homeschool organization

Decluttering Without Discarding

August 9, 2018 by Jenna

Textbooks, notebooks, binders, handouts, tablets, portable DVD players, pencils, manipulatives, art supplies—these are the things that crowd your homeschool space. With all that stuff lying around, it can seem cluttered and overwhelming. How can learning happen with so many distractions? Decluttering is a great idea, but you can’t get rid of any of those things because they’re a part of your homeschool.

One of the first things I discovered when I got my own place was that as life goes on, things accumulate. And you can’t always get rid of them. That’s where the old adage, “a place for everything and everything in its place,” comes into play.

The more you take the time to find homes for your homeschool materials—or anything else in your house—the less cluttered it will seem. So how do you find homes for all your homeschool materials?

Find a setup that works for your family

The space you use for homeschooling changes where you’re going to put things. If you have a whole room dedicated to homeschooling, then you may have more storage space. If your whole house is your homeschool space, then you may be able to store your materials wherever they seem most natural. And if your dining room table doubles as your homeschool space, you may have to get creative about storing your books.

Check out what some other homeschool moms have done with their homeschool spaces. You might get a great idea!

Invest in storage equipment

Sometimes, the difference between an organized space and a cluttered mess is having things to put other things in. What will work best for you—bookshelves or storage-cubes? How are you going to keep track of the little things? If you like the office look, you might go for mini drawer sets that sit on top of a desk. If you’re crafty, mason jars with cute labels can make perfect desk organizers.

Here are three tips for keeping your homeschool space decluttered and organized.

Feel free to be creative when decluttering

There are plenty of storage issues that you’ll run into as you go. You can’t plan for everything, but you can make the decision to be creative in getting to a solution. Here are some ideas you can think about ahead of time.

Decluttering doesn’t always mean discarding things. If all your possessions have homes to go to, then decluttering your house just means putting everything back in its place. And when everything has a place to go to, cleaning gets a lot easier.

Creative Ways to Organize Your Homeschool Space

August 2, 2018 by Guest Writer

Homeschooling takes many different forms and shapes depending on your philosophy, the textbooks and tools you use, the number of kids in your family, their learning styles—and the available space in your home. Whether you’ve already started school days again or you’re revving up for the coming semester, you might be pondering some different ways to arrange the physical space that you use for homeschooling. Here are some creative ways to set up your homeschool space this fall.

Stations for Your Homeschool Space

Some parents love the concept of “stations” for their homeschool rooms. Create a reading station with comfortable beanbags or pillows, plus shelves or baskets of books. A math station can include manipulatives, calculators, flashcards, or other tools, depending on the ages of your children. The science station might include charts or posters of the topics you’re currently studying, along with boxes or trays for nature samples your kids find outside.

A Homeschool Space for the Little Ones

If you have preschoolers, you may want to include a corner just for them, perhaps outfitted with a low table and coloring supplies. Or why not paint the entire table with chalkboard paint so they can draw or practice writing right on the work surface? A bin of puzzles and learning toys keeps the little ones quieter so the older ones can learn. Think about including items like a play kitchen or sensory bin in your preschooler’s corner as well.

Color Coding for Convenience

Why not assign a specific color to each child? Purchase their clipboards, bins, chairs, pen holders, notebooks, and binders in that color, and you’ll find it so much easier to keep track of whose supplies are whose. If you can’t buy everything in that specific color, just add a colored sticker or label to help differentiate the items.

Shoe Organizers for Homeschool Supplies

Need more storage space? Use the back of a closet door! Install a clear shoe organizer and you can use the pockets to stash all sorts of things—scissors, pencils, glue, craft sticks, math manipulatives, flashcards, erasers, and more.

Space to Move

Homeschool moms and dads with active kids find that an activity zone keeps everyone sane. One mom included a small trampoline and allowed her kids to bounce while spelling words or reciting multiplication tables. Older children might enjoy reading or studying while walking on a treadmill.

Homeschool Workstation Sight Lines

If your kids don’t work well when they can see each other, here’s an idea. Arrange the room so each child is facing a different wall; or, if they have to face each other, create partitions between desks with decorated boards.

Technology in the Homeschool Space

Technology is a part of our world, and it can really make your homeschool life easier! Instead of stuffing the tech into the room as an afterthought, plan ahead. Place the printer, camera, eReaders, and MP3 players in a central location. Keep each workstation (whether in one room or in bedrooms throughout the house) stocked with earbuds, a laptop or tablet, a charger, and other essentials. If your child is doing homeschool videos, a comfortable, ergonomic computer chair is a nice addition.

Are you eager to find other creative ways to set up your homeschool space this fall? Search online for ideas and chat with fellow homeschool moms to get inspired for your own creative homeschool layout.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Tips for Your Homeschool Space

July 26, 2018 by Jenna

The summer marches on, and we’re one step closer to starting the school year back up again. Have you begun thinking about your homeschool space setup? Whether you have a dedicated schoolroom, a homeschooling corner, or just freestyle it wherever the books fall, here are some ideas to consider.

Keeping homeschool supplies condensed

Janelle Knutson shares a tour of her homeschool room, where she keeps most of her supplies condensed on three bookshelves. This way, she can have her homeschool space wherever those shelves are. The majority of her materials for four of her children, plus some toddler toys, fit on these three shelves.

Giving the kids their own homeschool space

Erica’s dedicated homeschool room at Confessions of a Homeschooler could be an inspiration to homeschool moms everywhere. Her children have their own desks, and although the furniture is identical, the children’s personalities show up in how they decorate their desks. Even though this setup is intended for a dedicated homeschool room, you could make this work without a room. Those desks really could go anywhere in your home.

Cutting down on distractions

Lara at Everyday Graces found a need for eliminating distractions when one of her boys was diagnosed with ADHD. She even simplified how she decorated her walls! You may love filling your kids’ bedrooms with fun colors and cute decorations, but that may not be the best option for wherever you homeschool, even without ADHD. In the end, Lara wound up with a much calmer, simpler room that made learning easier.

How have you set up your homeschool space? We’d love to see it!

Finding Your Balance

July 17, 2018 by Guest Writer

One of the greatest advantages of homeschooling is the freedom to plan your school schedule to best fit your family’s needs. You get to decide how to arrange your school year, and you also get to set your daily school routine. But as you do, remember two essential components—structure and flexibility. As a battery needs both a positive and negative charge to work, so your homeschool needs both discipline and flexibility to run smoothly. The key to a successful school year is a balance of both structure and flexibility. If you’re like me, you will tend to lean more toward one than the other, so it can be challenging—but not impossible—to incorporate both structure and flexibility.

Order, Order!

Some families err on the side of structure. They have a specific school year start and end date, no exceptions. They begin school at the same time every day, no exceptions. The children do their subjects in the same order every day, for the same amount of time every day, no exceptions. Every minute is planned, even during break times. There’s nothing wrong with being organized, but having such a rigid schedule can create frustration for both parent and child and even hinder a child’s learning process. For example, a mom who feels pressure to stay on schedule may push her children through a subject they’re struggling with when they need extra time to fully understand it. Too much structure can create monotony and stifle educational growth.

Free-for-All

On the other hand, some families are too lax when it comes to school. They have no specific start/end date for the school year. There’s no set daily starting time; school begins whenever everyone finally gets around to it. The children may or may not complete all of their subjects. Mom may choose to ditch school for the day and take a field trip instead. She figures she can always make up for lost time later; but that, too, can cause frustration when she realizes just how far behind they are toward the end of the school year. In scrambling to catch up, a child may skip important foundational concepts that are crucial for future learning. Too much flexibility can create chaos and stunt educational growth.

Happy Medium

Aim for a healthy balance of structure and flexibility. Set goals for your family’s school year and come up with a reasonable schedule. Then stick to it as much as possible. Try to start around the same time every day, and follow a daily lesson plan. Set aside several days to use however you want; that way, you won’t feel pressured to make up for missed days due to sickness or other unexpected interruptions. Nor will you feel guilty for taking a field trip or a few days’ vacation. Maintaining an orderly yet flexible schedule will help you stay on track and make your school year much more enjoyable.

• • • • •

Jennifer is a pastor’s wife and mom of two young girls and loves homeschooling them. During her own twelve years of being homeschooled, Jennifer developed a passion for reading and writing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and relishes writing during her free time.

3 Organizational Tips for Your Homeschool Space

July 7, 2016 by Megan

My husband and I are getting ready to homeschool for the very first time. There’s a lot to think through, but perhaps the most pressing question recently had to do with how to organize all our stuff. My husband and I just unboxed five boxes of textbooks and distance learning materials (check out the unboxing video on YouTube). To be perfectly honest, it was overwhelming. And I’m only homeschooling one child! I still don’t have our homeschool space exactly the way I want it yet, but I thought I’d share a few organizational tips that have helped me get the mess under control.

1. Storage space for all your homeschool materials

My husband and I bought a storage-cube organizer (eight-cube) to place next to our homeschool desk in our dining room. We use two of the cubes as shelf space for our textbooks (teacher’s materials on one shelf and student materials on the other), and I purchased four fabric bins for four of the other cubes. The lower two cubes store coloring books and art supplies.

2. Organizing the little things

I love buying school supplies. Markers, crayons, erasers, pencils—I can hardly wait to stock up every back-to-school season. But I did need to figure out how to store it all. The best way I have found to organize these miscellaneous supplies is to store like things together. I remember that my parents did a lot of color-coding when they homeschooled my two brothers and me, and they found it very helpful. We’re using jars and some small plastic containers to separate supplies in our fabric storage bins, but you can also use tin cans, plastic cups, or small kitchen canisters. Be sure to label the containers!

3. What to do with the BJU Press Distance Learning printed packets

We are using three BJU Press Distance Learning DVD courses in our homeschool this year—Bible Truths 2, Science 2, and English 2—so when we opened our boxes, we found six printed packets. Three of the packets are parent/facilitator guides, and three are student handouts. I found the Distance Learning Getting Started Videos very helpful in figuring out how to organize these materials. Although you can organize these packets several different ways, I chose to purchase two 2-inch, 3-ring binders to store these packets in. I put all the parent/facilitator guides in one binder with tab dividers separating each course, and I did the same thing with all the student handouts in the other binder. I also found it helpful to separate the different sections of the parent/facilitator guides with sticky tabs.

Depending on your distance learning course, these packets can be pretty hefty. You may need to purchase separate binders for each course.

I hope these tips help you with your homeschool organization. Do you have a favorite organizational method? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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