Thursday, August 1, 2013

ALL ORGANIZED FOR OUR NEW HOMECHOOL YEAR --- LEARN & LINK




Our "summer" has come to an end, we begin our new homeschool year on Monday. This year will be a lot different than last year. My boys start 3rd and 1st grade. My daughter who is now officially preschool will be doing daily schooling as well. What is different this year? Now I officially have 3 to homeschool a spunky toddler and a new baby.
 
  
I have started to prepare for our new school year weeks ago. My curriculum is all purchased, our schedule is all done and we are ready to go.
 
The 1st thing I tackled was organizing our homeschool area.
 
First I packed up last year's school work for both my boys. I use the same method every year, you can read more about it HERE.


Kindergarten and 2nd grade work

It took me two days to clear off this 81 cube shelf and reorganize it. All the history books are on one shelf, all geography all on one shelf, etc. Then I took my label maker and labeled each shelf by subject so that I can easily find my materials. 


 I decided to stick with workboxes this year but they are super simple and not complicated! I took a bin for each homeschooled child, placed their name on it and gave each of them a shelf. Each Sunday I will pull their work and place it in their workbox for the new and up and coming week. When they are done with any loose pages it goes in their binder on the bottom shelf. Friday all completed curriculum will be put away and then I will repeat the process. I used to have more of a complicated set up with pull off tags, etc. but I have decided to simplify it with one box. I am hoping that one box will keep me organized and accountable.
 
 
Finally thanks to my friend April at Our Hope is in the Lord I borrowed her idea for weekly scheduling instead of buying a teacher planner. Each week I will update each child's Excel spread sheet with what subjects and activities they will do weekly. Once they completed each subject for the day they will check it off themselves. No need to purchase a planner when Excel is right at your fingertips. Plus your kids can get involved by checking off each subject they have completed daily, giving them a sense of accomplishment!
 
 
All that is left to do is pull their work for next week and set up activities for my toddler to do while my older ones school. I look forward to the new homeschool year!
 
 
Have you started your new homeschool year yet? If so what steps have you taken to organize your new homeschool year?

Homeschool posts coming soon:
~ My curriculum choices for our new school year and why I chose them.
~ How to make busy/ learning bags
~ Montessori activities for little ones.
~ How our family works together in our daily homeschooling.
 


Mama to 5 Blessings is also linking this post up at:


 
 
Feel free to pin this by clicking the Pin It button below!
Follow on Bloglovin

24 comments:

  1. That is amazing! I wish I had your organization!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i wish i had knew how and had the patience to home school! I think my daughter would be sick of me though since she has no one to play with :/ I think its awesome that you are able to home school though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you have a great organizational plan. Good luck with the new school year :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. what a super organizational plan--We don't homeschool, but if we did I know this would work well for us =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. We're using a modified workbox system, too, and we love it. Plus, it keeps certain materials accessible to the kids whenever they want to work with them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I need to share this with my cousin. She just recently decided to homeschool her children, so this would be a perfect read for her. :) Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow that looks great! I could certainly use some organization!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello from a homeschool graduate! :) Love how you organized everything here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. These are great tips even it you're not homeschooling! I'm trying to get more organized on homework and projects with two boys in school this year and this article was really helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  10. wow you need to be super organized to home school your kids. I could use some of that organization in my office right now!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So many great ideas in one post! I love that bookshelf you have. I also really like your one tub for each child idea. Hope it works out well!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Friday! My Friday Flash Blog linky party is live @ The Jenny Evolution – a flash mob of blogs where you share your favorite posts of the week. Hope to see you there -- you may just get highlighted next week!

    Jennifer
    thejennyevolution.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. We don't home school but your dedication to keeping things organized is impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think the Excel spreadsheets are an excellent idea because they can be personalized, customized and changed on a whim!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awesome organizational plan! Neither my boyfriend of 4 years or myself want kids, but if we did have the, we would want to home school them. Ideally we would want to send them to a private school instead of a public school, but all of the private schools around us are catholic schools and we are atheists. My boyfriend went to catholic school as a child and hated ever aspect of it. The public schools in my area are a joke, too full of bullying and overcrowded class rooms.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am so glad to see that I am not the only one starting school this upcoming Monday! I enjoyed reading what your plans were and found that you were doing things very similarly to myself. Last year, I started doing the weekly schedule for both my 4th and 5th grader and it was a HUGE help for me. I also will be teaching my 5 year old and attempting to keep up with my 2 year old a 2 week old! I'm trying to keep my goals realistic for the first couple of months, but have NO idea how I'm going to actually pull this off with 5 kids! I'll look forward to continue to read how your school year is going. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. You are leaving me green with envy! I am no where near ready!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow. I am so impressed. I only wish I could homeschool my babies! I don't know how it is done, looks like so much work, but you make it look easy! Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! You are so organized!! I should have you over to organize me!! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  20. You have a very nice system for keeping organized. Some great ideas here.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looks like you are all set up for a new school year. Great job organizing that wonderful shelving unit!
    I like your simple adaptation of workboxes. And your excel lesson plan sheets. Having a plan, and having a place for everything is so helpful, especially with little ones around.
    Have a wonderful new school year.
    (Stopping by from Weekly Wrap Up)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I linked to you from Ultimate Homeschool link up.
    I love that big shelf for books and school work. Being a homeschooling mom of 5 requires a big shelf, doesn't it. I have 5 kids, too!

    Thanks for hosting Learn and Link! And thank you for letting me add mine!

    betty jo

    ReplyDelete
  23. You look organized and ready for a new year!

    ReplyDelete

Nicole, the mama behind the Mama to 5 Blessings blog, is a mom to 5 children. Three boys: ages 8 years, 5 years, 2 years, a daughter 4 years and a new baby girl born April 19th 2013. She has been married to her husband Fritz for 11 years. Here at Mama to 5 Blessings you will find quite a variety of topics: recipes, crafts for moms and children, homeschooling, parenting, reviews and giveaways, thrifty tips and much more! Mama to 5 Blessings can also be found on Twitter @mamato3blessing, Facebook and Pinterest.