Contributed by Info Guru Lisa Pratto
Homeschooling is hard work. Plain and simple.
Any mom, whether stay-at-home, work-at-home or work-away-from-home, knows this. Once you sort through the maze of all the different homeschool curriculums, you need to get organized. It is the key to your success. The following ten homeschool organizing tips and suggestions can get you started in the right direction.
10. Post It Notes
The infamous yellow Post It notes now come in an array of colors to help out with your organizational needs or just make the homeschool classroom a prettier place.
9. Weekly List
Lists are great. You can type them in a word doc. Sort by activity. Vary the color per subject or child. Vary the font for really busy weeks. You get the picture.
8. Labeled Containers
For older kids that need less supervision, you can create a system of plastic containers or shoeboxes. One box per subject and put all the assignments for the week in each. Let them choose to crank out all the math in one day, as long as everything gets done.
7. Daily Planner
Remember back in the 80’s and early 90’s when the Franklin planner was ubiquitous?! Daily planners and lesson planners aren’t as popular now with the advent of Blackberries and other online sources, but they still work great.
6. Calendar
Another great homeschool organizing tips is a giant wall calendar. It may be just the thing you and your children need to stay on track for the school year.
5. Binder
Grab a couple of three ring binders and use them to save tests, attendance records, daily and weekly lists of what you accomplished. It’s a great way to keep it all in one place and you can easily reference back past assignments.
4. Job Chart
A job chart or chore chart may not seem like one of your usual homeschool organizing tips, but getting the kids (and hubby) to chip in with the overall household chores frees up time for you to get organized.
3. Schedule
Some homeschoolers like to keep their schedule loose and free-flowing; others like to run a tight ship. If you are in the tight ship group, having a schedule of what to do, when and why can keep you organized.
2. Dry Erase Board
If you are in the free-flowing group, a dry erase board may be more your style. You can easily wipe off, re-write and re-organize on the fly. In fact, you can paint entire walls in the stuff now. Awesome.
1. Routine
The biggest and best of all homeschool organizing tips is to get in a routine. It is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out by homeschooling. A routine helps you put one foot in front of the other and make it through the day.