I want to start off by saying this is a post for anyone. You don’t have to homeschool to grab these organization tips and items that I’ve found to help make living a busy but organized life just a little more attainable. If you’re a parent with kiddos who attend a public school, you’ve probably realized that learning/activities happen at home, regardless. Kids are busy these days which means you are, well, extra busy these days. It can be hard to navigate how to balance the chaos. So, grab a drink, a snack, and your comfy pants for homeschool organization made easy – whether you homeschool or not! Let’s get that chaos under control.
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Do you recognize this woman? It’s a mom on the edge. Her hair looks crusty. I can almost smell that she hasn’t showered in, what, three days? I’m not sure but I think I hear muffled screaming somewhere in the background. Is that a bottle of Ibuprofen behind the wine bottle? Someone get this woman a day at the spa and a Kit Kat bar! This is a portrait of a mom living in chaos…the uncontrolled kind. Don’t let this be you (though, it’s okay to have days like this)! Some of my worst days are the days when I feel scatter brained and antsy – knowing that somehow, somewhere, I’ve forgotten something. With five kids, weekly activities, and a homeschool schedule, I need tools to help me, ya know, not go bananas! Let’s take a look at a few of my go-to faves!
Homeschool Organization Made Easy – Roll, Cart, Roll!
I would like to introduce you to the rolling cart. You may think you know about the rolling cart but, do you? Do you really? I’ve become rolling cart obsessed. Our kids range in age from 1 to 10 and the range of activities, assignments, and materials is all over the place. I have several carts that I use for different purposes – I use one similar to this 12 drawer cart as our crafting cart. It holds everything from markers, crayons, paints, different types of paper, scissors, glue, GLITTER, yarn, stickers — truly SO much fits and the ease of being able to roll it out for craft time makes this a winner!
I nabbed this 15 drawer cart at the end of our last academic year. I ended up assigning each kiddo a color. Then, I put their daily work assignments and books in their assigned area. Think of it like their personal cubby area. This works really well for our family — five kids and five colors makes for a perfect set up. But, you could also utilize extra drawers for manuals and textbooks.
Only one more cart, I promise (I warned you that I am cart obsessed!). I love this compact, 4 drawer cart for organizing my teaching materials/manuals. Separating my materials from the kids helps me to feel more organized. Every year looks different (heck, every month can look different) so I often label the drawers with self adhesive label pockets that I can easily change out whenever needed.
Schedule Helpers
Planners, calendars, agendas, oh my! So, like, if you couldn’t tell…I’m an anxious person. Anxiety makes me want to both plan out absolutely everything using every type of planner possible and also never actually look at or use said planners. Ugh. This year, I decided to compartmentalize and visualize. Instead of keeping umpteen paper planners to myself (that I often stow away), I opted for a magnetic monthly and weekly calendar to display on our fridge. It helps all of us stay on the same page and gives me a visual that I can’t, you know, hide.
I love this daily schedule pocket chart for our school day agenda. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always chaos in our home — but this allows to me lasso that chaos and provides the kiddos with my expectations for the day. You’re able to fit it to your needs and customize to best fit your family. Boo-yah!
Beyond calendars and daily schedules, our kids enjoy having their own checklist of responsibilities and assignments. These double sided magnetic dry erase boards are a great size for that purpose. I fill them out and set them on the counter and it’s the first thing that the kids run to in the morning.
Space Savers
I’m always on the hunt for space saving organization with a purpose. We don’t have one area that we use as our learning space — the whole house is up for grabs. So, it’s important to have areas designated for learning throughout our home. This book and bin display piece is super cute and functional! I love displaying our weekly stories and this is a great way to accomplish that and stay organized.
Cubbies, cubbies, and more cubbies! This 25 cubby cabinet is a dream for organizing books, games, manipulatives, toys, and crafts. It comes in several color options and the tubs would be easy to label.
We are constantly moving through different activities, assignments, and yearly assessments. This space pocket organizer gives me a designated area to file away papers for each kiddo throughout the year. Otherwise, I have a tendency to squirrel things away (like I think I’m putting things in a safe spot…but I can never find that safe spot again…).
Next up, we have a couple fantastic tabletop organizers that I use everyday. This rotating art supply caddy is a cute way to organize small art supplies. I often change ours depending on what we’re doing – I’ve filled each compartment with crayons so that each kiddo could have their own container of crayons (no fights, yes please!) and they love being able to spin it around and around…and around….and around….and…..you get it.
Last but not least, this utility tote works well for organizing materials for a specific activity or assignment. I use ours for science lessons quite often. It stores easily in our front closet and it’s a quick grab and go when we’re ready to begin our lesson!
So, homeschool organization made easy? You bet! Whether you homeschool or not, you can take control over your space, your day, and your chaos (because I know I’m not alone in the controlled chaos department) and feel better about it all. Do you have a favorite way to organize your life? What is one thing you can do to feel more organized this week? Let me know, friends, and until next time, peace, love, & light!
