Whether you are homeschooling this year or your child is doing virtual learning you have decided you want to set up a space for school work. You have come to the right place! Today I will be talking to you all about setting up a homeschool space for little learners.
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My son attended a local preschool last year and was enrolled again for this year. However, with the uncertainty brought about by COVID my husband and I decided to pull him and I would homeschool him. I spent most of my time in the classroom teaching fourth grade but I had two years in pre-k and kindergarten. I knew I wanted to create a classroom/playroom space in our house where the bulk of learning would take place.
Sensory Table
For younger students sensory time is very important. You can build your own table, buy expensive pre-made tables, or check Ikea! Their Flisat table is the perfect sensory table. There is a hard top that can be removed. Beneath is space for the Ikea Trofast bins which can be used as your sensory bins! I was lucky enough to snag one of these tables. We have it in our playroom and my kids love it!
Sensory Bin Materials
Now that you have your sensory table what do you put in your sensory bins? There are so many great options:
Rice, beans, unpopped popcorn, pom poms, and cotton balls are quick, easy, and cheap fillers. As I mentioned, we use the Trofast as our sensory table. I have 2 bins going at a time. We currently have colorful pom poms on one side and beans with these plastic fall pieces on the other side.
Kinetic sand is great for sensory tables. It is fun to play with and pairs really well with small trucks and beach themed figures.
Water beads are very fun as well. They come in different colors. For example, you could do blue beads for an ocean theme.
Little Plastic Animals are great additions because the invite children to play and use their imaginations. I bought this set off Amazon and my children have been loving the variety.
Educational Materials
I wanted to make our homeschool room function as a preschool classroom/playroom, but I wanted it to still look cozy and cute. I created color, number, and alphabet posters which I strung on twine and hung from small clothespins.
I have books available for my kids to look through and hang our unit books in the Bekvam Spice Racks from Ikea.
We also have a Little Tikes table and chairs in the middle where we do our work.
To read more about this topic you can check out my parent guide to distance learning which you can read here.
Do you have any must haves for your homeschool space? Tell me in the comments below.
