The Perfect Homeschool Organizer

The Perfect Homeschool Organizer

The Homeschool Organization System that Stays Organized - and is Portable, Too!

Please tell me that I'm not the only homeschooler out there who is like this:

1. Not naturally tidy.
2. Teaches from the same table where family dinners are eaten.
3. Has been known to slide messy school materials to one end of the table at the end of the day so that dinner can be eaten.

I can't be the only one!

I've tried a couple of organizing methods that haven't worked very well:

1.  The School Cabinet or shelves a few feet away, where the days materials can be pulled out, then put away at then end of the day. They're beautiful at the beginning of the year. I love the pics posted by those picture-perfect homeschoolers. And, they work great for those folks who naturally put everything away when they're done with it. For us less-tidy folks, this method meant that things seldom got put away, and when they did, they were usually shoved randomly onto increasing untidy shelves. Because, if you're a not-so-tidy person, you need to be able to put things away right where you naturally drop them! (Learn more on this concept from The House that Cleans Itself)

2. The dump-it-all-in-a-box-and-hide-the-box-when-people-come-visit method. It didn't take long until I couldn't find anything in the box, important lessons got filtered to the bottom and forgotten, and I even forgot to hide the box when people came!

Well, rather serendipitously, I found the solution to my problem recently when I was thrifting.  It was $2.99, used : )

View from the top, with zippered compartment open: big & small books, DVD cases, Manipulatives, Pens, etc all fit!

It's stunningly simple, and works great!

There's a place for everything, big books, small books, pens, pencils, crayons, CDs, DVDs, manipulatives, etc. (I use cups for pencils and such, as the sections are not sewn at the bottom in my brand). Because it has well-organized compartments, the crayons get put in the right place - where they can easily be found. And the books get put in their nice spot. I'm pretty sure I could find what I need blindfolded on any given day!

I carry it to the dining table at the beginning of the day, and pull out each item as I need it - then the organizer is right there - so it's very easy to put everything away, right where it goes. Right where I would naturally drop it if it weren't there! If we need to take school on the road for some reason, all we have to do is carry the organizer to the car. It holds everything we need for a day's work, and since everything is visible and has its own spot, there's no danger of losing important things at the bottom of the box.  At the end of the school day, it gets put back on the other side of the room. We still have a "school cabinet" to store items not currently in use, but our everyday items are all tidily in one place.

It's a Car Office Organizer (note: that's not an affiliate link - just a link). These are often used by folks like visiting nurses or traveling salesmen (mine had been previously owned by a nurse - I could tell by the medical company logo embossed on the front). I bought a "Case Logic" model, but many other models are out there that also look good. Even though I bought my organizer cheap, I like it so much that I think I'd be willing to pay full price to replace it.

This is being shared on
The Art of Homemaking Mondays 
Trivium Tuesdays
Mom's Library
Literacy Musings Mondays