HYD Blog
thoughts on dwelling
As this season of constant unknown continues, we’re faced with the challenge to adapt rather frequently. We’ve spoken to many parents, teachers & students who are asking questions about how to adjust to the new learning environments we find ourselves in. Here are a few suggestions to help you create healthy learning environments in your home.
We recently heard a neighbor friend say that her quarantine home looks like “a craft store exploded inside.” Can any of you with small kids else relate?? So, what should we do with all those newly created art masterpieces from our kiddos? We want to celebrate all their little creations!
Instead of just stashing all their art in a folder or adding it to "the pile," here are 10 creative & manageable ways to bring some color into your home, celebrate the seasons, & show off your kids' imagination through art.
So this first one's not rocket science, but it's what works in our home. Our laundry room is on the main level & has gray walls so the art can really pop! I (or my kids) just rotate their art 2-3 times a year in this room leaving tiny holes from the tacks. The way I look it, when the art stops coming home someday, I'll be ready to repaint the room anyway, but until then, I get to be reminded of these little people I love so much while I'm trying to find that missing sock or checking their pockets before they hit the washer.
This is a great option for a more polished look that keeps it super easy to rotate art. Shannon Makes Stuff has great images for ideas. Let the kids have another art project by painting the frames themselves.
This option is a bit more pricey, but well worth the money to have one piece that speaks for many. My kids would love how professional this art display would make their art look.
The folks at Artful-Kids used a hanging wire to display art vertically allowing for easy rotation. This is a great option if you're short on wall space.
We love how Amanda Medlin created this wall for her boys' room with multicolored frames, but all white or all black frames would be another great option to showcase your child's art.
Aimee of It'sOverflowing.com has a great DIY plan to create a fun clothespin line for your kids to be able to change their own art with ease. HYD helped a client design one similar to this last year & it was a huge hit with their four kids.
This is brilliant. ArtKive has designed an app that allows you to photograph the artwork, upload it, and then turn it into books, gifts, or keepsakes.
HYD loves reclaimed wood projects. These from Old House to New Home are some of our favs. Of course, you could use lots of different styles of clipboards that work best for your space.
My thoughtful mother decided to pick a couple of my brother's & my best Christmas creations. My brother's is a Santa with no arms, he's a beauty. I did a lovely manger scene that brings back memories but doesn't come close to the fine artistic ability of my brother. It's been over 30 years since we created them & every year, we reminisce & poke fun at each other when mom hangs them. I love them!
Nothing too fancy here. Just find a color of twine or string that works for your space & use clothespins, paper clips, or even colorful hair clips to hang the art. The image above is our favorite using the spools as the anchors to hang. I have a friend who uses the twine method above her kitchen sink with smaller art pieces & it's so cute. She uses her childs' art in lieu of a curtain valance.
One thing I love about a new school year is, it’s new. We begin the year with all As, we get fresh notebooks, new teachers, and get to start again. It’s also a great time to adopt a few new habits surrounding the school routine to help stay on top of the schedule, the clutter, the schoolwork, and to encourage your kids to have their best year yet. We’ve compiled a few tips to get your year off on the right foot!
Image: Magnolia
1 . An Established Landing Space
This will look different in every home, entirely dependent on your home’s layout. This is an area that should be relatively close to the entry and exit point used each morning. Landing spaces can be useful to collect bookbags and store to-do baskets. Think of this as the command center of the morning on the way out the door. Check out this blog by Joanna Gaines for tips on how locker baskets can be used in your landing space!
2 . Routine Checklists for the Littles
Printable checklists ( laminated or put behind a glass for use with a dry erase ) can be so helpful to guide littles along their new morning routines, this gives them a sense of ownership of their morning and you can still be directly involved to keep them on track.
*We’ve created these two printable options as a framework to your morning routine!
3. Streamlined Schedules for the Big Kids
For kiddos that aren’t exactly kiddos anymore, a virtual approach could keep the entire family on board the same ship! Google calendar app can be a great option for synchronizing sports schedules, events, and the heavier after school schedule that the teen sports/club years can come with.
Another option is a centralized large chalkboard or dry erase calendar in the home. This is a great addition to the landing space or command center and can be a great reminder when headed in or out the door each day. There are definitely pros and cons to each calendaring options, find what works best for your people.
4 . Art & Schoolwork Management
A great habit to adopt for school work brought home is “touch it once!” If the assignment is a worksheet or test from class that has no emotional connection to your child, and your child is ready to let go, after acknowledgment of their efforts and skill they now have by doing the practice, it goes to the recycle bin immediately.
As for artwork, a great rule of thumb for what to keep is to see if you can see the unique work of your own child in each piece. Once that decision is made, a clear Rubbermaid tote with your child’s name and school year(s) can be used if originals want to be kept.
Another option we love is ARTKIVE. ARTKIVE lets you send in all the originals to be professionally photographed and bound into a hardback book or a framed piece!
Image: Home Stories A to Z
5 . Designated Homework Areas
This can be such a stress reliever in many ways encouraging productivity, organization, and quality of work. Establishing a homework zone can communicate the same thing to a child as “going to the office” can for an adult. You set the tone for their work flow and focus by designating study areas. This can be as simple as a lazy susan with cups of supplies easily moved to the middle of a table, or as established as a study nook in the home. Wherever the investment, the reward will be worth it!
Here in Knoxville, the start of school is just over a week away for most of us. It's time to plan, shop, and prepare for another year of learning and growing. To start off the school year right, HYD wanted to share a few tips that can help make the transition more simple and efficient.
Obtain your child's class supply list from his/her school as soon as possible.
Take advantage of Tennessee's tax-free weekend August 7-9
Wait for discounts on items like clothing, electronics, and shoes that typically drop in price around mid-August
For eco-friendly options, check out MightyNest and earn money for your school while you shop.
These last weekdays before school begins, begin waking late sleepers up a bit earlier and re-introduce school year bedtime.
Keep snacks readily available for kids throughout afternoon as meal times during school may differ from summer eating routines. Real Simple has a great list of snack options.
Remind your kids what you expect from them in their morning routine and after-school routine so they know what they're responsible for. Here is a checklist HYD likes.
Find your school's or your school system's calendar for the year and place all important dates including holidays, in-services, half-days, and report card days on your personal calendar now.
Create a central calendar the whole family can see with school and after school activities using a paper or whiteboard so it's easy to read and adjust like this one.
Make an effort from day one of school to fill out each form as you get them, place them back in your child's folder, and back to school before it gets lost in a pile.
Create a system for keeping art or school work that allows you to discard all other items the day they enter your home. In other words, go through folders each afternoon/evening, look at each piece of work, if it is an original that you would've liked to have seen as you looked back to that age and you have no other like it, keep it. Otherwise, recycle it.
Try not to miss any opportunity to meet your child's teacher or teachers. If you're not able to meet in person, reach out with an email to introduce yourself and offer help to make the school year successful. This is invaluable to both your child and his/her teacher. Teachers need our support, encouragement, and helpful knowledge that only we can give them about our child.
It's Back to School Time in Tennessee!
And what does that mean to Help You Dwell?? Well, for one it means that one-half of the HYD outfit has free childcare again. But more exciting than that, it meant that HYD got to be part of the preparation process for Beaumont Magnet Academy on Beaumont Ave. here in Knoxville. This summer Beaumont underwent an administration transformation to breathe life, order & hope into the teachers and students of this amazing Knox County Magnet School. The three women leading this campaign, Dr. Daphne Odom, Ms. Missy Beltrand, & Ms. Tracy Marsh have a vision for success for Beaumont that is contagious as you spend any amount of time with them.
Before
Ms. Tracy Marsh, Asst. Principal, Dr. Daphne Odom, Co-Principal, Missy Beltran, Co-Principal
Along with the exciting change in administration came the challenge of fitting three administrators into the spaces where only two had previously been. After much consideration & a whole lotta furniture removal, HYD had these amazing ladies ready to roll. And many thanks to the KCS painting staff for a stellar job on the walls.
The Beaumont administration also invited HYD to revive the front office space with color, organization & a welcoming atmosphere. Since Beaumont Magnet Academy has a Fine Arts focus, HYD decided to bring life to the front office by showcasing the students' art right as you enter the school. Our favorite find was the 30-foot long tapestry made by students several years ago that had been hanging out of sight. It now hangs in the front office along with several other art pieces & a new lettering making staff, students, parents & guests feel welcomed as they enter.
This job was our longest yet. We learned so much & enjoyed the process immensely. It brought us such great pleasure to see the eyes of teachers & staff light up as they enter the front office. HYD thanks all the Beaumont front office staff for your patience as we moved all your stuff, the encouragement you gave along the way & mostly your dedication to care for students. You are all doing the work that matters. Thank you!
