Practical Homeschooling » organization

5 Tips For Getting Organized

Laura — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:15:15 +0000

‘Organized homeschool’ is as much an oxymoron as I have ever seen. Think about it. Your children are with you 24/7 hours a day,constantly exploring, crafting, playing and learning. Your home has become their playground and because of this, keeping things in their places can be quite a challenge.

For myself and many others, add-on a host of disabilities, and the problem is multiplied. I don’t enjoy having to ask my children to constantly clean up after themselves, but it’s often a necessity in order to keep some semblance of order in our home.

It takes lots of trial and error for any family to figure out what works for them. What works for one, doesn’t always work for the other, but I hope that some of these tips can help you get on the right track.

1. A place for everything

This is a very simple and obvious tip, but one that is often overlooked. Make sure that everything in your home has a place and that it returns to that place when you’re not using it.

Make use of storage containers, baskets, boxes and other devices to stash your items around the home. Plastic storage shelves that can be purchased at Walmart or Home Depot are a great way to find a home for your stray objects. The Container Store has some amazing solutions to taming your clutter.

2. Ditto for homeschooling supplies

If you’re homeschooling your child in a more or less classical fashion, it’s a lot easier to get started in the day when everything is already together. Have a spot for each child’s books and supplies.

I bought a small plastic set of drawers at the local grocery store that is perfect for the job. Each child has to drawers of their own, one for the schoolbooks and the other for any worksheets and papers that I want to file later on. This small set of drawers sits on top of her homeschool table and I know that anything not in those drawers does not belong on that table.

3. Make a cleaning schedule

Children are more ready to help clean if a parent is also cleaning at the same time. Don’t expect them to clean while you sit down and read a book. Prepare a schedule for all of you so that each day you tackle a small task at the same time.

4. Bookshelves are your best friend

You no doubt have enough books in your home to satisfy the reading needs of the small country. Short of always keeping some and storage, don’t be afraid to invest in a few quality bookshelves. If you don’t have the funds to purchase a new, look into buying a second-hand or make your own.

After I had just left home as a young adult, I made bookshelves by stacking a few bricks and then placing boards on top of them. It served its purpose until I was able to get proper bookshelves. Using this method, you should be able to get two or three boards on top of each other for shelves.

5. Label

After all is said and done, make sure to label everything! From supplies, to what is sitting in a given plastic container, to what belongs on each bookshelf, if your children can see where each thing belongs is much easier for them to put it back. Even the drawers in the girl’s dressers are labelled so that they know where each type of clothing belongs.

I hope that this can get you started towards a more organized home. If you’d like more tips on how to be more organized, check out about homeschooling’s Organizing Your Homeschool’s Supplies And Classroom.

Two Books Every Homeschooler MUST Have!

Laura — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:31:48 +0000

What are your favourite homeschool books? You know, the ones that, if you’re friends don’t run out to buy immediately after you tell them about it, you assume that they must be negligent and not truly care about their kids.

I have two such books that I purchased over the last year and don’t know what I did before them.

The first is Homeschool Your Child for Free. Written by LauraMaery Gold and Joan Zielinsky, this book is a treasure chest full of links and sources to useful information (mostly online) that you can access for free. It’s 450 pages list over 1400 separate resources listed individually by subject, along with a brief explanation of what can be found there.

In the time I’ve had this book, I haven’t been able to read through it because I keep finding interesting links that I MUST go explore then and there, which leads me on my own personal online scavenger hunt as I follow links on to other sites and resources. The problem with this book is that so much is offered, you have to painfully reject some sites or you’ll never have a chance to help your child meet her educational goals!

Topics covered:

Homeschool How-To’s (from Internet safety to legal issues and support groups)
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
Education Essentials
Language & Literacy
Mathematics Mastery
Art Appreciation
History Highlights
Music Marathon
Social Studies Skills
Humanities Home
Science Scholarship
Health Handbook
Graduation Guidance

Some of my favorite links so far:

Secondly, if you’re always looking for interesting activities for your children to do, purchase a copy of The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas by Linda Dobson. The book contains activity ideas for children aged 3-12 and most of them stray from the over-beaten path, or are interesting twists on well-known games.

From the table of contents:

Helping your child love learning
Creating your own educational reform
We have your numbers
Communicate! The joy of language
Kitchen Chemistry and backyard bugs
It’s a big interesting world after all
Art from the heart
Because life’s important facts aren’t just academic
Especially cheap, exceptionally quick and easy, or great for groups
These hints aren’t from Heloise: organization, homeschooling style
Across the curriculum

Activity examples include:

Create your own community
Spell it in radio code
Push pin geometry
The time line game

As to what these activities actually entail, I’ll leave it to you to find out! Which homeschooling books can you NOT live without? Share your favourites with other readers in the comments section below!

Did you like this post? Please subscribe to receive Practical Homeschooling in your email inbox. Signup link is on the right.

61 Time Saving Tips

Laura — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:11:50 +0000

If you’re anything like me, time management isn’t your strong point. A friend emailed me this article and I enjoyed it so much I thought I’d share it with you.

Want to know if you are a time saver or time killer? Answer these three questions:

Is your tight work schedule forcing you to forego your daily exercises?

Do your clients complain about delayed deliveries?

At tax-filing time, do you have to search for all the bills and important documents?

If you’ve answered yes to even one of the above questions, you probably aren’t managing your time wisely. The average person spends less than 7 hours of their day productively. The remaining time is typically wasted leaving us overwhelmed and stressed. So how do you squeeze an extra hour here and there? How do you achieve more in less time? Here are 61 time saving tips to help you get the most out of your day.

9 Tips for New Homeschoolers

Free Dresser Labels

Laura — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:21:11 +0000

In my quest to keep my children’s room clean, I’ve had to devise a system so that my younger one, who cannot read and still has trouble sorting her clothes, could figure out which drawer each type of clothing belongs in. I made up a set of these labels and cut them out, sticking the appropriate label onto the corresponding drawer.

Works like a charm! I suggest you laminate them if your child is likely to tear them up.

Download here

Letter Tracing

23 Homeschool Must-Haves

Laura — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:36:07 +0000

We all learn through experience what we may need (or not) for our unschooling journeys. I’ve found that the following items are essential for a smooth-running household that has become the centre of a child’s learning environment.

1. Workspace

Do your children have a place where they can do their work? The kitchen table works for most of us, but if you’re working on a long-term project, it’s not a good location to leave things lying around.

If you don’t have a good spot for your children to get their work done, consider buying a table with collapsible legs-that way it can be easily stored when not needed. Also useful are TV tables and lap trays, like the one here is very useful! I use mine all the time and the girls love being able to sit on the couch to do some colouring!

2. Dictionary

Access to a solid print dictionary is a great place for a child to explore a world full of words, and to look up terms when needed. We can’t always have access to a computer, and by having a child-appropriate dictionary allows a child to understand words at his/her level.

Some children’s dictionaries with good reviews:
Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary
Scholastic Children’s Dictionary
(These dictionaries target children in the 9-12 year-old range.)

If you’d rather have an online source, try these:
Yahoo Kids Dictionary Search
Wordsmyth Fact Monster

3. Internet Connection

As Shakespeare mentioned in his play The Merry Wives of Windsor, the ‘world is your oyster.’ With the Internet, we have so much information at our disposal, that we’ll never live long enough to even begin to make a dent in it. Use this to your advantage to search information and resources for whichever activity you and your children are working on.

4. Website

Many people think that setting up a website is a waste of time when, in fact, it’s a great place to track what you’re doing for your homeschool and for use as a creative output (this is what prompted me to begin this blog).

If you have a blog you’d like to try, a website your children want to build, a good site with a reliable host is needed. I have a great host and some recommended ones which I’m not going to list here, but should you be interested, please drop me a note.

5. Library Card

As with the Internet, libraries are treasure chests full of information, stories and lessons to be learned. Check your local libraries schedule for activities such as story times or Dungeons & Dragons groups.

6. Arts and Craft Supplies

Need to get some work accomplished? Vacuum before your mother-in-law arrives? Keeping a stash of arts and craft supplies on hand is a great way to keep children busy when you need those few minutes of ‘you-time’. I purchased a large plastic briefcase-like bin and keep it stocked with dollar-store craft supplies. These are things that the children beg me to have access to, so when I pull it out, it’s almost guaranteed to keep them busy for a while.

7. Attractive Pencils, Paper and Notebooks

If unschooling, keeping an interesting-looking supply of these on hand are a great encouragement for children to use them to write things down or draw pictures. If homeschooling in a more traditional way, they have the same effect. I’m an adult and I’m still in love with stationary!

8. Journal

Keep a running tab of your activities in a journal. A few quick notes jotted down every day about your children’s activities is all you need, and should anyone ever challenge your right to homeschool, you have documented evidence of what you do from day to day.

9. An Open Mind

Homeschooling/unschooling requires that you constantly think outside the box. Are your children obsessed with playing ‘house’ all day? They are learning valuable skills in sharing, cooperation, getting along and how a family is run. Little Johnny is playing with Legos and not doing anything else? He’s learning about colors, math and physics…not bad lessons to learn for a typical day. Be flexible and remember that our children will learn in spite of us. By giving them the tools to explore their world, they can do so in a way that is fun and exciting!

10. A Copy of This Blog Post

100 Essential Web Tools for Homeschoolers has some awesome links that homeschoolers will find both useful and valuable. Go ahead and explore!

11. Calendar

This is an obvious one, but somehow, a lot of people seem to miss it. Keep everything in order with a good old-fashioned calendar. Always make a point to write down everyone’s appointments, play dates and field trips. Just as important is to be sure to check it daily to make sure you’re not missing anything.

Looking for some neat calendar ideas? Try these:
The Home Schooler’s Journal
Kids Art 2010 Wall Calendar Draw Your Own Picture

12. Your State/Provincial Home Laws

Know your responsibilities and your rights as far as your state/province/country is concerned. It’s of utmost importance if you wish to homeschool your children with as little hassle as possible. Beginning with Alberta, I’ve recently started a section on this blog called ‘Homeschooling Around the World.” If you’d like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact me through the ‘About‘ page and let me know which part of the world you’d like to cover.

13. Outside Socialization

For a healthy upbringing, it’s of utmost importance that your children have contact with other people. Bewing holed up in the home 24/7 is depressing for the best of us, don’t let your children shrivel up! They in no way have to play with children of the same age, but they should be out and about in the community meeting other people and getting a chance to interact. This is what happens when they are alone for too long.

14. Petty Cash Fund

“Mommy, Aleena and Carrie want to go the library to check out some DVDs, can I come?” It would be really cool if your daughter could join them, but there’s one problem with that…you don’t have any cash for her bus fare and a snack. Don’t be caught short-changed (pun intended), keep some cash on hand for unforeseen expenses that will otherwise have you getting into the car and heading to the bank–though the girls will probably score a free ride out of the dilemma!

15. Imagination

This goes with the whole thinking-outside-the-box routine. Encourage your children to think about what could be. Many a great person started off his/her life imagining seemingly-impossible things.

16. Support Group

Get in touch with other homeschoolers. They aren’t only a great opportunity for your kids to play with like-minded kids, sharing your fears, worries and successes with parents in the same boat is a great way to help each other along.

17. Time

Spend time with your children. When they watch a movie or TV show, don’t just let them sit while you go about your own things, but sit alongside them and watch it together. When they want to try something new, sit with them and learn together. There is nothing more priceless than the time you spend with your children and the time you spend with them makes the things they learn all the more valuable and meaningful.

Sandra Dodd a well-known radical unschooler drew up this graph to illustrate how much time a parent should spend with a child. I suggest you pay good attention to it…I believe this to be the key to successful unschooling.

18. Storage Shelves

I have yet to meet a homeschooling family who has not amassed a huge collection of books, craft supplies and equipment. Don’t get to a point where you are disorganized to where you’re living in a disaster zone. Invest in some heavy-plastic storage shelves. They are cheap (around $35-$45), easy to assemble, and an easy way to keep the clutter down.

19. Storage Bins

With the same logic behind the storage shelves, invest in some storage bins to keep your supplies in check. There are hundreds of styles available and how you use them is only limited by the imagination!

I have a large tote bin for our monster Lego collection, and then keep their craft supplies in a briefcase-like bin, and their paper in a scrapbooking box.

Here are some sites that sell storage bins:
School Outfitters
Ergo in Demand

20. Patience

This is something that many of us, myself included, need to work on. Children will make messes, destroy your possessions and get in trouble as long as we are in existence…no use crying over spilled milk. With the “spend time together” philosophy in mind, just go with the flow and clean it up as a family.

21. A PC and Printer

Most people own a personal computer these days, but not as many own computers. Invest in a good laserjet printer (the cost of ink in terms of printed pages/cartridge is much less than with other types of printers), and when you find useful resources, experiments, worksheets, etc online, you’ll just have to click the mouse to have a copy (or two, or three) for your children to use.

22. Recycle Bin

I don’t know a single homeschooling family who doesn’t go through copious amounts of paper, newspaper, etc. Keep a recycle bin on hand from an early age so that children grow up knowing the importance of recycling. I like to use my paper twice. Once for whatever activity was planned with it, and another time as scrap paper for colouring or painting. After that, it gets tossed into the recycle bin.

23. Monkey Platters

A monkey platter is a platter of finger food made available to the children throughout the day. Kids like to graze and by having healthy food choices available to them, they always have a place to go to grab a nibble. Read more about making money platters here.

These are the essentials of my home when it comes to schooling my children. What are your homeschool must-haves?

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe and share it with your friends.