Back to school shopping may look different this year. You may be buying some more teaching supplies for yourself than you ever thought you would have. Teaching from home has its fair share of challenges but getting the right materials and getting organized can help ease the burden of homeschooling. Come check out these items I found to be helpful for getting organized while navigating the world of teaching!
Happy Monday my friends!
I thought I’d come to you today with some fun ways to get organized for teaching at home!
So many of you are preparing your homes to not only be your home but to be school too!
You are preparing to teach your kiddos at home whether it’s a full time, part-time, virtual school, or just waiting for your county to make the call and have school be taught at home.
Caroline is not in school yet but as a former elementary school teacher I thought I’d write a list of some items that I know I would want if Caroline was headed back to “school” at home.
I made this list with the idea that Caroline would be in Elementary school and wanting to keep our days simple, organized, and in routine.
Some of these items I used in my own classroom and some are specifically for teaching from home.
I wrote a little description of what the object is and how I would use it day to day if Caroline were going to school at home.
Calendars
Let’s start first with Calendars!
I love a good calendar and I think it helps kids see that time is moving and work needs to be accomplished.
The first calendar is similar to the one I used in my classrooms. I liked having the students put up the date each day and holidays. A pocket chart calendar is very easy to read and simple.
This calendar incorporates at little more than the first.
I think I might purchase this calendar for Caroline in August. I think it’s super cute and it’s something we could do together in her room.
Caroline already loves to talk about what day it is, the weather and what tomorrow will be.
When I was teaching, I felt it was important to have a morning meeting to get the day started right and that morning meeting included calendar time.
Having a calendar to set up is a great way to start your morning each day of homeschooling. Sit down, have your child help you do the calendar, and get to work.
Writing Utensil Organizer
Being organized is going to be more important than ever and having pencils, markers, pens, and crayons all over your table or desk is not going to make for a very productive day.
I am obsessed with this cute rainbow organizer and the removable turntable organizer.
I would most likely purchase both if I was homeschooling. I like the removable bin organizer because you could set it up so each of your kids has a bucket ready to go in the morning with the writing utensils they need. Or just organize it by categories like it is shown in the image above.
I honestly might just have to buy these for fun!
Desk
If Caroline were having school at home, I would want her to have a place to put all her books but I would also want her to have a place to do some quiet work.
I thought this desk would fulfill both of those needs.
It is so cute and looks to be a great size for a younger child.
Clipboards
Clipboards are a teacher’s best friend, well at least they were mine.
I loved giving an assignment to students and letting them use a clipboard to work around the classroom.
Using a clipboard is so fun!
Kids can sit in different areas inside and outside of the house or even in the car and work on something.
I even use them for Caroline right now.
Sometimes we like to go outside and color and it’s so much easier to tear out a coloring page and use the clipboard than use the flimsy coloring book.
Rolling Cart Organizer
I like the idea of being able to move your teaching/school materials to new locations in your home.
This moveable crate is great for just that purpose.
Plus it is great if you find yourself teaching your child at the kitchen table. Having this crate is a great way to have all your materials in one place then slid it into a corner or closet when school is over for the day.
Dray Erase Boards
Any teacher out there needs a whiteboard. Sometimes kids just need to see things drawn out and trust me it’s easier to teach when you aren’t explaining something on a piece of paper.
I even use a whiteboard to teach my students in China through the computer with VIPKID.
Have you ever let your kids draw on a white board?
If you haven’t you need to.
I would teach math with these little guys and have my students work out problems on their whiteboards.
Kids love using them! They are great for math, spelling, grammar, and even just for fun.
Grab these it will change your teaching experience with your child.
Teacher Planner
If you are going to be teaching your kids from home you need to treat yourself to this beautiful teacher planner.
I am a very visual person and would need to see all the activities planned out for the day and this planner will help you do that.
Not to mention it was designed by Emily Ley who makes the cutest things!
Wall Organizers
I saw this on Erin Condren’s site and thought this would be great if I was teaching from home.
Every night I would take 5 minutes and write out the schedule for the next day or do it that morning.
I think it is helpful that everyone sees what the schedule is for the day.
I also like that it is a dry erase board so you can adapt your schedule each day to what needs to be done that day.
Knowing me the schedule would have the same rhythm every day like math at 10 am and lunch at 12 pm but I would spice it up with something like math is outside using sidewalk chalk and I would want Caroline to see that so she could be excited about it.
I am obsessed with this checklist!
I would put things like math facts, read 20/30 minutes, handwriting, and clean up the bedroom for the items section then have Caroline check off each item everyday.
I always loved having things for my students to do independently each day. Each classroom always has a fast finisher and I needed that student to not just sit around and do nothing when their work was complete. Idle hands are never good.
So I would have my students complete fast finisher work.
Now this list would not be just for finishing something fast at home but I would use for things that Caroline needed to do every day before school was over.
And if you have multiple kids in different grade levels you could have one student work on their list while you work with your other student.
I kind of want one just for myself to help keep myself on track. lol! 🙂
Paper Organizer
You can never have enough binders!
I always feel like putting papers in a binder keeps things organized. The paper will most likely not get lost if it is attached to 3 rings. lol!
I like the different colors here. I would use them for different subjects or different kids.
So many possiblities!
I hope this list was helpful!
There are so many other things you will need to make your day successful at home teaching your kid but having a positive attitude and being organized will definitely help you and your child get started on the right foot every day!
Let me know if any of these items work for you! I’d love to hear your feedback!
Want to remember this? Post this Getting Organized for Homeschool to your favorite Pinterest board!
Thank you for this list of homeschool organization tools! I can’t believe it’s almost time to start getting organized for our homeschooling year!
I have a link up party called, “Embracing Home and Family” that is for all things homemaking, homeschooling and homesteading, and it happens on Friday’s over on my blog The Inspired Prairie, and would love to have you link up this post with us!
Hope to “see you” on Friday!
-Cherelle
YAY! I will see you there! Thanks so much for letting me know about it!
You know.. in 8+ years of homeschooling I have never once had my planner last beyond the first week of school! LOL. I was so much better winging it and letting learning happen naturally; otherwise I got so uptight our schedule that I often stopped the boys from learning what they were so clearly immersed in so we could move onto the next thing on our list. It was so hard to shift from public school teacher mode to homeschooling mom mode– I learned the hard way that they are not the same.
It’s so weird that this is the first time in 8+ years that I have one boy NOT homeschooling! I have no idea if we’ll be distance learning with him (which I’m guessing we will) but I feel fairly confident we can handle that whatever it might end up looking like. I love your adorable Today is.. calendar and had a soft sided one like that for my youngest when we began homeschooling.