Homeschooling: Homeschool Organization

 To be able to run a homeschool efficiently, you need to have organization. Organization is a very big part of having a successful homeschool. Not only do you need to organize your homeschool supplies and records, but you need to organize your time as well.

My organization starts in the spring at the end of the previous school year. At this time I order all of our homeschool curriculum for the upcoming semester. I get books for each subject; math, spelling, history, science, Bible and language. I do this in the spring because I can get free shipping and discounts, plus I know that all my books will be received before the beginning of our fall school year.

I have used many different kinds of curriculums; Abeka, Bob Jones, Horizons, Alpha Omega, plus many others. When I first started, I started out with one curriculum for all subjects. As the years went by and I learned my children's different learning styles, I was able to look for curriculum that matched that style. Matching their learning style with the curriculum helps the child learn quicker and causes less stress. This is an area that will slowly be mastered as your knowledge of curriculums increase, as your child matures and as you get to know your child's learning style better.

In the fall, before we start our homeschooling, I take a whole week to get organized. I start by going through each child's school books and deciding what I want them to know by the end of the year. I make that child a long term goal and then decide how we are going to reach that goal by breaking it down into months, weeks and days. At this point, good calendars and charts come in handy. I use the online site "Chart Jungle"for these calendars and charts that I need. They also have many other printables that can be used.

I give each child a chore chart and a daily school planner. This helps the child know what is expected of them. If I get sidetracked with little ones, phone calls or visitors, my children can continue with any work they can do on their own.

My three older children get a different room in the house to clean each day. I rotate the rooms, so that they can learn to master the cleaning in that room. My younger children will either work along with an older child or with me doing odd end jobs. After our house cleaning and breakfast is over, we are ready to start school.

My children are required to do Bible,math and language everyday. The other subjects, history and science are done every other day, with the exception of Tuesdays. On Tuesdays we go to our local YMCA for homeschool swim and gym classes.

Another chart that I use all year long to help with organization, is a menu planner. Each week I will make out 1-2 weeks worth of menus for dinner, lunch and breakfast. Then I take one day (usually on the weekend) to go to the store for groceries and any missing items in my pantry. I also do any prep work for meals that can be done ahead of time. This allows more time for school, field trips or just free time for myself.

Record keeping is one of my hardest things to organize, but it can be one of the most important. Records need to be kept for proof of what the child has done and learned throughout the year. I keep a folder for each child to put any tests, special projects and pictures in throughout the year. This is easier than trying to remember everything the child has done plus retrieving all things you need at the end of the year. If you put them away as you get them and put them all in one place, it will save some time and stress of hunting for those things.

For each child I keep any tests, quizzes, and any writing or art projects that he/she has done. I also like to take pictures at any field trips, outings and physical education classes to prove that we have done those things. If you are into scrap booking, this makes for a nice scrap book each year. It is also a good year long project for older children to do. Keep any records in a safe place. A fireproof safe is a great place to keep important papers.

I like to have the normal school supplies handy. Things like pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, erasers, calculators, rulers, glue and paint. Every child may not use all of these supplies, but we never know when something will come up and we will need them. A good idea is to go through math, science, and art books to see if there are any special supplies that will be needed for science experiments or special math problems (like a scientific calculator). It is frustrating when you get to these points in the books and then realize you do not have the supplies to get it done. You will have to drop everything to go to the store or put it off till another day, putting you behind schedule. Everything you can do to keep on schedule helps.

One of the main things to remember when doing organization for your homeschool, is to be as consistent as possible, but also be flexible.

To be able to get the requirements for a school year done (here in Michigan it is 180 days of school) you will have to be consistent with it everyday. That is why you need to organize your daily schedule to include school, chores, homework, meals and any outside of the home activities you may have. Consistency helps you get schoolwork done everyday as well as helps your children learn the academics they need. They are also learning that education is an important part of our lives. When we are inconsistent we are communicating to our children that education is something that is not important and does not "have" to be done.

On the other hand, there are days when "life" gets in the way of school. These life things can be a sickness, a death, a birth or any other things that we do not have control over. These are times when we need to be flexible. We may have to take time off school or maybe just a break. We may even have to reschedule school completely. With the birth of our last baby, I had to schedule 2 weeks more into our school year. Normally we take off a whole month in December for birthdays and Christmas, but since the baby came early, we only took off two weeks in December and two weeks in January. Then I scheduled two weeks at the end of the year in case we needed them. You never know with a new baby what is going to happen!

Sometimes we need to be flexible when a better opportunity of learning comes along. There was a time when my oldest daughter was studying WWII in her history book. She was very interested in the holocaust and had many questions about it. Instead of pushing ahead to the next subject we spent the next few weeks studying Anne Frank. We stopped the history book altogether and went to the library. We found the biography of Anne Frank as well as her diary. I read the biography and my daughter read the diary. We then compared notes on them. Later that month a 4 hour television series came out about Anne Frank. Even though there were some graphic scenes in the movie, I allowed her to watch it with me. Because we were flexible, we did not miss out on a very memorable learning experience.

Having organization in your homeschool will help you make learning fun and enjoyable for your and your children.  You will have more time to get things done, and it will help you keep your sanity!