THE
THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR CAN BE STRESSFUL EVEN UNDER
THE BEST OF
CIRCUMSTANCES.
BUT WITH MANY KIDS
LEARNING REMOTELY
RIGHT NOW... IT CAN BE
EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO
JUGGLE EVERYTHING THAT
COMES WITH BEING A
PARENT.
THAT'S WHY WE WANTED
TO LOOK FOR A WAY TO
MAKE THE PROCESS A
LITTLE SMOOTHER.
I TALKED TO THE OWNER
OF "TIDY STYLE" HOME
ORGANIZATION TO GET
SOME TIPS ON MAKING
STUDY SPACES AS
PRODUCTIVE AS POSSIBLE.
HEATHER! WE NEED YOUR
HELP PARENTS ARE
GONNA BE WORKING
FROM HOME AND NOW
KIDS ARE GOING TO BE
HOME AND EXECUTING
DISTANCE LEARNING SO
HOW DO WE CREATE A
COHESIVE ENVIRONMENT
THAT ALLOWS FOR BOTH
OF US. IN PARTICULAR
OUR KIDS WE WANT TO
MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE
IN A GOOD SPACE SO WE
CAN REALLY FOCUS SO
WHERE DO WE BEGIN.
YEAH. SO THE FIRST STEP
IS TO DESIGNATE A
CONSISTENT PLACE TO DO
THE SCHOOLWORK AND
TO WATCH TO MAKE SURE
THAT THE SPACE IS
CLUTTER FREE BECAUSE
CLUTTER IS JUST
DISTRACTING AND IT'S
HARD TO FOCUS AND
WANT TO GIVE YOUR
CHILDREN THE BEST
CHANCE AT BEING ABLE
TO FOCUS. SO JUST MAKE
SURE THAT THE SPACE
THAT YOU CHOOSE IS
CLUTTER FREE. OKAY, SO
YOU'RE MENTIONING
CLUTTER FREE BUT I
IMAGINE THERE'S GONNA
BE A LOT OF SUPPLIES...
THERE'S GOING TO BE
TEXTBOOK PAPER RULERS
GLUE STICKS MAYBE EVEN
GLITTER, HOW DO WE
ORGANIZE. OKAY,
HOPEFULLY NO GLITTER.
THAT'S MY WORST
NIGHTMARE.
YEAH, SO AS FAR AS
ORGANIZATION, A SIMPLE,
CLEAR SHOE BOX WORKS
REALLY WELL. THEY ARE
STACKABLE SO THEY
MAXIMIZE THE VERTICAL
SPACE, THIS IS IF YOU
HAVE A SHELF UNIT
NEARBY THIS SOLUTION.
YOU CAN SEE INSIDE OF
THEM
THEM WHICH IS ALWAYS A HUGE PLUS WITH KIDS AND ABOUT $2 A BOX
THEY'RE REALLY BUDGET
FRIENDLY.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE SHELF
UNIT NEARBY... PERHAPS
YOU HVE A DRAWER. AND
SO THESE DRAWER
INSERTS OR SOMETHING
SIMILAR TO THIS WORKS
REALLY WELL. THESE ARE
SEGMENTED SO THAT
THEY HAVE A SPACE
WHERE YOU CAN PUT
YOUR GLUE STICKS YOUR
PENCILS YOUR PENS YOUR
CRAYONS SO YOU CAN
SEPARATE EVERYTHING
AND GIVE EVERYTHING A
HOME AND JUST PUT
THEM IN A DRAWER AND
THERE, MAKE FOR A
REALLY EASY ACCESS TO
EVERYTHING THAT YOU
NEED. RIGHT, OKAY AND
THEN SHARING SOME
SPACE WHILE MOM MIGHT
BE DOING A
PRESENTATION... YOU GOT
LITTLE JOHNNY OVER
HERE TRYING TO DO FIRST
GRADE, WHAT IF WE'RE
DOUBLE DUTY IN A SPACE.
YEAH, SO WE USE OUR
DINING TABLE FOR OUR
SCHOOL WORKSPACE
LAST YEAR... .THAT'S
PROBBALY WHAT WE'LL
DO AGAIN.
SO, A ROLLING CART LIKE
THIS IS REALLY HELPFUL
BECAUSE YOU CAN STORE
EVERYTHING THEN YOU
CAN JUST ROLL AWAY AT
THE END OF THE DAY.
WHEN YOU'RE DONE, SO
IT'S NOT STORING ISN'T
INVADING YOUR SPACE
THE REAL TAKE AWAY IS
THAT YOU HAVE
DESIGNATED HOME FOR
EVERYTHING... WILL BE
ABLE TO PUT IT ALL AWAY
AT THE END, IT WON'T
SPREAD OUT AND TAKE
OVER THE SPACE. I LOVE
THAT BECAUSE THE LAST
THING YOU WANT IS
SPAGHETTIOS ON MOMS
PRESENTATION OR
SOMEONE'S MATH
HOMEWORK, ENDING UP
IN HIS DAD'S WORK FILE
AS WELL RIGHT EXACTLY
RIGHT. OKAY, SO HOW DO
WE COLOR CODE TO
BECAUSE THAT CAN ALSO
BE A GREAT WAY TO BE
ORGANIZED.
YEAH, SO I LOVE COLOR
CODING. KIDS JUST REALLY
RESPOND WELL TO COLOR.
ONE THING THAT WE
DISCOVERED LAST YEAR
AND WHEN WE DID OUR
STINT OF
HOMESCHOOLING LAST
SPRING WAS THAT COLOR
CODING BY CHILD VERSUS
A SUBJECT, REALLY HELPED
TO STREAMLINE THE DAY
THAT WAY WHENEVER I
SAW A CERTAIN COLOR
FOLDER OR BINDER OR
PENCIL BOX I KNEW
EXACTLY WHO IT
BELONGED TO. SO, I
WOULD RECOMMEND
COLOR CODING BY CHILD
IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN
ONE CHILD.
AND THEN THE LAST TIP IS
LABELING. SO LABEL EVERY
SUBJECT LABEL EVERY
PENCIL BOX LABEL LABEL
LABEL LABELING IS REALLY
KEY TO ORGANIZATION
BECAUSE IT HELPS YOU
KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO
FIND
FIND SOMETHING BUT IT ALSO HELPS WITH THE MAINTENANCE OF THE
ORGANIZATION AND
ORGANIZATION AND
PUTTING
PUTTING EVERYTHING AWAY. OKAY AND THEN I
THOUGHT THIS WAS
REALLY UNIQUE BUT YOU
HAD SUGGESTED A VISUAL
TIMER, WHY WELL
BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF AN
ABSTRACT NOTION FOR
KIDS. IF YOU TELL A CHILD
THEY HAVE 20 MINUTES
UNTIL THEIR NEXT SNACK
BREAK, I'LL PROBABLY ASK
YOU SEVERAL TIMES
DURING THE COURSE
THAT NEXT 20 MINUTES
WHEN THE BREAK IS. SO I
FOUND THESE VISUAL
TIMERS ON AMAZON,
THEY'RE UNDER $20
THEY'RE AMAZING
BECAUSE IT GIVES A GOOD
VISUAL CUE TO HOW
MUCH TIME IS LEFT AND
WE'VE FOUND THAT TO
AVOID MELT DOWNS
DURING THE DAY THTA
CHUNKING UP THE DAY
INTO LITTLE SPACES
REALLY HELPS. OKAY, I LIKE
THAT BECAUSE WE DO
NEED TO AVOID THOSE
MELTDOWNS RIGHT WE
NEED TO MAKE IT
PALATABLE FOR NOT ONLY
THE KIDS BUT THE
PARENTS AS WELL.
AND LASTLY, A GREAT WAY
TO KIND OF CELEBRATE
WHAT'S CURRENTLY
HAPPENING IS MEMORY
BOXES.
SO I LOVE THESE MEMORY
BOXES AND REALLY WHAT
IT IS IS JUST A FILE BOX
WHERE YOU HAVE
FOLDERS FOR EACH YEAR.
EACH SCHOOL YEAR. I
STARTED MY MEMORY
BOX BECAUSE PRESCHOOL
THERE'S A TON OF ART
WORK THAT THEY'RE
DOING IN PRESCHOOL.
BUT FOLDER FOR EACH
YEAR AND IT'S GREAT AND
THEN YOU CAN PUT YOUR
AWARD AND THEIR
ARTWORK WHATEVER
SPECIAL MOMENTS
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
IN THESE FOLDERS AND
THEN I ALSO LIKE TO ADD
CARDS AS WELL SO YOU
CAN KEEP ALL THE
BIRTHDAY CARDS
CHRISTMAS CARDS FROM
SPECIAL PEOPLE LIKE
GRANDPARENTS IN ONE
SPACE.
SPACE.