Day 4: Reduce the Clutter

It's time for my favourite part of simplifying: purging!!!!!  To me, this part is therapeutic.  It is so much easier to concentrate when the room isn't cluttered.  Our days go more smoothly when we aren't drowning in toys.

Homeschooling often comes with a lot of stuff.  Math manipulatives, books, art projects, science experiments.  It's easy to let it get over run.  But in order to really simplify our homeschool, we need to get control over the things.

It's time to tackle the bookshelves and tame the art cupboard.  Clean out the desk drawers and organize the closets.  It's time to get rid of all that stuff you've been trying to work around this year.

There are three major areas that I think most homeschoolers will need to tackle: projects, books and arts and craft supplies.

Projects
You know all of those pictures and paintings the kids made that you don't want to throw out?  So instead they're just filling up drawers or cluttering up desks?  It's time to go through them.  Let's be realistic here.  You can't keep every little thing that your kids make.  You need to find a system for deciding what you're going to keep and what will go.  Then you need to find a way to store the things you are keeping.

I have a magazine box for art projects.  At the end of every month, I choose one art project or drawing per month per child and  I file them away in their binder for the year.  If they make a particularly large project or something that doesn't go in a binder (like a salt dough map of Africa, for example), I take a picture of the kids holding it and that goes in their binder instead.  Now I've got an organized binder that shows the highlights of their work for the year.  The nice thing about keeping one for each month is that you can really see how their skills progress throughout the year.  And the kids love looking through their binders.  They don't miss the stuff that's gone.  Trust me!

Books
I love books and I do not mind having a bunch of them.  We love to read and I like having a big bookshelf full of books to choose from.  I do not, however, love having to pick up all 1100 books everytime the toddler decides to clean them off the shelf.  Finding a way to organize your books will make life a lot easier. If you've got a lot of books, maybe it would be helpful to clean up and clean out.  Your days will be a lot simpler if you're not having to dig through a giant pile every time you need to find a book.

Start by going through your books.  If there are books that are really damaged, consider getting rid of them.  We've got quite a few that were chewed on and coloured in.  Not to mention the ones with the covers ripped off.  Have I mentioned that my youngest is a lot like a tornado?  Adorable but totally destructive.

I would also consider getting rid of books that you didn't enjoy or that you won't read again.  There's no use taking up space.

After you've whittled down your collection to those you want to keep, find a way of sorting them.  I like to separate mine by age group.  Board books for babies, picture books, early readers, family read alouds and books for mom and dad.

Now put them back on the shelf.  You might want to consider placement if you've got a baby or toddler in the house.  I like to keep everything but board books on a higher shelf, out of reach of those sharp, paper hungry baby teeth.  When we move, I would like to colour code the books with stickers on the spine so that the kids know where to put them back on the shelf (my husband rolled his eyes when I told him this...maybe my type A is showing again?).  If you can get the family on board with keeping things organized, life will be even easier.

Arts and Craft Supplies
We love arts and crafts.  So much so that I have developed a bit of a craft supply addiction.  I love picking up new pom poms and stickers.  We probably have enough water colour paints to paint an entire house.  This is not a good thing.  How is anyone supposed to find what they're looking for in all that stuff?  Kids get so easily overwhelmed that when there are too many options, they'll often give up before they even start.

It's time to clean out the art cupboard.  Throw away tiny pieces of scrap paper that somehow never make it to the garbage bin.  Combine half empty bottles of paint and glue.  Sort those little embellishments into containers instead of letting them roam free in the bottom of a box.

I like to sort my art supplies into labelled boxes.  We've got a box for paint supplies, one for cut and paste, one for stickers and small paper supplies and one for beeswax and playdough, etc.  When the kids want to do a craft, they can just grab the box they want.  When they're done, everything goes back i the box and the box goes back on its shelf. It makes it easier for them to find what they need and easier for them to clean up when they're done. I even hang their aprons right next to the art cupboard so that everything they need is right there.

I really believe that we function better in a clutter free space.  If you take the time to clear out the extra stuff that's kicking around your school space, I bet you'll notice a change in the tone of your days. 


To read the rest of the Simplifying Your Homeschool posts, click the image below. 

 

 

5 Days of Simplifying Your Homeschool

As mothers, we all want what's best for our children. We want to give them the best education, the most experiences and the coolest opportunities.  This, of course, is wonderful but it also means that we have a tendency to over complicate things. When you're a homeschooler, there's a whole lot more things for you to complicate.  And let me tell you...no one benefits from over complicated. 

Sometimes it's hard to step back and see exactly how we're making things harder but when we're in the moment, up to our eyeballs in laundry, sleep deprived and trying to teach a math lesson in the car on the way to tai kwon do...well... we start to realize that something needs to change. 

I'm here to tell you that you can simplify your homeschool.  It doesn't have to be chaotic and stressful and messy (well...not all the time anyway).  I am the queen of over complication so I know exactly what its like when things get crazy.  But I also know the peace that comes with simpler days.  I want everyone to know what that feels like. 

For the rest of this week, I will be discussing 5 simple steps that you can take to simplify your homeschool.  Hopefully by the end of the week, things will be a little simpler and a little easier.

Day 1:The Importance of Rhythm

Day 2: Simplify Your Homeschool by Setting Goals

Day 3: Re-evaluate What's Working and What Isn't

Day 4: Reduce the Clutter
Day 5: Schedule in Some Fun!

Click the image below to see the 5 Day Series that the bloggers of iHomeschool Network have written.  You'll be glad you did!

Our Weekly Routine (Free Printable)

My mother is the most organized person I know.  Everything has its own labelled basket or shelf.  She doesn't own a box of tangled computer cords or have a junk drawer that will explode if opened.

I did not inherit this gift (or my dad's public speaking skills).  I got thin hair instead.  Thanks guys! ;)

And so, since this does not come naturally to me, I have to work to keep things running smoothly in our house.

I recently shared my School Day and Class Schedule Printables.   I'd like to share a printable for weekly routines as well.

On this sheet, I keep track of cleaning to do's and weekly commitments that we have outside of the home.

You'll see that there's a spot for cleaning zones.  I do not like cleaning.  And with four children under 8, it seems kind of pointless anyway.  However, Ryan doesn't like having to shovel a path to the bed so I try to stay somewhat on top of things!  I find breaking things into small and manageable chunks makes it all seem less overwhelming.  Each day I do a quick fifteen minutes in the morning and again after the kids are in bed.  Then I do a longer "zone clean" during our chore time.  This just means that I spend about 30 minutes cleaning that particular day's zone. The kids each choose one or two chore sticks from our chore jar to help out with the zone cleaning.

If you would like your own Weekly Cleaning Printable, just click on the link below!

***Terms of  Use: Before you download the pages, please agree that you will not share these files directly via social media, email, blog posts, etc. If you would like to share them (and I hope you will!) please link directly to this post with this link address:

http://whenwereathome.blogspot.ca/2014/08/our-school-day-routine-and-class.html

Please do not sell or change these files in any way. 

Thank you!***

Weekly Routine Printable

Our School Day Routine and Class Schedule {and my first free printables!}

I am flakey. I have a hard time sticking to anything for more than 10 seconds and before I had kids (and for a long while afterwards), I was extremely disorganized.  It sounds like I'm the perfect candidate to home school, right?

I freely admit that I have to work very hard to have things run smoothly in our home (and often times, that still doesn't happen).  I like to have a schedule written out and posted where I can see it.  It's nice to check in as our day progresses to ensure that we're on the right track.  

My schedule is an ideal and at least 80% of our days don't look exactly like that.  I'm far to distractable to stay that regimented and truthfully, if you put too much emphasis on your schedule, I think it can end up being a bad thing.  It should be more of a guideline.  Make sure you leave room for unexpected play dates, to follow your child's sudden burning desire to learn about llamas and to clean up the huge bag of rice that your toddler is now making snow angels in.  

To me, one of the best things about home schooling is that you can make unexpected changes to your day with no major issues.

While there are times written down, I almost never follow them exactly.  I don't wear a watch and certainly don't check the time all that often.   If I am within an hour of the time written down, I consider that a success!

With all that said, here is what our ideal day will look like once school has started.  Except there should probably be 10 minutes after breakfast spent looking for a very specific pair of socks that my three year old absolutely must wear.  And 15 minutes before quiet time will likely be spent trying to get the baby to sleep.  Oh, and there are definitely 5 minutes in there somewhere that I hide in the bathroom and eat chocolate.  

I also like to have a class schedule posted so that I know exactly which subjects we will do on each day.  I colour code them so I can read it quickly and easily.  On my schedule, blue is a subject that everyone participates in; pink is just B; green is just W. 

These two sheets of paper have been a huge help in getting our home school days running smoothly.  If you would like to print these out and use them (they're blank so you can fill them out with your own information), please click the links below! 

***Terms of  Use: Before you download the pages, please agree that you will not share these files directly via social media, email, blog posts, etc. If you would like to share them (and I hope you will!) please link directly to this post with this link address:

http://whenwereathome.blogspot.ca/2014/08/our-school-day-routine-and-class.html

Please do not sell or change these files in any way. 

Thank you!***

Class Schedule Printable

Daily Routine Printable

This is my first time offering printables so go easy on me!  I'm usually more of a "make it for myself and hide it away when people come over so no one sees my sub-par photoshop skills" kind of girl.  I've been practising though and I think these ones looks pretty sweet!  What do you think?

Linking up with WFMW, Homeschool Freebie Friday and the Not Back to School Blog Hop.

You can also check out our Not Back to School Photos, our Old School Room Tour (we've just moved this weekend so a new one will be posted if I ever get everything unpacked!), and our Curriculum Choices for this year.