DO: Homeschool Organization - EVERYTHING has a place!

Homeschooling organization. It isn't easy to do the proactive, planning stuff...but, it makes your life so much easier once it is done! These are pictures from my homeschooling classroom. I have a 2nd grader and a Kindergardener. I hope this post will help you to identify the "hot spots" and how to plan for them! 

HOT SPOT #1: BOOKS

You must have bookshelves. The END. :)
Thankfully, they are really cheap (and if you live close to an IKEA, you can even find them in the AS-IS dept...usually already put together! yeah!) My preference is also to have a bookshelf for each child. That way, it is easy to find their curriculum books, their readers, their workbooks. It is their space and they OWN it. 

I prefer the tall, skinny bookshelves - you waste so much less floor space.
Wide bookshelves are difficult to be useful and beautiful.
They are usually one or the other.

HOT SPOT #2: CRAFT SUPPLIES
Let me just say, thank God for Pinterest! I found almost all of these ideas and cute printable labels on Pinterest! All of the organizers below are either things I already had lying around the house or purchased from the dollar store. I think what helped my "hodgepodge" of containers look more cohesive is the matching labels. I downloaded, printed and laminated these labels from Craft Labels - free & cute!

I just love these labels...they make me happy!! :)

HOTSPOT #3: WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?

I learned about the concept of "workboxes" this summer. Workboxes can be anything you have, magazine holders, small totes, anything you can fit your child's curriculum books into. You simply place their curriculum books or worksheets for each subject into each of the labeled boxes. Each day, they begin with 1 and end at 10. No more, "are we almost done yet?". What I love about this concept is it gives your child a sense of discovery...what are we going to do first, etc.? I plan on mixing it up, somedays we begin with math, sometimes geography. It will keep the workload fresh and turns their work into a game. (Mary Poppins would be so proud!) - If you are on pinterest, just search "labels" and you will find oodles of cutsie-cute labels that will fit your needs. 

My workbox system!

HOTSPOT #4 - PAPERS

Ok, my desk is always a hot mess by the middle of the school year. Between all the things I print off for the kids, their homework papers that go back to the co-op, our homework, our projects/crafts, and keepsakes...yike, I am up to my NECK in craziness! I realized that this year, I needed a plan before one paper hit my desk. Here is what I have come up:

   1. Keepsakes go in the "starburst" boxes - one for each child. As well as past homework, etc. (I find it easier to purge when I have a stack of keepsakes, then I can easily distinguish between the "special" and the "not so much". If you can do it right when it comes in the door, more power to you...that is probably the best way - but, it doesn't work for this sentimentalist! 

   2. Homework that is done goes in the brown filing box. I love it, it has small in-boxes on the bottom and the top has top-loading files that will be for different functions. Turn in, to be filed, to be completed, etc. 

   3. Worksheets for upcoming months - filed in the yellow and blue filebox to my right. It has files labeled for each month - I just stick the papers in the appropriate month, to be used when we get to there. 

   4. Important papers to be returned - post on the cork board under the day it is due. 

Make lots of space for papers!

HOTSPOT #5 - Seasonal

I love changing things up and keeping it fresh. Each month, I have selections of books that will be out at the reading center. But, how to store those books? Again, monthly filing system to the rescue! When the season changes, it is easy for me to find that book, or poster, etc. 

I hope some of these ideas helped you - it may not be easy to tackle all of these projects, but it will save you so much time and stress in the long run...it truly is worth it! I hope you have a blessed homeschooling year! 

Kristen