homeschoolstorage

10 Best Ways to Transport Homeschool Curriculum {Gift Ideas Too}

November 19, 2019 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Life is busy and learning is spent more and more on the go. Too, learning should be flexible and can happen anywhere. Whether you want to change the place your kids learn like to the park or are planning a vacation, you’ll love these 10 best ways to easily transport homeschool curriculum.

ONE/ Not just any old backpack.

A backpack is a good option for each kid and each kid can keep his books and supplies separate. Besides we all love school supplies and backpacks are great ways to pack it all up and head to the park.

If you’re going on a longer trip like we did overseas we used the Coleman and Swiss Gear backpacks. They were large, sturdy, and I carried our mobile printer and big laptop in the ones we bought.

Too, if you’re going to do a lot of traveling, a sturdier backpack to hold laptops and printers is best. An inexpensive one works elsewhere and is perfect for park days.

10 Best Ways to Transport Homeschool Curriculum. When learning on the go, grab one of these nifty tools for transporting homeschool curriculum @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

TWO/ Reusable canvas tote/grocery bag.

You can use those plastic bags you get at the grocery store, but I love the canvas totes and some come with pockets so you can have a place to store your supplies.

Transporting Homeschool Curriculum

Put the books and supplies in the tote and we’re off to the park or beach on a pretty day to learn outside.

THREE/ Not just any old milk crates, but collapsible milk crates.

Milk crates are an inexpensive option to carry your curriculum, but when we did that we still had to find a place to put our milk crates. That meant they normally took up space on the picnic table top.

It still works, but I love the collapsible milk crates. Take out your supplies and collapse the crates to put out of your way. Nifty!!

FOUR/Clipboards with storage.

Clipboards with storage are hard to beat when you want to pick up and go for the day.

Clipboards are built in desks and make for a great tool when your kids won’t have a table or don’t want to learn at a table.

When my kids had to spend long days at the hospital with me as I took care of my sick husband, we changed out activities each day in the storage part of the clipboard.

Pick up and go and your homeschooling on the go is ready to move with you

Storing Curriculum on the Go

FIVE/Small free standing tote.

Then I love this storage tote because it’s both free standing and has handles. When you don’t need to carry a lot, it’s the perfect size.

If you need just a few pads of paper and a place to store your supplies upright, this expanding paper folio is the perfect answer.

SIX/ Nifty storage tote with a divided tray.

This next storage box is great for keeping supplies organized. It has a removable tray which is one of the best features.

You can put crafts or small supplies in the divided tray and take out the tray to use while learning on the go. I used something like this when we rented a house in the mountain for a month.

It was small enough to pack in the car, but kept small things organized for easy reach.

SEVEN/Wheeled cart.

I have owned so many of these wheeled carts through the years, I can’t even count. They have been worth every penny I spent on them.

This one we used at the park too when we wanted to stay longer.

Since it’s plastic and sturdy I didn’t mind rolling it around the park. You can easily add dividers to it.

Eight/Wheeled cart, but better for teaching a co-op.

Depending on your needs, I found that the wheeled cart with storage pockets below was better when I was teaching a co-op.

The pockets on the outside are perfect when you need to easily put your hands on your supplies. It’s the perfect desk on the go.

Portable Homeschool Curriculum

NINE/ Clear project cases.

These project cases have two advantages. They are clear and 12 x 12.

I love clear containers so we can see what is in them and then we don’t need something real big when we take a project on the go.

This is great for carrying a lapbook or notebook that is work in progress. It stores all the small pieces.

TEN/ The deluxe of them all.

This last rolled storage tote has to be the most deluxe of all portable storage with tons of pockets to organize all your homeschool curriculum.

Don’t forget to grab all the fun ways to organize school supplies on the go. I’m eyeing this nifty pencil storage for older kids. I love the fact that it’s not baby-ish.

Homeschool Learning on the Go Tools

These chair back pockets are great to take on the go and fill with your supplies.

I love them for vacation. It gives us a place to store our art supplies and few books. Fold and go and then store when you get to your “home for a week or month”.

Last, but certainly not least you can never have enough dry erase reusable pockets.

You can use them for activity pages, but also there is no limit to how you can use them. They store paint brushes, wipes, erasers and writing supplies.

Learning outside four walls is the best way to learn and our homeschool curriculum is important. Packing it for a short move or longer move requires the right portable storage tool.

You won’t have a problem finding the perfect fit with this round up of fun ways. You’ll also love these other tips.

Hugs and love ya,

10 Adorable and Lovely Ideas for Your Homeschool Walls

June 24, 2019 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m not saying you can’t homeschool without these 10 completely adorable and lovely things for your homeschool walls, but you may be missing out.

Besides being beautiful, they’re timeless. I wished I would have invested in more timeless pieces for my homeschool area instead of so many new and modern pieces.

Homeschool Room Favorites

Don’t get me wrong, I love the new and modern, but some of these things just scream childhood celebrations and homeschool memories. Too, learning is timeless; some things never go out of style.

I love, love all of these posters. You can get them either already framed or not.

I prefer the ones not framed because I don’t want the bottom with the text cut off.

10 Adorable and Lovely Ideas for Your Homeschool Walls

It seems like the frame can cut off some of the text. Adding them to a frame you buy when you have the posters in hand is better.

This is the Mineralogie poster and the Dandelion chart poster.

Also, look at the beautiful Mushrooms poster and Ocean Life Illustration poster.

Look at this awesome way to teach U.S. geography with this vintage USA Map poster and teach about Butterflies with this chart from times past.

Homeschool Wall Ideas

I love this perpetual calendar which I just purchased as MunchKing begins his preschool journey.

As he grows, this calendar will still be usable and never turns baby-ish. I wished I had bought something like this when my kids were young. I would have kept it longer. What a timeless and beautiful piece to use for years to come!

Perpetual wooden calendar which is perfect for homeschool! — {pic. attribution: © MirusToys. *Please pin from original sources.}*

Here are a few more timeless items to make your homeschool walls lovely. Look at this Plumes Feather Illustration and Color Wheel.

And this last thing I love is this huge calendar for the wall which everyone can see.

When homeschool life is busy, putting up a visual and beautiful reminder of your homeschool routine reduces stress.

*{pic. attribution: © ShopSimplyPerfect. Please pin from original sources.}*

Which ones do you like the best?

10 Adorable and Lovely Ideas for Your Homeschool Walls. Don't get me wrong, I love the new and modern, but some of these things just scream childhood celebrations and homeschool memories. Too, learning is timeless; some things never go out of style.

Add one or two of these beautiful pieces to make your homeschool walls lovely because learning is classic. Your kids will never outgrow these one of a kind pieces!

Hugs and love ya,

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.

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Get Organized – Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year

July 17, 2015 | 11 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The secret to getting organized for the new homeschool year in next to no time is preparation.

Thinking now about long and short term storage options, you can set up a simple system that will save you precious time during the hectic pace of the new homeschool year.

Get Organized - Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Long Term Homeschool Storage Options

1. Free cloud storage and portable devices.

You may think it goes without saying, but storing as much as possible on free cloud storage or portable storage devices is a great reminder.

Print off the list of your e books or what is in the cloud and keep it in your planner. Having the list of your materials at your finger tips will help you avoid constantly accessing on line free storage or plugging in your portable devices when lesson planning.

If you have been homeschooling for a while, it may take some time to scan paperwork onto your computer. However, it is well worth the time instead of digging through boxes.

You are the only one to know whether you want to save an original piece of artwork or that creative essay that you thought would never happen.

2. Tubby mom.

Whether you are new to homeschooling or in my case last year when I was getting ready for a big move overseas and didn’t know my storage options, huge plastic tubs or totes are perfectly acceptable for storage.

If you are new to homeschooling, it is hard to know what you want to save and what to pitch in the beginning.

Keep all the paperwork and pieces of arts and crafts in large tubs and when you have a system, then pitch what you don’t want.

Try to avoid throwing all the school work together in the tub in the beginning.

A simple system for organizing within a tub like using notebooks, binders or even small boxes does not create mounds of work to sort later if you change your storage system.

3. Over sized 3 Ring Binders. (5 inch)

If you have the space for it, over sized 3 ring binders are one of my favorite organizing tools.

Though they can be expensive, the binders I purchased have held up well through the years.

Using 3 ring binders to organize for homeschool @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I have not only used them to store paperwork long term, but I use them for my huge recipe book.

Adding page protectors to the binder to keep precious keep sake paperwork in prevents it from being dog eared and over handled.

It takes time to add the page protectors, but I also like to be able to flip through the pages when I want without handling the kids school work too much through the years.

4. In the box options.

Depending on how much you have to store, you may be able to use shoe boxes and huge diaper boxes that were meant for the trash.

It doesn’t take much work to make the boxes pop with some color by covering them with beautiful bright colored fabric and you have some swoon worthy storage.

If you are not feeling too crafty then store bought options overflow too.

Short Term Homeschool Storage Options

Teaching your children from the beginning to put away their books and paperwork each day will not only lighten your workload, but it is an important organizing skill to teach your kids.

1. Humble Plastic Drawer – Not So Humble

Plastic drawers are some of my favorite ways for the boys to be sure they put away their supplies.

Each year, I measure my biggest or longest book, which normally is a high school book and make sure the drawers fit.

I have had good success with well made drawers at the Container Store though they are more expensive.

2. Slim 3 Ring Binders & Folders.

Slim color coordinating binders or folders for each kid or color coordinating by subject gives them a tool that is not too hard to handle.

Having tools that are handy and within arm’s reach will help your child to be organized on a daily basis.

3. Hanging Up Storage.

Take advantage of walls, closets and doors to add more hanging store.

I used hanging storage for games, flashcards, crafts and things used on a daily like supplies and headsets.

I love the beginning of the new school year because it means I can ~~hoard~~ get all new organizing tools that I am excited about and that are swoon worthy too. It makes me feel like I can justify the cost too because I normally can use the organizing tools longer than a year.

Do you have anything new you are adding to your learning space this year?

Hugs and love ya,

Want some more organized homeschooling ideas to drool over? Check out:
DIY Homeschool Organizing with Duct Tape
Homeschool Organization – {Storage, Spaces, & Learning Places}

How to Turn a House Into a Homeschool Space Part 2

July 19, 2014 | 8 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today in sharing how to turn a house into a homeschool space Part 2, I want to share a few things that worked for me in my homeschool area. As the boys grow older, some of the things I shared in How to Turn a House Into a Homeschool Space Part 1 stopped working for us.

Sometimes I miss the separate crafts area when they were little. Not having it now reminds me of how quickly a learning space can change.

No longer was it important to have so many posters and visual aids up on the wall. Things they needed to learn could now get sized down to letter size and put into their individual notebooks as a reference for them. Too, as you learn each kid struggles differently in subjects and needs individual references and helps in their own notebooks.

Also, even though I had a learning area upstairs where we homeschooled when we moved into our present home, it lasted just a few short years too. Again, moving to a different room was one more sign that my boys have grown older because we didn’t have to go upstairs to a separate formal area for part of our day. Good study habits and a regular routine were now formed. Easing up on such a formal area is a plus when your kids start taking responsibility for learning.

What’s The Difference Between Relaxed Learning Places & Play Areas?

It was time to move all of our homeschooling downstairs. We took over the formal dining area.

It’s important to me that you know from the very beginning of homeschooling that I have always had a time in our day where we moved out of the school room to a more relaxed place like the living room.

Balancing our day with formal and informal spaces has been the key to good study habits for my boys.

In the beginning my school room played an important part in teaching my sons how to learn even at times when they may not have wanted to learn. Though I am all for relaxed areas, as adults not all things in life indulge us in our whims and moods. Some days I was just real business-like with our school.

If our school had been in all relaxed areas every day or all formal areas every day, I am not sure if my kids would have self-motivation for learning. My kids won’t know everything by the time I finish homeschooling, but they will know how to learn.

As your kids get older, learning at the table has a huge advantage over just learning in a space your kids may choose on their own too.

It’s important that the height of the work table encourages neat penmanship, they have good light and adequate cool air. Sometimes my boys had a tendency to close their doors in their rooms and the warm, still air made for more sleepy time than learning time. I would change that in the day and insist they come back to the table. Learning how important their environment is to good study habits, they naturally chose the table to do their formal studying and writing at as they have hit the older years.

Sometimes folding a learning area into a home can look somewhat out of place but there is no need for it to look that way. At times I miss the cutesy posters on the wall that I had when they were young. But one huge plus that I am loving is that as they got older, the homeschool area could be organized the way I want it as the teacher.

{No longer organizing for small kids, set up the area in a way that is good for you and your older kids.}

{I used clear shoe box containers for small item storage and toothbrush caddies (new of course) to store pens, pencils and another toothbrush caddie for the scissors.}

{I never use the binder the teacher’s manuals come in because well it doesn’t match. (tee hee hee). Because I like to label and color coordinate my room as much as I can, I choose binders that will last longer and inspire me.}

Like I told my boys, you have to be a manly man to use the area while mom uses some of her favorite colors like orange passion and hot pink. On a serious note though most of the time older kids express their creative outlets in their individual rooms so the school area design can be all about mom. I am loving that!

Look at a few of these tips that helped me to make our last learning area be part of the main living area.

Don’t always look for conventional pieces.

For example, if you’re looking for a bookshelf don’t think you have to look just at bookshelves. Think: What do I need and how much space do I have? One year, I used shelving that belonged in a garage. Look at greenhouse storage, baby furniture storage (even if you don’t have babies, this furniture is compact and small), garage storage and even dorm furniture.

Just remember the least inexpensive storage options sometimes are storage pieces made for other places in the house that may not be viewed so beautiful. A coat of paint and some hooks and it could look like it belongs in the house.

Store crafts in less expensive containers that say they belong in the kitchen or bathroom.

For storing crafts and all those other small bits and pieces of learning tools look outside of storage containers that belong in a kid’s room. For example, I have the most beautiful color choices when I look for bathroom storage in my homeschool room.

Look for other things that could double as bookends.

I won’t lie here because maybe it’s a fettish of mine that I love bookends. My weakness, but I will pay top dollar for something that makes my heart go pitter patter.

Look at these things I rounded up to show you where I would start looking for some things when I get to design our next homeschool space.

It says it’s a soap dish, but it looks like a smokin’ hot paper clip holder to me.

It says it’s a bathroom tumbler, but looks like a hot color for storing my pens and pencils to me.

It says it’s a combination toothbrush holder, but looks like a streamlined beautiful way to organize my kids pencils and markers. And another one in a pretty color!

It says it’s a small wastebasket, but it looks like a chic way to store rolled up maps or artwork. Be still my heart because I found orange.

It says it’s a toothbrush holder, but it looks like scissor storage to me.

It says it’s a cosmetic carousel organizer, but it looks like a great way to store school supplies in the center of a table.

Turning a house into a homeschool space means using things that we normally would use each day to redesign, reinvent and rethink how we create learning spaces. Do you have out of the box organizing pieces you will be trying out this year?

Lastly, I will be doing a 5 Day blogging series next week that I am so excited about. You know I like reminding you when I go on 5 day rolls. It is 5 Days of Clever DIY Hacks For Your Homeschool Spaces.

Hugs and love ya,

Linking Up @ these fabulous places:

homeschoolstorage

10 Best Ways to Transport Homeschool Curriculum {Gift Ideas Too}

Transporting Homeschool Curriculum

Storing Curriculum on the Go

Portable Homeschool Curriculum

Homeschool Learning on the Go Tools

10 Adorable and Lovely Ideas for Your Homeschool Walls

Homeschool Room Favorites

Homeschool Wall Ideas

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