Distance learning was an experiment that most of us weren’t prepared for. Not only did we as parents have to swallow and manage our thoughts and fears around Covid-19, we all were asked to pull together a classroom at our kitchen table. For us that meant computers, school books, worksheets, and all the typical office supplies. My kids arrived home in March for spring break with backpacks stuffed full of materials. We turned our dining room table into our command center.

I worked from home alongside of the two younger children. My husband worked from our upstairs master bedroom, and my eldest daughter worked independently from the corner desk in our living room. We were able to spread out, be as productive as possible, and meet for meal times.

Although it took several weeks for us to establish a regular homeschooling routine, it took less than an hour to break down this designated learning space. (Perhaps we were a little too eager to see it wrapped up.) Good news! There’s no need to shove it all in the corner and “take care of it later.”

By identifying the four main categories of items and dealing with them accordingly, you can tuck distance learning away — hopefully for good.

School + Library Books

The easiest category to separate, identify, and locate are the school materials that no longer belong in your home. These are the hardback textbooks, library books, and soft-sided journals that kids don’t write inside. Often they have a sticker or label on them that reads, “Property of (school system).”

Check the back of novels and picture books for these markers. My third grader worked on biographies this spring, therefore we had several Who Was… books floating around the house. Enlist your kids to help: they know their favorite reading spots around the house and can search there.

Sometimes library books end up on the home bookshelf, so give the kids’ bookshelf a quick scan too.

You’ll save yourself time and mental energy by finding these books at the beginning of summer; everyone will have long forgotten about school materials by August. Hardback textbooks and library books are a big expense for school systems and doing your due diligence now ensures that next year’s students will have access to adequate materials too.

I recommend storing these books in the kids’ backpacks. This accomplishes two things: it forces you to empty out the gross and forgotten items living in the backpack currently, and it acts as a reminder to follow through returning the materials come the fall.

Because these items don’t have a permanent place in your home, by zipping them in the backpack and storing the backpack in a coat closet, you’ll get them out of the way and one step closer to their final destination.

Papers, Worksheets, + Journals

How many printouts and worksheets are cluttering your table? Perhaps they’re all in a pile shoved in a cabinet? Perhaps they’re neatly filed in a binder, and it’s the binder that needs emptying. Regardless of where these school papers are currently living, it’s time for them to find their way to the recycling bin. For us, it was Rocket Math worksheets, math, Spanish, and writing journals.

There’s something freeing about collecting all the worksheets and journals into a pile, giving them a quick scan, and letting them all go at once. I’ve learned that despite all their good intentions, my kids rarely request to finish the blank pages in their journals. The only items we discuss saving are the unused math journals; they are a money saver for when it comes to summer learning.

Projects + Memorabilia

For final projects such as “published” books, presentations, visual art, and dioramas, I recommend using your strictest judgement. As parents, we often get caught up in saving projects for when our kids are grown. We base our reasoning on the fact that our parents saved everything for us.

However, I would argue that a more valuable approach is keeping two to three items (in physical form) representing each year of your child’s schooling. The goal instead is to save the memory marking the stage of your kid’s growth, not to clutter your home or basement.

A majority of projects can be photographed and filed in the cloud for reminiscing in the future. Remember: holding onto an item is simply a delayed decision. You’ll either have to pass the decision along to another family member in the future or let it go when you’re older and feeling sentimental.

Office + Art Supplies

The last category to address is all the pencils, pens, calculators, tape, crayons, markers, etc that may have made their way out of the cabinet/household command center and scattered around the house. I recommend saving this for last, because now that we’re into summer, these items will be wanted for summertime art projects. But don’t neglect retrieving them.

These are the bits and pieces that end up in the junk drawer or getting replaced with duplicates because no one can find them when they’re needed.

This is a perfect project with which to involve young kids. Set a timer, ask them to estimate or pick a goal of how many items they think they can retrieve within the 3 to 5 minutes, then set them loose. Have them return the tools and materials to you.

Next show your kids where the “designated home” for all these items is. Encourage them to continue to return the supplies to their proper place for the remainder of the summer or repeat the game as often as necessary to build habits.

We’re all hoping that school returns to in-person education in the fall. I recognize that this is still a 70/30 chance and still have my fingers crossed. Either way, you will have much less motivation in August or September to deal with last school year’s materials. Now is the time. It won’t take long.

Just start: follow the categories, delegate responsibility, and ask for help. It will take much less time and bring the relief we’re all looking for — a wrap up of distance learning and the beginning of a more relaxing summertime.

How’s virtual homeschooling going for you? Share your thoughts below.