We are in our second full week of virtual school and finally getting into he groove of things. Wanted to share a few things that are making things run smoothly for us and allowing Jules, my 2nd grader, to easily navigate virtual school on her own.
Touch screen chrome book - I asked a few weeks ago on my instagram account for chrome book suggestions. Top answer was a touch screen! We ended up going with this one and highly recommend it. At first I wasn't too sure how a touch screen would be helpful but it's been so convenient for Jules. She is only 7 and hasn't had too much experience on a laptop, so using the track pad and clicking, highlighting, dragging, was difficult for her. She is comfortable with her iPad and this mimics just that.
Headphones - We love these. All she asked for were some unicorn headphones when she started Kindergarten. We have had these since she was 5 and they have held up so well plus they're pretty cute.
Clear caddy - I've shared this in a previous post (here). It's slowly changed and got filled with things that are needed on the daily. She filled it with markers, colored pencils, glue sticks and highlighters. The larger section holds her white board, the weekly class work schedule her teacher provides that she can easily see and check off as the day goes, she also keeps her chapter book that she reads for the week, along with her login and password sheet. Super easy and convenient to see and grab so she isn't always getting up and looking for things or asking for help.
Stylus pen -Didn't think we needed this too much but she works on a website where she needs to type out sentences or she has the option to write them out. Again, she's 7 so she isn't the best at typing and she was falling behind while the class was moving on. So we clicked the write option but her finger was giving us super giant letters. This pen is so handy and allows her to have better control of the answers she is writing on the computer. It makes writing easy, just as if she were doing it on a piece of paper. Also another way the touch screen comes in handy, we just fold it in half, it turns into a iPad type of thing and she can lay it flat on the table and write her answers.
Laptop stand - okay, I shared this exact pink one in my stories last week and it was sold out by the end of the day. I linked a few similar ones down below. We are working at our dining room table and don't have room for an actual comfy desk chair. I love that this has a ton of different heights it can be set at. She is sitting for long periods of time and obviously gets tired. This allows her to stand up and do her work! I also love that it brings the computer screen to her eye level. Before we got this we were stacking books to bring it up.
Mouse - Another super handy thing to have. This is my mouse but ended up giving it to Jules to use on one of the websites that her class uses. Just something that makes things easier for her so she's not getting frustrated and falling behind trying to figure it out.
Fun water bottle - She loves having her very own special cup. I fill it with water and set it in her clear caddy every morning. another thing that makes things simple. No need for her to get up and ask for water and miss something.
Tall basket - I got our basket last Christmas. We needed something to keep her school books in. She's got lots! I was looking around the house and this one worked perfectly! She keeps it next to her chair and can easily grab her books when needed.
Blue light glasses - must have! We have these clear ones from target. They are from the big girl section but fit Jules (7) and Kourt (4) great!
Collapsable crates - These are so cute and I love that this color matches out little school set up so perfectly. I've shared these before but we love that so much! We use these for anything and everything you can think of and stack them up in our hall closet. We have stickers in one, paints, markers, glue, glitter, you can literally use them for everything.
School schedule - Not pictured but something that has been extremely helpful for Jules. I printed out the daily hourly schedule that she can see and cross off items as the hours pass. She is a visual person and loves lists just like me so seeing how much she's gotten done and how much she has left is super encouraging to her.
Hope this was helpful in your virtual school learning. You've got this, mama!
