As I've been preparing my own classroom for this upcoming school year that could potentially consist of weeks doing virtual school and weeks in the actual school building something hit me, I need to also have home prepared for just in case my child is in virtual school.
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My plan for the summer was to begin working on Kindergarten things, making sure he was as ready as possible when he began. With Reading/Language not being his favorite subject, my plan for this summer was to hit letters and sounds hard.
So I organized myself a little three drawer corner of the dining room and plopped a Kindergarten style calendar on top. I even stole my basket I use to drag back and forth from intervention/computer lab in Louisiana.
Here's a peek at what's inside and what I'm keeping on hand incase we end up in virtual school!
Magnetic calendar from Target - lists day, month, weather, seasons.
In my basket: twist up crayons, markers, dry erase markers, a dry erase board and eraser, reward stickers, glue sticks, scissors, permanent markers for me, water color paint, stylus, and pencils. I've also got pencil grips.
Drawer #1: Small treasure box type rewards for days he might need one, My 4 Weeks to Read reading program, a zippy bag of the magnetic parts from my calendar.
Drawer #2: Bible lesson book, handwriting practice book, clear page protector for dry erase on worksheets (I've got math and handwriting in there now), Fun I Spy activity book, Dry Erase Letters and Numbers practice book, alphabet cards, Summer Brain Quest for his age group. (My plan is to get the Brain Quest workbook for his grade as well as the flash cards when we complete the summer workbook. They actually have a set of flashcards for kids starting at age 2, and I'll be getting it for Elliot on his birthday.)
Drawer #3: Plain sticker dots for activities (matching letter or numbers), Letter and number puzzles, dry erase board, blank books I found in the Target dollar spot as a reward (he loves illustrating a book), his hand me down Mobi-Go and Leap Pad. The Leap Pad can be used whenever since it's all learning but the Mobi-Go is just games and it used as a reward.
I've also got paper on hand and I need to restock my construction paper. We also practice on Khan Academy Kids. ABC Mouse, and Duolingo ABC on my iPad, hence the stylus.
This is all super simple and paired down. I just like keeping everything organized and in one place. As soon begins I'll probably print out worksheets that his teacher uses in virtual school. I also know my reading program isn't the one being used in school, but in the event he is needing extra help I have this on hand to help me teach him.
I know Louisiana and Alabama are both doing this, but your local PBS stations will be airing lessons. I saw the lineup for Louisiana on Facebook, so surely the Alabama one is floating around somewhere. If PBS is doing this for these states it is very likely others are as well.
If you have students in other grade levels, just think of having a set of their school supplies on hand. It also wouldn't hurt to have some sort of workbook for each subject they take to help as extra practice. There are also many websites that offer extra practice, trust me your teachers are pulling worksheets from there as well. Teacher stores and Amazon are great resources for finding workbooks. If all else fails... some teacher somewhere taught that lesson and posted it to Youtube or TeacherTube.
I realize I don't have craft materials in here, I'm just not that mom and recognize it. If you are, go for it. I'm not crafty for a whole host of reasons.
Anyway, I hoped this help if you are trying to think of how to organize a school work station. You really don't have to have a whole room or area for school work, you can just keep it organized in one space and pull out what you need. Honestly, I might keep this up over the years for homework too. I'll just need to add a pencil sharpener.
