Too much stuff??

[Mom in High Heels]

I've been looking at the hundreds of links at Heart of the Matter and one thing that I found striking is how much STUFF so many hsers have. We are in our 3rd year of hsing and we don't have a quarter of the stuff many of the other hsers have. Granted, I only have one child, but some of the links had only one and they still had tons and tons of stuff. I try to sell my old curriculum after we finish with it (minus any books Indy loves) and don't have tons and tons of arts and crafts supplies (one mom had to have 200-300 crayons, which blew my mind). Am I the only one? Do you have loads of stuff? If so, why? I'm really curious here,not trying to be snarky.

[Carrie12345]

Well, I have 5 kids to go through, so I don't get rid of any curriculum or any other books for that matter. And I've started the school year with 120 crayons, which I'm sure will be replenished several times, so 200-300 doesn't sound odd to me at all, lol.

 

3 of mine are school-aged now, so there are binders out the wazoo, one of my tables looks like it belongs in a paper mill, math manipulatives are stored all over the place, mulitple white boards of various sizes can be found, and we must have at least 4 full pencil holders in different rooms. Walls are covered in time lines, maps, charts, and art projects.

 

I don't always love having so much stuff, but I almost never find myself scrambling to buy something for a project or having to make due with a substitute tool. We pretty much have everything we need. Though we could always use more glue and tape!

[i.love.lucy]

I have been looking through some of those too. Wow. Some people have so much s p a c e . I think if I had more room I would wind up with more stuff. Like whenever I use a bigger purse I always manage to fill it up!

 

Nice rooms though! I covet organization more than anything else. I think if everything has a place it would be more likely to get put back in that place. This house I'm in seems so small sometimes. And it's 1900 square feet!:tongue_smilie: It should be perfectly fine for us!

[Michelle My Bell]

I agree with you. I have 5 children as well as a previous poster, but I purge my shelves yearly. I figure that by the time we get to whatever curriculum, there will be an updated version that I would rather try. If not, then I buy used. I get overwhelmed when I see schoolrooms with a million shelves loaded with massive amounts of stuff. Personally, I couldn't learn or teach in an enviornment like that and I am not a minimulist.

 

:iagree:

[Mom in High Heels]

I get overwhelmed when I see schoolrooms with a million shelves loaded with massive amounts of stuff. Personally, I couldn't learn or teach in an enviornment like that and I am not a minimulist.

 

 

 

Okay, now I don't feel so bad. I find all that stuff overwhelming too. I couldn't concentrate with all that stuff around me. Too much clutter makes me uneasy.

[DianeW88]

After 16 years of homeschooling, my house looks like an annex of Rainbow Resource Center. :glare: Truly, it's ridiculous.

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[DawnM]

I can't wait until our basement is finished! Once we have the drywall up and flooring complete, I will have overflow shelving down there with curriculum we will save for the younger kids, etc....

 

Right now it is just cluttered and I don't like it.

 

Dawn

[Mejane]

I hate "stuff" in any area of my life, homeschooling included. Once we're done with it, out it goes.

[JudoMom]

I have 5 as well. I purge, but I also try to be careful with what I purge. My 5 are close together (a bit over 6 years between the oldest and the youngest), so I don't purge what I love or I know we won't change--this means I currently have Saxon K though 8/7 on my shelves, and it also means I have Rod & Staff 2-8 on my shelves. I have quite a few Latin programs, but none that I won't be using. There are a few things I should sell but simply can't part with yet. There are a few things that I think I might not use, but aren't worth selling, so I keep them. We won't talk about the science programs I have. I should sell a couple (especially since my boys are taking science elsewhere this year), but I love them so I'm keeping them and that's final ;).

 

I do work on keeping it uncluttered, though. Here are pictures. I get twitchy with too much clutter, though I must admit the school room is the most cluttered room in the house.

[Barb_]

I figure that by the time we get to whatever curriculum, there will be an updated version that I would rather try.

 

 

I agree that homeschooling materials seem to improve as the years go by because most of the companies are learning as they go. But I've found the opposite with traditional textbooks. They generally become more dumbed down as the years go by..or as with my favorite Biology...they quit supporting it and the ancillary materials slowly disappear. When I find something I like I don't get rid of it until I find something truly better to replace it. So I'm somewhere in the middle. I tend to keep a lot on hand because I have so many age groups at once, but I do purge once a year.

 

Here are my shelves. I only had like 11X12 to work with, but I had an open pass through with a single support beam thing so we lined up shelves back to back and anchored them at the top to create a solid wall of books:

 

 

One side of the bookshelf wall:

 

The other side of the bookshelf wall:

 

This is what it looks like straight on. It isn't pretty, but it's functional:

Edited August 11, 2010 by Barb F. PA in AZ

[Dobela]

I agree about too much stuff. I have way too many books that never get read so they are about to be donated to the library. Art supplies? Not buying any more until the stash I bought 5 years ago is all gone. Those 5 gross of pencils someone gave me last year have been donated to a school drive. My son doesn't go thru many and by the time we would really use them with my dd the erasers would be bad. Curriculum? Not going to buy as much any more either. I am even leaving behind the living books kinds of curriculums and going to more traditional textbooks - simply because finding, storing, keeping, and purging all those small books is a royal pain. I have decided that by the time I spend my money paying for the heating and cooling of so much stuff I could just go buy what I need occassionally instead.

[Belacqua]

I do work on keeping it uncluttered, though. Here are pictures. I get twitchy with too much clutter, though I must admit the school room is the most cluttered room in the house.

 

What a lovely room, JudoMom. And your juice box story had me snorting with laughter in a most unladylike manner!

[JudoMom]

What a lovely room, JudoMom. And your juice box story had me snorting with laughter in a most unladylike manner!

 

Thanks, and sorry about that. I know the snort of which you speak. They cause me to do the exact same thing often :D.

[elegantlion]

I have one and we have a whole room for homeschooling. It's full. However, I also do keep my writing and self-ed stuff in there. I'd post pics but we're packing for a move and it's a giant mess. I think it also makes a difference if you have closed space to store, like a closet, or you keep things out.

 

I had less when ds was younger and I was doing less self-education. The books I use for my studies most likely will be used by ds down the road, so I keep them. I love seeing how others organize their space.

Edited August 11, 2010 by elegantlion
brain fog

[ChristusG]

I only have one.....and this will be our second year of homeschooling. I'm not one to have a ton of books. I do have quite a bit of books, but only what will fit in our (small) homeschool room. I don't save curriculum I'm not currently using (unless I know for a fact that I'll use it with my next child....I haven't saved anything yet but I know I'll be saving Math U See after this year). We do have quite a bit of craft supplies because DD6 loves crafts....in fact, I just made her a craft cart yesterday. You can check it out on my blog: http://christusg.typepad.com/ . I don't own hundreds of crayons, etc....but I do have quite a bit of different types of things, but not a lot of one particular type of craft supply. All of our homeschool stuff fits in our small homeschool room and I'd like to keep it that way.

[Amy loves Bud]

I've been looking at the hundreds of links at Heart of the Matter and one thing that I found striking is how much STUFF so many hsers have. We are in our 3rd year of hsing and we don't have a quarter of the stuff many of the other hsers have. Granted, I only have one child, but some of the links had only one and they still had tons and tons of stuff. I try to sell my old curriculum after we finish with it (minus any books Indy loves) and don't have tons and tons of arts and crafts supplies (one mom had to have 200-300 crayons, which blew my mind). Am I the only one? Do you have loads of stuff? If so, why? I'm really curious here,not trying to be snarky.

 

I am 100% with you. I've got three (2 school age) and we are entering our 8th year of homeschooling. I have a pantry in the kitchen that holds all our homeschool stuff. Materials come out for school and go back in after school. Nothing stays out. No charts or calendars on the walls.

 

I am a bit ADD, and all that stuff around me causes me too much distraction.

[Bee]

I can justify buying books if they are educational. Older dd prefers the "living book" type curriculums. So I bought years of SL books and other books and textbooks thinking I could reuse them with younger dd. Younger dd is now in ps. But dh says to keep the books in case younger dd is hsed again. The sad thing is, someone could run a small school with all the materials I have. I really need to donate some of the stuff the children have outgrown or that I know we won't use again.

 

Art supplies are just fun to buy. I always have good intentions to use them myself but younger dd is the only one who uses them.

[Susan in TX]

No, you are not the only one. We have a small house and a big family so space is at a premium. I don't like having unused curriculum laying around. If I'm not using it, I sell it or donate it. I don't keep curriculum to use with younger children unless I'm going to need it in less than two years, or it is something that is hard to find. We own very few books. I prefer to use the library.

 

I'm homeschooling four kids and all our stuff fits in two 12''x12'' cubicles. In addition to that there are several crates that hold library books and some curriculum that I'm saving tucked away in my closet.

 

I'm sure if I had the space for a schoolroom and the means to buy things, I'd have lots more stuff. Although, I find I'm happier when I keep things simple.

 

Susan in TX

[Paintedlady]

Although looking through the links is fun, I was struck by the amount of stuff as well. I only have 2 kids and one small room so I am forced to severely limit the amount of stuff we have.

 

I think visually it would be difficult for me to hs in some of those rooms b/c I hate clutter, even if it's on walls. I like a clean palette, uninterrupted up by tons of stuff. On the walls in our school room we have a whiteboard (3x5), a map (3x5) and across the room a couple of small hanging shelves & a calendar. And sometimes even that feels like too much.

 

In my perfect world I'd have built ins that hide all the books & supplies instead of the open shelves I have now. But 140+ yr. old houses aren't famous for their spaciousness and built in cabinets. :glare: