Storing Homeschool Supplies
Keep all homeschool supplies in one area when possible. Many families devote a hall closet or linen closet to their homeschool materials. One shelf holds textbooks, another holds workbooks or folders of worksheets, another holds microscopes and chemistry sets, another holds arts and crafts supplies, and the floor holds boxes containing idea files, portfolios, binders, and other important homeschool documents.
Cardboard boxes can be used for storing binders or books flat or to accommodate hanging file folders. Storage boxes with lids, drawers, or string-and-button closure systems are available in office supply stores. These usually provide adequate labeling space for noting the contents and the date.
Store portfolios and projects from past homeschool years by sealing them in plastic containers and labeling with your child's name and school year. Keep them in a well-protected area of the attic or basement, or on the upper shelves of a bedroom closet.
Declutter Your Domain
If there are certain areas in the home where things tend to pile up — for instance, on the dining room table, a side table, or a section of the snack counter — consider ways to declutter those areas. Clear out the bottom of a dining room hutch or kitchen cabinet to hold books or notebooks often left on the dining room table. These cabinets are normally located near the dining room and only require a few steps to transport the clutter from the table to the cabinet.
Organizing Baskets and Bins
For items that stack up on a side table, use an attractive wicker basket that can easily slide under the table, leaving the tabletop clutter-free. If your snack counter bears the brunt of a clutter attack, create areas where family members can tuck things away. A spice rack with drawers can hold rubber bands, paperclips, staples, pushpins, map tacks, and erasers. A letter holder mounted on the inside of a pantry door can contain a pocket calendar, notepaper, pens and pencils, a box of crayons, or a roll of tape. Plastic vertical files (such as those seen on the doors in doctor offices), mounted on the inside of a hall closet door, can hold current lesson plans, file folders, worksheets, or other paper supplies.
Clear plastic bins are excellent for storing anything from library books to workbooks, paint supplies, or math manipulatives. You can easily see through the bin and determine what it contains, further reducing the time spent looking for things. Plastic storage bags with zip-style tops are convenient for storing puzzles and puzzle pieces, games and game pieces, magnets and magnetic wands, packs of flash cards, art supplies, and more. They come in different sizes to accommodate a variety of items.
Set up a color-coding system and label plastic storage containers and zip-top bags with colored markers for quick recognition. Math manipulatives could be labeled with a red marker, language arts games with blue, science accessories with green, and so on. Use masking tape as labels. It's easy to remove and replace when changing the contents of a container.
A Central Station
A desk or a table with drawers makes a convenient central station for homeschool supplies. Perhaps you have a family computer that can be set up on the table or desk. Place plastic organizers in the desk drawers to hold paper, pens, markers, crayons, paperclips, staplers, scissors, paste, glue sticks, rolls of tape, construction paper, index cards, and other supplies. Keep a spiral-bound notebook in a drawer by the family computer to jot down ideas or websites that you may want to revisit, or to note phone numbers of homeschool supply companies that you may want to call.
Place stackable letter trays on your desk or table to accommodate worksheets and assignments. One tray could be for daily assignments that need your attention or grading. One tray could be for artwork or miscellaneous projects the children have completed. Another tray could hold worksheets or project ideas for children to select and do on their own. More trays can be added as needed.
Storing Magazines and Catalogs
It won't be long before you begin receiving numerous homeschool supply catalogs, flyers, newsletters, and magazines in the mail. Dedicate a box or bottom of a file cabinet or closet to your supply catalogs. You never know when you might want to browse through them — either to order something or to spark fresh educational ideas. As new catalogs arrive to replace the old, remember to toss the out-of-date ones. Store current catalogs and magazines in a bookcase or in cardboard magazine files for quick access.
You'll probably want to keep your homeschool magazines for a while. Most include an index near the end of the year, so that you can easily locate helpful articles that appeared in previous issues.
