MamaArcher's Blog

Homeschool Organization

People often ask me HOW we manage things around our house. So I thought that I would share with you a few things that have worked well in our large family homeschooling situation. Hopefully, they will be beneficial to you. Even if it is not something that you can incorporate, it is always fun to see how others organize their homeschool. Hopefully some of our ideas can be of help in the upcoming school year!

1.Get an early start. This is a very difficult one for me but it makes such a big difference. I am not a morning person and am often up several times a night with little ones but I have found that if we get an earlier start we accomplish so much more. Things tend to run more smoothly for us as well. We try to be up, dressed, fed, and ready for school by 8 am. I will readily admit that it is a rare morning that this actually happens. We shoot for this never the less and it is becoming a more frequent occurrence. It seems if we start school work any time after 9 am then we most likely will not finish our work and we are going all day long. If we start at 8 am we are almost done by lunch and are finished by 2pm. I do not know why it works this way other than we are more energetic and motivated to make the most of the day when the day is still fresh.

2. Keep a stash of pencils, pens, staples, glue sticks, and any other necessary items. Find an easy place to store them. I have a basket thing that I keep ours in. It sits atop the book shelves listed in #2 above. It is on the end that is next to the stairs so even the shorter children can climb a few stairs and be able to reach what they need without any difficulty.

3. Organization is key. Her are a few more ways we organize our things.

4. Take advantage of nap time! Nap time is when you can accomplish a lot! You can finish lessons with the older children or correct papers without the little ones making noise or trying to take pencils. You can have chore time and do a quick pick up to straighten the house, or you can take a short refreshing nap to help fuel you for the rest of the day. You can have your Bible readings or other reading. You can use this time as I am now, blogging. Take advantage of this time.