Phew, mama. I was able to get started on Day 2 of my homeschool reset last night so that I could share a few pictures with you. Day 2 is all about organizing our learning space. I like to start with getting our workspace in order because it makes it feel like it’s time for school again…you know what I mean? It helps us all get in the mood for teaching and learning and is really an invitation to our children-I’ll share more on that below.

So, I know that you probably experience this too- because we are homeschoolers, organizing our homeschool space can easily mean, like, cleaning the whole house. And let me just be clear- that’s NOT what I’m doing. LOL. I don’t got time for that, today! Instead, I am focusing on our primary learning areas.

First, I am focusing on spaces where daily work takes place-like where he is reading, writing, coloring, etc. The question, I’m asking myself today is, “How can I make it easy?” By this, I mean that I don’t want some good math work to be sidetracked by him needing to walk across the room to find an eraser, ya feel me? I want him to quickly be able to grab a pencil, crayon, or whatever, and so I’ve put those things in the top drawer next to his desk. In the drawer below I’ve added our daily activities like number counting, name tracing, etc.-again to make it easy for him to quickly take out and put away these things since we use them every day. So, here my focus is on organizing and arranging items based on the frequency of use and accessibility.

The other part of what I’m doing today is what I love most- creating inviting learning spaces. Now by inviting, I don’t mean, “Oh that’s cute, let me snap a picture!” ( but if it is cute, I will snap a picture, heyyy); but rather, “Oh, that book looks interesting! Let me pick it up.” I want our space to be more than just organized and pretty, I want it to be inviting. So to do this, I’m putting books on display in strategic spaces around the house. I’m also making sure that activities that I want to encourage (like puzzles and coloring) are laid out and at eye level.

For my toddler, I put an Etch-A-Sketch on the bottom shelf (which is chest-level for him) so that he can walk up and start “writing.” My whole goal is to remove barriers to access, so for my elementary kid, I’ve got a coloring book open with markers already laid out. I know it may sound a little kooky, but I’m telling you it works. A well-crafted learning space is an invitation for learning (and teaching). And today, my reset is all about making it easy for my kids to fall into learning.

Aaaaaand, that’s enough for today. Tomorrow, I’m going to focus on how I can help myself fall into teaching.

You’re phenomenal mama,

Brenaea