If books, videos and school supplies have begun to invade every room of your house then you know how important it can be to take control and get organized. Here are my favorite 6 Ways To Stay Organized While Homeschooling. These keep the clutter at bay, our supplies on hand when needed and most importantly mom and dads sanity in tact as we tackle the challenge of teaching our children.
6 WAYS TO STAY ORGANIZED WHILE HOMESCHOOLING
3 Ring Binders. I cannot say enough about how much my 3-ring binders save the day. Keep one for each student for porfolio purposes (include test scores, annual evalutaions, completed projects, etc.). I also suggest utilizing one for each subject your children takes. With these available in various sizes, it makes it easy to color code and create a shelf of binders that keeps the paperwork at bay and the needed items easily accessed.
Color Coded Storage. As mentioned above, color coding by student or subject is so important. I like the method of assigning each subject a specific color (History-Red, Science-Green, etc.). I also like assigning each student a color to be associated with their school supplies. Student A has a blue pencil case, blue pencils, blue pens, blue eraser, etc. This cuts back on arguments of what belongs to whome. It also helps younger students be able to grab what subject you need by color recognition only.
Dedicated Homeschool Space. While some of us don’t have homes large enough to have a full classroom, you can easily convert corners and nooks into dedicated spaces. That means supplies don’t leave that area and travel to bedrooms, living room, etc. Keep your supplies, books, binders and everything related to homeschooling in one location to cut down on clutter and disorganization.
Purge Papers. While there are some things you need to hold on to for test review or perhaps a portfolio required by your state, there are many pieces of paper that are of no use after they have been completed and turned in. Once a month go through your paper and determine what you feel is needed and what is simply busy work or review that can be thrown away or shredded. If you want to go the extra mile of eliminating paper waste while still having a record of it, invest in something like a Neat Desk or a simple scanner to scan and save on your hard drive or flash drive for future reference.
Set Timers. While you may have a basic schedule in place, setting timers for breaks and cleanup can help tremendously. Taking periodic breaks throughout the day to cleanup from projects, evaluate where everyone is on their assignments and take a break to just relax will help your homeschool classroom stay neat and orderly as you need it.
Hire Help. Sometimes we just need to be able to focus on our classroom, or one specific student. Hiring help can relieve stress and help you stay on task. That could be hiring someone to come help you with some deep cleaning once a month to help relieve a bit of stress. It could be hiring a babysitter to come hang with younger kids while you focus on another child and their learning needs, or a tutor to help with subjects you lack skills in. It may simply mean buying some homeschool planners or books and spending the time creating a new daily routine for yourself. Sometimes, you just need to invest a little bit to keep things organized and running smoothly.
Homeschooling can be a wonderful thing for the whole family, but organization on some level is important at all times. These ways to stay organized while homeschooling have been our go-to list for some time. They help us stay on track and focused on the important things and not wasting time on busy work.
