How to Create a FUN Learning by Emily Webb
Joni Lay is the mother to four girls, and she runs the website laybabylay.com, where she shares interior design inspiration. Like many parents this last spring, she had to school her children at home for the first time, so she created a homeschool space and routine for her kids. Atlanta Parent talked to her about how to create a separate school space or homework area for your kids. How did you make a school space for your kids this past spring? We already had an art/craft area for our girls, so it worked well to be able to use that space for school. I really enjoyed leaning into it, and I found that my girls really appreciated having a dedicated space that felt like it was meant for schoolwork. A few key things that really helped were having a little rolling cart for them to have their own “cubby,” a little chalkboard where I would write the menu for lunch and the times for any class/Zoom calls, and I also hung up a photo I took of them together (like a class photo), and they loved all of those details which made it really feel like a little school.
What school items were especially helpful? l The 3-Tier Rolling Cart from The Container Store, where each of my girls had one of the shelves for their little cubby. l I also got them each a set of Jelly Comb Headphones from Amazon, as I quickly realized it was distracting when one of them had a Zoom call or had to watch a lesson online. l I also got a DuKabel Headphone Splitter from Amazon, so that my four-year-old (who desperately wanted to do school, but wasn’t old enough!) could watch some of the lessons with her big sister(s). l Starting each day with the pledge and a story or devotional, and writing the lunch menu and schedule on a MALA chalkboard from IKEA made them feel like we were really doing school, and they loved it.
What helped you designate the space as specifically school-related? I leaned into it by hanging their “class photo” on the wall (which they loved!), and making sure the space was neat for each morning and writing a schedule on the chalkboard went a long way. It seems like small things, but I discovered after a week that the attention to those details made them feel more like it was school.
18 Atlanta Parent August 2020
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