Published: April 15, 2021
Need a Hand Organizing A Homeschool Space For Your MilFam?
Military life is problematic because it’s unpredictable. Things like frequent moves put massive stress on the entire family unit. To reduce stress with moves and eliminate the concern of enrolling military kids in new schools each time, many military families rely on homeschooling. In fact, 8% of active-duty family respondents to the 2020 Military Family Lifestyle Survey (MFLS) reported they homeschooled their oldest child during the 2019-2020 school year.
This past year, new stress was introduced when the pandemic changed the way the entire world operated. With school closures and the introduction of virtual learning, families around the globe were left searching for the right path forward for their children. For many military families, that meant switching to a homeschool environment. According to the 2020 MFLS, the number of military families homeschooling their oldest child jumped to 13% for the 2020-2021 school year.
While homeschooling may address some of the uncertainty for families, it also introduces new questions. The biggest being how in the world do you teach fourth grade math? And also how and where in your home do you create an organized, calm space to teach your kiddos so they can remain focused on their work? While Blue Star Families can’t eliminate the stress of military life or homeschooling, we can bring comfort amidst the chaos.
That’s why we teamed up with Lauren from MANIFESTO [Home + Office] to help military families organize their homes—the one thing we CAN control! To kick things off, Lauren taught us her BEST tip for staying organized before, during, and after a PCS. Then, we asked our members to tell us what they needed help organizing the most and why they could use Lauren to get the job done.
As suspected, for the reasons above, the overwhelming majority needed help with their homeschool/virtual learning space for their kids. So, we put those story submissions to popular vote. The Lewises, an Army family who homeschools five kids, won! Thanks to Hunt Military Communities, an awesome Blue Star Partner, they received $1,000 to help spiff up their space, plus six hours of virtual organizing with Lauren.
In just two weeks, Lauren helped theLewis family transform their homeschool space. The best part? The kids helped, too! Lauren is a big believer that if you “gamify” it, kids make amazing organizers. And she’s right.
Check out the video below to see the amazing difference Lauren was able to make, plus a few tips and tricks on how you can accomplish an amazing transformation like this in your home!