Organizing Your Way

Posted by Patty | 0 comments

There are so many wonderful organization tools available today that it is really hard to pick one method that suits your every need. This has become especially true when it comes to Homeschooling. Not only does every family need their own way of doing things but often times, every child needs their own unique twist as well. The trick isn’t finding the perfect fit in one tool, it’s creating your own unique way of doing things. Changing existing tools to fit your needs, or finding new ones to fit the situation.

My first year of homeschooling taught me that I was in desperate need of some organization. I needed something to keep my children’s books corralled and keep us on track. I did some research and found a method called LOOPING. The Basic plan was that you start with one subject and you work until “quitting time” and then the next day you pick up right where you leave off. This is simplistically put as there is more to it than just going through each subject once. Your loop is personally made for each child, depending on how fast they work and what grade they are in. The main concept was to “HIT” all the subjects without starting over with the same one over and over, as Looping doesn’t have an end–just a next subject.

For example, you start with math, reading and english, but then you need to take your youngest to a doctor’s appt. and need to drop everything (or “Sammy” decided to take an hour on copywork and 2 on math) and your school day comes to an end. With Looping you don’t then pick up at math the first subject the next day. You would start on the next item on the loop–such as that science project, or the art project that has been on the list for the past month. Looping is a great way of ensuring that you hit every subject on a regular basis. I personally loved the concept. And me being me, I created my little charts in Microsoft Word and slapped them on the wall for me to see. Each child had one, and we had one for the subjects we worked on together.

This did help, but I soon found out that it only partially solved my problem. I was still having the issue of having the kids hunt and find their next subject. As all our books were in one cupboard an astronomical amount of time was being wasted in hunting down this subject’s reading material, or that elusive notebook. So I created little lockers for the kids to keep their things in. The lockers were made by purchasing some “pre-made” kitchen cabinets with a laminate countertop. It was a great storage area that gave each child a cupboard for their books and a drawer for their own “special” pencils. It also gave each child a place to make uniquely theirs. We let them decorate their “lockers” with stickers and painted their names on the door. They really did love their lockers.

Again this did help, BUT I again found that each child was wasting time waiting for mom to tell them what to do. The Looping was still going, but I didn’t have everything laid out for them and so it wasn’t a smooth transition from one subject to the next. And so I made sure that I created assignment sheets. This was a huge help. We were soon on autopilot.

And then life happened. We moved. The “lockers”, as wonderful as they were, just would not fit on the “truck.” There was no way to get them from Illinois to Idaho. And I found myself almost to square one again.

During the move I heard about a new organizational tool. Workboxes. There is a huge organizational movement going on in the homeschool community. Every where I looked blogs were having such raving reviews over this tool. And I must admit that the lure of promised organization did pull me in to have a Look-See. Sue Patrick has come up with a great plan to keep every thing organized and on track. But I was very put off with her constant reminder that you had to do it her way or it wouldn’t work. I didn’t believe that for one moment. Nothing should ever be so strictly enforced with no room for adjustment.

I came up with my own version that worked well with my space limits, my own personality, and MY 4 KIDS! I knew that her method of plastic shoe-boxes were going to be from one end of my house to another–that would have been 48 shoe-boxes to be tripping over!! So a drawer system for each child was a much better fit for me. I have read on many blogs where other’s have utilized manila envelopes and a large plastic container that took up even less space.

So with my new organization tool in hand I created our study area. Subjects were now corralled, but my assignment sheet was now out of order from my drawers! After thinking it through I decided it was easy enough to work with. Since I am using Homeschool Tracker for my record keeping I simply cut the assignment slip for each subject apart and add it to the drawer.

But what about the Looping??? Well I still use that, but it’s been adjusted. The workboxes actually make it easier to keep track. I have numbers on each drawer with a piece of velcro on the back. The kids move the number back and forth from the drawer to their task cards. When mom says it’s time to stop, they finish up what they are working on and they leave things as is. The next day, they start with the next number. and then start back over at number 1 when they reach the end.

As we go the tools that I use need adjusting and tweaking. What works for one child doesn’t always work for another. And so I have learned to just adjust as we go. You can do this in your own homeschool as well. You can find that one tool to solve one problem and another tool to solve something else. You can tweak what you already have to make your day run smoother.

Here are a couple of tips:

1. Don’t feel you have to follow the “creator’s” rules 100%. Sue Patrick’s design is wonderful, but her rule of don’t change anything is really unrealistic. Her plan worked for her family–but it may flop for yours. Take their ideas and run with it. Make them work for you.

2. Adjust as needed. The looping is under constant change. Every time I adjust the workboxes it brings a change to the loop. I have since thrown out the chart and just taken things one step at a time. The need to change the way I used the assignment sheet could have really caused a major upheaval to our day. By just cutting them apart saved the kids from confusion and me the need to repeat the request to ignore the order on the sheet. Change is good!! Don’t be afraid to adjust your own plans as life throws you curve balls.

3. There is no right way. Make this YOUR way. Even if you and your best friend use the same products, the same organization tool, the same everything–your family will find a different way to use it than your friend’s family will. Your personalities and needs will dictate the difference. Don’t be alarmed when this happens. Embrace the difference. This is not a case of needing to “Keep up with the Jones’ Family”

4. Simple google/bing searches for “organization homeschool” will bring up many ideas to put you on the right track!

So go take a look at what you are using right now. Is it working for you? Are you tripping before So go take a look at what you are using right now. Is it working for you? Are you tripping before the finish line? Does your plan need a bit of tweaking? If so, find a way to streamline it or change it and make it work!

Patty Thompson is a homeschooling mom to 4 kids and wife to her high school sweetheart. She has been homeschooling for 4 years and loving every minute of it. Future plans include Homeschooling through high school. Her kids range from Kindergarten through 8th grade. Her style is very eclectic and believes in going with what works! She is rarely seen without a book in her hand. She loves to plan lessons and unit studies. She has started working with a co-op group and has enjoyed teaching group classes. Her hobbies include Genealogy and card making. She has often been found lost in thought on her blog. Catch her there and take a moment to feed their school mascot, Shiver, at Shiver Academy.