I’ve had a virtual office for more than five years now.
When I started my own business, I was adamant about working from home because I get so much more done here… and I do it all without an office.
So, when the Palm Beach County School District decided to start school virtually, I knew exactly how to prepare.
Now, I don’t have a basement here in Florida.
I already told you I don’t have a home office, so you won’t see any of those cute little virtual school home setups that look like a damn classroom. (I wish!)
What you will find is stuff that works with little space to spare!
I hope these virtual school home set up tips help you.
Virtual School Home Set-Up
I know I’m used to getting things done at home, but for many families, this will be their first experience being forced to work from home… or have their child/children attend school virtually from home.
1. Have a designated school space.
This is what they say for any parent who works from home.
I will say, it is helpful.
So, my personal tip as a business owner who has successfully worked from home since 2015, this makes it easy to clock in and clock out… or start the school day and end the school day.
For me, it’s at my kitchen table.
Sometimes it moves to the couch with my laptop on my lap.
When I need it to be quiet to record a podcast episode, it’s in my closet. Seriously.
It really just depends on how serious the task is that I’m doing and the mood I’m in.
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For my kids, we’re letting them pick.
The announcement of virtual school actually prompted us to buy my daughter Julianna a loft bed.
She’s been asking for one since she doesn’t have a ton of space in her room.
When we were shopping on Amazon, we made sure to get one that had a desk underneath.
This is the one we went with (and my husband said it was very easy to put together).
Sidenote: We also had to bug AT&T to send us a WiFi extender so she can actually access the internet in her room.
For Landon, who is starting kindergarten, we need to get creative because he doesn’t have a desk in his room.
So, he has the option of the kitchen island, the kitchen table, or his little craft table in the living room.
He said he wanted to be next to me… so the kitchen table it is!
Wherever you chose, just make sure
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the area is quiet
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your child has easy access to an outlet
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the workspace has room for a laptop, books, and papers
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the workspace has school supplies within reach
2. Make sure you have everything you need.
I’m not going to lie.
I’m happy to be saving the $200+ per child I spend in school supplies each year.
In Palm Beach County, you could get your hands on a laptop if you didn’t have one at home.
For some families, this is very handy if you don’t have one or have multiple kids at home because each child needs their own.
You can get great ideas by searching “homework station” on Pinterest from more on how to organize this area without buying anything new.
In addition, Julianna’s and Landon’s teachers gave us a list of what they need and also put some things only they could provide in a bag for drive-thru pick-up the week before school started.
This included things like their math workbooks and a dry erase board with a handle that I assume they will use to write down an answer and hold it up on video.
Because I’m old-school, I like to print things as well, so I made sure to link my printer to their laptops.
Finally, bookmarking the websites to access their school email and Google classroom with save you time in addition to printing out all their sign-ins and passwords.
Having the digital stuff handy offline will make the virtual school home set-up a little easier to navigate.
I made this one on Canva (because I’m a tad addicted to Canva).
3. Follow a set calendar and schedule with breaks.
This will most likely be dictated by your child’s school.
Giving your kids a heads up to the school calendar and schedule will help them follow it a bit better.
It doesn’t only give them something to look forward to and abide by, but it also helps you adjust and plan your day if you’re also working from home.
Again, I like to print these things out for everyone following the schedule to make it easy to look at throughout the day.
Enjoy the flexibility
Now, I know it’s easy for me to say this because I have worked from home for years, so the transition was easier.
However, I still have to make money and realistically, I can’t assist in virtual school at home and take care of an infant and run a business at the same time.
So, my husband went into early retirement so I can work more.
If you work from home, you understand the enjoyment of having a tad more flexibility than if you had to get office ready and commute to an office.
You can do a lot more in different places, like have a day of school at the library, for example, if it’s safe.
If you’re not loving virtual school, remember it’s only temporary and may make for some good stories to tell in a few years!
