This is the third article in my Homeschooling 101 series. If you missed the first two posts on Finding Your Why and Choosing Curriculum, be sure to read those here and here.
Cracking open the boxes of shiny new books is an exciting event in homeschool life. Even for the kid that hates math, opening a box of new math books can be exciting. But, what next? While keeping the books in a box in the corner of the dining room and pulling them out when everyone feels like doing school may work for some, most of us need a little organization and planning to make the wheels of the homeschool classroom turn.
I am a planner by nature. I love an Excel spreadsheet like a sweaty kid loves a popsicle on a hot summer day. If my brain were a clothing store, it would be Ann Taylor or Talbots – crisp, neat rows of color coordinating styles arranged by sleeve length and fabric. Some homeschool moms planning looks more like the clearance bin at Old Navy – things are a bit disorganized, but everyone has a lot of fun and no one is stressed about putting things back where they go. Everyone needs a bit of both extremes to make homeschooling successful. Today I will give some Talbots style ideas on organization, but make sure to find that Old Navy mom that shows you how to maximize the fun too!
Planning will look different for each family based on preferences, style and curriculum, but here are three systems I use for school supplies/books, long term planning and daily tasks. (Hint: tackling these things a few weeks before school starts will make life easier for everyone, especially you!)
Organizing School Supplies and Books
I love these 10 Drawer Rolling Carts! They are an invaluable part of our classroom and make organizing and stashing everyone’s books a breeze! Every school age kid has a cart and each drawer is labeled with a subject.
At the beginning of the week I make sure each drawer has what each kid needs for that subject for the coming week. For example, my 4th grader’s science drawer could have her science book, journal and experiment instructions.
I fill these drawers by week and use them more for organization, however Erica over at www.confessionsofahomeschool.com, my go-to organization guru since I started homeschooling, has a daily workbox system for organizing that uses these carts. I’ve just adapted her system a bit to fit our needs. Her site has loads of great ideas from organization to curriculum to sewing and meal planning. Be sure to check it out.
If you use a curriculum like Sonlight or Tapestry of Grace, you will also need a system to keep your books organized. I organize our history books for the year in sequential order, so I avoid searching through stacks of books each week to find the ones we need. I have separate shelves for reference books, literature books and fun reading books for the younger kids. Our bottom shelf is filled with coloring books and sticker books, so they are readily available for little hands to grab.
Long Term Planning
My first task in getting ready for the upcoming school year is to print out a monthly calendar for the entire year. (I just use my email program which is simple and free.) I plug in holidays, my husband’s work trips and days off and family trips. Then I sketch out our plan for the year.
The Abeka language books have 170 lessons, so for us, I know we need time for 170 lessons, a few of which can be doubled up. We have full school days Monday-Thursday with lighter days on Fridays. I pencil in the 170 lesson, which gives me a start and end date to our school year. Then I add our history curriculum schedule which is set by our online coop, with 36 weeks of instruction per year. Then I go back in and fill in which chapters we will cover each week in other subjects like science and geography.
A much simpler approach is just to pick up the math book every day and do a lesson and when the book ends, you are done with math for the year. This method works for most people. I just prefer to do a quick sketch in the beginning of the year so that through the year, I have a sense of when we need to push to catch up or when we can have a more relaxed schedule. This is especially helpful when family come in town, when we move or when we take trips. I can adjust our schedule and still have confidence we will stay on track for the year.
Long term planning is also helpful when looking at what you want your child to learn over the course of several years, for example when should you introduce Pre-Algebra or a foreign language.
Day to Day Planning
The most invaluable tool for me in our classroom is our daily assignment sheets. Fair warning – this takes a bit of work and planning on my part over the weekend, but our schoolroom would not function smoothly without them. I try to plan two weeks at a time so that I have a break from planning every other weekend.
First, I fill in a digital version of the assignment sheet in Excel. If printer ink wasn’t so expensive, I would just print these out every week! These also give me a digital record of our school weeks should I ever need to reference them. These are pretty general and give me a framework for the week.
Next, I fill in a pencil version with specific details like page numbers and place it on each desk before Monday morning. This allows everyone to work independently throughout the day without me constantly dolling out assignments. For the elementary age kids, I fill in everything for them. For my middle schooler, I give a list of assignments for the week, and she fills in her daily schedule.
Not only does this help teach time management, it helps me to divide my time among them as needed. If an assignment needs to be completed with me, I simply write, “with Mom,” so they understand they need to come to me with that assignment. The younger students get the bulk of my time as the older ones move toward more independent work.
The assignment sheets also force me to think through what I want us to accomplish that week and gives me the accountability to plan in some fun!
Those are the three items that keep our school days rolling smoothly. I would love to hear your organization tips for your classroom!
Next week we will look at one of the biggest challenges of homeschooling families: What do you do with the little ones?? I’ve assembled a panel of veteran homeschooling mamas to give us their best advice for keeping the littles busy and happy while actually getting things done with the older ones. Not an easy task for most of us!
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