The sheer amount of things I have to use in homeschooling is absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention all of the record-keeping if you do that. I have some really great ideas, and I also found some wonderful ideas from other bloggers/homeschooling mamas. I have 10 great tips for an organized homeschool.
10 Ideas for an Organized Homeschool
10 Ideas For An Organized Homeschool
Being a little more organized can help homeschooling go a little more smoothly. Have the supplies ready. Prepared your lessons and place all of the materials needed in one convenient place! You don't need a lot of space to homeschool. Grab these organized homeschool tips below.
Heavy Duty 3 Ring Binder
Use a large binder - Use a 3 ring binder to log your homeschool records, plan lessons, and more! Many people have separate folders, planners, or binders for all these things we've got to do, but I do it in one binder!
One binder should cover about a year. Get a new binder each year.
Customize That Binder For Free! To dress up your awesome new binder for FREE, like I did. Go to Avery.com/print. You can design your own cover. I also printed the same thing changing the paper to 3×5 to make a pretty picture for the binding edge.
Binder Fillers and Accessories
I will do a separate list to show you some of my favorite things I put in our binders.
- Notebook paper - This paper is for logging. Log everything that you work on every single day. Log websites, worksheets, books with page numbers, where you went, what you did, what did the kids learn, etc...It's also handy to rip one out in case kids need a scrap piece of paper to work with.
- Binder Dividers or also called tabs
- Zipper pockets - For holding projects, game pieces, or other helpful crap.
- Worksheets - There are literally millions of FREE worksheets on the internet. Whether you plan ahead weeks in advance or five minutes in advance, you can still use your binder to organize your lesson! When the kids are done with the worksheet place it in the binder as part of the log. TO SHOW THEIR WORK!
You can use the tabs to set up your new binder to work for you.
Some tabs may include: Logs, lessons, extra paper, reward stickers, idea list (stuff you want your kids to learn), etc...
Have a tab for lessons, if you want. Separate them with worksheets, games, links, or other materials you will need to complete the lesson.
40 Sheet 3-Hole Punch
Buy a 3 hole punch: Print out worksheets and punch holes in them and place them in the binder.
The Cloud or Google Drive
Save it to the cloud! Big projects. We traced our bodies last year and then labeled them for anatomy. These projects, needless to say, were just too big to keep. So I took a picture and on the Google drive they went!
DIY Upcycled Tin Can Organizers
I use tin cans in my office, the classroom (same room unfortunately LOL), and even in my bathroom! WHY...you say? Because it beats going out and buying a cylindrical object to put stuff in, when I already have some in my recycling bin!
I literally slap some glue on them and then some fabric. They are pretty, they are cute. They can be any color you want, match your curtain whatever! So why the heck not?
What To Store In Tin Cans?
- Pens
- Pencils
- Scissors
- Rulers
- Markers
- Colored Pencils
- Calculators
- Rubber bands, thumbtacks, and other tiny office supplies (I like to put these in a tuna can!)
- Stapler
Student Desks
If you want a more organized homeschool room, it's nice if each kid has their own space. If you have enough space, you could buy each one a desk.
However, if you don't have the room, you can use a table for multiple students.
I'm going to link to some cool desks below. Each space and need for each family are different.
I'd also like to point out having different kinds of seating like bean bags, throws, pillows, or others can help too. My kids rarely sit at a desk, because they prefer sitting on the floor, and moving around a little while they learn.
That's no biggie as long as they are actually listening and learning! I've learned that while sitting at a desk they will hunt down a pencil and draw on a desk, or fiddle with something else. They are more distracted this way!
Desk Organizer Tray with Sliding Drawers
Think about where your kids will turn in their work. Do you have a spot for that? It helps to have a couple of extra shelves or drawers to store items that are used often, such as extra pens or pencils. I like to keep a backup.
Spiral Notebooks?
Yep! I read a blog post about using spiral notebooks, many years ago in my early homeschool mom journey and I'm not much for structure to be honest, but I love this idea!
If you want your kids to have a daily reminder of their assignments, this might be a super-easy way to do that. Especially, if you have multiple ranges in ages who may have different assignments according to their age ranges!
7 Step FREE Homeschool Planner
- 7 Step FREE Homeschool Planner by Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Dry Erase Whiteboard Easel
You don't have to have a huge whiteboard. You can actually get a tabletop whiteboard that stands up on it's on and can fold up for a convenient storing. This is perfect for people with small spaces!
My kids love doing math problems on the whiteboard. They hate worksheets, but ASK to do them on the whiteboard!
Binder Filling
I went over a few things you should add to your binder. Here’s a couple of my favorite products to use. Start with a large binder, like 3 inches! You can fill this up in no time!
These zipper pockets have 3 holes to place in a 3 ring binder. You can put flashcards, or game pieces, project materials, etc… in these things. Get creative!
Dividers! I love colorful dividers with pockets! I like these because you can write on them. I am constantly reorganizing crap and changing stuff. So I like my materials to be adaptable!
This is a 3 hole punch. Instead of buying a heavy-duty one, you can buy one that hangs out in your 3 ring binder. I have both. I find this one handy when I’m only punching a couple of pages at a time. It’s quicker than getting the bigger one out!
These are little pockets with a snap on the front. These can be helpful when you have several papers you’d like to keep together for a project or something.
Clear sheet protectors…These are great for protecting important documents. If you’re a homeschool mom, who has to document crap, make sure you get the evidence you’ve done what has been asked of you and then make copies! Store copies somewhere else…
Just some good old blank notebook paper. It’s great to take notes, logs, and for scrap paper.
Kids Desks For Homeschooling
Find something that works for your space. I've included a few folding desks and even some that can hang on a wall and fold up! Nice right?
It folds! Much like a dinner tray, it's super easy. Great for laptops in tight spaces. It even has a handy shelf to hold pencils or other supplies!
I love this adorable desk. It's cute, compact, and it has a few cubby holes and shelf space.
Okay, it's pretty expensive, but it's super cool! This thing is adjustable, it can grow with your child. Which I think is pretty cool!
I hope that you find these tips helpful. We have tried a couple of new programs this year that just didn’t work out very well.
If the kids are crying, complaining, upset, and you are about to pull out all of your hair, just stop doing it.
Find something else, something that does not drive everyone mad. Even if you have made a commitment. The goal is to learn, not to master skills. We are not computers that need to be spitting out information; we are humans who should embrace each other and the time we have together.
Good advice for small business owners too! I would say an external hard drive to back up the cloud and have local transportable storage. I love the pictures idea of records. Thanks for posting. I came to your site via Twitter by the way.
Mindy if The Walking Herbalist
(Not a homeschooler!)
Thanks! An external hard drive is a great idea. I didn’t think of that. I like the idea of using a cloud too though, just because an external drive could be misplaced. There is nothing wrong with having backups of backups! Thank you for visiting from Twitter. It is always nice to meet new people!