How to organize your homeschool is our next topic. Today is day 8 organize your home of the free 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers.
In my dreams when I embraced the homeschool world, I had thoughts of my children sitting in glass jars on my shelves.
They wouldn’t have any needs and my house would stay tidy while I had time to learn all I could about the homeschool world.
Back to reality, I soon realized that I needed a plan for our learning and living space before I could crack open a book.
A well laid out house helps you to successfully accomplish all of your well laid out lesson plans.
Many homeschoolers have tried to ignore the fact that we must have our house in order first before we school only to find out later it weighs heavy on their minds.
Tears and fears follow because the day to day grind of homeschooling has finally set in, but the needs of our family does not stop.
Organize Your Homeschool
The time to declutter and set your house up for a lifetime of learning is now.
Before you visualize ideas of homeschoolers’ homes that look like Martha Stewart, I want you to understand that homeschooling organization is not the same as organization for the whole world.
Sure, there are lot of concepts that can be used from the volumes of books that exist on organization but reality is that homeschoolers have unique needs.
Along with unique needs comes equally unique solutions.
Your view of organization affects your success. The definition can weigh us down or inspire us.
We normally fall into one of two groups when it comes to organization.
And that is those that obsess over it or those that are indifferent toward it.
A balance attitude about organizing our home is needed.
Organization is in its most simplest form means a “place for everything. If you don’t assign it a spot, it could either turn to clutter or weigh you down. There is joy in assigning the things in your home a place.
I will talk about setting up a learning area and organizing your routine over the next few days, but I want you to focus on that “mental to-do” list you have in your mind for your home and routine.
New to Homeschooling
Look at this chart at a few of the things you will want to assign a place for the week or month. What can you add to this list?
| time to school | time for heavy house cleaning | time for light house cleaning |
| time for meal planning | time for meal cooking | time with your spouse |
| time to organize lightly | time for self-care | time to lesson plan |
| time to work in or outside the home | time to buy groceries | time for baking |
| time to run errands | time to homeschool | time to pay bills |
| time to care for aging parent/ family members with special needs | time to train children to be organized | time for exercising |
I wish I knew each of you individually and could come into your home and get to know you over a period of a year like I did with a lot of my new bees, but that probably won’t happen.
3 Easy Ways to Prioritize Homeschooling
What I can do is share with you what has worked for hundreds of new homeschoolers which I have helped.
1. Focus on the area or rooms that stress you now.
Nope, it is not the school room for a lot of homeschoolers who answer me genuinely, but a lot of times it may be your bedroom or even the kitchen.
It could be the kids’ rooms that have built up clutter over time with toys, t shirts and tee ball equipment. Spend time now making those areas inviting.
When I started homeschooling, I had a huge clean out of my kitchen and pulled a good amount of “pretty” items off my table because there was no way I had counter space to do those upcoming science experiments.
Plus did I really need 9 pie containers in my kitchen taking up valuable space? I needed to make room for upcoming supplies that I would need.
So this has everything to do with homeschooling because the adage is true if momma is not happy, not much gets done, including homeschooling.
Did I mention how liberating it is to throw away clutter? I lost 10 lbs in 5 minutes. Okay, it just felt that way.
2. Think NOW – How will my children store their short term {papers done today) and long term {after one or two months?
I took time to set up color coordinating notebooks for my children. One color per child.
By labeling the notebooks or labeling and using a file folder if you have younger children that cannot open a notebook, you are requiring that your children practice organization right from the start by putting away their material for the day.
For long term storage I started off using expanding folders and now that I have homeschooled for many years, I have a tote in our attic, but it is organized by year. In addition, I have pictures and school work on external hard drives.
Take pictures of what you want to throw away and keep what you can’t part with for the sake of memories.
3. Begin to Set the House Up for Learning and Living
When I first started schooling I shared with you on Day 3: What is NOT Homeschooling how I had brought in a small couch and changing table to the school area.
I also made snacks ahead of time and kept them on the bottom shelf of my refrigerator so that all the kids could reach them if I was helping another child.
I also got rid of things that would require a lot of time dusting. True, a lot of things were not down on tables because I had a young household, but then again I didn’t create work for myself by cluttering it up with lots of things that took time to dust.
Cleaning out your pantry and your refrigerator, having a well stocked pantry and even something as small as having cleaning supplies in each bathroom instead of tromping back/forth to the place you keep most of them will save you precious minutes and energy each time you have to clean.
Also, addressing how and where you will store homeschool supplies well before you start school allows ample time to focus on the way you prefer your home to be laid out.
It can be stressful to try to shove all the curriculum and supplies in your home when you may be swamped with teaching later.
Our view of organization makes a difference. Do we view it as a straight jacket and no fun or the calm we feel after a goodnights rest? Take baby steps.
New Homeschooler
Throw away 5 things and then do the same thing tomorrow. Since our homes are an intrinsic part of ourselves and our family.
The secret to any significant change is to be consistent and take small steps. Failure is okay, it is just a learning experience and a tiny step in our journey. What counts is continuing the journey despite failures!
Instead of following the routine of another homeschooler, have a “visual tracker” of your family’s rhythm for the day and then assign a “place for everything”. You’d be surprise at what you find out from just tracking a week.
After you track for a week, ask yourself:
- Am I really getting out of bed at the time I think am?
- When am I really folding laundry?
- How much T.V. are the kids really watching?
- Without being overboard and taking away all their devices, where in my day am I going to allow math time and then afterward some game time?
- Am I running to the grocery store too often because I am unorganized?
Did you miss the first week?
Days 1 – 7 of the 31 Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers
- 1 Learn The Lingo and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp (& free glossary)
- 2: Homeschool Roots Matter and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
- 3 What is NOT Homeschooling and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
- 4: Confronting Relatives & Naysayers and New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
- 5: The Wheels on the Bus Go ‘Round & ‘Round – So Get Off! And New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
- 6: Homeschool Hangouts & Socialization Situations And New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
- 7: Tied Up with Homeschool Testing? And New Homeschooler Free Bootcamp
Thank you so much for mentioning the purge of materials I saved from my kids’ elementary school years. I just recycled the school planners including math and spelling materials with my third (and last) child in February. It was so fun to look through the materials with him and save a few pieces we’d notebooked about from our field trips, lessons learned or books read, so much less material to deal with after almost 8 years of homeschooling. Maybe some day it will all fit into a crate and one book shelf per kid. But still, many purists would say even that is too much. Hopefully in high school, we can just add to the binders already constructed for the topics that are on the present bookshelves.
Hey Dee,
It just takes time before we can get loose some of that material and I have pictures of just about everything I threw away..lol.. I didn’t want to regret throwing something away,kwim?
You need to do what makes YOU feel better though. Yes, yes I love binders, it keeps it all neat until I have time to go through.
You are so welcome and glad to have you here.
Tina, A MILLION thanks for hosting this wonderful boot camp. This topic was particularly helpful to me. We just started tracking our week to see how our family week “flows” and where we have opportunities to improve and or change some things.
So glad it helps Wendy. Just remember too that at ANY point during your journey, you can come back and track again.
It has really helped throughout the years because I will come back and take it out and do it again to see where I’m tired, where I feel on top of the world and when I want to rest. THEN create what works for me.
Nobody sees it, it is just a “genuine picture” of how your life flows. No harsh judges, you decide where you need to “dice and slice” when it comes to time.
We all want time to do what we luv and we all can improve, including myself, so I just keep at it and hopefully keep improving…
Enjoyed your comment..
Tina, this series is so helpful to me!!! Thank you for sharing! This is my fifth year homeschooling, but I’m still changing things until we find our fit. I started with a 12, 9, 7, and 4 year-old with a boxed curriculum thinking I NEEDED EVERY teacher’s manual and subject per child, per grade level. Throw in a high-need husband who was so excited about being able to come home and call 4-6 times a day, needing a spotles house, and you can see how disastrous that was. Add five years and one just turned two year old and I’m still trying to feel confident about my children actually learning!! Lord help me!! I’m still learning and your blog helps me so much!!! Thank you and much love!!
Hi Dori,
Well a big hug! Yes it is constantly changing but around the 5th year it seems to me that I see “new bees” lol make it or break it – meaning they either end up throwing their hands up and deciding OKAY I AM going to enjoy this..lol.. and I have made progress or they end up turning their kids online for EVERY subject.
Yep I hear ya about the spotless house and I have more coming on that..I enjoyed reading about your day/journey…thanks for sharing and you are welcome!
Stay the journey with me! I am right there with ya too!
Hugs and love
Oh you are so sweet and I appreciate your reply!! HA!! I had three kids on DVDs and STILL FAILED!!!!!! Soooo onto a co-op (after reading and being encouraged by your “Co-op convert: who needs one anyway” series. I meant it when I said I learn so much from you!!