COVID-19 has changed so much in just a few short months, including how your children go to school – whether it’s in person or at home. Schools from kindergarten through college are switching to virtual programs that allow students to continue to learn while staying home and remaining safe and healthy.
While the situation is temporary, it’s also disruptive, especially when your family has multiple children in different grade levels attempting to complete their schoolwork at the same time. Schedules are unique. Distractions are plentiful. And space can be a major issue.
You may feel overwhelmed and have questions about the changes you’ll need to make, but we have the answers.
Tips for Making It Work
Before you even consider making changes to your home, it’s important to make an assessment of what you’ll need. Of course, that depends on how many students you have and what their unique school demands are, but these tips can help you get through this unusual time.
Scheduling Is Important
Each of your children probably has a schedule to maintain, and even if they don’t, it’s important to set one up. Instead of putting off school work, encourage them to get up and get started like they would if they were returning to school in person. Having each child on a schedule can also help ensure no one is distracted while doing their work.
Make Sure Each Student has a Space
It’s also important that each child has his or her own private space. Your college student may be participating in a video conference with their professor, while your middle school student is practicing the flute for music class. That won’t work if they’re both piled in the small living room together.
Each Space Should Be Comfortable
When determining each child’s space, make sure you set them up for success. Instead of spending hours sitting on a hard wooden chair at the kitchen table, a high-quality comfortable desk chair will get you much better results. And each student needs a desk or surface where they can spread out and place their laptops, tablets, books, notebooks, and other supplies.
Consider Pod Learning
If other families in your community are in the same situation, consider pod learning. Maybe you have two middle school students and a high school student, and your neighbor has a middle school student and a high school student. The middle school students can get together and have class at one home, while the high school students go to the other. Each student will still need his or her own space, but they can typically work together in the same room. Be sure each family is comfortable with any social distancing precautions that should be taken in your community.
Limit Distractions
You may need to set some rules to help keep your home free from distractions for all students. For example, maybe the TV in the living room doesn’t come on until everyone has finished their work. If you have younger kids in the home, you may need to keep them separated from their older siblings for the first half of the day. Make sure everyone has a good quality pair of earbuds or headphones so that everyone’s teacher’s voices aren’t sounding throughout the house.
Set Boundaries
Not only should you set boundaries, but allow your kids to do the same. If your college student has a “do not disturb” sign on the office door, give them space. If your high school student’s study time is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day, instruct your other kids to stay out of the room where he or she works.
Allow for Downtime
Finally, it’s important for the entire family to remember that downtime is important. Your home is now a school for your children, possibly an office for you and the place where you relax. Your kids are working hard to make the best of a difficult situation, so don’t panic when they watch a little extra TV, spend an extra hour on video games or want to FaceTime the friends they aren’t seeing as often now.
Making Changes to Your Home
Now that you know what each of your kids needs, it’s time to set your home up in such a way that makes it happen. Chances are you don’t have two or three home offices where your kids can shut the door and get their schoolwork finished. But you likely have a kitchen, living room, outdoor spaces, bedrooms, or dining room where you can spare a corner to set up a workspace for each student in your household. And you probably don’t have three or four office chairs and desks, nor do you want to run out and waste money on them when you probably won’t need them a year from now. What would you even do with them when your kids return to school in person? They’ll just clutter up your house, or you’ll have to take time to move them to the basement or garage.
That’s why renting furniture for this temporary situation is your best option. It allows your family to save money and space while providing each child with the perfect place to do his or her schoolwork. You can rent a desk and comfortable office chair to create a mini office in the corner of the kitchen or the living room. You can rent shelving or cabinets so that your kids have a place to store all of their electronics, books, and office supplies in the dining room or spare bedroom. You can even rent lamps if you need to add more lighting to a space to encourage learning. Renting lets you personalize a space to fit each child’s needs without leaving your home — or spending your entire salary on new furniture.
It can also help you stay healthy during a time when health is of the utmost importance. Don’t get hurt moving the couch to another room or bringing your dining room table into the spare bedroom. Visit CORT Furniture Rental, pick out the items you need, and have them delivered right to the space where you plan to use them. Keep them for as long as you need them, and when your kids return to school, CORT will pick it all up, and let you have your space back.
Furniture rental is even a great option for pod learning. You can turn any room in your home into a miniature classroom with high-quality desks, chairs, and storage items from our collection.
To learn more about how you can optimize your house for your children’s education during COVID-19 and beyond, visit our website. CORT furniture rental offers a large selection of furniture for all rooms and situations. We’re here to make your life a little easier, so you can focus on making sure your kids succeed in school at home.
Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels
