This could be a long list, because I love organizing things! But for your sake, reader, I will keep it to things that pertain to my homeschool mom life.
First - Google Drive. I love Google Drive. This is where I keep all the girls' quarterly reports and IHIPs. I keep our chore charts here, for easy printing and access from any where. When I download a free printable, I will usually drop it into my Drive rather than storing it on my computer. That way, if my computer ever has issues I don't lose any of these important documents! For the house, everything from photos that are really important to me to our tax returns get dropped into Drive. I have folders for everything (Homeschool, Household, Church, Work, etc.) to keep things neat. Once every few weeks, I just go through my Drive and make sure all my files are in a folder. Super easy and super organized!
Second - my planner system. I know this probably isn't for everyone, but I keep my daily planner (for work, church, and extracurriculars) separate from our lesson plans. For lesson planning, I use my free weekly docket. I keep all of my teacher dockets in a three ring binder. It makes it really easy when it's time to file our quarterly reports, to have everything in one place. The girls are using their weekly dockets and we all really like this system (more on this below!). For my daily planner, I'm using the momAgenda desktop planner. My two favorite features are the separate space for the girls' activities and the two ribbon place holders. I can have one in the month at a glance and one in my current week. It's simple and very well put together. Everything besides curriculum plans goes in here and it easily fits in my purse.
Third - The girls' weekly dockets and extra fine dry erase markers. I have the girls dockets laminated and on clipboards. The extra fine markers are perfect for writing in their assignments. I love how easily the markers wipe off the laminated dockets. It makes me want to laminate everything. Each of the girls can either take their clipboards with them or leave them hanging on the bookshelves, but it gives them some control over their work. For the most part, I don't really mind if the older girls decide to do all their history on one day, then all their science on another. With their assignments organized, they can decide as long as all their assignments gets done.
Fourth - Bookshelves, totes, and baskets. They're not always clean but it gives us a place to put all the schoolbooks away at the end of the day/week. Even when our bookshelves were just rickety metal shelves, they were crucial in keeping us organized. I need to have a place to put away school, or I feel unorganized and that makes me cranky. Never a good thing!
To keep things a little neater, I have the easy readers and board books (that we're sadly outgrowing quickly!) in a basket and crate on the floor. The younger girls don't have to climb onto anything to get their books and they can easily put them away. Along with our main bookshelves, I have a small shelf in my room with one of these Thirty-One Fold 'n' File totes. It's where I try to keep all of the paperwork for the current year - tax stuff, large purchase receipts and instruction manuals, special keepsakes, etc. Then it can get sorted, filed, or tossed at the end of the year. And baskets? I have baskets everywhere. I have a basket for magazines or catalogs I want to look at in the living room. A basket for books that I'm reading and computer chargers in my room. A basket by the front door to collect odds and ends. A set of Thirty-One oh snap! bins for pencils, crayons, and miscellaneous school stuff on the bookshelves. I try to at least have a place for everything, even if inside the basket is a mess! At least the mess is all in one spot then!
What am I missing? Is there some awesome organizational tool that I need? Tell me all about it!
My Favorite Things
First - Google Drive. I love Google Drive. This is where I keep all the girls' quarterly reports and IHIPs. I keep our chore charts here, for easy printing and access from any where. When I download a free printable, I will usually drop it into my Drive rather than storing it on my computer. That way, if my computer ever has issues I don't lose any of these important documents! For the house, everything from photos that are really important to me to our tax returns get dropped into Drive. I have folders for everything (Homeschool, Household, Church, Work, etc.) to keep things neat. Once every few weeks, I just go through my Drive and make sure all my files are in a folder. Super easy and super organized!
Second - my planner system. I know this probably isn't for everyone, but I keep my daily planner (for work, church, and extracurriculars) separate from our lesson plans. For lesson planning, I use my free weekly docket. I keep all of my teacher dockets in a three ring binder. It makes it really easy when it's time to file our quarterly reports, to have everything in one place. The girls are using their weekly dockets and we all really like this system (more on this below!). For my daily planner, I'm using the momAgenda desktop planner. My two favorite features are the separate space for the girls' activities and the two ribbon place holders. I can have one in the month at a glance and one in my current week. It's simple and very well put together. Everything besides curriculum plans goes in here and it easily fits in my purse.
The Practical Side
Third - The girls' weekly dockets and extra fine dry erase markers. I have the girls dockets laminated and on clipboards. The extra fine markers are perfect for writing in their assignments. I love how easily the markers wipe off the laminated dockets. It makes me want to laminate everything. Each of the girls can either take their clipboards with them or leave them hanging on the bookshelves, but it gives them some control over their work. For the most part, I don't really mind if the older girls decide to do all their history on one day, then all their science on another. With their assignments organized, they can decide as long as all their assignments gets done.
Fourth - Bookshelves, totes, and baskets. They're not always clean but it gives us a place to put all the schoolbooks away at the end of the day/week. Even when our bookshelves were just rickety metal shelves, they were crucial in keeping us organized. I need to have a place to put away school, or I feel unorganized and that makes me cranky. Never a good thing!
Organization Around The House
To keep things a little neater, I have the easy readers and board books (that we're sadly outgrowing quickly!) in a basket and crate on the floor. The younger girls don't have to climb onto anything to get their books and they can easily put them away. Along with our main bookshelves, I have a small shelf in my room with one of these Thirty-One Fold 'n' File totes. It's where I try to keep all of the paperwork for the current year - tax stuff, large purchase receipts and instruction manuals, special keepsakes, etc. Then it can get sorted, filed, or tossed at the end of the year. And baskets? I have baskets everywhere. I have a basket for magazines or catalogs I want to look at in the living room. A basket for books that I'm reading and computer chargers in my room. A basket by the front door to collect odds and ends. A set of Thirty-One oh snap! bins for pencils, crayons, and miscellaneous school stuff on the bookshelves. I try to at least have a place for everything, even if inside the basket is a mess! At least the mess is all in one spot then!
What am I missing? Is there some awesome organizational tool that I need? Tell me all about it!
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