Organized Part 2 – Getting the Kids Organized!

You can be the most organized person in the world but if your kids are not organized you will pull your hair out trying to keep yourself that way.  We love our children but we learn fast that they generally don’t have the organizational drive that we do.  I have tried several different things to keep my kids homeschool stuff organized. 

I learned fast that sending their school books to be placed neatly on their desks in their room is NOT a good idea!  Things get lost and destroyed in their bedrooms.  One of the things that I started doing that has worked is I have a small shelving unit and I have a spot on it for each child to stack all of their books, papers, etc.  The rule is when their work is done all items go back on their spot on the shelf.  That way I can find assignments to grade and we don’t spend half the day finding the spelling book that was swallowed up by the bedroom.

The next thing I want to share is I created a binder for each child similar to the one I spoke of in my last post.  This has been a life saver for me!  I started out buying a 3-ring binder (with front sleeve) for each child (different color for each), I purchased tabs for each subject (I love the ones with built in folders), a pencil pouch and a ruler.  I went to Mom’s Tool Belt and let them pick their cover and spine design.  I printed everything out in pretty bright colors.  The binders are color coded so very quickly you can see what child didn't put their binder away or they can find it quickly.  One of the reasons this binder is so important in my household is I work with a lot of print offs.  I find that it is more economical to buy e-book versions of materials and print them for each child.  The downfall is we have a LOT of paper floating around in my house.  I have found that if we keep everything in a binder it keeps papers from getting lost, torn up or accidently thrown away.  When I print things off I hole punch and place them in binders (watch for my semester preparation post soon) then when it is time for the child to use that page it goes in their personal binder.

The latest thing I have tried is stations.  If you have something several children are going to use or something that requires small parts you can create a station.  I went to an auction and purchased a couple of old school desks (both for $1!!) I am using Hooked on Math to help my boys’ master multiplication.  I have a CD player, the flash cards, book, dry erase marker and headphones on one of the desks for them.  They must sit there for that activity and it keeps the small parts from being lost.  This has been working so well that I think I am going to create a station with a computer for some of the things we are going to be doing next year.  It will help keep support materials that go with the computer activities in one location instead of floating all around the house. 

Here are a few more small suggestions to keep them organized.  Keep track of the library books at all times by creating a “library book center”.  You can put a basket or bin in a location and all library books need to be in that location unless they are currently using them.  There is nothing worse than heading to the library and having to search for the books to return.  You can also print the Library List page from Mom’s Tool Belt and keep it in your homeschool binder.   Next I have a student planner for each child.  You can purchase them (Rainbow Resources) or create your own (Mom’s Tool Belt).  I write all assignments in their planner in case I am not available when they need to know what to do next.  You can also put notes in there about an ongoing project.  I feel teaching your children to use a planner is important because you are teaching them a life skill that can help them once they leave home. 

The most important tip I can give you about keeping the kids organized is find a home for everything and you have to stay on top of them to make sure they put it there.  I try to make it simple so they can remember and so it doesn't take them long to put away their stuff.  Once you drill it in their head for a few weeks they won’t even have to think about where things belong when you are not there.  I wish you much success on keeping your children organized when it comes to their homeschool materials.