Is your homeschool space a bit messy, disorganized, or an eyesore? Is it time for you to take some tactical steps to improve that mess? There was a time when I had papers, books, and binders all over the place! Over the years, I’ve found ways to keep our space clean. Below, I’ve laid out 6 tips on organizing your homeschool space.
A couple of years ago, our homeschool place was an entire room dedicated to learning. The kids were young and I wanted an exclusive area of teaching. It worked great for a while to keep our focus on learning.
However, the kids are older and more independent and it’s convenient to move to the dining room. I was constantly going back and forth to the bathroom or in search of something I’d forgotten. I like simplicity and convenience and was initially concerned about the mess during meal time. But, with some organizational modifications, we’ve made it work well.
Here are my best tips on how you can keep your homeschool space neat, tidy, and stress-free for years to come.
Add a Bookshelf
Admittedly, I started with containers holding the kids’ books, textbooks and workbooks. However, I found tossing them into the containers damaged the materials. Eventually, it became a dumping ground for pencils and papers. Smaller books got hidden behind larger ones making it difficult to pull them out.
Once I added a bookshelf to our homeschool room, the books were easier to locate and maintain. Since selling our homeschool materials is necessary to help with the next year’s budget, we must keep them in excellent condition.
We have 5 shelves. Here’s what I place on each shelf:
- Materials – 2 smaller containers are located on the first shelf. These container hold tape, scissors, stapler with staples, and a 3-hole punch.
- History/Literature Section – The 2nd shelf contains books we are using for the current year. This includes history, geography, literature and math books. There is also a science kit box to hold up our selection of books. You won’t find any books that are a “maybe” or from a previous school year. All books that we might use later are in another room in a chest.
- Miscellaneous – The 3rd shelf contains bibles and a rectangular basket of lined and printer paper. You can also find a sturdy utility bag with several pockets to hold pencils.
- Books – An entire shelf is dedicated to books at my children’s reading level.
- Reading Books – The last shelf holds library books on one side and owned books for reading pleasure. There is also a black and white laser printer as a backup in case the color laser printer stops working.
Invest in a Drawer Set
Invest in a drawer set like this one below – if you don’t have one, get one! They are wonderful for organizing crafts and construction paper. Crafts tend to be small and its necessary to sort them into smaller compartments. I paid $35 for mine years ago at Michaels.
Organize writing instruments in Pencil Boxes/Utility Organizers
I keep pencil boxes and utensil organizers on one shelf. We have a pencil box for colored pencils and another for pens. You can purchase plastic sturdy pencil containers right at the Dollar Tree. Or, you can get one online like this one shown here:
Large Table for laptops/writing
We use our living room table for our laptops, reading, and writing. One rule is to stay at the table the entire school time. It helps avoid distractions in their bedrooms including the use of phones and tablets. If you don’t have a large enough table, make a rule that everyone stays within the same location.
At the end of the day, all books must be put away on the shelf. There is nothing more frustrating when dinner is ready and papers are everywhere!
Storage Location for Important Papers
Reduce paper pile up by having a dedicated binder for each child. When the child’s weekly work is complete and reviewed, their work gets moved to the binder. Make sure your 3-hole puncher is handy on the shelf where you keep similar materials.
You can get 1-inch binders at the Dollar Tree or for convenience, you can buy them on Amazon for a decent price and sent right to your door. I’ve bought the binders seen below. These are great because you can design and personalize a front cover for each child and print it to slide directly into the front slip.
My favorite tool – Clipboards
Clipboards are located on the same shelf as the books on top of the science kit box. Keeping clipboards upright is probably not a good idea unless you can hang them on the side. Most of them have built-in hanger holes for convenience. If you’ve read my posts before, you know how much I LOVE clipboards. To learn more about the efficiency of clipboards, go to this post here.
There you have it! I love sharing my organizing tips with you! I have spent a lot of time over the years tweaking and refining. Don’t go through the same struggle I went through to get your homeschool day running smoothly.
What are your struggles with your homeschool space? Maybe you’ve already fixed them and would like to share your idea? I would love to hear your comments so please leave them below. I read all of them! Until next time, my friend.
