Organizing Your Home School

Organizing Your Home School
By Linda Tyler

Were you born organized, or do you lead a helter-- skelter existence? Are you tired of losing your keys and not finding the papers, books, etc. that you need? Are you living underneath a cloud of chaos? If you are a home school parent this can be doubly troublesome. It’s one thing to leave for work each day, being able to leave it all behind, it’s quite another when you have to live it 24/7. And home schooling in and of itself causes clutter and disorganization. What with papers, books, projects…

I believe it is critical to be somewhat organized when you are educating at home. Too much precious time will be lost if you’re not. Too many hours will be spent chasing your tail and nothing will be accomplished. You will feel overwhelmed and out of control. Given the chance your clutter will eat you alive (at least that’s the way it will make you feel)!

So what’s a person to do?

Get rid of the clutter!

You must realize that clutter cannot be organized. Start sorting through the confusion and give away or throw away those things that do not, “sing to your heart.” Do a little bit each day and you will soon see a light at the end of your tunnel.

Okay, what’s next? Being that you are a home schooling family you will have more belongings than your non-- home schooling family down the street. The trick is in learning how to store what you do have and how not to have too much! This can be quite the challenge. There is so much neat stuff out there! So many books, art supplies, science kits, manipulatives, maps, and lots of fun supplemental learning tools. It is hard to resist it all. But you must. You really must. When there is too much available it becomes paralyzing and you don’t know what to do first. You’ll find yourself running in circles and not accomplishing anything. It is much better to have a few really good resources that you really want to use, rather than having a house full of things you may or may not get to.