The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Rachel.
One of my least favorite organizational challenges is when change occurs. Life brings about so many changes and with each one is usually a call to adjust the way I organize. For example, my homeschool supply caddy worked perfectly for our needs last year but this year I knew some adjustments were needed.
With a baby due in November, I’m continuing to train independence with our 6-year-old. In the homeschool department, I added a pencil box for my daughter and altered our supply caddy to better fit my needs as the teacher. The pencil box works out to be much more convenient for her to retrieve basic school supplies.
As for the caddy, it’s still in full use with a small twist. It now holds things like my reward charts, stickers, treats, correcting pens/highlighters, a stapler, and so-forth. Basically, everything I need and at the end of the day the pencil box fits inside too.
In case you can’t see very well in the picture above, I use a Mason jar to hold small edible treats. My timer is magnetic and sits on top of the metal lid nicely. I tried the timer clipped on the side or magnetized somewhere on the caddy, but it kept sliding off or getting in my way. On the jar lid, it stays put and is easy to access.
For my school-aged daughter, I transitioned her to a simple pencil box (even though I really liked her crayons in a small jelly jar). The plastic box holds all the daily use items like her “big girl” crayons (affiliate link), a pencil, large eraser, glue stick, etc. Scissors I still keep in the caddy. 😉
The pencil box slides in the large side pocket (on top of all the baggies of coins), so the caddy remains all-inclusive like last year.
I really like everything being contained in one place as it always has been. However, the pencil box addition allows her a little more independence at her work station. Yes, she used the caddy last year, but it’s rather bulky to sit in front of her petite frame and she had to keep standing up to look inside. With my new update, the box can be opened flat in front of her. I can keep the caddy on the floor or table beside me. It’s a simple change but it works for us. Regular organizing updates are a must as life continues to bring about it’s changes. Yes, as much as I dislike change, I’ve learned to embrace it and be flexible.
As for all my other posts written on homeschooling, most things remain the same. I still homeschool at the kitchen table using last year’s system to keep organized. The only other change I made was a larger dry-erase board.
If you remember, last year’s board was pretty small but worked for Kindergarten. This year, with spelling words, grammar rules and higher math levels, I’ve incorporated our IKEA easel for more writing space. The height is perfect for me to use while sitting down at the kitchen table. This will be useful when one arm is occupied with a newborn. 🙂
Hope you enjoyed my little homeschool organization updated tour. I try to keep things real so I don’t appear perfectly organized, we all know perfection is impossible! 😉 Happy weekend, Friends!
In the professional world, I’m a nurse by trade. But, around our house, I’m known as Mommy to our young daughter. My two worlds collided and began shaping into a blog. Useful Beautiful Home represents the hours I’ve dedicated to managing my household as efficiently as possible. I offer you motivation to keep your home healthy, organized, and welcoming.
- Please note that affiliate links are included in this post to make it easier for you to find what is being referenced. A small commission is made should you purchase product using these links but at no extra cost to you. As always, any and all opinions are genuinely my own – or the author, in the case of posts by my guest contributors.*
Joy says
I’m pretty sure your as close to organized perfection as it comes! Great post.