Homeschool Organization, is it really possible?

"Homeschooling" and the words "organized" are not two words that seem to always belong together. Add stacks of curriculum, a massive amount of school supplies & an array of books that range from children's picture books to textbooks & you are bound to run out of room to put it all!  Even though it’s tough, I’ve made it a goal of mine to do the best to organize our space. 

One of my children had ADHD & I learned that a colorful, distracting space made it hard for her to focus. I try to stick to neutral decor with pops of color now.

“A place for everything and everything in its place” is my goal. Not always attainable, but I strive to at least have a “home” for everything. I try to weed out hot spots weekly (or monthly). Hot spots are those areas that collect clutter. Such as our hutch, the kids school baskets, our book bin, etc.

I use baskets and storage containers to hide clutter. I really like the look of a basket compared to a bunch of different books or a stack of things. My favorite are these foldable basket ones from Amazon, the white rope ones from Amazon & the 13 inch ones with a leather handle from Target. The rope ones are very flexible & can hold oversized books very well! We use them in the play room too! 

I also like using large rope baskets for each kid. I store the items that we use daily for each kid like their All About Reading books, flashcards, Dash into Learning books, games we will be using for the week, clay for story time and stuff like that. It makes it handy to have all of it at my fingertips. These stay on a table near our main dining room table. I got them at Marshall’s, but these look similar. 

Dining room table, yes, I said that! We school at the same table we eat at. For years we had a separate school area and it became a catch all room. We ended up at the table most days anyway!

Honestly, it helps keep me accountable to tidy up each day since it’s the first thing you see when you walk into the house. We entertain a lot and especially during the holidays we like to have friends and family over & it’s important to me that we keep our dining room looking like a dining room (the best we can). I like to use magazine holders to store books and things like our Exploring Nature with Children curriculum. I got these at IKEA but they have a different design now.  Here are some similar ones from Amazon that are a little more expensive, but look sturdy and have a place to insert a label like the ones in the picture. 

Utensil holders are something I seem to never have enough of! The circle basket I thrifted works wonderful for holding all of our supplies. The cups are from Dollar Tree and I grabbed the hyacinth silverware holder near the kids baskets from the Target dollar spot last season.  I keep it by me so I have a few things handy all the time.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a link for that one, but here is a similar one on Amazon. 

I love this IKEA storage container for organizing our educational games including our Osmo & learning cards and games. It’s small and compact but holds a lot!  

I needed a way to organize all the printables that I had, so I bought these hanging file folder boxes at Target & they have worked well. They are organized alphabetically & and fit neatly on my bookshelf for easy access. I am really trying to keep them down to what fits in this space. 

 I found similar looking boxes & photo boxes from Target that hold all of our kits like our Butterfly Habitat & Ant Farm as well as our handicraft supplies. They fit neatly under the kids baskets and on a table I found for free on the side of the road one day. I specifically looked for storage containers that had lids and handles. These have both. I can’t find the exact ones, but these photo boxes are similar, but I can’t find a link to the larger cube storage boxes.

 I have 4 white bins with bamboo lids under our nature area that hold our play dough & supplies.  These stack really nicely in our 13 inch cube shelves. 

I have several foldable baskets I got from Amazon that sit on our 8 cube shelf from Better Homes and Gardens.  (See link above for baskets.) There is one for Science, one for Math, one for Language and one for paint supplies. These were affordable & hold up well. On top of the 8 cube bookshelf are some baskets I thrifted and some smaller white rope baskets I got in a set from  Amazon. (See link above) They hold our Jack and Link loose parts. Above them are our spice racks that hold our Jack and Link boards and Chalk Full of Design chalkboards.

I like to keep the manipulatives & cards, etc. labeled and in these storage containers. Some are from IKEA but most of them are from one of these photo storage boxes from Michael’s. I store them outside of the main large box and just use that for other storage in my laundry room. I try to catch them on sale. They are regularly $41.99 but often go on sale for $16.99, just keep an eye out for them.  

I label everything with my Brother P-Touch Cube label maker that connects with an app on my phone & allows me to change the font & size of the letters. I love it! 

Mats and vinyl tablecloths are a must and I’ll tell you why. The vinyl tablecloths are fantastic for protecting our table from paint and make for easy cleanup from play-doh. I usually grab them on clearance during the holidays.  I have one for every season!

I also love using our Gathre mats for sensory play. It helps contain the mess when I tell the kids they have to keep it all on the mat. Plus they are adorable! If you use my link I get a little bonus (so I can buy more mats!) 

I also love the KVISSLE letter tray from IKEA for storing paper. We store construction, lined, and plain paper on the five shelves. I love that it fits perfectly in the 13”cube shelves. Here it is empty because I’m refilling it today for our new school year. 

Lastly, I can’t forget  the book bin that my husband made!  We really love it!  I got the dimensions from a fellow homeschooling mama, but it was pretty simple to make! 

Well that’s about all I can think of for now. I hope I gave you some ideas! 

Remember, your space should reflect a little bit of you, what you value, and what you love. I’d love to see what you come up with as you organize your space! 

Please comment below if I helped you or if you have any questions! Happy homeschooling!

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