Teaching Tip # 9 – Get Organized!

Get Organized! The golden rule of any endeavor is to get and stay organized!

As a homeschooling mother, wife, teacher, and housekeeper your schedule can be crushing!

You don’t have time to do all that you must do daily as it is – but then the Lord led you to homeschool the children He has blessed you with (Psalm 127:3).

Now what?

Get organized by making sure you know what you are going to do for every single child as far as classes.

Every child needs his or her own folder to keep their assignments separate. If possible, a separate file drawer or file box for each child could contain a separate hanging folder or divider for each subject for that child. Household space and number of children may make this a little tricky, but there are other creative ways to accomplish the same thing. For instance, you could put the school work for two children in each box or drawer.

Each drawer should have multiple dividers that are labeled with the classes that child will be taking that year (math, science, English, history, etc.). Each divider should have folders that contain your assignments that you have given them as well as the actual graded work that your student has completed and turned in for grading. These can be kept for their record of education (either for work verification or just for review for yourself or your student at a later date).

You should have either a desk calendar or day planner that contains a calendar that you can use to plan out your school weeks (Sunday evenings are good to spend time per child planning what you will be doing that week for homeschool).

It is imperative as a home-schooling mom that you realize: if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. Simple!

So before you actually begin it is crucial that you get yourself organized with the above method of filing and equipment needed.

That, and have a place for both your books and the students’ books.

Everyone must know where the tools of learning can be accessed!

Everyone must know what he or she will be doing and what he or she will need to do it!

This won’t solve every problem that you will come across as a home-schooling family – but it will make the other problems easier to manage as you focus on your teaching!

Get busy!