The Guide to Homeschool Organization

When beginning a new journey, organization is key. Taking the time to organize is vital to the success of your journey, whether you're planning a trip, starting a new job or heading out on an adventure.

Homeschooling is a journey like none other. When you choose to homeschool your children, you become responsible for their education. 

Starting a homeschooling journey doesn't have to be overwhelming. What you must remember is that you know your children better than anyone else. 

The hardest part of getting started? Believing that you can do this. 

The key to getting started? Organization. 

How to Organize Your Homeschool

• Home

Organizing your home is important, especially if you're a brand new homeschooler. Life with kids at home 24/7 is significantly different than having them enrolled in public or private school 5 days a week. 

Meal planning and chore charts are extremely helpful for many homeschool families. Assigning specific chores to children throughout the day/week helps alleviate some pressure from parents. Meal planning can make grocery shopping and sticking to a budget easier. 

Your home includes everyone in the family, so it is important to include all family members in the running of the home. Finding organized ways to keep everyone from being overwhelmed and on track is essential. 

1. By room
2. By cleaning day
3. By assignment
4. By week/month

• Curriculum

Choosing curriculum can be a lot of fun, but it can be quite a task due to the array of choices available. Determining exactly what you're looking for in a curriculum before tackling the research will help you immensely. 

Finding a curriculum that includes everything you'll need for the entire school year is great for those just getting started. An all-in-one curriculum like Homeschool Complete provides all the lesson plans, material and book lists and resources you'll need inside one package! 

There are many different ways to organize your homeschool curriculum once purchased. Discovering which one is right for you is dependent on how many students you're homeschooling, how often you'll be writing lesson plans and your homeschool routine.  

1. By grade level
2. By subject
3. By child
4. By day

• Routine

Creating a routine is important to your family, home and your homeschool. It shouldn't be a stringent schedule, but rather a daily plan to help you stay on track with everything.

A homeschool family's routine will look significantly different than others. Often it includes both schoolwork and housekeeping tasks since everyone is at home all day long, every day. 

Whether you thrive on a daily to-do list, an hourly layout or a task list for each family member doesn't matter. Design a routine that works best for your family and be flexible as each day is sure to bring a bit of the unexpected. 

1. By hour
2. By the day of the week
3. By task
4. By family member

• Supplies

Organizing all of your homeschool supplies is key. They can easily take over your home if you don't have specific places for them. 

Bookshelves are a must. Desks work for some students, but the kitchen table or bed is the choice of most homeschoolers. Totes are perfect for organizing each student's curriculum separately.

Once you've determined what tools you will use to organize your homeschool supplies, you then can figure out how you want them organized. Consider asking your children how they would like them organized and give them the opportunity to be responsible for their own supplies. 

1. By child
2. By subject
3. By day 
4. By type

Making your organization plans now will save you time throughout the entire homeschool year. While these may seem like extra steps that you don't have time to take right now, they will pay off over and over again. 

Have an organization method or step that can help another homeschool mom? Please share it in the comments!