HELP-Boxes of homeschool curricula in garage-how to organize?

[HappyGrace]

I have tons of boxes in garage of curricula. I like to keep the house decluttered so what we aren't using, I keep out there. But it's all mixed up! I hit a big curriculum sale and pack all those books in one box. When a school year is done, I pack all of older dd's stuff in a box to pull out (or not) later when ds gets to that age. Then two months later, I find a bunch more and stick it out there in another box. Then a friend gives me five items so I stick them in whatever box has space.

 

I need to maximize space because that's our only storage space (no basement, no attic).

 

I can't figure out how to categorize-by grade, by subject, history by historical period? Would it be dumb to have all of grammar-grades 1-7-in one box? Would separating by grade be better? But then what if there is no grade level on the item? And what to do with the misc. stuff like Managers of Their Homes, etc.

 

I am blowing a fuse trying to figure this out. Anyone want to say how they do it or offer suggestions?

[jlovebaker]

I am also a fellow curriculum and book addict ... and I just started homeschooling last year. I cannot resist books but if I figure we're not going to use them in the immediate future - I sell them on ebay - sometimes I make money and sometimes I just sell for my costs for another mom to use.

 

However, I am now rebuying books like Jurassic Park, A Perfect Storm and Hot Zone for my 12 year old to read - so there you go. Also - my kids are 12, 10 and 10 so I don't have to save too much for the future since they're not spread out too much. I do feel your pain though!

[tinkgumby]

Do you have to keep them in boxes? Is there any way you could put a bookcase out there so you could see what you have?

 

I'd probably sort by topic rather than grade. Either way, you'll probably be digging through it all every year anyway.

 

I would also suggest weeding it down to just the ones you *know* you will use. "Tons of boxes" sounds . . . just a teensy excessive. (I'm a curriculum junkie, too, so I understand.) :D

[HappyGrace]

Believe it or not, I did sell a lot a couple months ago. Some of the non-hot sellers are still here though. They are the type of misc. things that would maybe sell better at a used curriculum sale. I sold most of my stuff on this board-did ebay work well for you?

[HappyGrace]

Is there any way you could put a bookcase out there so you could see what you have?

 

It's all spidery and yucky-can't do bookcases.

 

Sigh-curriculum junkie is right!

[kdeno]

Come drop off all those boxes over here :iagree::iagree::D

[thowell]

I dont have near that many hs books yet but i am a very organized person as clutter causes me to short curcuit. I would first organize by subject into seperate boxes and then cross reference by grade. I would also make a master list for each subject box and list all grade levels, name of curriculum, and maybe even likes or dislikes and place this in a plastic protector sheet and tape to the top of the box. This would be a long process with as many as it sounds like you have but what a joy when you are finished. I even do this with extra bed linens and it is so much easier to find when i want to change the linens for spring or fall. Anyway hope this idea helps!!

[HappyGrace]

Come drop off all those boxes over here :iagree::iagree::D

 

Don't tempt me-you will find your whole back deck filled up with them; maybe the pool area too! :D

[HappyGrace]

Thowell, you're hired for the job!!!

 

Seriously though, I like the idea of the master list taped to the box. But what do I do when I take something out of the box to use? It will never find its way back to that box-I won't remember where it goes after a year of using it-and eventually it will get all screwed up!

[thowell]

ok dont laugh at me (my husband says i drive him insane) but when you remove something from the box just mark it on the list with the date you took it out of the box then you can place an idex card stapled or glued to the inside cover with the box number you took it from. Oh i forgot that part you should number each box and have one MASTER list that only shows box number, subject and very brief decscriptions in every box. This way you dont have to look at every list on each box. Now you would be tempted to just make a master list and not place one on each box, BIG mistake, take it from me you will lose that master list and all your effort is gone.

[A home for their hearts]

Mrs. Duggar has an awesome organization system that she talks about in her and her husband's book The Duggars: 20 and counting. I can't remember it to a tee, but she used file folder boxes and color coded them, I can't remember with what, and then wrote down what was in that box on an index card. She then wrote on the index card where that box was located. I thought it sounded like a great system.

[thowell]

i love the duggars!!!:lol:

[HappyGrace]

Okay, Thowell, NOW you've gone too far! If I could be that organized, my garage wouldn't be filled with mixed-up boxes in the first place!!:lol:

 

But elements of what you're saying are making sense. I am mulling it over.

[tinkgumby]

If I could be that organized, my garage wouldn't be filled with mixed-up boxes in the first place!!

 

I hear ya - I have come to terms with the fact that I am a piler, not a filer. ;) A method of organization that works for one person may not work for another. Regardless of whether you could implement something like that in the first place (and kudos to Thowell - WOW!), you've got to consider whether you would realistically keep up with it or not.

[Brindee]

I dont have near that many hs books yet but i am a very organized person as clutter causes me to short curcuit. I would first organize by subject into seperate boxes and then cross reference by grade. I would also make a master list for each subject box and list all grade levels, name of curriculum, and maybe even likes or dislikes and place this in a plastic protector sheet and tape to the top of the box. This would be a long process with as many as it sounds like you have but what a joy when you are finished. I even do this with extra bed linens and it is so much easier to find when i want to change the linens for spring or fall. Anyway hope this idea helps!!

I would do something similar to this to organize, but with one difference (which is only because that's the way it'd work better for ME, not because I don't like this way!): I'd number the boxes, then make the list up putting what's in each box.

Box #1

blah blah

this 'n that

blah

 

Box #2

grammar, grades 1-5

etc.

etc.

 

Then I'd keep the master list inside on a shelf with my teacher stuff. For me, I'd get frustrated having to go check the top of each box to find what I had. This way I could read through and find what I want while in the comfort of my chair, then go find the specific box. Just my lazy self! :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: Oh, oops, I just blindly quoted her first post, but then she added more later, and covered what I put. Still--the master list should be saved on the computer, so if you can't find it, you can reprint it!

Edited August 19, 2009 by Brindee

[kdeno]

We do not want Happy Grace going down this road. :001_huh:

 

She will spend 48 hours straight guzzling down green smoothies and researching the highest quality paper and index cards, based on the humidity of her garage, which she has on a color coded graph. (How is that for a run on?)

Then she will diligently decide which is the best font for readability and neatness. :lol: Only after this will she begin the book organization, cleaning and sterilization.

Do.not.go.there.

 

:auto:

[HappyGrace]

I am a piler

 

ROFL-my nickname with my dh and kids is "The Piler"! The way I neaten up is to stack all their random stuff they leave lying around into piles on their desks.

 

Thowell sounds like the organizational guru-WOW!-I'm hoping maybe to incorporate elements of what she's saying but I don't think I could do that good a job with it!

[Brindee]

ROFL-my nickname with my dh and kids is "The Piler"! The way I neaten up is to stack all their random stuff they leave lying around into piles on their desks.

 

Thowell sounds like the organizational guru-WOW!-I'm hoping maybe to incorporate elements of what she's saying but I don't think I could do that good a job with it!

I couldn't either! I'd already be overwhelmed with all my boxes of books mess, then to add all the cards and things, I'd go loopy. My brain would go on overload and refuse to compute.

 

Maybe we can hire her to organize our stuff though, now THAT I could use---some organized person to make heads or tails of my stuff and organize it, then hand me the list of exactly where everything is! :D How about it thowell, how much do you charge??? :lol:

[HappyGrace]

We do not want Happy Grace going down this road.

 

 

:lol: Now where is that smiley for tears rolling down your face, slapping your knee and howling because you're laughing so hard?

 

kdeno is my close friend IRL-you know, the one who teases me for "shrink-wrapping" my car (putting adhesive plastic all over the carpet to avoid them getting dirty.) Yeah, but who was laughing last when ds vomited all over the car and all I had to do was remove the soiled plastic to brand new looking carpet underneath? :D

 

She is oh so right-once I get started down a road like this it is NOT pretty. Don't make me go out there and shrink-wrap my curriculum boxes!

[PeterPan]

Happy, decluttering means actually getting it OUT, not just to the garage, haha... Just had to chuckle at the piler definition of decluttering. (If the clutter moves out of my immediate space, it's no longer clutter.) Now we have the same number of kids, right? But yours are closer together. So that means you're starting to get a sense of younger dc's personality, what will fit him, etc. I'd be pretty ruthless on that stack of stuff in your garage. Books are timeless, things like historical fiction, classics, etc. You don't need to declutter those. But curriculum goes out, has fads, has newer/better models, and LOSES VALUE. In other words, every day you hold onto this stuff you're losing money! Maybe another way to think of it, eh? :)

 

Some things I've kept from dd, some things are in my maybe box, and some I've sold. Anything I'm keeping is arranged in my homeschool closet by subject. So all the LA stuff is together, all the foreign language stuff, all the art stuff, all the history stuff, all the science stuff. I don't worry about it beyond that, because if I'm at least in the right section, I'll find it. I use milk crates as dividers on my shelves, since they're just the right size for tm's.

[PeterPan]

You could put the stuff in milk-crates and shrink wrap the milk crates. ;)

[HappyGrace]

Brindee-your idea is a good compromise. Here's a question: how would you notate it when you remove something from the box to use? Maybe just a checkmark by it on the master list?

[kdeno]

You could put the stuff in milk-crates and shrink wrap the milk crates. ;)

 

 

Then she could see her books and windex them!:iagree:

[HappyGrace]

see her books and windex them!:iagree:

 

ROFL!

[swellmomma]

No answers for you, just have to say you ladies are cracking me up tonight. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

[Brindee]

Brindee-your idea is a good compromise. Here's a question: how would you notate it when you remove something from the box to use? Maybe just a checkmark by it on the master list?

That could work.

 

OR, Have another list that you keep out where you can see it, or in the front of the Master List, or just on the computer. On that you write/type what you took out and from which box.

 

But then, if you were out there grabbing, it'd be harder that way. You'd need a list with you. If it's in the protective sheets you could mark them off with the erasable black pencil things.

 

You could have a lesson on organization, and have one child that can write well go out with you, and when you pull something out you yell, "Abraham Lincoln Takes Charge", box 3!" They dutifully write the name and box number down. When you're ready to return that item, enlist their help again, and they see the beauty of organization! :D

[HappyGrace]

Oh, no, Brindee-I cannot get my children involved in this. It would be a crime. The neat disease is already being passed on to them to an alarming degree: these are the children that make their beds as soon as they get out of them, and ask their friends to remove their shoes when they come in the box they've made into a playhouse, etc. :lol:

[thowell]

I couldn't either! I'd already be overwhelmed with all my boxes of books mess, then to add all the cards and things, I'd go loopy. My brain would go on overload and refuse to compute.

 

Maybe we can hire her to organize our stuff though, now THAT I could use---some organized person to make heads or tails of my stuff and organize it, then hand me the list of exactly where everything is! :D How about it thowell, how much do you charge??? :lol:

 

trust me it is a sickness. My husband says he cant keep anything. I have a rule in my house if it hasnt been used for more than 6 months it is out!! I find him hiding stuff all the time!!!!!

[HappyGrace]

Dh thinks I am a lunatic, laughing like a hyena at the computer screen-he is dragging me off to bed to take my mind off garage boxes ;)

 

I will check back in the morning!

[jlovebaker]

Sonlight Instructor's Guides (e.g. bought for 64 and sold for 41 plus shipping), anything Story of the World related (books, activity guide). Regular books - you're lucky to get your costs covered but it still feels good to clear it out for someone else to use. Once in a while, regular books will go for a bit more - like if they're on the Sonlight list or if they are brands like Usborne. Wii games and software also sell well and are very cheap to ship.

[stripe]

Okay, so it's UNUSED curricula in the garage, right? Stuff you might use someday but are not actively using?

 

In that case, if you take something out of the box, cross it off the list. If you use it for an entire year, I think it would be OUT of the unused curricula area. And it would be time to sort OUT what you no longer want, so keep the desirable books in a different spot than the "maybe going to donate/resell" box.

 

I wouldn't keep loads of stuff; it would be unlikely you'd even remember to go get it, whereas a few back up items might be more likely to be put into service.

[modest-mama]

I purchased those steel wire rack/shelves (around $100) and then organize by subject in crates and stage (grammar, logic, etc) that sit on the shelves. I am just in grammar and have one crate for logic, but my shelf is already full. If you have a lot of material you might need multiple shelves. This system works awesome for us.

[HappyGrace]

 

Yup, that's the definition! ;) DH says you nailed it!

 

Anyway, y'all are convincing me I need to get RID of some things, sell them or whatever. It's true they may not be worth as much later due to fads, or new editions, etc.

 

So later today I'm going to go out and (hopefully ruthlessly) weed out the stuff to sell and put them in separate boxes. Then I'll organize the other stuff by the methods you've mentioned. I think by subject seems to be the general consensus, and then with the numbering the boxes/master list.

 

Thanks everyone-and still chime in if you think of anything else! This thread has been cracking me up!

[Mallory]

My curriculum is in boxes, those big 18 gal. plastic things.

 

It is separated by subject, and I wrote on each box, in sharpie, right on the box the subject in there:Science, Math, LA, ect. I also got rid of enough so that 18 gal. is enough!

 

For me any kind of master list would just be a big waste of time, becuase I would spend hours (probably more like days or weeks) getting it all right.

 

AND it wouldn't really matter because if it is something easy to know what is next (say SOTW, after 2 do 3) then it is easily in history. But if it is something that I do much more eclectically, like Math, then I really like to get in there and look around and see what might work best, a list wouldn't really help, I want to hold the books.

[tinkgumby]

Hooray! I'm glad you're choosing to get rid of some. As Flylady (or whoever) is fond of saying, "You can't organize clutter."

 

My main other input would be (if you can) to put them in CLEAR plastic containers - especially if you're a visual person. Good luck!

[PeterPan]

Aw come on, you can't get any more clear than shrink wrap. :)

 

LOL

[thowell]

you guys are cracking me up! Are we still discussing clutter? I dreamed about your garage last night! haha, let us know when you decide to start selling, those that have advised should get first pick shouldn't they? haha:lol:

[Evergreen State Sue]

The only way I have found I will use books or plan to use them down the road is if I can actually see them fairly regularly or put them in a place where I can see them. It made a world of difference to put bookshelves up in my house and organize the books by subject. Sometimes I picked up a book at a sale and thought I would use it, but only later after sitting down with it did I realize it wouldn't work. Probably more often than not, when I had the book boxed up somewhere I would forget I had it and the opportunity to use it had passed because the kids had gotten past that level. I like that you will look through your boxes and try to pass on those that you don't think you will use. With the books you have left, I encourage you to try to get them in your house on bookshelves.

 

I have used the method of writing down the books on a 3x5 card and put it on the box and also have a master list. The problem for me is that I don't often recognize a book by the title and I need to see it and oftentimes hold it to know it is the one I might want.

 

Also, you mentioned your garage has spider webs. Is it damp as well? Do you have temperature changes? I have found the books I store in my garage take on a dampness and old smell and I don't want them back in my house.

[kdeno]

Sorry for highjacking the thread, I couldn't resist.

 

Kari

[PeterPan]

Ok ladies, now I've got it. She doesn't need to declutter anything at all! And she certainly doesn't need index cards and time-consuming organizers. All she has to do is clear out the top shelf in each closet in her home (2-3 bedrooms, the pantry, maybe a linen closet, and ooo how about the laundry) and put a different subject in each room! But oh, then she has to declutter whatever was in those closets before, haha... But truly, having things grouped by type is the key to everything. I don't have to remember what resources I have for the Middle Ages or whatever. I just have to know they're all in the same place when I go to look for them.

 

I become blind to anything in plain sight, so I hide things behind doors. (Maybe it's more fun and interesting to remember that way?) That's why I thought of her decluttering her closets to make room. But that would involve more decluttering. :)

[tinkgumby]

I think you're on to something! Maybe she could get her kids to move in together (assuming some of them have separate rooms), and then line the walls of the newly freed-up rooms with bookcases of future curriculum!!

 

That's what I do, anyway. :D (Well, technically my boys have never HAD their own room, and they're young yet.)

[HappyGrace]

Maybe she could get her kids to move in together (assuming some of them have separate rooms), and then line the walls of the newly freed-up rooms with bookcases of future curriculum!!

 

Better yet, we could move the whole family out into a tent in the back yard and keep the whole HOUSE for storing curriculum! LOL!

 

I toyed with OhE's idea, but even after I decluttered (which, yes, I already did the whole inside of the house this summer!) there isn't really room. I don't really worry about keeping them in the garage because it isn't damp. But yes, keeping them visible is a great idea-I will get the see-through boxes Tinkgumby mentioned.

 

OhE-do you do all your history by time period? What do you do with literature that doesn't fit into a time period, like say, Paddle to the Sea, by Holling C. Holling? Separate area for stuff like that?

 

I was still laughing when I woke up this morning! Too funny too that Thowell dreamed about it! :lol:

[Brindee]

Yup, that's the definition! ;) DH says you nailed it!

 

Anyway, y'all are convincing me I need to get RID of some things, sell them or whatever. It's true they may not be worth as much later due to fads, or new editions, etc.

 

So later today I'm going to go out and (hopefully ruthlessly) weed out the stuff to sell and put them in separate boxes. Then I'll organize the other stuff by the methods you've mentioned. I think by subject seems to be the general consensus, and then with the numbering the boxes/master list.

 

Thanks everyone-and still chime in if you think of anything else! This thread has been cracking me up!

When I get in this mess, my husband is more than happy to RUTHLESSLY get rid of things for me!:001_huh: I have to prepare myself for it, then I go sic him on the stuff (he is VERY organized, for which I am eternally grateful!!!). He always asks, "Are you sure?" I nod. "Do you want to help me?" That is a kind question, as he knows how hard of a time I have being even remotely ruthless!:tongue_smilie: If I shut my eyes tight and shake my head no, he's thrilled, and goes out and gets the job done! I feel so blessed to have someone that can do that!

[Brindee]

 

Hooray! I'm glad you're choosing to get rid of some. As Flylady (or whoever) is fond of saying, "You can't organize clutter."

My dh always says "Less is more!" (less unneeded things equals more space)

[houseofrabbits]

I second this and the reason why is that this is the way I organize my books too!!!!. By subject and then grade within the subject. It makes things so much easier to find later! I love the idea of a master list -- can't tell you how many books I've duplicated because I didn't have one!!! LOL!! If you can make the garage a project where it isn't uninhabitable for books you might try your local ecyce or freecycle for bookcases.

Have fun!! :thumbup1:

 

Liz

 

 

 

 

I dont have near that many hs books yet but i am a very organized person as clutter causes me to short curcuit. I would first organize by subject into seperate boxes and then cross reference by grade. I would also make a master list for each subject box and list all grade levels, name of curriculum, and maybe even likes or dislikes and place this in a plastic protector sheet and tape to the top of the box. This would be a long process with as many as it sounds like you have but what a joy when you are finished. I even do this with extra bed linens and it is so much easier to find when i want to change the linens for spring or fall. Anyway hope this idea helps!!

[PeterPan]

When you put your kids together in one room to make way for books (which I wholeheartedly support), make sure you shrinkwrap the walls of both rooms to help them clean easily. :)

[PeterPan]

Happy, you either have a lot less books than I do or a lot more to make this such a struggle. I have around 3,600 books, so I just try to keep them on bookshelves, not under the couch, behind beds, overflowing in the bookbasket in the bathroom, etc., lol. Anywhere put away is a start. And then yes, I just try to be logical. I have bookcases for time periods (ancients and middle ages in one, american in 2, that type thing). I keep the historical fiction with the non-fiction, as long as it's all history. If I have collections of things like a particular author or type (set of Hakim, D'Aulaire series, Cornerstones, Landmarks, Fritz, etc.), obviously I keep those together on the correct bookshelf. In my regular fiction, I keep chapter books together by author. I keep FIAR and special books (extra fancy picture books, etc.) together. Anything I want together, I keep together. I rearrange at will. ;)

 

I keep some things together topically where more practical, things like Christmas books (christmas poetry, christmas crafts, christmas stories and board books). I keep poetry together. I keep character emphasis books together (Bill Bennett, etc.) In the history shelves I have a section of patriotic books. I keep christian books together, missionary stories together.

 

I don't know, it's just all logical. Anything that goes together is together. For curriculum, I've pared down quite a bit, and I generally tear the closet apart each year, which frustrates my dh to no end. LOL I have a large, 2-door closet with shelves. Curriculum tends to be heavy and fall over, so I put milk crates in there to divide things. So all my foreign language stuff is in (or on, lol) a milk crate. My LA stuff is all beside it, with another milk crate acting as a divider between that and the start of ancient history stuff. In that 2nd milk crate I have K5 and preschool stuff. Then that ancients. Then I have another milk crate with middle ages stuff. So on one shelf 3 milk crates, 5 sections total. Make sense? With nice small sections, it's easy to tell what you have.

 

Now I have shelves in my room too, what I call my ready access, and I pull the stuff I intend to use for the year or at least the semester. That's sort of my brain area, my good intentions, my don't forget it section. That way when I wonder what resources I have for american history this year, I know right where to look. I've already gone through my closet storage, pulled the stuff I want to use, and have it on the shelves. Oh, and there are milk crates on the shelves to use as bookends and dividers too. That way I can group craft books for the year together, fiction read alouds, tm's, etc.

 

That's how I store. Then for everyday stuff, everything is in metal slot dividers right in front of us, ready to go. I like stuff to be no-brainer. :)

 

BTW, those 3,600 (and growing daily, hehe) don't include my dh's comic book collection. Dd is a huge comic book reader and perpetually has tons of them out. Two days ago I culled not one laundry basket but *2* full baskets of books from her room that needed to be put away. Ack!!

[HappyGrace]

my husband is more than happy to RUTHLESSLY get rid of things for me!

 

Brindee, you are either a much braver woman than I am, or a much less controlling one! Actually, that's great that he is organized like that-I would love someone to organize this for me!

 

OhE, that entire post was so helpful! You must have way more and better bookshelves than I do (you do-I've seen your basement schoolroom photos!) We just don't have that kind of room. The dc each have a 5 shelf bookshelf in their rooms, and that's all their favorite fiction books. The half-bookshelves in the schoolroom contain our current curriculum and schooly manipulatives, educational games and toys that my little guy plays with while we do school (he was in K last yr so didn't have much seatwork.) There just isn't room in our house for other bookshelves, and the closets are being used for clothes! Sounds like I don't have as many books as you do, and I need to pare that down even more for the garage box thing to work. I wish I could have it set up like you do! But you did give me some good ideas-I think I will bring in some of the books that could be in sets (Sowers Series, etc.), and the ones I don't bring in I will organize out there in boxes in sets. So your ideas for organizing the "reading" books was a huge help in an area I just couldn't figure out!!!! Thanks! Curriculum I'm going to do by subject. And wow, I was actually seriously envisioning shrinkwrapping the walls to see if it would work-I'm not kidding! (At least the lower half) Dh would send me to the loony bin for sure!

[stripe]

OhElizabeth: Do you label your shelves, or just know where they go? I have a somewhat similar organizational scheme (some planned, some actual), but I am wondering if I need to explicitly label the contents. Or is it obvious? And if you do label, with what?

[tinkgumby]

I have around 3,600 books

Can I come live with you? Life surrounded by books sounds GREAT. :D

 

(Actually, I have tons of books that I've never counted . . . I wonder where I would stand on that? Hmm, is idle curiosity enough to make me go count them all?)