Homeschool Organization

Organizing everything for homeschooling can seem like a Hereculean task at times. You might have some subjects planned out in neat lessons like math and grammar. But then you add in books that have to be read a chapter at a time, science programs with reading and experiments, spelling lists, etc; and it quickly runs out of control.

If all of your material comes from the same source, you might have a couple over arching schedules to follow. But start pulling from different curriculums or doing one pace for history and another for science and again it runs off the rails.

And all of this isn't even touching on what you do with multiple kids doing different things. Or keeping records for the end of the year. (We're likely to move to a state that requires at least some record keeping AND those high school years are looking.) It seems like this time every year I find interesting discussions online about planning and getting organized.

Last year was workboxes. The idea is that each student has a set of boxes or drawers, one per subject. Each evening, the boxes are filled with work for the next day. Some get books and assignments, others get coloring pages or activities. The next day the student works through each box. When they are done, they are done with school for the day. The Workbox System is an idea from Sue Patrick. If you search on "homeschool workboxes" you can find a number of blogs with examples of how they are put to use. Here are a couple examples. Ice cube bins as boxes. Plastic shoe boxes on racks. Even more links and photos in this review of the workbox system. It might be too much for some families. On the other hand, it might be just the thing to get good activities out of the closet and drawer where you've been saving them and into the kids' hands. And it could be a real motivator for a dawdling student if he knows there is a puzzle or a game stashed in there after math is done.

What I'm seeing discussed this year is using file folders. The general idea is that you take a folder for each week and preplan so that all of the assignments and worksheets are already there. There is a long discussion of homeschool filing systems at the Well Trained Mind Curriculum Board. This blogger has modified the folder idea for use with 3 ring binders. I do like the idea of having activity sheets right with the schedule for that week. Too often I realize that I've forgotten to do mapping or coloring sheets that I'd intended to use. Or that all of the science readings had accompanying questions to answer in another binder. So there may well be an advantage to grouping by week rather than by subject.

Anyway, something to think about while you're lounging at the pool.