Two of my boys and I just spent the afternoon decluttering their room. The furniture is still not high end, the decor is not pinterest-worthy, and their room really does need a paint job, but it looks amazing!
How many times do you look at a space and think: “I really need to get this place organized!”
What’s the logical step for most of us? Head to Hobby Lobby and get some really cute baskets and bins, of course!
{annoying buzzer sound}
We’ve done it all wrong, and the first step to organization is to declutter. It’s not glamorous and it’s still not perfectly organized after this first step, but it’s 20 pounds lighter and you can see a dent in the piles.
So, since we live and school at home, who’s up for a homeschool organization challenge? Grab the kids and get them onboard too. Who knows, they might just surprise you with what they’re willing to get rid of.
Phase #1: Declutter
The reality is that if you’ve homeschooled for any number of years, you probably have an insane amount of supplies – school supplies, office supplies, craft supplies, science experiment supplies, kid magazines, paper supplies – we could keep going!
The other reality to acknowledge is that many of us homeschoolers are mainly one-income families, even if the homeschool mom works from home or part time. And I think many of us tend to be thrifty because of that. We are willing to pay good money for curriculum that we like, and we are willing to invest in our kids and our homeschool, so we are not too sure about this decluttering thing.
I mean, do we actually have to get rid of some perfectly good supplies?
Yup.
Here’s the thing. If the space is overwhelming to you each day because of the amount of items that live in that space, then you need to declutter. This is one surefire way to conquer the homeschool overwhelm that we all face from time to time.
Okay, so what’s the space you want to tackle first? Your homeschool room? Your curriculum shelves? Your kitchen? The master bedroom? Pick a space to start with and let’s go!
Step 1: Bring everything out into one place to sort
When we decluttered my boys room, we went by category and dumped it all on the floor. First, we started with t-shirts. How many shirts do you think they regularly wear? The same three or four. So, they picked up the five to seven shirts they like the most and rehung them in the closet, then the rest went straight into the donate bag. Next, they dumped the contents of their desks on the floor and sorted those items the same way.
If you’re purging the school supplies, go ahead and dump that junk supply drawer out onto the floor. You’ll likely find lots of trash items, items lost from the group, extra supplies you don’t need or haven’t used this year, dried out markers, and lots more!
What about curriculum? I know I tend to save valuable curriculum that I have never used, just because it was given to me, and I might use it someday. Just this past year I decided I was done storing excess curriculum, and it felt great to get rid of it!
Step 2: Purge
If you’re getting rid of it, it might need to literally go in the trash, or if it’s in good condition, you can donate it.
Ask yourself:
- Have I used it within the last year? last 6 months?
- Is it in good condition?
- Do I already have this item? Is it a duplicate?
- Does keeping this item and storing it stress me out?
- Could my (kitchen, homeschool, master bedroom) still function if I get rid of it?
A few years ago, Marie Kondo’s book took the world by storm. While I’m not in total agreement with the whole philosophy behind her system, I did find her book a quick and easy read, and have implemented several strategies in my own spaces.
She is a big proponent of decluttering rather than just organizing all your stuff. And I think that’s a great mindset to have. So, if you haven’t read her book yet, but need some motivation to declutter, give it a quick read and see what you think.
Phase #2: Sort & Organize
Now that you have gotten rid of ten or twenty or thirty percent of your belonging, it is time to sort like with like.
All the craft supplies in one pile. All the history books in another pile. All the lego pieces ready to be organized and stored. All the outgrown but sentimental baby clothes in another area.
Now is the time to grab baskets and bins and put your stuff away where it belongs.
It is much easier to organize once you have purged. In fact, organization can be enjoyable even for the non-organized person once you have whittled down your stuff.
For the homeschool mom, once you have decluttered and sorted your homeschool supplies and curriculum, you can now start to make a plan for going forward.
Phase #3: Plan
Here’s where a bullet journal comes in handy.
Keep a list of your current curriculum, then a list of curriculum you will need for the next year. If you know this ahead of time, you can check out sales and eBay in plenty of time for the new year.
List all your kids on another page in your bullet journal or on a separate sheet of paper. Next, list each subject that you will cover for each child. Fill in the blanks with curriculum and programs you already own or can easily borrow. Now, you can visualize empty spaces, which will give you your curriculum shopping list for the new year.
This same process works in all areas of the house.
If you declutter your closet, only keeping what you wear and love, you will start to see that you could actually use a few more tops. Now you have a shopping list for your closet and don’t need to feel guilty about that purchase.
In your kitchen, once you throw out the plastic containers that are missing lids, sort and organize by type, now you are ready to possibly purchase new containers, or decide that you have plenty already.
So, who’s ready to tackle some home and homeschool organization?! Download a handy list of places in your house to declutter.
Don’t stress about hitting them all. Choose the top three spaces that annoy you the most, and organize them first. Once you get going, you will get excited to declutter and organize some more areas!
