Organization is an important factor of a successful school year. If your household and school room are organized, you will have a much smoother and more enjoyable time with your homeschooling. I don't know how many projects we've had to put off because we couldn't find the book or an item we needed for a project. It doesn't have to be that way. Once again, I'm using the month of August to dejunk, reorganize and focus on a smoother running household.
Over the years, I've learned a few tips that might be helpful to you:
- Get rid of junk - if you haven't used it in a while, you probably don't need it.
- Have a place for everything - find a home for every item in your house.
- Open the mail with a trash can handy and get rid of the junk immediately, including the extras that come inside your bills.
- Set up a laundry area and sort as you go. I have a 3 bag container for the jeans, colored and whites and a separate, big hamper for the towels. It makes it easy to see the most urgent and get the load going.
- Get a cleaning cart. I purchased a lightweight cart on wheels that has 4 plastic drawers and I hang a laundry bag on the side with big clips. This eliminates going back and forth to rooms to put things away. After I go through the house, each child takes their drawer to their room and puts the items away.
- If I'm doing my heavy cleaning, I keep the cleaning products in the top drawer, otherwise I use that drawer for transporting dishes to the kitchen.
- Have a beginning point and go completely around the house. I begin in the back bathroom and end at the kitchen.
There are many books and websites to help us in this area. Read these organization tips by fellow homeschoolers...maybe one will be just what you've needed.
Since I first wrote this article, I've become acquainted with FlyLady. If you haven't checked out this site, you might want to do so. It has been very helpful to me. I don't know how I ever survived without my timer.
Another site I love for information and hands-on help for household and homeschooling organization is OrganizedHome.com. Here are some specific articles and things that will be helpful to you:
- Keep the Home Fires Burning: Home Management for Homeschool Families
- Organize Your Stuff: Storage Strategies for Homeschool Families
- It's About Time: Managing Time for Homeschool Families
- Household Notebook
More organization sites and articles
Share your organization tips. If you have tips that would be useful to homeschooling families, please submit them on this form. I'm looking forward to putting some of your ideas into action in my own home...I can use all the help I can get!
