HOMESCHOOL SHARING...

...how to stay organized.


We live in a small home with many people. So to stay organized helps my sanity. =)

Believe it or not, we actually have a small kitchen table in the same area (not pictured)

OUR STUDY ROOM
aka the dining area

We like to leave our computer in a open space. Privacy is not an option when using it....call it... accountability.

The desk can store many things. On the shelf below the computer is (left to right) Hooked on Phonics tapes, an oatmeal container that holds all our BoxTops that we are saving for a local school, Mom & Dad files, School files, reams of paper, and common curriculum we have used for 1-8th grade.

On top of the desk is Activity Trays (for playdough, painting, etc), Student Planners, and pencil/crayon boxes. The file box contains any Mon-Fri worksheets, along with a file per each student.

On the wall is a Message Center and a calendar. I do color code our family to write activities and appointments on our calendar. The big pictures are The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution. We are studying these in depth this year.

A Work Station:

We study a piece of art every month (along with a classical composer and a poem), memorize a Bible verse each week, and do daily journals. We like to use a calendar page that has journal prompts on it.


We keep our library books in a basket. This avoids the scramble to find random books on library day. If we had one or two kids, I suppose I would let the kids keep track of them on their own, but we have 5 homeschoolers...sanity is the key ;^)

Katie's desk stores our encyclopedias. She is endless about seeking knowledge.

She takes ballet; where did ballet come from?

Sees a hummingbird; why are they so tiny?

Found a frog; what kind is it?

Shoestrings; who invented it?

Revolutionary War; when was it?

Go read about it Miss Mikayla (katie), and tell me what you found out.
Many times she chooses to write a report on her findings.

The best technique we use for staying organized...

WORKBOXES!!

Andrew, Katie, TJ, and Nick all have one.

Simple put, they are just drawers that store their school work.

Older kids drawers contain:
LITERATURE
LANGUAGE ARTS

MATH

SCIENCE

FRENCH

HISTORY

Notebooks lay on top:
These store our studies on Fine Arts

We use spiral notebooks for most school work.
They are inexpensive ($ .10 each on a good sale).
By using spiral notebooks for each subject, I find it easier to log in their grades.

Andrew's drawer:
READING
LANGUAGE SKILLS
LEARNING GAMES
CRAFT PROJECT of the day
ACTIVITY TIME
(currently playdough and cookie cut outs are in there)

We are a month into our school year. I have not had to adjust much, the kids are staying focused, and most days things are running somewhat smoothly... as smoothly as a 2 yr old will let it. =)