Organization Tips

In our house we have three little ones.  Oliver(4) has just started officially doing school!  We decided to make our kids fourth birthdays a big transition year in our house.  Oliver is now expected to complete daily jobs on a job chart, and is expected to complete school each day with me!  We spent a lot of time preparing the chart and talking about school, so when Oliver's fourth birthday came he was more than excited to start his "big guy" routines.  

In this particular post I would like to share some of the ways I have organized our learning activities in the home.  We have plans to build a schoolroom in the future, but that could be several years from now.  I taught in the public schools for several years before I decided to stay home with our first child and in that time was able to gain some very useful knowledge for organizing a classroom. Currently, I am making the best use of the space we have and have found some great ways to organize and consolidate a lot of learning materials for both Oliver and my toddler Ellie(3)!

Several years ago when Oliver was just a baby I began collecting fun learning tools from rummage sales, good will, friends, and dollar stores.  With the help of other mom blogs I was able to start putting together some really simple learning activities that could be used with my toddlers.  I collected things like puzzles, board games for toddlers, flashcards, little blocks and manipulative s (colored blocks, colored popsicle sticks, pom poms, pretend money...and more) and great learning books that I found at dollar store.

This is a shelf I picked up at Good Will for 5 dollars and it has been a great spot to store baskets with all of my learning tools and activity guide books.  The three drawer organizer also holds different kinds of manipulatives, such as the ones listed above.

While searching other blogs I found some great file folder games.  I bought this bin to store different games and also workbooks that I picked up at the dollar store or Walmart.  I have this file folder sorted into different learning categories such as Alphabet games, Letter Recognition Activities, Counting Games, Calendar Activities, Sorting Activities, and Writing Activities.
**Teaching Tip: This is one of my go-to bins for simple activities that Ellie can do if she is wanting to do school like her big brother.  We can easily pull out a game and she feels like such a big girl!  This is similar to what the 1+1+1=1 blog (http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/)  does with Tot School.  It gives Toddlers a sense of school and learning that is fun, hands on and done when they are feeling up to it! It also gives them an opportunity to have ownership over something and to sit and focus on a learning based task.

This binder is similar to the file folder above.  It is filled with pocket folders and labeled by subject.  I use it to hold fun papers that I use for multiple copies and also to hold memory verses, calendar months, and often teaching activity guides that I print online or receive from library programs ext... Again, there are many go-to activities in here for days when we need something to do in a hurry:)

This is a pocket chart and rack that I bought my first year of teaching at The Learning Shop. Pocket charts are great when you need to display a lot of things with limited or no wall space. The charts are interchangeable and the cart can easily be moved from place to place.  We are currently using this side of our chart for our weather board.  Some of these weather pieces are free printable's from the blog Confessions of a Homeschooler (link below).

 http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/calendar-printables

I am using the other side of the chart to display our memory verse and characteristics of Christ that our curriculum is providing for us every week.  We are currently using Sonlight Curriculum and are finding it to be a fantastic experience for our young children.  The literature is wonderful and they truly enjoy our time learning together.  I will speak more about Sonlight at a later time, but have provided the link below if you are interested in checking it out!
http://www.sonlight.com/

These are most of our Sonlight curriculum books.  The curriculum provides colored labels for easy identification by level.  I keep them in a separate location so that they last as long as possible.  But don't let this fool you...they are getting worn!  I pull out several books a day and we read the stories over and over again!

This is a separate book corner for the kids in the living room.  The Book Basket is filled with mostly board books that are Gideon's(1) favorites.  He knows right where to go and loves having a basket all to himself.  We always keep our current library books in the "Oliver Bag" and try to visit weekly or bi-monthly to fill our bags with new books that reflect our current interests!  We have a book shelf in the boys bedroom, but its fun to switch out our favorites in the living room book corner.

In this picture Oliver and Ellie are holding their small Project Binders.  I use these binders to store some of their creations.  It does not have a specific purpose...it is only for them to keep the things that are special to them!

**Teaching Tip: Organization varies greatly for different people and their individual preferences.  I do believe that keeping organized in a home-school environment is one of the keys to success.  As a classroom teacher and now a home-school mom I know that figuring out my own organization likes and dislikes was key to minimizing my stress and maximizing my time.  All of these things were done over time...not overnight! Start one project at a time and continue to seek out other peoples ideas.  Knowing what works for other people is a great help.  As teachers often said at the school where I taught "you don't have to recreate the wheel!"  Have Fun creating a vibrant learning environment designed especially for your kids!