Aug 14, 2012

Getting Organized for Homeschool



Getting organized for our upcoming school year is important to me. I want a good start for our homeschool experience. Today I am going to share the ways that I am preparing to be an organized homeschooling mom.



Record Keeping

I purchased a simple (but cute) notebook to begin taking daily notes of Sean's preschool activities. I plan to write down a simple log of the daily worksheets he accomplishes, notes on how well he did or what areas he may need more practice, weekly craft projects, books we read (our own or from the library), and how much time we spend on organized school activities/reading/field trips each day.

In the state of Missouri, it is law that a homeschool keep records of the "subjects taught and activities engaged in" as well as keeping track of the required number of hours of instruction (1,000 during the school year).

Granted, these records are only required for ages 6-16 but I am interested in getting myself in the habit of daily record keeping. I also am interested in these daily notes for any help they may provide when I teach preschool to my other two children in the following years.



Display Board

I recently purchased and mounted a small cork board for school use right next to our kitchen table - where we will do the majority of our school work. I plan to display worksheets, colored pictures, and other art work here. The cork board will also be useful for displaying important notes or notices that are school related. I did take the time to add a simple border for decoration.



"Homemaking Binder"

I titled mine as my "Home Management Binder." It is not specifically for homeschool but it is an organizational tool that contains information, lists, motivational material, and schedules to make managing my home and household a more smooth-sailing task. I would like to share my personal binder contents in a more detailed post so today I will stick to just how this relates to homeschool organization. I have a calendar printable included that proudly displays our "First day of school" on August 27th. I have also included a sheet which I created myself (its not very exciting) which I title "Weekly Homeschooling Planner." Underneath are the days, Monday through Friday, and enough space to write down my plan for each day that week. So, at a glance, I will be able to set out to accomplish my daily school goals and prepare for the following day as well.

"If you fail to plan you are planning to fail."
~ Benjamin Franklin

♥Shari


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7 comments:

  1. Sounds like you're getting your home schooling years off to a fantastic start!

    We've been doing this for 20 years and I'm still learning and adjusting how we organize. My posts on this topic are here: http://startwellhomeschool.blogspot.com/search/label/Organization

    Blessings,
    Virginia

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    1. Thanks for sharing your post! I really liked your list of how your order should look. This is so true, "An ounce of prevention is worth of pound of cure."

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  2. I am really interested in reading how everyone prepares and does homeschooling. Can't wait to see your homemaking binder either. I haven't really figured out a system that works yet.

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  3. Shari,
    After 17 years of homeschooling, I tried many different organizational approaches. You've got some good ideas already. One of the simplest tricks was that I had a milk crate box for each of my daughters. This may be more helpful as your children get older. In it I placed their school books, reading books, magic markers and other stuff. The rule was that they were return each book to the box before taking the next one out. It helped end the searching throughout the house for that missing math book. Also, if we ever had to pack up our homeschool and take it with us, it was all there in the box, and the kids could work from their boxes while we were on the road. And yes, Mom had her own box where I kept MY notebook, the current read aloud book, etc. I'm dropping by from Be Not Weary, and glad I did.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Lori! And, thanks for the tips. Right now I have a cupboard that has a shelf devoted to our homeschool books and supplies. However, as you pointed out, once more children are in school I will need a better system. I like the idea of the boxes for each child (and Mom too!). Thanks!

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  4. I've been trying to plan our new school year and this is a great help to me. Thanks!

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    1. I'm glad I could help! I hope your planning has been as enjoyable as mine has!

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