Creating a Homeschool Classroom for Virtual Teaching
I haven't had my sewing machine out in years but since life has changed, I am now teaching my preschool class from home.
My DIY projects as of late have turned to creating activities and ideas for teaching preschool online.
I also had to create a space in my home to teach from.
I had been transforming our den into a home office for myself, until I needed the space for a classroom.
I had been painting cabinets, creating organizers and decorating the space in farmhouse style.
The room was just about where I wanted it to be, cozy and comfortable.
But then life as we knew it changed and my office became my classroom.
Like many teachers all around the room, we are now doing live classrooms from their homes.
This is the state of my home office most afternoons.
I needed to change up my cozy space with things that will help me engage preschoolers from my home.
Here are a few things I did to flip my home office into a classroom...
A few weeks ago I refinished an old cabinet for my teaching supplies which keeps everything I need in one spot and looks nice while doing it.
Then I had this table I wanted to use for my classroom.
It is a very small room so a small card table is the perfect size.
The table really needed a facelift, so I'm going to show you today, how I created a quick table cover.
Below this quick tutorial I will show you more ideas for the home classroom.
I measured the length and width of the top of the table and added an inch, 31".
I cut the square from drop cloth fabric.
Next, I made sides that were about 4" long and the same length as the top, 31", I hemmed the bottoms then sewed the side pieces together in one long strip.
After that I pinned the raw edge all the way around the square top, matching the corners.
I grabbed my handy dandy sewing machine and sewed all the way around the square top then ironed the seams flat.
If you follow the bold link you will see the sewing machine I recommend.
It is a simple, no frills machine that works beautifully!
Update: As September draws near, I have retired from teaching at a school but now have more children I will be teaching virtually.
Here is the classroom set-up I've created for myself using shelves from Target and a table from Ikea.
My DIY projects as of late have turned to creating activities and ideas for teaching preschool online.
I also had to create a space in my home to teach from.
I had been painting cabinets, creating organizers and decorating the space in farmhouse style.
The room was just about where I wanted it to be, cozy and comfortable.
Like many teachers all around the room, we are now doing live classrooms from their homes.
This is the state of my home office most afternoons.
A few weeks ago I refinished an old cabinet for my teaching supplies which keeps everything I need in one spot and looks nice while doing it.
Then I had this table I wanted to use for my classroom.
It is a very small room so a small card table is the perfect size.
The table really needed a facelift, so I'm going to show you today, how I created a quick table cover.
Below this quick tutorial I will show you more ideas for the home classroom.
I measured the length and width of the top of the table and added an inch, 31".
I cut the square from drop cloth fabric.
Next, I made sides that were about 4" long and the same length as the top, 31", I hemmed the bottoms then sewed the side pieces together in one long strip.
After that I pinned the raw edge all the way around the square top, matching the corners.
I grabbed my handy dandy sewing machine and sewed all the way around the square top then ironed the seams flat.
If you follow the bold link you will see the sewing machine I recommend.
It is a simple, no frills machine that works beautifully!
Now the drop cloth table cover keeps the table clean and creates a neutral pallet for my DIY home classroom.
The table and cover are a great place to stand up my whiteboard easel.
A table top easel holds up the whiteboard.
The calendar is held up by my camera tripod.
I added a shelf and now it's an easel.
Necessity is the mother of invention!
A DIY chalkboard made with a pre-finished piece of chalkboard from Home Depot.
I created all kinds of games to teach the children the skills they will need for September using a printer, home laminating machine, and plenty of magnet squares.
We celebrated my birthday this month with birthday games and activities to get the children excited, it really made my day!
I'm using a smaller easel I created to hold cookie sheets for more project display.
I store my projects in plenty of bins to organize everything,
and a rolling cart full of supplies I need for the day.
I added a top to my rolling cart by attaching an old cabinet door with wooden blocks under the board.
Update: As September draws near, I have retired from teaching at a school but now have more children I will be teaching virtually.
Here is the classroom set-up I've created for myself using shelves from Target and a table from Ikea.
Here is where I'm going to work from home for this unprecedented school year!
I am using an Ipad to teach individually on FaceTime.
This great Ipad stand is useful and can even show a downward view!
After 35 years of teaching this is a new adventure. I'm looking forward to the future and pray that you are all safe from harm and find peace and goodness in your current situation. Please stay home until the danger is past. We can all do this together.
Please follow Homeroad by email so I can send my latest DIY tutorial straight to you!
