Getting Organized As a Homeschooler

March brings with it the Equinoxes, and for many, the urge to sweep away the debris of winter or summer, depending on which hemisphere you live in, to start the new season afresh. As a homeschooler, this can involve an extra layer of wanting to have a clean, organized learning space for you and your child or student – whether that space is a permanent one in your home, a mobile one for easily taking learning on the road or outdoors, or a combination of both.

As you get deeper into your homeschool curriculum, figuring out organizational systems can become overwhelming, and for some, daunting. Luckily, there is not just one right way to get and stay organized as a homeschooler; it’s all about what works for you and your way of facilitating the learning process. One of the beautiful things about homeschooling is how versatile it is; you get to choose what you print, what you focus on, and what you keep or have on hand. Still, it can be helpful to have some ideas for how to go about keeping track of daily, weekly, or monthly work in a way that makes sense for you and the student or students you work with. Read on for different tips, tricks, and ideas on getting organized as a homeschooler!

Find the Right Physical Organizational System for Necessary Papers
Even with minimal printing, you will still need a way to organize papers: student work, student resources, and instructor resources should all have a defined place that they “live” and can be easily accessed. However, it is up to you what this looks like. For some, having separate binders might be most helpful – one for instructor resources, and one for student resources, each categorized and separated by subject, or weekly or monthly lessons you plan on teaching. You might have another binder for completed student work, or a section in the student binder for best or favorite work. If binders are not a good fit for you, you might use a filing bin or drawer, or simple two-pocket folders, to keep instructor and student materials in, and put daily papers you need on a clipboard or in a separate folder to easily bring with you wherever you go. Whatever you choose to do, the important thing is to keep it consistent and simple enough to know where materials are kept that you need for each day, or if you want to look back to inform new teachings.

Color-Code or Separate Papers
However you decide to keep papers organized, you will want to make sure you categorize them in a way that makes sense to you. For some, color-coding by subject and/or month is helpful– this can look like color-coded, labeled tabs in a binder or filing drawer, or color-coded folders by subject and/or month. For those that prefer to keep materials organized by week, you might have a similar system simply labeled by weeks one, two, three, and four of each month. Depending on the amount of printed materials you have, separating by week and subject might be helpful.

Organizing Other Materials
Of course, you’ll have materials you need on a daily or weekly basis that are not as thin and light as papers, such as notebooks or journals, printed cards for games or activities, dice, art materials, writing implements, etc. All of these things should also have a clear organizational system to make your life easier. For example, you might keep cards for lessons or activities clipped together and in a labeled, clear sleeve of a binder, or in a drawer of a filing cabinet in labeled baggies. Dice and other math manipulatives can be kept in labeled cups, bins, or boxes on the same shelf or in the same drawer for easy accessibility. You might similarly choose to keep art materials in labeled bins or boxes on a shelf or transportable cart to easily bring outdoors or to other spaces. Again, whatever you choose to do, it will likely make your life easier to ensure materials are clearly labeled and kept in the same space when not in use.

Recycle or Store Unneeded Materials and Papers
Make executive decisions about what is important to keep and what is not, and recycle anything that is not necessary to hold onto. You might decide to go through papers and materials at the end of each week, month, or season. Anything that you do not think will be necessary to have in the future should be recycled or stored away to make space for new learning materials. You can ask for advice from the children you work with about what seems necessary or unnecessary to have on hand, too.

Enlist Your Student to Help Guide the Organizational Process
Another wonderful thing about homeschooling is that you are never alone in your work – you have your student to help support every step of the learning process! With organization, this will look different depending on your student’s age, developmental level, and level of interest in guiding the process. Most children are able to help with hole-punching papers if you are utilizing a binder, and cutting out and storing activity cards with clips, rubber bands, or in baggies. Children can also help with guiding what papers or materials should be made available; for example, if you use Origins Curriculum, you might share with them the focal point project and transition tools to get their opinion on if they want those kept in their binder, folder, or other organizational vessel to access at the end of a lesson or unit or to utilize at the beginning or end of each day. Inviting the child or children you work with to help guide the organizational process is a powerful way to teach them important executive functioning skills, and grant them more autonomy over their learning.

In addition to these ideas, Origins Homeschool Plan and Track Bundle is a great resource for organizing your homeschool curriculum and teachings. The 22-23 Year at a Glance is also a helpful guide to refer to as you focus on organization for yourself and your student.