Organization

5 Homeschool Things to Toss By the End of Summer

August 4, 2016 | 19 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

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.

Top 10 Tips for Maximizing Space in (Really) Tiny Homeschool Spaces

August 3, 2016 | 9 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 10 awesome tips for maximizing space in really tiny homeschool spaces. Also, you’ll love How to Turn a House Into a Homeschool Space Part 1.

Improvising and finding inspiration when setting up a learning area in cramped quarters doesn’t mean you have to give up style too.

I have not always had such large homeschool spaces to have my boys learn in, but I’m always up for new and creative ideas to expand on what I have already used.

Does that resonate with you too?

Top 10 Tips for Maximizing Space in (Really) Tiny Homeschool Spaces @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Look at these top 10 tips for maximizing space in really tiny homeschool spaces.

Maximizing Storage

First, I love any idea which maximizes spaces and there are some creative ones here.

10 Tips for Maximizing Space in Tiny Homeschool Spaces

Creating more storage from smaller spaces is not easy to do. But I have gathered some great ideas for your homeschool area.

Photo Credit: www.hgtv.com

Short on Space? Turn a Closet Into a Homeschool Station

I love this area and whether you need a place to store your curriculum, or your teen needs a quiet place away from siblings, this is a great idea when limited on space.

Photo Credit: www.twotwentyone.net

2. Use for Laundry Bag

Store puzzle pieces, school supplies and even books in them.

Use a S hook and hang the bags on the wall. Looking at a row of clear mesh bags, it’s easy for you to take down what you need.

Your children can bring one or two bags down and put them away when not in use.

3. Height Adjustable Dining Table

Have you seen dining room tables, which lowers and raises?

When it’s lowered, it can be used for younger children or do double duty as a coffee table.

4. Crystal Clear Over The Door Hanging Shoe Organizer, Turquoise

An over-the-door organizer is one of the most versatile and inexpensive ways to add instant storage.

Sure, it can be a shoe organizer, but an over the door organizer can come with different size pockets.

Just be sure to label each pocket so that your children know what belongs in each one.

Photo Credit: www.lushome.com

5. Keep your books underfoot.

Books are always challenging to store in small spaces. Don’t forget floor spaces under furniture.

If you have the room to create a drawer, that is best.

Photo Credit: hiphomeschoolmoms.com

6. Homeschool Bookshelves on Small Wall Space

The small wall area between the bottom of a widow and the floor may seem like wasted space.

Create DIY shelves to fit the exact niche by using inexpensive repurposed wood or sturdier industrial looking pipes.

Photo Credit: lalymom.com

7. Use a baby gate as an alphabet wall or sight word wall.

Many years, I used several baby gates in my home. That too is valuable ‘wall space’ that is just waiting to be used.

I love this idea from Lalymom. Create an activity center for your preschooler by creating the wall with soft fabric.

Adding pockets for a preschooler to sort letters or numbers in makes this a great learning area.

Not only does it make for a pretty cover for your gate, it doubles as an activity center. When the baby is up, put away the small pieces, like letters or numbers that fit in the pockets.

Photo Credit: www.alwaysneverdone.com

8. Sofa Table Tutorial

Then I just couldn’t pass up sharing this next genius spacing saving hack.

Can you say, oh let me add some more books there? And the best part is that not only can you do this skinny minny table yourself, but it’s inexpensive.

I would, however, measure my books and use the one that has the largest depth to use as the width of the table.

Look at the tutorial over at Always Never Done.

9. Free up precious wall space. Use the middle of the floor.

When the boys were preteens, I bought a large oversized craft table and put it in the middle of the floor to free up valuable wall space.

Our wall space was also limited because one wall had all windows.

The added bookshelves under the table was a welcomed storage space.

Photo Credit: www.pinterest.com

10. Curtain rods are not just for curtains but for hanging storage.

Use magnetic curtain rods. And though you can put them on your walls, hang them on your refrigerator for extra storage.

In addition, you can add two or three stylish curtain rods at eye level on a wall. Add and use drapery clips to hold clear storage bags.

The storage uses for a humble curtain rod are endless. It can corral paper clutter, school supplies and even a book. The best thing is that when you hang clear bags, you can see what is inside.

Pin by Lanell Proffitt on Back to school | Teaching organization, Classroom fun, Teaching classroom

paintaninteriordoorwithchalkboardpaintforhomeofficehomeschoolroombathroomkidsroombedroom

(Credit: Two Twenty One)

For younger kids, use storage folding lap desks, which can be folded and tucked away behind a sofa or in the closet.

When my boys were younger and we were limited on homeschool space, they sat on the floor and set up lap desks on the floor for our science activities.

Homeschool Learning Spaces Without Limits

(Credit: Lushome)

(Credit: Hip Homeschool Moms)

Homeschool Hacks

DIY-Baby-Gate-Cover-Alphabet-Chart-from-Lalymom

(Credit: Lalymom)

(Credit: Always Never Done)

More Tiny Homeschool Spaces Ideas

Taking a homeschool space from drab to fab is worth it especially when you’re homeschooling because of how much time we spend in an area.

What tiny space hacks are you going to try or have used?

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.

10 Homeschool Staples You Won’t Regret Splurging On (a little)

June 18, 2016 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

During high school when I started working in a law office, I started as a ‘girl Friday’. The attorney’s office kept a storage room full of the most wonderful smelling office supplies. This was back in the time when we still used Mag Card IBM typewriters though our law office was ‘hip’ because we had already bought our first computer.

Because we made several copies of Wills and Deeds using carbon copy paper, it was important to scour for and buy premium paper, pens, paper clips and binders. I think that is where I discovered that I loved everything about organizing and buying office supplies.

Homeschool Must-Have Essentials

That same enthusiasm for supplies spilled over into my homeschool journey. There are some homeschool staples you won’t regret splurging on though some of these items may not seem essential to you now. However, as you school longer, your needs change.

If I had put as much emphasis on collecting some of these in the beginning of my journey as I did curriculum, my journey would have been less stressful.

Homeschooling is a lifestyle change and that means that some things become an absolutely must-have though they can be slightly different because of each family’s needs.

These are some sweet splurges I wished I would have purchased earlier than I did.

One. | Mobile Printer.

Canon Pixma Mobile Printer. I can’t say enough good things about this printer. When we went overseas, this was the printer I took. It is not only mobile, but sturdy and the print quality is excellent.

It is the same one I use for my planner. I used printers in the past that I paid more for because they did double-sided printing.

I found that this compact version was just as excellent and when you’re short on room or need to take it with you, it is an excellent printer.

I just print out my 7 Step Homeschool Planner only like once or twice a year, so it is a great choice for homeschool printing in between printing your planner. I print a lot of copies on it too.

I love it because it doesn’t have to have a permanent ‘home’ and I can move it around the house.

Two. | Rolling Drawer Storage.

10-Drawer Organizer Cart. I talk about organizing my drawers for my organizing cart and using drawers in my post, My School Area.

The best reason a tower of drawers are splurge worthy is to free up precious bookshelf space.

Another reason that is equally important is that each child can have a tower with their books organized. If your children are young, they may all be able to share one tower of drawers. For the littlest homeschool learner, labeling their drawers with their name sneaks a bit of learning into the day too.

Three. | Dry Erase & Magnetic Board.

Dry Erase Magnetic Board – I would have swooned to have this when the kids were little. Some homeschoolers told me I would not use a board like this, but I did.

I learned since then that each homeschool teacher has her own teaching style and learning style. Not only did a dry erase board allow me to put things like word lists on it when I several budding readers, but it was also a place that encouraged my new writers.

There is something about writing on it or the wall that made learning to write a lot more engaging.

Choosing the Right Item for the Task

Four. | Activity table in the early years.

Activity Table Set instead of individual desks. There are some things I did right and one I did was to buy a table and chairs for us to spread out our books on instead of individual desks.

Though I bought a kidney shaped table because I was worried about my toddler pulling up on a corner of a table, the activity table was so much better when the boys were little.

It allowed all of us to sit down together and most importantly, it was height appropriate.

There was no way I was going to teach them writing on our dining room table, it was just too big. Some may consider this a non-essential, but because I homeschool from the beginning, it made all the difference in teaching my sons how to write.

Five. | Bigger desks in the elementary years.

If I had it to do over, I would certainly pick this chalkboard desk and chair like the one below because as your kids get older, they do want their own learning space. It gives them a space to not only organize their belongings, but to keep them separate from their siblings.

Mr. Senior 2013 was more clutter conscience that my other two kids and he wanted a separate learning area sooner than my other boys.

I could see these desks working for older elementary kids to help teach them organization before I moved everybody to the dining room table.

Six. | Safe removable storage.

Safe removable storage. I guess I could have covered cereal boxes with pretty fabric when the kids were little, but they probably wouldn’t have lasted long as they sat on them and pulled on them.

Buying a 3 tier storage unit when the kids were little and I had many different kinds of manipulatives was a sanity-saver. It kept them at the kids height and the baskets could be taken to the floor, but had a place to be returned.

Chic & Functional Options

Seven. | Sturdy art easel.

An art easel is something I wished I have purchased sooner. No, you know I am not the artsy person, but I knew it was valuable to stir my boys’ imagination and instill a love for beautiful things.

At the time, an art easel seemed unimportant compared to a math program, but then again, I failed to see that when starting homeschool from the beginning, I would get several years of fun and learning through one purchase.

Eight. | Education for YOU.

Because I wish that there was a program to help new or struggling homeschoolers when I first started, Kelley and I created the New Bee Homeschooler program.

Educating yourself first before you begin to help your kids will fast forward you with several years worth of experience. You won’t ever regret spending money on your homeschool education.

Nine. | Kid Owned Storage.

Homeschooling little ones flashes quickly by and you are left with kids who want their own storage that is not babyish.

Shelves do just fine, but I fell in love with these relatively inexpensive mini lockers. Not only are they fun, but they come in a variety of hot colors, which I love.

Did I mention, they are so adorable the kids will want them in their own rooms? What a great way to free up storage in the rest of the house.

Ten. | Table or Desk Top Organizer.

Like I mentioned before, I wish I hadn’t fixated just on the needs of my children, but purchased one or two things that made my job easier too.

This desk top organizer is one of them. I would have purchased a table top organizer for my supplies earlier than I did.

I love that I continue my obsession with supplies as I homeschool. What are some things you don’t regret ~~splurging~~ spending one dime on?

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Hugs and love ya,

Grab some tips from these other articles.

Get Organized – Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year
Homeschool Organization – Preschool/Kindergarten Free Morning Routine Flip Cards
5 Ingredients Every Well-Organized Homeschool Space Needs

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.

Save

4 Clever Ways to Store Writing in Lapbooks

February 11, 2016 | 9 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You know I’m not the crafty loving type of person, but I know that learning with lapbooks stick. Today, I’m sharing 4 clever ways to store writing in lapbooks. Not only are these good ideas for long term storage, but they are also out of the box ideas that nudge reluctant writers to put pen to paper.

First, look at these ideas that work for younger kids or even kids that are not so young, but hate writing.

4 Clever Ways to Store Writing in Lapbooks @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Though there are three ideas on this one page above, I list them as one way to store writing because they are similar.

The lapbook above comes from one of our earlier frog lapbooks. One idea is the sandwich shaped book.

Any shape makes learning fun and lapbooks are perfect for creating shaped pages.

Not only is the shape of the sandwich book perfect for helping your child to remember what they are writing about, but the small size breaks down writing into bite (corny pun intended) size pieces.

Though I love shaped books for this age, list making is also another way to gently coax a writer to write.

And then, any book that folds up and fits into a pocket is just plain fun. The sheet in the pocket is a maze that one of my sons wanted to do and he colored the snake on the outside and we folded it up.

Look here at my post How to Turn Boring Worksheets into Fun Minibooks – From Boring to Interactive.

The list making book and the sandwich book are attached by a brad. You can use one brad so that the book is flip up style or use two brads so the book opens from left to right or vice versa.

Really a number of these short books can be used for writers up until middle school.

The next way to store writing is through a vocabulary book with lift tabs.

This two page spread above is big enough for eight words.

When the tab is lifted, the definition is underneath. I didn’t even create these books. It was a simple paper cut and fold.

The books are in our Plains Indian lapbook. Of course with these books, no brad or staples are needed, just paper and glue. They have held up nicely over the years.

Then the third way to store writing is shown below in our Westward Ho lapbook and unit study.

I love this way we stored our writing, which is sentence strip style.

Some unit study topics or lapbooks are more suited than others for out of the ordinary shapes and our Westward Ho was one of them.

I made the Barrel of Words and the boys wrote on the sentence strips.The sentence strips are not intimidating looking when you want your child to love writing.

What I like about this third method of storing writing is that depending on my child’s age, I can have them write as many strips as I want them to. There is something about writing on separate strips that doesn’t make writing overwhelming. Of course, piece the strips together and your child can have one or two pages, but they don’t need to know that do they?

It is just another creative way for a child to not only love what he is learning about, but to feel that writing is manageable.

This fourth way I stored writing now moves on to middle and high school level.

This short research paper comes from one of my sons in ninth grade and it is from our Amazon lapbook and unit study.

By this age, your teen really needs a normal size page to write on so you need to be a bit more creative.

First, I added another inside flap to the lapbook. Then again I used brads just because they are so versatile.

I added two brads at the bottom outside of the page protector and pushed it through the flap..

And then added two brads inside the page protector and pushed it through the flap.

By opening the page protector and only pushing the brad through the back side of the page protector, it stays open at the top so the research paper can be top loaded.

By also mounting the research paper on acid free paper and using good quality tape, it has kept the pages straight as they are pulled in and out of the page protectors.

Though tempted to use cheaper products, using higher quality products like acid free paper keeps precious things like writing looking awesome for a longer time.

There are more ways to store writing, but these 4 ways have been timeless for us and fit a variety of lapbooks.

How do you like to store your child’s writing?

You may also like to read these great tips:

Hugs and love ya,

Free 31 Days of Dinner Ideas (February) Organize with Me!

January 31, 2016 | 8 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

And yes, I know February doesn’t have 31 days, but I want you to have tons of dinner ideas at your fingertips! Today, in sharing my free 31 days of dinner ideas (February) organize with me post, I want to encourage you to take baby steps toward easing your homeschool load.

Free 31 Days of Dinner Ideas

Hear my heart. Menu planning may seem like one more thing in your whole long list of things to do to get organized, but homeschooling begins with the home.

That means making top priority your family and health. The result is a lighter homeschool load because things like cooking just fall into place when you have a plan.

When I get bogged down with menu planning or cooking, I have learned to step away from school for a day or even delay it for a few hours until I get a handle back on what is important.

Taking a baby step that is really huge meaning it’s a small step with a large payoff because having a plan each month you have a direction each week for what you are buying at the grocery store.

Too, by giving you a menu plan for the area I struggle with the most and maybe you too, which is dinner because I don’t want to think about what to make for dinner, I am hoping to help you to get dinner on the table faster, with meals your family likes.

So my menu plans each month reflect what my family likes to eat, but from it I am hoping to inspire you on to creative ideas for feeding your family.

Guess what? If you stick with me for the whole year, we will both have MORE than 365 dinners! Maybe we will make a cookbook together. (okay, okay)

Why Menu Planning for the Month Blows Away Weekly Planning

Back to a few more tips I want you to know.

Organizing for the month is so much more easier than the week. It takes about 20 or 30 minutes longer, but you get relief for the whole month. Have you noticed how fast the end of the week gets here? Before you know it, you have to menu plan AND lesson plan. No thank you. I want one of those huge tasks done. I don’t like beginning of the week stress.
Planning 31 meals for the month regardless of the days of the month gives you options and flexibility.
Monthly planning is for rebel cooks because contrary to what some people think, you are not stuck with having to cook what is on that day. No, you have 31 choices to choose from. Nobody said you have to cook what is on each day, unless of course you want to. Either way 31 day menu planning is about options! Give me 31. That is why this month and every month will have 31 days of dinner ideas and it has nothing to do with how many days are in the month. You always get to decide if you want to follow it to make the dinner idea each day or change it around and choose something else from the list.

I have a few more tips I will be sharing next time, but for now grab my dinner ideas below.

DOWNLOAD HERE 31 DAYS OF DINNER FOR FEBRUARY.

(where possible, I linked recipes for your quick reference. However, I have been cooking for a long time, like you probably have to and have many recipes not on line. Eventually, I will have my recipes on my site or link for you, but in any case, I want you to have the ideas.)

DOWNLOAD HERE FREE 31 DAY MENU PLANNER . To plan 3 meals a day and it is editable!

Let me know how you’re doing with organizing those meals!

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.

Organization

Why Homeschooling Simply is of Lasting Value?

How to be Happily Homeschool With What You Have and not With What You Don’t Have

Maximizing Storage

Homeschool Learning Spaces Without Limits

Homeschool Hacks

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1" height="1" border="0" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=tinsdynhomplu-20&amp;l=am2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B00S5F83SS" alt="">More Tiny Homeschool Spaces Ideas

Homeschool Must-Have Essentials

One. | Mobile Printer.

Two. | Rolling Drawer Storage.

Choosing the Right Item for the Task

Five. | Bigger desks in the elementary years.

Six. | Safe removable storage.

Seven. | Sturdy art easel.

Nine. | Kid Owned Storage.

Free 31 Days of Dinner Ideas

Why Menu Planning for the Month Blows Away Weekly Planning

DOWNLOAD HERE 31 DAYS OF DINNER FOR FEBRUARY.

DOWNLOAD HERE FREE 31 DAY MENU PLANNER . To plan 3 meals a day and it is editable!

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