Homeschool Organization--Papers, papers, everywhere!

Post #3 on homeschooling... again, if you don't homeschool, you can just skip this one!

One of the biggest, best things I've ever done is find a system for organizing all our papers and worksheets. I love workbooks, and my kids learn well that way... but it means a lot of papers everywhere. An area I tend to lack in is checking up on my kids' completed work, making sure they're learning what I'm teaching, and this system takes care of that too.

Our first day of school last summer, in our freshly painted brand new school room. The white board has since retired as I started using a small one that fits better in our space. Yes, it's in need of more finishing touches, still, but I love how bright and cheerful and happy it is.

The backbone of my system is two simple little organizers. The first is this hanging file box, just the right size to store the kids' books on top of organizing their work for the week. It comes with 5 hanging files, and I label them Monday-Friday. Every Friday I put the pages into those files the child needs to do on their respective days, to prepare for the next week. If we have to run somewhere, they can grab their pages, attach them to a clipboard, and school is ready to go. They can get up early and work on their school, because they know exactly what to do. (I have one amazing child who actually does this!) Once their papers are completed, they're done for the day. I can customize for our schedule week to week. It's pretty sweet.

The other organizer is this letter/paper organizer. I buy one set for each child. One tray per child is on my desk, and the other two are on a high shelf. Once the child finishes a page, they put it in their tray on my desk. At the end of the day, I go through their papers and check them. Anything that still needs work goes back into their folder for the next day. Anything they are done with goes into the organizer on the shelf, one for tests, special projects, and art work, one for regular pages.

The stacking organizer on my desk for completed work that I need to check.

Where I put the completed pages, one tray for regular pages and the one beneath for tests and other special things.

It seems like a pretty simple system, but it's working amazingly for us. I have an easy way to make sure I'm checking all their work, and the papers always have a place to go. It takes me about 5 minutes per child to get their work ready for the next week, and then I don't have to fuss about anything again and I'm always prepared. No moments of panic when we're all together for class and I suddenly realize I forgot to copy the history page!

And since we're here, I might as well mention that I have a closet of shelves where extra books, paper, and art supplies are stored. The kids each have a pencil box where they keep their very own tools such as colored pencils, crayons, scissors, etc. I have a couple small trays where I keep things handy like extra lead, glue sticks, the timer, and stickers. Under my section of desk are shelves where I keep teacher's manuals, answer keys, and the textbooks for our shared subjects. I also keep an adult coloring book and my bag with my cross stitching project inside under there for any quiet moments. I simply love our school room, and the way we have it set up... for now, anyway! Once Jaron starts higher level classes and isn't quite so involved in our group classes we'll be needing to figure out another system. But that's another year or two away yet, so we'll be happy with what we have for now.

Homeschool post #1: http://lifeonhegehill.blogspot.com/2018/07/homeschool-organization-planner.html
Homeschool post #2: http://lifeonhegehill.blogspot.com/2018/08/homeschool-organization-big-dreams.html