If I lived in the perfect world of just organization, I would ideally label one box give away, another box labeled to keep and another one to throw away or recycle. But I don’t live in that world because I need to homeschool too.
Homeschool organization is quite different than having all day long to organize, which of course I would love but it won’t happen as long as I homeschool.
Why Homeschooling Simply is of Lasting Value?
Because my time is limited, tossing has always been my go to option. Unless something will bless a homeschool family right away and in a large way, clutter multiplies if you don’t get rid of it soon.
Too, because we are sharing living and learning spaces, a lot of the things I do at the end of summer spills over into my home organizing.
I find that back to school or the beginning of a school year, after I have chosen my curriculum is a great time to take a peek at my home to see what I need to toss.
Look at 5 homeschool things to toss by the end of summer…
ONE. Toss old food, containers and items from your pantry. Mark containers clearly.
When I need to make room for food that my family will eat because their likes and dislikes have changed, I find that cleaning out my pantry for the new homeschool year gets me ready.
It’s hard to cook well when there is a mess to begin with. Take time to toss what you won’t eat this next year or take it to the food pantry for others to be blessed by.
Then, get rid of containers that make it hard to see what you have on hand when ready to cook. I love see through containers and I mark them clearly (no corny pun intended) so I know what I’m grabbing when time is rushed.
TWO. Toss recipes that you do not use.
You know I have mentioned before that though many apps exists for recipes, I like to put my recipes in a 5 inch binder.
I don’t like my hands touching my devices while I’m cooking. And with page protectors I can turn the pages easily in my binders and wipe them off to sanitize them.
It’s the way I roll and so I always try to go back through my 365 recipes for the year and toss ones that just don’t make top marks with my family.
THREE. Art projects. Do you have some of these lying around the house?
Perish the thought that I don’t keep every crafty piece of art that my sons have done, but I don’t. I would be living under a suffocating pile of heap-o-junk.
A long while back I had to have a reckoning with Tina Day. I was in homeschooling for the long run, which meant I had to make some hard and fast decisions about art projects to keep and which ones to not keep.
I do cherish each one and take several pictures of each project.
How to be Happily Homeschool With What You Have and not With What You Don’t Have
And though I do love free cloud storage, I prefer to use a huge external hard drive because I don’t want to rely on free cloud storage that may come or go.
I use the Toshiba 1TB portable external hard drive because it has tons of storage (1TB) is slim and I can travel with it. I take lots of pictures of our projects through the years and store them on the hard drive.
FOUR. Sorry, but I don’t pass on nasty broken crayons or map colors to the younger siblings.
Unless I have a preschooler in the house, which chunky crayons are for, each kid gets brand new crayons or map colored pencils.
Even younger kids are smart enough to know that they are getting second hand crayons and they don’t want those old nasty things.
I guess you could have a party with the crayons and melt them all to make an art piece but then you’re back to needing to store that project.
FIVE. Toss or tear down old science projects. Recycle if you can.
I say toss loosely here because sometimes we can use the same parts over when we have built something previously.
We have loved every contraption and gadget we have made through the year but the end of the summer is a great time to part with them and make room for new creations.
We break them down and keep only the parts that look like we may be able to use again.
Those are just a few of the things that I am happily sorting through.
What about you? What do you toss or recycle by the end of summer?
Also, look at my article, How Can I Achieve Simple Homeschooling and Get Organized – Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year.
Hugs and love ya,
Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.
Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.
Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.
