I live in a 2 bedroom singlewide mobile home.  In practically every room of my home sits something intended for homeschooling.  Reading books line the shelves in the kids room.  Art and craft supplies sit under a table in the family room.  Teacher manuals, printables, etc. occupy the dresser top in the Master bedroom.  Loose misc. materials are tucked away in a drawer.  Educational downloads occupy the "My Documents" folder on my computer desktop, while links to resources flood the "favorites" folder. 

 

It's not always guaranteeable that I can actually locate a specific resource when I desire it.  For instance, there were two arts and craft projects I wanted my son to make during the three day period we were studying about the history of Thanksgiving.  The projects consisted of making a "Mayflower" out of nut shells, and making Indian dolls out of corn husks.  Problem was, when I needed the materials list and instructions for the projects, I couldn't find them.  Now where had I placed them?  I knew it was in a draw with other "loose" materials, but which drawer?

 

With several incidents like the one mentioned above, I came to the conclusion that I really needed to better organize all this stuff.  The reading books were fine being left in the boys room, it enabled them to read or look at the books when ever they desired, which would help to promote a love of books and reading.  There was no reason to organize the arts and crafts supplies, because I knew where they were at all times.  However, the mission I had to undertake was trying to organize reproducables, printables, CD's, DVD's, and loose materials. 

 

I looked around my house for ideas on what to do.  Suddenly, I saw a big black binder.  It's purpose was to hold computer and music CD's.  However, it wasn't being used.  I got a brain storm.  Why not use it to organize homeschool?  I thought about this.  It was large, it would hold a lot, and it was made like a regular 3 ring binder which meant I could add things to it.  It was the perfect resorce and it was right under my nose.

 

With this idea, I set to work.  First I made dividers for various subjects and placed them in the binder.  I then went looking for all the "loose" materials I had and filed them into the binder under the appropriate subject.  I then found all my reproducables and copied them off onto my computer and placed them into grade level folders.  After this, I burned them to a CD labled with the appropriate subject. What was once mounds of papers, was now flat little CD's.  And the CD's could be filed into the notebook.  The papers either went to someone else who was interested in them, or into the garbage.

 

With that out of the way, I tackled all the educational computer games.  I took each one and filed it under the appropriate subject, and then did the same with all the DVD's.  I bought pocketed dividers and placed "dry erase" sheets into the pockets and then filed them into the notebook. 

 

My chaos was beginning to find some sort of cohearent order.  My home wasn't looking as cluttered.  I liked this idea.  I contined with my filing, and with copying whatever I could off onto a CD.  Everything was getting neat and organized.  I found homes for flash cards in baby wipe containers.  This not only prevented them from getting lost, it also enabled me to be able to stack them all.

 

Next, I made lists of reading books with their locacation and placed the list in the binder.  Then I documented my "teacher's manuals" the same way and filed the sheets of paper into the binder under the appropriate subject.  Next to each teacher's book, I wrote the appropriate grade level.  With two boys, I would inevitably need this information in the future. 

 

With this orginization system, I no longer had to spend time hunting down a specific resource.  I knew where everything was.  And, everything no longer over took my entire house.

 

There is another plus to this orginizational system.  Besides enabling me to create lesson plans faster, it also cuts down on storage space needed to house it.  And, what was once several boxes of materials that had to repeatedly be evacuted during the 2004 hurricane season, is now much, much less.  In the future, instead of having to grab massive amounts of books, papers, games, etc.  I simply have to grab binders, and small boxes (with the exception of the kids book collection).  What was once a load that would give me a lasting backache from it's weight is now much lighter.  And, I will be able to evacuate more of the children's book collection instead of having to leave it behind due to a lack of room from having to store so many books, workbooks, and worksheets.

**My First year of Homeschooling-2004/2005**