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Homeschool Organizing

This year for the first time, I have three school aged children, one in kindergarten, one in third grade, and one in 10th grade. So needless to say, I was a little intimidated going into this year, but since my hubby and I decided to use Monarch online school through Alpha and Omega Publications, I knew a lot of the work was done for me, and I didn’t need many resources as far as books and workbooks. Some curriculums have up to 5 books including workbooks and keys for just one subject, and it gets overwhelming. All this to say, with two students doing most of their work online, I haven’t spent  much time in the school cabinet. I am cringing as I show you this picture…

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

Horrible, I know. Most of the workbooks I have been using this school year, I have been keeping in the living room, so I rarely have had to venture here.  However, today I took a deep breath and tackled this disaster.

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

I emptied the cabinet and grouped everything by trash, flashcards, art, readers, supplies, and books to go to the basement until the next child enters that grade.
Then I gathered a couple of items to use for organizing, and carefully put everything else back in a much more orderly fashion.

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

Now it is much more respectable! All the flashcards are in the striped container; my daughter’s counters are in the blue wipes container. I used a paper sorter for catalogs, paper and other school supplies, and I stacked all the readers, and grouped handwriting and other like books together. Anything I need will now be a snap to find!

We also keep some of our schooling items in the living room. A few months ago I picked up this coffee table for $12 at the Salvation Army thrift store in our area. I liked that it had a shelf underneath, and that the wrought iron and dark wood went with our living room.

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

After picking up some baskets that would fit, I filled them with the kids’ crayons, piano books, scrap paper and workbooks that we use every day.

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

We also keep a basket full of workbooks and coloring books.

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

Since we don’t have a spare room to devote to our home school, we utilize storage like a cabinet in my bedroom, which is now nice and tidy, and baskets in the living room to hold our supplies. If all three children were using traditional texts and workbooks, we may need some additional storage to organize everything, but for now I think we’re good!

, Homeschool Organizing, Joyful Homemaking

13 Comments

  1. I think having a set schedule for school helps. We start at 9:00 every morning and have a routine that we follow, but I do still have to tell my kids to “focus.” Also, trying to minimize distractions as much as possible, and giving each child some one on one teaching time.

  2. I also have been meaning to tackle our homeschooling area because it’s way worse than yours!! You are giving me the courage to blog about the process…oh it’s ugly. But organized spaces make life so much more enjoyable and I know that it will certainly help the homeschooling efforts! Thanks for your post.

  3. i was wondering if you could tell me or tell me where to find info on how to transition from a “home” environment to a “homeschool” environment. Meaning how do i get my kids to take the school/learning part of a homeschool seriously?

  4. What a find with that table with storage underneath! I’ll need to keep an eye out at the thrift stores for something like that for our school room. I’m homeschooling 4 and I’m AWFUL about organization.

  5. Love the table-especially the price…lol I homeschool a child on the autism spectrum and ‘organization’ has to be the order of the day or I loose control of the whole school day with them. I found a bookcase (Target) with “cubbies” sectioned off on the shelves was the answer for us. And, he likes to say he puts his “stuff” in “cubbies” like he’s heard other little ones say. Also, he can get to everything quickly as everything is plain to see (older kids could slide in baskets to keep their “stuff” more “private”. Keep up the great job of homeschooling! My oldest Grandson was homeschooled from 1st on and he’s now in the US Air Force with a very demanding job. Our home school students can rock!

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