Here is where we set up space starting March 16, 2020

rearranging eat-in kitchen space, without .using Grandpa's space is a possibility.

I think the key is to keep your instructional time short and broken up throughout the day. Don’t forget that there is a lot of hands on instruction that can be done with kindergarteners. And keeping them moving is key.

Our dining room is a possibility. We will be removing the tall display cabinet soon as we get some strong helpers.
There is 35" to the right of the fireplace and 30" on the left.
Please ignore the messes, we are making changes and haven't yet bought bookcases or shelves.

My 3rd option is along the wall between the eat-in kitchen and livingroom.

Pick up a child size table and chair. Wal-Mart or thrift shops have them, almost like a folding card table. Hang or lean against wall a bulletin board with some fun appropriate learning material. Google home school for some ideas. Good luck!

Am I wrong in thinking young children do better if they are within sight and sound of other family members?

That's why I'm considering something in the public spaces of the house.

email the school district for help. I know they are very busy but someone may be able to guide you. AS a retired high school teacher I would say being in sight/sound of family members would be a distraction. As suggested break the sitting down learning up into 15 minute periods with active time between.

Here is a resource for you

https://keeplearning.khanacademy.org/daily-schedule

Being Californians now living in WV, daughter and i have seriously considered homeschooling, did extensive online research, and finally decided to compromise by supplementing public school. Granddaughter is a bit hyperactive (not enough to need treatment) and likes a lot of social interaction. She did quite well in pre-K, which reinforced our decision to keep her in the public school system.

I just did a search this morning for ideas related to distance learning in 2020 and found nothing new. There are lots of blogs for full time homeschooling, but nothing that seems currently applicable.

If, as seems most likely, children are in class 3 days a week, come home with packets and assignments, then I don't need a complete classroom space with bulletin boards, drawers of supplies, marker boards, and a stocked library.

I need something that can be used a couple days a week or on short notice (Teacher test positive for Covid-19.

Accomodating family without stifling a kindergartener's learning progress or driving myself crazy with a devolving home environment is my goal. Grandpa is already spending more time hiding in our bedroom.

jck910, I agree that older children need a quiet private space for studying. I was that way from about 5th grade on.

But, is that true of kindergartners?

So far she refuses to work alone, even follows me to the kitchen when I'm getting her snack. She says it's too boring when there's no one else making noise around her. Guess that comes from being in pre-k where different groups worked in the same large room.

Kindergarten is learning with interaction. Stories read together. Learning to share with other children. Or with you. You need only be in the room. A kitchen table. a folding card table. A child sized chair.

Kids learn by doing. Cooking and baking! How much is a cup? What does it look like in solid or liquid What is half of that? What's a teaspoon versus a tablespoon? What happens when you fold a towel?! Can you draw on a bath tub wall? And then learn to clean it off? You bet!!

Education has lost its own mind. Kids haven't changed that much. Six years old is usually still six years old. PLAY is learning. it's just disguised learning. Math, language, science.......all can and should be incorporated into play.........as often as possible. There's a lifetime of distance/solitude ahead. The teachers will beat me up. I care not, so go right ahead. The world has gone nuts. "Led "by some of the most educated on this earth. I still can't find a twenty something who can count back CHANGE at a cash register. Most can't utter a sentence without the abuse of the word "like".

Last thought? Involve the child! Where would you like to color, do "big kid" projects, or even read all by yourself? Let's pick a place you really like" ..........and lets get two chairs in case we do some things together!" ........: ) You can even teach decisions.

She is in kindergarten she needs to be around family, set her up in the kitchen somewhere where the only distraction is you cooking. The bonus you will have a better relationship with her down the road if you spend time with her now. My grandson did his homework at our house for years at the kitchen island while I made dinner he got good marks and we bonded forever. He is now 32 and still comes to stay with us for at least part of his holidays every year. BTW he learned to cook too.

It was my mom and i only, from the age of 3 and i remember her making a cardboard clock and she would always have me move the hands to learn different times and while she was in the bathtub, i sat on the bathroom floor beside the tub and she had me look up words, that is where i got to say “how can i look up a word if i don’t know how to spell it? “lol, then i’ll never forget when she was ironing she had me going over my spanish until i was so over it, lmao. I substituted here in our district for several years and really got to see the changes and also downfalls of our school system here, it kept me at that position even longer to really try to help these kids from elementary through high school. Kudos to our teachers, to say the least, not an easy job!!!

Integrate her learning into your interactions. Counting is easy. Count everything. Stairs, plates, toys. So is color identification. Letter identification, and writing them particularly, need a bit more sit down structure. But you see letters everywhere. And getting fridge letters that they can hold is a tactile way. And don’t worry about getting it “right”. Everyone else is in the same boat and teachers know that their students are going to have a wider variation in what their students can do. And relax, I think that the kids can be pressured too much to excel. Especially in these difficult times.

remodeling1840, you hit on exactly my concerns. I know what we have is not conducive to learning to learn.

If I make a space in the kitchen area there won't be a bulletin board because of the windows.

If I use either the dining room or the front entry wall, I can take down what's there and put up letter/number charts, maps (we have a bunch in a bin), etc.

I have 2 rolling carts for sewing supplies which I can move into a dresser drawer. We went shopping today, but could not find a table her size. I'll have to order online.

You are not listening my dear. You aren't. It's fine to plan for Princeton or Yale. Don't let childhood slip away as you plan. You have gotten great tips. Interaction is at the top of the list. I NEVER had a bulletin board. Use a wall, use that clay like stuff to attach. You are winding yourself up over a six year old! He/she is likely to live to a hundred. Learning never stops and lasts into very old age. I fail to understand the push that has led to over priced universities of no real knowledge....and no job as a result. If you have a rocket scientist on your hands? You will know soon enough!

Books, Ipads, the Discovery Channel, more books.......cutting and pasting, baking , making things! My god! Don't let this make you crazy/ It's like worrying what an infant thinks of their room! Did they get a kiss and cuddle?? Do they have a full belly? Is the diaper dry? Does someone LOVE them ?

Better you should have a piano or keyboard than a darn bulletin board : ) This is stuff dreamed up by twenty five year old teachers with extra time at home - VISUAL STIMULATION lol. NONE of parenting, or learning is about perfection. Your home and the outdoors is visually stimulating. It's like life itself. Imperfect and lovely.......and yes, stimulating when shared!

I'll add: reading together to LEARN to read alone. That's the key. One can "travel "and learn ANYTHING. ......AND THE SKILL IS PORTABLE AND LASTS A LIFETIME. Read an hour together every day and stand back ,,,,,,,way back lol...and relax.

So, you're saying that I don't need a table to use as a desk either?

All I want to do is make a place for her crayons, markers, paper and space to use them that she's comfortable in. The way it is now she is on her knees on a dining chair to reach what is on a card table or the dining table. The only space for the card table is in a corner of the computer/storage room. I don't have seating at an island in the kitchen, she stands on a chair when we work together or do a project (we made soap yesterday).

I’m an elementary school teacher and my kids worked off the dining table and kitchen island since March. Each had a spot and we just brought out supplies as needed. Each kid had a bin with their work and supplies in it we moved out for work and away when not.

My kids just finished 2,5,7 and we never worked more than 1.5 hrs at a time. Even then we had breaks.

For a K student you need them in your sight line 100% of the time for learning. Learning is all around you and should be full of play and creativity. Time at a table should be minimal and focused or exist if they enjoy being there for arts and crafts etc.

To summarize:

Don't bother with a desk or a specific location to practice writing, numbers and do worksheets. Purchase a bin and set her up at the dining table, kitchen table, sofa or on the floor and put everything away when it's time for lunch and dinner.

Learning to get along with other children is not a choice if we are stuck with online schooling, she is the only child in the house.

Get her a 24 inch high ( seat ) counter !!!stool with a BACK pull it up to the kitchen table. Buy a rolling cart with drawers! Look on Amazon, Target...etc. Put the crayons and paper in it! !!

CoviId has made this a bit more challenging, but NOT as challenging as you are making it, by taking "teacher" instructions too literally.

ISOLATION ISN'T GOOD FOR ANYONE. let alone a child that should be with friends in a classroom. The weather is good. Let her have a playmate in the yard. Put cushions on the chairs to a card table, or get a couple blocks of foam. Add paper, scissors, crayons, markers.....and get out of their way. They are "playing school". They have the immune systems of race horses. Mask them if you feel better. : ) But fresh air is an enemy of Covid. . Too much supervision and structure is as bad as none. Part of your issue is this child IS the only. ........were there three or four? Your handwringing would evaporate.

Former kindergarten teacher, forget the table and instead buy her an easel. If you’ve got an IKEA nearby, they have a chalkboard easel for quite cheap. Also buy her a child’s learning calendar, maybe look in the Target dollar section for something similar to what she’d use at school. At this age, learning is about experiences with letters and numbers as well as engagement with others - even if the school district tells you that she needs to be on the computer for an hour of learning each day, break up that hour into five small chunks. Start each day of learning with a routine, calendar, sing, model alphabet sounds, start a counting jar, explore feelings, etc. Above all else, have fun and see to it that she enjoys learning!

Thank you for all your advice. I will review it again in the morning.

Use her stuffed animals as motivators. Ex. When the worksheet is done, a stuffed animal cheers and they play ball (you really do but pretend it’s the stuffed animal) before starting g the next assignment.
Also, try headsprout.com if she needs to learn to read. Works great.

Here’s a thought. Particularly if she is on the younger side. Don’t enroll her in kindergarten this year. Wait until next year. Just have fun with her this year.

A little explanation:

Daughter and granddaughter live in our basement apartment, a 2 bedroom walkout. We have a small bedroom (8'x8')for her upstairs so I don't have to go up and down so often at nap time, etc. She has a collection of toys and stuffies upstairs as well as downstairs. We set it up this way before she was born, right after their downtown apartment building burnt down. Her mom has been working steady (butcher shop, an essential business) for about 18mths, so we have gdaughter a good bit of time.

My husband, Grandpa, is the teacher when I am at church relieving the regular secretary, helping in the Food Pantry, or kitchen. Whatever I set up has to be usable for him too.

Heather, she has a small easel in her downstairs bedroom. Her mom is the artist in the family and started teaching her color mixing this spring.

What do you use the easel for? Do you mean an adult size easel?

If it's for a chalk board, I have chalk board paint. I used it on a section of her upstairs bedroom wall when she was just learning to hold chalk and crayons. I have some scrap drywall I can paint and hang or prop up on a table.

Sue54321, I hadn't thought of using her stuffies as a cheering section. Thanks.

Not sure if we can use Headsprout. It'd have to be on the tablet.

mainenell, I appreciate your suggestion to keep her out of school, but she has no playmates when she's not in school. Stay-at-home orders started here March 16, so no Sunday School either.

remodeling1840, in re-reading your suggestions I keyed in on the trip to Home Depot. I was going to wait until the schools posted the supply list for this year, but I could go early. Gdaughter could help me organize (something she likes to do) the storage cart.

Question for you all:

Instead of a desk, what about using a TV tray in a corner of the dining room for things in progress?

Some activities just don't lend themselves to being plopped into a bin or drawer, such as wet paintings, clay sculptures, kitchen science experiments that have to set overnight, etc.

One example is the jar of colored water, oil and salt that we watched separate, mix, then separate again over the course of a week.

Question for you all:

"Instead of a desk, what about using a TV tray in a corner of the dining room for things in progress? "

Are you planning to "home school" until middle school or beyond? I doubt it. At some point, all these kids have to get back into schools, unless home schooled by parental decision. As to "things in progress". ........ A tv tray? No!! Do not add more useless clutter to your home.

"Some activities just don't lend themselves to being plopped into a bin or drawer, such as wet paintings, clay sculptures, kitchen science experiments that have to set overnight, etc."

NONE of this stuff needs to "last" beyond a couple days. Science projects?? In kindergarten? Clay? Dry it. then throw it out a day later! You nor the child, need a permanent artifact from a fun "lesson"! Separating salt and colored water? Put your foot down , my dear. . Have a discussion with this teacher. Nobody flunks kindergarten, or even gets held back. Learn to ADAPT these projects to your home and child. The teacher? She needs to remember or understand what a parent is dealing with, from small space to other children! To monies not available to buy a ton of crap, simply because she dreamed up a stupid project that craps up a house, and NOT the classroom that for now....doesn't exist!

You need to address the clutter in your spaces, the stuff existing before COVID. Rein in this teacher, and rein in yourself. What is all this?? exactly?? I mean on the console.

What about the photo below? The lower left corner! What is all that stuff? Take a weekend. Get rid of all that has accumulated........and not needed. Not dealt with. Trust me, It's there. Truth? You can't get the schooling organized until you organize and de clutter your own mind, your own home. Make better USE of what you have, the space you have, Stomp your foot to the useless "learning" endeavors and substitute something similar, or ask the TEACHER to suggest something else. No child at this age must learn by "project " all day. They need rest from it, and they need play. Clean it all up. Take the china cupboard, butt it to the shelves. It's more space for books! Get busy, and come back. Stop thinking and obsessing, and begin DOING. : )

What about this???

You won't get a six year old in there alone to "study". Take back the room. Get a command center going - all the mail to be dealt with, the files of life, Lose the half dead plant . ?

The real problem is the clutter NOT created by school, or child.

We do painting outside on the covered deck and leave out there to dry. We did a water climbing paper towel experiment and just left it on the island to observe.

I found this useful.

Teaching kindergarten should be fun and engaging for parent and child. Keep these tips in mind to ensure that it is:

• Don't be a slave to the curriculum. Let it work for you. If it's not working, it's okay to change curriculum.
• Little ones can only sit for about 15 minutes at a time. Try scattering your teaching times throughout the day.
• Keep it fun. If your child isn't having a good day, put school off until later or even the next day.
• Use play dough, paints, bubbles.
• Have your child write his letters with his fingers in pudding, shaving cream, or sand. Kids also love using the white board. Don't limit them to the lines on paper this early. Just concentrate on forming the letters properly.

As homeschoolers, we don't have to leave behind the days of cutting, pasting, playing, and painting for kindergarten. Those are perfectly acceptable activities to engage the minds of curious youngsters!

https://www.thoughtco.com/homeschooling-kindergarten-1828360#:~:text=More%20Tips%20for%20Homeschooling%20Kindergarten.%201%20Don%27t%20be,white%20board.%20Don%27t%20limit%20them%20to%20...%20

A S, I would prefer painting outside, but we can count on 2-3days of dry, low wind in September and October only. We've had an inch of rain this week and enough night time wind that she and I had to gather her play kitchen supplies up from aroung the yard. At least the fence kept them close by.

We haven't done the paper towel paint experiment yet. Thanks for the reminder.

I suggested the chalkboard for many reasons. She could of course write and draw on it with chalk, markers, paints, and I’ve always had kids enjoy ‘painting’ with just a brush and water. If she has an assignment to practice writing letters or sight words, a chalkboard would be more engaging than a pencil and she could use that as additional practice to track print with a pointer as she reads her work aloud to you. Have fun!

Could just try to make whatever sitting setup you are already using ergonomic for her.

1. If the chair seat to tabletop gap is too big, add a pillow.
2. Get a box so when she sits, her feet have something to rest on.

No decorating advice here just a compliment on your willingness to go the extra mile in helping your grand daughter succeed in school. Speaking as a person on the other side of that screen working with children, the less "busy" the space the more helpful it will be. I found that when I worked with kids who had televisions in the background they were distracted. Kids working in kitchens or other more public spaces in the home were distracted more also. Agree with above poster that an ergonomic set up would be great.

In my original posts I stated that the messes were because we are cleaning and re-arranging. The tall display cabinets migrated here from our house in California which had a large family room. We have tried every placement we can think of and have finally given up on them.

In order to sell them, I had to empty them, thus the extra piles of stuff to go through. Until the oversize cabinets are gone, I don't have anywhere to put new bookcases that are more in scale with our 11' wide rooms and 7'6" ceiling height.

No, we don't plan to homeschool permanently, but we will have to supplement the public school curriculum. This year they eliminated 6 more teaching positions, including a kindergarten-first grade class, a 3rd grade class, music, math, science, and foreign language positions in the older grades. Last year they closed an elementary school.

Sue54321, great timing. I woke up this morning dreaming about making a chair pad, then debated with self about buying one made for lawn furniture. I hadn't thought about something to rest her feet on. I have a couple of foot stools of different heights.

For now, I moved the storage cubies with her school supplies to a corner in the dining room. Once the tall cabinets are gone, I can put one of my rolling carts on the other side of the fireplace.

I discovered a new challenge yesterday. My sewing and Gpa's hobby table are currently on the enclosed sun porch. I guess I shouldn't have cleaned the floor, because I found 2 boards that have worn so thin the floor joists are visible. Since the damage is on my side of the room, I have to fold up the card table so my sewing table, storage and ironing board can squeeze into that room.

The IKEA chalkboard/white board easel is very useful. My daughters (in HS now) still use it and they've had it since they were toddlers. They also had kid-sized table and chairs - the table has adjustable legs so we were able to use the table longer.

I think it's important for kids to understand that there are different places for learning, playing, and eating, so they would understand what they should do and concentrate.

Our brains are a bit funky, This conversation is over a year old so reading from the beginning is like reading history.

In spite of the people who say their home and traditionally schooled children made little use of a desk, scattering throughout the house to study, our overly active 1st grader did best when school had a designated place.

She had the makeshift desk upstairs and a spare kitchen table when she was with her mom. She liked all her supplies to be in the same place every day. Crayons at the right upper corner, eraser next to them, blank paper and workbooks on the left, finished papers on the lower right.

If we tried to do school work any where else her mind wandered; she was easily distracted.

I think it's similar to the change in our mindset when we go to work. Clock in or pick up your tools or sit down at your desk and you are on duty. The location, furniture, tools of the trade, they all mean this is work time.

Going into a classroom functions the same way, it puts their mind in school mode.

The school is issuing ipads and chrome books to all students again this year. When an entire class has to quarantine, or the teacher is sick and there's no substitute the class will go on virtual learning for a week or so. The schedule allows for 5 snow/ice days and I think they're planning to go virtual if there's more.