the day, so it also helps to have quick meals for little Margaret, who is 6 months old and starting solids. We love that Serenity Kids pouches contain organic savory vegetables, pasture raised meats, and healthy fats. They’re perfect for a quick meal for our littlest eater. We are happy to partner with Serenity Kids to offer 15% off your order with the code TIDYDAD15.

We have been filling easily accessible bowls with fruits, like apples, pears, oranges, and bananas, so that we can grab something healthy when we need a quick snack.

The girls used to constantly ask us to refill their water cups, until we received a Zero Water pitcher with a filter and a spout! Now the girls can reach to fill up their own water cups independently. Game changer!

Chill Out sent us a set of 2 stainless steel insulated coffee mugs with lids! They are perfect for keeping our coffee hot all morning, and not worrying about potential spills.

Thanks for Pinning: 20 Easy Ideas to Make Remote Learning A Sucess

We reached out to several companies to partner with us to help make our remote learning space a little better. We are happy to provide honest product reviews, and all thoughts are completely our own. This post contains affiliate links, and we may make a small percentage commission for products purchased through these links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that help to make thetidydad.com possible.

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