Crates for Containing Chaos
When we started homeschooling years ago, each student was assigned a part of a bookshelf and a small bin for their supplies. No matter what I did, that way of organizing did not work. Things would get messy very quickly, workbooks were routinely lost, and piles of papers in our schoolroom/dining room were a regular fixture. We needed a different way of operating.
The answer was individual crates.
Each homeschooling child has a crate to keep their books, notebooks, workbooks, and supplies together. We have been doing this for years. This system works for different personalities.
Some children will keep their crate neat throughout the year. They love this system since their messier sibling’s stuff is away from their own. Orderliness makes them happy. These are also the kids that make up their bed military style, daily, without prompting. They do exist. This kind of child asks to reorganize the pantry. For fun. Enjoy this student.
Then you have the student who starts off with a semblance of organization at the beginning of the school year. However, as time progresses, papers intended to reside in a folder or binder go AWOL in the crate and books are tossed in like pennies in a fountain. This kind of child would benefit from a quarterly clean-up to get them back on track. Sometimes they morph into a student who keeps their supplies neat most of the time.
The last category of student is the one in which the crate system allows you to retain your sanity. Their stuff in their designated space always looks like the aftermath of a tornado. Always. You can have them organize it monthly, even weekly, to help show them how to keep things in order, but don’t lose sleep over this. Just know within a day, it will look like they never touched it. If they can find the notebook or math book you need them to retrieve for that hour’s lesson, then it works.
We keep our crates on a large shelf at the bottom of the basement stairs. At the end of the school day, all books and work return to the crates. This system reduces the piles of papers and notebooks in the living area and diminishes the frequency of lost books. If you have a designated homeschooling room, you could have a bookshelf for the same purpose.
I also use a few crates for easy access to supplies. If the children need more index cards, pens, printer paper for the computer, or a replacement glue stick, they know where to find the item. The photo shows our crates. The five colorful ones are the children’s and the black and gray are for supplies.
I hope this helps. Please share this information to anyone homeschooling, thinking of homeschooling, or looking for organizing tips for their kids. Thank you.
Have a lovely day!