Homeschool Room & Organization
Homeschool Room
-
Purging the Homeschool Room
It's that time of year! It's time to clean out the homeschool room and make room for new material and new inspiration. Aside from the more laborious tasks of cleaning and dusting, purging is fun, freeing and motivating
-
Homeschool Room Tour
You can homeschool anywhere! We've homeschooled in the kitchen and garage and now in our school room. We also like to homeschool in front of the fireplace, on the couch and on the go!
-
Homeschool Room Organization
Sharing some tips on how we organize our bookcases
-
Homeschool Room Makeover | Before and After Cabin
This cabin and home were built by the original owners in the 1980s. It's a stunning space with gorgeous details and expect craftsmanship. This cabin is about 12 feet by 12 feet (but I'm not actually sure about the exact measurements). It was built for the owners to live in while they built the main house
-
Homeschool Room ReOrganization
You'd think that reorganizing a few bookcases wouldn't be too hard. As an amateur organizer, I should have known better. Today's project took two days and many hours. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and anticipate that it will be much more functional, but I am surprised that it took so long.
-
Before and After Homeschool Room | Mini
I'm a creature of habit, so once a room is set up in our home, I have no desire to change it. Our school room has basically been the same since we set it up in 2013. Small changes here and there have happened, but nothing as dramatic and involved as this. I decided to remove the mounted chalkboards and mount my mobile chalkboard on the wall instead.
-
Detailed homeschool Room Tour
Grab a cup of something hot and sweet and sit back as I take you on a detailed tour of our homeschool room. I'll share insight on why we designed the school room this way and organizational tips and even tell you some of the things that didn't work out.
-
Homeschool Room Organization | Types of Storage Containers
Need help organizing your homeschool room? I can help! Open bin or closed container? Choosing storage containers for your classroom can be challenging. I'll go through a variety of storage containers and point out the highlights and challenges of each.
-
Homeschool Room Tour
Time for a homeschool room tour. Grab a cup of coffee and sit back, this video is long!!! Bookcases are from IKEA and are the Expedit brand. Look for the Kallax brand these days. Magazine folders are from IKEA, too. D
-
Craft Room Tour & Reorganization | Peg Dolls & Finger Puppets
I don't know why it took me so long to move our peg doll supplies to the craft room, since that's where we make them! Set up and clean up is so much easier now that the supplies are where I need them. I love opening up the drawer to see everything I need
-
How I record my Videos in my Craft Room | Tour
Want to record tutorial videos on a budget? I rigged a setup that's very easy and super affordable. I record most of my videos in my craft room. I have two standing height 'printer's cabinets' from Home Decorators by Martha Stewart on one side of my room.
-
How To Organize Homeschool Unit Studies
Again I thought this project was going to be fast. It wasn't. But at least I got 95% of it done in one day. The only thing remaining was the updated labels. Now all our hands on projects, science, math and English units are in bins in our homeschool cabinets. I like it, but there's not much wiggle room in any of the bins.
-
How to Make Pocket Envelopes for File Folder Games
If my curriculum isn't stored well, it doesn't get used; or, it gets lost or ruined. I came up with an idea to easily access and use some new activities I picked up from Target's Dollar Spot. I made pocket envelopes from 8.5x11 inch sheet protectors and stored them in inexpensive file folders with three-ring prongs. I slipped in my new supplies into the pocket and put it into the file folder. All of them are now stored in a hanging file drawer.
-
How to Organize Unit Studies
It's all about organization in your school room. You can organize by grade, subject, theme, type, product or publisher. I'll show you a couple ways to organize your thematic units or unit studies. I don't separate my curriculum by grade except for my Waldorf curriculum which takes up a small space. Most of the bins I use to organize my units are from Big Lots or T.J. Maxx and all of them are open bins so they can accommodate over-sized items.
-
Kids' Closet Storage Solutions | Organization
Wondering what kind of storage containers hold up well to kids? I have a few ideas that can help you keep the clutter and clothes at bay while still maintaining beauty and functionality. Sometimes fabric bins are just too cute to pass up, but very quickly they fall apart with regular use. Plus they are a pricier option. Join me as we explore the highlights and challenges of storage containers!
-
Large Kitchen Tour + Organization Tips
Let's face it, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen. For many homes, it's the heart of the house. Our kitchen isn't just for cooking or eating, it's for entertaining and occasional homeschool projects.
-
Using Mason Jars in the Kitchen | Organization
Mason jars are a great storage solution for the kitchen. They are pretty, affordable and made of glass making them good for you and good for your food! I don't put labels on my jars, but sometimes I'll cut a piece of the packaging and nested between the two lids.
Purging the Homeschool Room
It's that time of year! It's time to clean out the homeschool room and make room for new material and new inspiration. Aside from the more laborious tasks of cleaning and dusting, purging is fun, freeing and motivating. Even if you don't get rid of a lot of stuff, just going through your materials and refreshing yourself with what you have is a good idea.
Today I focused on workbooks. Over the years, I've accumulated a lot of workbooks. Some I purchased, but most I got as hand-me downs from friends or other homeschooling families. I usually remove the pages of the math and grammar workbooks and place them in a three-ring binder for my children. They do one page each of grammar or math worksheets in a grade level below where they are at. This work is easy, independent and keeps what they've learned the year before (or more) fresh and sharp. I place nine dividers in the binder and label them "Month 1" through "Month 9". Then I add 20 worksheets for each month from a random assortment of workbooks. You can see how I did that for this year (2017-2018), by checking out this video in which I show you the process I go through for assembling our daily binders.
The binders have worked really well for several years, but the year before last, I decided to change things up and try putting our daily work into folders. It worked well for a short period of time, but ultimately required too much maintenance.
I still need to go through our drawers and clean them out. We recently went through our art portfolios and recycled artwork we weren't interested in keeping. The school room needs a good dusting, but I just might wait on that ;)
Homeschool Room Tour
You can homeschool anywhere! We've homeschooled in the kitchen and garage and now in our school room. We also like to homeschool in front of the fireplace, on the couch and on the go!
Homeschool Room Organization
Sharing some tips on how we organize our bookcases
Homeschool Room Makeover | Before and After Cabin
I recently visited my sister in Talkeetna, Alaska and while there, I helped here transform a small detached cabin into a homeschool space which doubles as a guest room.
This cabin and home were built by the original owners in the 1980s. It's a stunning space with gorgeous details and expect craftsmanship. This cabin is about 12 feet by 12 feet (but I'm not actually sure about the exact measurements). It was built for the owners to live in while they built the main house. It comes with heat and a gas stove, but there's no running water or bathroom. There is an outhouse with a compost toilet, but the main house has septic, power and water.
While there is still work to do in this cabin space (like all the micro organizing), we did make huge strides in just a few days. We collected everything that should be in this space like the homeschool materials, a table, chair and antique daybed. What didn't make its way into this space are the large table (think kitchen size with remove left) and two Ikea Kallax bookcases. I'm really glad we didn't put the bookcases in the space because they wouldn't have matched well and we had sufficient storage with the shelf near the top of the cabin which ran on nearly all for sides and the cabinetry. The the counters will double wonderfully for workspace so the table, while functional, is redundant in this small space. I like the items that ended up in the cabin because they are rustic and complement each other.
What I didn't show were the three cabinets under the counter. Those are largely empty or partial filled with things that belong elsewhere like kitchen dishes and mugs. There were a few more homeschool boxes that are still in storage that need to be sorted through and added to this space. That will be for another trip. The space in the cabinets is not super functional right now, but with the right storage containers, I think it will be a nice place to have large items or often used supplies. Overall, I'm super pleased with the way the cabin turned out. My sister and I spent time just lounging in the space once it was done because it was so lovely.
I was in Alaska in January of 2021 and everything was blanketed in snow. She was still recovering from brain surgery (she was diagnosed with glioblastoma in December of 2020), and this cabin was a catch all space of things. Also all of their belongings were still in storage as they had only recently moved to Alaska from California and they closed escrow the day after she was released from the hospital after surgery. It was challenging timing, but thankfully, they managed to move into their partially furniture home (they bought some of the previous owner's furniture), and bought whatever else they needed until they could unpack their storage unit.
It's been six months, and their unit is still have half full, but they are making progress. I came for the second time in May of 2021 and found the land completely different. It was pleasant sunny weather and everything was green and vibrant. It was perfect weather for getting the cabin set up as a homeschool space. It's been six months and their is still work to be done as moving in has been extremely slow because of my sister's cancer treatment.
I hope you enjoyed this room makeover!
Homeschool Room Reorganization
You'd think that reorganizing a few bookcases wouldn't be too hard. As an amateur organizer, I should have known better. Today's project took two days and many hours. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and anticipate that it will be much more functional, but I am surprised that it took so long. To be honest, I thought I would get both this project done as well as reorganizing our unit study bins all in one afternoon.
In total, both projects, which included reorganizing an additional bookcase in our homeschool room, took nearly four days and many, many hours. While I'm very pleased with the final result, there is one problem. I am definitely at capacity! No more books allowed! Haha, we'll see. I did this so I could not just reorganize, but also purge and defamiliarize myself with our materials. Twice in the recent past, I ordered books I already owned. In addition to those two books (which were returned to our charter school), I also came across about a dozen items I had doubles of. Some items I intentional purchased again because I spotted them at our local library during their yearly book sale, and other items I had doubles because of them being handed down to me from other families. No worries, those materials found a happy home at Challice's homeschool over at Sodbuster Living. You can check out how she's enjoying them by checking out her channel here on YouTube.
Now all our history units are contained within 10 cubbies in two (1x5) Expedit (Kallax) bookcase from IKEA. These bookcases are very versatile and deep making them perfect for all homeschool supplies, not just books. We use them to store our boardgames, unit study bins, bins with toys, and of course loads of books, sometimes double rows of books!
The last thing I did was update the labels and called it done! While doing this project, our other bookcase ended up getting organized as well. The following day, I tackled our unit study bins. Now most of the homeschool room has had an overhaul and I can see clearly what we need for the following here...not much!! I think I've built up our unit studies to the point where any additional resources will be of one of a few books: The You Wouldn't Want To Be books by Scholastic, the Who Was books, kits, games or picture books. I think we're all set for these units, but it doesn't mean I can't create new units!
Before and After Homeschool Room
I'm a creature of habit, so once a room is set up in our home, I have no desire to change it. Our school room has basically been the same since we set it up in 2013. Small changes here and there have happened, but nothing as dramatic and involved as this. I decided to remove the mounted chalkboards and mount my mobile chalkboard on the wall instead. I rearranged the boys' room to take two IKEA Expedit bookcases from their room to put in the school room.
I wanted the extra storage space and a place for the chalkboard to rest on (it's still mounted to the wall). To finish off this space, I add an IKEA floating shelf and drilled in lights above and below. The lights were from the bookshelves I took from the boys' room. The only new purchase was the floating shelf. I really love the way it turned out. The bookshelves are resting on their side, rather than being upright. This also gives me some additional counter space. I put a few items on the shelf. It's so inviting and the books are easier to get from the bookcase rather than the way I was storing our units previously in bins and boxes.
Detailed homeschool Room Tour
Grab a cup of something hot and sweet and sit back as I take you on a detailed tour of our homeschool room. I'll share insight on why we designed the school room this way and organizational tips and even tell you some of the things that didn't work out.
Homeschool Room Organization | Types of Storage Containers
Need help organizing your homeschool room? I can help! Open bin or closed container? Choosing storage containers for your classroom can be challenging. I'll go through a variety of storage containers and point out the highlights and challenges of each.
Most of my open bins were purchased from Big Lots, Target, or Jo-Ann. Photo boxes are from Michaels and magazine folders are from IKEA.
When thinking about organization, it helps to think about your work flow, how easy it is to access your things, and how you want to sort your belongings. I use a variety of methods, and hopefully you'll find something that works for you!
I sort some curriculum by thematic units in open bins that hold books, kits, games and more. Some open bins store toys. My bookcases store books by publisher with all the encyclopedias on one shelf and all the Eyewitness books on another shelf. While all the kids' books are on housed on the bottom shelf for easy access. Infrequently used items are store up high or behind other bins or rows of books.
Homeschool Room Tour
Time for a homeschool room tour. Grab a cup of coffee and sit back, this video is long!!! Bookcases are from IKEA and are the Expedit brand. Look for the Kallax brand these days. Magazine folders are from IKEA, too. Desks are by Martha Stewart and can be found at Home Decorators. Mobile chalkboard/dry erase board is by Ghent. Mounted chalkboards are from Waldorf Supplies. Red magazine holder is from Home Goods. Storage bins are from Target, Big Lots and Jo-Ann. Photo boxes are from Michael
Craft Room Tour & Reorganization | Peg Dolls & Finger Puppets
I don't know why it took me so long to move our peg doll supplies to the craft room, since that's where we make them! Set up and clean up is so much easier now that the supplies are where I need them. I love opening up the drawer to see everything I need. We did need to move some things around in here, but the added perk is that the craft room is cleaner and there's extra storage space in the school room that is now being used to store felting and other handwork supplies.
How I record my Videos in my Craft Room | Tour
Want to record tutorial videos on a budget? I rigged a setup that's very easy and super affordable. I record most of my videos in my craft room. I have two standing height 'printer's cabinets' from Home Decorators by Martha Stewart on one side of my room. Above that I have a couple of shelves. I have some under-shelf lighting as well as a few lights on and around my shelves pointed down to my work surface. I record all my videos with my iPhone 6. I attach it to a yardstick with a rubber band and position the yardstick above my workspace. I wedge it under some boxes so it stays put.
How To Organize Homeschool Unit Studies
One organizing project leads to more, it just does. And today, I tackled our unit study bins. I realize one thing. We have accumulated a lot of supplies over the years. While this was simply an opportunity to organize, I do need to take some time and purge material we are not using. Purchasing material online is challenging mainly because it's hard to know what you're getting. Had I been able to browse through my books before purchasing them, I can assure you there'd be a number of them I wouldn't have purchased to begin with.
Again I thought this project was going to be fast. It wasn't. But at least I got 95% of it done in one day. The only thing remaining was the updated labels. Now all our hands on projects, science, math and English units are in bins in our homeschool cabinets. I like it, but there's not much wiggle room in any of the bins. That's not a good thing. When the bins are too overloaded, it makes them less exciting to use, more difficult to access and harder to put materials away. But all in all, I'm so happy this big project is out of the way!
The last thing I did was update the labels and called it done! While doing this project, our other bookcase ended up getting organized as well. The following day, I tackled our unit study bins. Now most of the homeschool room has had an overhaul and I can see clearly what we need for the following here...not much!! I think I've built up our unit studies to the point where any additional resources will be of one of a few books: The You Wouldn't Want To Be books by Scholastic, the Who Was books, kits, games or picture books. I think we're all set for these units, but it doesn't mean I can't create new units!
How to Make Pocket Envelopes for File Folder Games
If my curriculum isn't stored well, it doesn't get used; or, it gets lost or ruined. I came up with an idea to easily access and use some new activities I picked up from Target's Dollar Spot. I made pocket envelopes from 8.5x11 inch sheet protectors and stored them in inexpensive file folders with three-ring prongs. I slipped in my new supplies into the pocket and put it into the file folder. All of them are now stored in a hanging file drawer.
Supplies needed: File folders, sheet protectors, scissors or X-acto knife and cutting mat, score board, hot glue gun & glue, and Velcro.
Duration: less than 5 minutes each
Level: intermediate (just because you might not have these supplies on hand)
To see my homeschool haul from the dollar spot, tap here.
How to Organize Unit Studies
It's all about organization in your school room. You can organize by grade, subject, theme, type, product or publisher. I'll show you a couple ways to organize your thematic units or unit studies. I don't separate my curriculum by grade except for my Waldorf curriculum which takes up a small space. Most of the bins I use to organize my units are from Big Lots or T.J. Maxx and all of them are open bins so they can accommodate over-sized items. Our unit study bins contain books, activities, kits, projects, manipulatives and other material specific to each unit. We also store books by publisher, subject and by type (like pictures books, or fictions, etc.). If you have never organized your homeschool space before, it might take some time, but with the right tools, the whole process will be a lot easier.
I'm sharing a detailed look at how I organize my homeschool unit studies and curriculum using a mix of labeled bins, baskets, and bookcases. I have about six bins stored in one cabinet, a large one at the bottom, and additional space in another cabinet for overflow or new materials. My bookcase holds frequently used books organized by subject or publisher, while larger units like math or history have their own dedicated shelves. The bins help me keep each theme, such as geology, astronomy, or history, together with books, kits, and project materials.
Each bin has a printed label for quick identification, and I often include Post-it notes inside books to remind myself how long each one took to read and what worked best for the lesson. My geology bin includes rock kits and excavation projects, while other bins store themed materials like natural sciences, language arts, math, and ancient civilizations. I also keep specialized kits for projects like wood burning, leather stamping, and fabric dyeing, along with smaller baskets for games and experiments. When a bin overflows, I reorganize by separating games, moving books to the shelf, or upgrading to a larger container.
For storage, I use a mix of Big Lots, TJ Maxx, and Ikea bins, with Ikea being my favorite because they’re durable, affordable, and ideal for heavier items. I also keep a few magazine holders from Ikea for workbook-sized materials. This setup makes it easy to pull out one complete unit when we start a new block and just as easy to store everything again when we’re finished. I hope this tour offers ideas for organizing your own homeschool materials by theme or subject while keeping your space tidy and practical.
Kids' Closet Storage Solutions | Organization
Wondering what kind of storage containers hold up well to kids? I have a few ideas that can help you keep the clutter and clothes at bay while still maintaining beauty and functionality. Sometimes fabric bins are just too cute to pass up, but very quickly they fall apart with regular use. Plus they are a pricier option. Join me as we explore the highlights and challenges of storage containers!
Large Kitchen Tour + Organization Tips
et's face it, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen. For many homes, it's the heart of the house. Our kitchen isn't just for cooking or eating, it's for entertaining and occasional homeschool projects.
Our kitchen has an oversized granite island which easily seats 8-10 people. We also put in a window seat large enough for 6-8 people as overflow seating when we have guests. The island also has the stove which makes hosting cooking classes or cooking parties easy and enjoyable. Even if I just have a few guests over, it quickly adds up to a lot of people when you add up all the kids. While I'm cooking, my family and friends can gather around the island and chat or help, and the cook (me) always feels apart of the festivities.
We have a lot of storage in our kitchen making it easy to have our supplies organized and easily accessible. We designed some of the storage to be pretty as well, as the top cabinets are glass with lighting. We store ceramics we use less often. Those cabinets also have a secret! They are half the depth of the rest of the cabinets (on the long side of the kitchen) as they hide air ducts and pipes behind the wall.
Back in 2005, we made an environmentally conscience decision to reduce our waste as much as possible. And since we do a fair amount of entertaining, we decided to buy extra plates, utensils and cups for such events. We almost never buy disposables anymore and the added perk of owning enough plates, cups and utensils for host a party of nearly 100 is that now my friends and family can borrow those things for their parties thereby reducing waste.
Since my children like to help in the kitchen, I found it helpful to have multiples of often-used supplies like mixing bowls, mixing spoons, peelers and knives. We also have two large cutting boards, so there's always enough supplies and space for everyone to help.
Want to see what we cook in our kitchen? Check out my cooking videos.
Using Mason Jars in the Kitchen | Organization
Mason jars are a great storage solution for the kitchen. They are pretty, affordable and made of glass making them good for you and good for your food!
I don't put labels on my jars, but sometimes I'll cut a piece of the packaging and nested between the two lids. Or I'll run a strip of masking tape on the lid with information about what's inside. Other times, I'll clip the recipe from the packaging and slip inside the mason jar so it's available when I need it.
I'm sharing some tips on how I use Mason Jars for organization. I love using them because they’re made of glass, which is safe for both food and the environment. Whenever I bring dry goods home from the grocery store, if they don’t go in the refrigerator, they almost always go into a mason jar. I keep three sizes on hand: the large 8-cup jar, a 4-cup jar, and a smaller one for leftovers or small quantities. If you don’t want to buy mason jars, you can reuse glass jars from the grocery store. I especially like jars with screw-on lids, such as the hexagon-shaped caper jars from Trader Joe’s, and I use products like Goo Gone or Goof Off to remove sticky labels.
Although I love labels, I often skip them because mason jars are see-through. However, if you store similar items like different flours, it helps to mark them. One trick I use is to cut a circle from the product’s packaging slightly larger than the jar lid, separate the two metal parts, and place the thin piece of packaging inside before screwing it back together. This way, I can instantly see what’s in the jar without using a label. I also use masking tape on the lids for notes or slip in small pieces of the original packaging that include recipes or cooking directions. For sticky residue left on reused jars, I scrub it off with Goo Gone or Goof Off until the glass is completely clean.
Inside my kitchen cabinets, I organize the tall mason jars on the bottom shelf and adjusted the shelving height to fit them perfectly. In my pantry, I use baskets from Michaels to hold onions and potatoes and keep extra jars in the back for future use. I also have a cabinet dedicated to entertaining supplies now that we no longer use disposable dishes. Having plenty of cabinet space has made it easy to keep things tidy and accessible.
