displace Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I was texting another homeschool mom this morning and we were both discussing our need to totally redo our homeschool areas. I'm on week 2 (skipping the weekends mostly), where I put kids in summer camp just so I could go through the whole office! Papers, old junk, old books. It basically couldn't even be walked into (it's a closed off office). I also hoped to organize our schedules/curriculums/planning and I want to leave at least 3 days for that. One problem is that I really haven't worked on the area for probably 1-2 years, and it is a dumping ground for when people show up and we don't have time to clean properly. 😒 Another problem is we have so much stuff. I'm getting rid of a ton and doing well but wonder how many others have this same problem. Anyone else have this problem? Do you reorganize often to prevent overload? Do you have a great tip to help me prevent this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes, I do. We were away last summer and I never really got to the office. I am de-cluttering and storing more in the attic and getting rid of a ton. My new plan for keeping it from being a dumping ground is that I am making room for a bed so it can also be a guest room (we don't school in the room, just keep books). Maybe that will help me? Maybe? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes. I worked on the rest of my house while DH was on a business trip and it was *amazing* when he came home. Homeschool space is currently a bunch of stacked books, craft stuff, camping supplies, and modern Hebrew curricula (for me!). Thankfully, he has another trip in July. :-) Emily 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 At least DS is enjoying no school at the moment :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Me too. Everything is just kind of shoved in the shelves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yep. I spent a couple of days unearthing my schoolroom from all the papers and books dumped in it. Next I will take apart my desk area. Everything will come out so I can give it a good wipe, and then I will put things back tidily. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I reorganize every summer. As soon as we finish for the year I start decluttering. I throw away old papers, file, and pack away last year's books that won't be reused in the coming year. The shelves all get a once over. Then as books come in for the new year I stick them in a box to lesson plan, and on the first day of school everything comes out and we put the new stuff away together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I declutter academic stuff every summer but this summer we have to wait until my condo's patio repair work is completed so that I can move my patio furniture and plants back into the patio. My husband tends to stack stuff on any available floor or table or rack space so I really need to declutter while he is at work and then get him to bring ewaste to Staples. We have to clean up by mid August so that our kids have a space to do their outsourced science class labs as well as put their school books in an easy to find manner. I do a minor declutter every semester though else my kids school books would be buried under library books and magazines. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlessedMom Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes! Most definitely!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I just did it. I gave away about 800000000000000000 pounds of books and recycled about double that in loose paper. So much paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes! Last year we had a newly mobile toddler after 5 years of no toddlers and I was not on my toddler game. So there was a lot of snatching bottles of paint that he suddenly figured out how to open with his teeth and putting them in random places. Have been making lots of progress (thank you camp, also) and have even made lots of busy bags for the toddler. Not lying here I'm scared about next year with toddler!! Good thing we love him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) Yes! I've been doing this as I'm packing. Got rid of extra materials. Took down the file folders that aren't working well for us. Nixed some of the extra art and school supplies that we aren't going though quickly. Got everyone into one cabinet! That's my strategy for controlling it. We have one of the Costco cube organizers, the heavy duty ones with the 12x14 inch cubes. Each kid has their own, and I have two for my active teaching materials like math manipulatives and readalouds. Then we have one file cabinet for puzzles, art supplies, the hole punch, extra flash cards, etc. Some of our leisure books are upstairs on the bookshelves. That's IT. I control it by not buying new stuff and culling constantly, as well as containing the supplies to a few key locations. If we pick up new materials they must be crucial, or I don't have space for them. Edited June 27, 2017 by Arctic Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I am sooooooo close to being done. Our school stuff is kind of spread out, corresponding to where the items are used. The math table, books and manipulatives are done. The electronics are tidy. The art supplies are done. The Spanish shelf is organized. The literature bins are filled and tidied. The daily work boxes are ready for the start of our new year after the 4th of July. All that are left are the science shelves. They need to be organized, and I need to finish gathering the stray science experiment supplies ie the balloon we will need in chapter 2, the tarnished pennies we will need in chapter 8, etc. Wendy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) I reorganize every summer. As soon as we finish for the year I start decluttering. I throw away old papers, file, and pack away last year's books that won't be reused in the coming year. The shelves all get a once over. Then as books come in for the new year I stick them in a box to lesson plan, and on the first day of school everything comes out and we put the new stuff away together. The putting away this year's stuff is a good idea. I know it makes sense, but I am keeping everything on my shelves in case I need it for DD. But she's 3-4 years behind so I should probably find a better solution! 😄 Underbed boxes may work for now, if I label well. Edited June 27, 2017 by displace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Ugh. I began homeschooling in 1999, and will finish May 2019. I have always had a cluttered mess, whether we had a dedicated school room or designated shelves and girls worked wherever. It's not just a school room problem, it's a whole house problem, with homeschool compounding the mess not only with all the stuff but also the fact that I don't have 8 hours/day where the kids are away in school and I can clean ornwork and not be home to mess it up. BUT I have learned that there is very little I actually need to keep as far as past work. My plan for this summer is to shovel out the basement (which has become a giant dumping ground), sell or give away all the homeschool materials I no longer need, and turn the semi-finished basement back into useable space for entertaining. A big part of the problem for me to is this is the house I moved into when I was 7. So 41 years, minus a year each for apartment with a friend and then my first year married. I've never really had to move and get rid of stuff, and more stuff just keeps piling in, including inherited things- nothing of great value, just stuff that nobody wants but can't bear to see go off to the thrift store :( I need to make some massive changes... I feel like I'm drowning in stuff and homeschool suppplies and last papers are a big part of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) We are redoing our school space, which is a walkout basement. We ripped out carpet and are putting in engineered hardwood. We got rid of the pool table which took up the best space near the windows. Instead, each of the four older kids is going to have a desk in that space. My husband is going to put in some can lights. Best of all, we are going to build bookshelves that will give me half again as much shelving. I'm looking forward to having enough bookshelves. As we organize everything, I'm getting rid of everything that doesn't work in our new space. By the time school starts everything that is left should serve a purpose and have its own space. Edited June 27, 2017 by Meriwether 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 Ugh. I began homeschooling in 1999, and will finish May 2019. I have always had a cluttered mess, whether we had a dedicated school room or designated shelves and girls worked wherever. It's not just a school room problem, it's a whole house problem, with homeschool compounding the mess not only with all the stuff but also the fact that I don't have 8 hours/day where the kids are away in school and I can clean ornwork and not be home to mess it up. BUT I have learned that there is very little I actually need to keep as far as past work. My plan for this summer is to shovel out the basement (which has become a giant dumping ground), sell or give away all the homeschool materials I no longer need, and turn the semi-finished basement back into useable space for entertaining. A big part of the problem for me to is this is the house I moved into when I was 7. So 41 years, minus a year each for apartment with a friend and then my first year married. I've never really had to move and get rid of stuff, and more stuff just keeps piling in, including inherited things- nothing of great value, just stuff that nobody wants but can't bear to see go off to the thrift store :( I need to make some massive changes... I feel like I'm drowning in stuff and homeschool suppplies and last papers are a big part of it. It's so hard for me. I'm sorry you have difficulty too. I'm a natural keeper of things, and having no time or desire to cull makes it worse. If I were by myself all day I think it would be much different. And I have a whole clinic worth of therapy equipment at home too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 27, 2017 Author Share Posted June 27, 2017 I must say this thread has given me much commiseration and motivation! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Yes. I really do. I am so house unmotivated in general lately. I don't think I particularly need to create a better system - it's just that sometimes you have to make a new set up so that you shake yourself up, you know? I need to clean out the books, reorganize them, reorganize the materials - and then they'll get better use. I also have a long list of stuff I need to sell. I should do that now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) We are redoing the school area as well. It's a combo school area/den. It's been the same for 5 years, when we started hs, and the furniture (on the cheaper side to begin with) is 14+ years old (been through the baby+ young childhood years, much company, and lots of kids' friends pouncing on it). We don't have desks except small ones in a corner of each kid's room, just a comfy loveseat for group reads and some comfy chairs for group lessons or company. I painted it when the kids went to camp recently and plan to get low cost, yet functional, furniture replacements and some wall hangings like a cork board, bigger white board, and newer maps (my maps were peel and stick and got messed up last week when I peeled them off the wall to paint). I try to declutter school papers and stuff every summer to start each new year as fresh and functional as possible. Edited June 27, 2017 by TX native 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yes. I am in overhaul mode right now. Part of it is because I only have one homeschool student now and he is 12. So there's all sorts of books, materials, kits and stuff that has surpassed it's usefulness. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yes. It's not terribly cluttered, but things are very disorganized and I need to rethink how we use the space. We have some new things we don't have room to lay out, like a sewing machine and print making supplies. We also have some stuff we're not using anymore. Plus we need another table as my homeschool table, which was getting too small for both kids to work at anyway, seems to have become the default family board game table. I'm going to bite the bullet and replace this deep console (can't see what's in the back very well) with and Ikea Kallax unit. Also I'm short and had the paper art hanging from a holder attached to the ceiling the ceiling but DS has sprouted up and keeps brushing his head on it. Plus I need a place to put our microscope so I can have it out all the time instead of lugging it out once in a while from the coat closet. And so on... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I'm at the stage where I think a gallon of kerosene and a match would be the best course of action. I don't even know where to start. The youngest is 16 and headed for 11th grade/college classes and I still have boxes of math manipulative filling the shelves. It is definitely time to move things out. . . . I just don't know where to start. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) I'm at the stage where I think a gallon of kerosene and a match would be the best course of action. I don't even know where to start. The youngest is 16 and headed for 11th grade/college classes and I still have boxes of math manipulative filling the shelves. It is definitely time to move things out. . . . I just don't know where to start. Start with one shelf. My schoolroom is only messy when we are working. BUT I am naturally like that-I don't like mess. Also, I had a great motivator- read on for the story--- Before we started homeschooling, I met this 'nice' family with 9 kids who homeschooled. "Great!", thought I, "She can give me tips!" Then I saw her house...food crumbs all over the floor, sticky syrup just left where it spilled, ANTS!, mold in the kitchen and bathroom, boxes everywhere- so much so that they weaved around like a maze, and no actual teaching! I was determined my house would NEVER look or be like that! Not that it would anyway, because as I said, I am a naturally minimalist, neat, organized person. BUT my fear it would spill out of control causes me to make sure the house is clutter free each night. I would love to come help any of ya'll close enough to me. My mantra is if you aren't using it, get rid of it. Edited June 28, 2017 by Paradox5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am heading into my room tomorrow to start clearing stuff out. Too many papers and leftover kid art. I have way too many manipulatives and need to offload them. When I pick up used curriculum from offer up or CL on a good sale it seems to be without fail that a Rightstart B manual is thrown in. I literally have 4 RS B manuals and a few Saxon ones piled in the corner. It looks like I hoard math :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 I'm at the stage where I think a gallon of kerosene and a match would be the best course of action. I don't even know where to start. The youngest is 16 and headed for 11th grade/college classes and I still have boxes of math manipulative filling the shelves. It is definitely time to move things out. . . . I just don't know where to start. I felt like that last week but I've made progress and I can walk in the room now 😆 It still looks horrible but at least most stuff is off the floor. Now to tackle the rest of the papers/filing/curriculum. I use parts of so many things for a while that a lot is still in rotation and now may be needed again for younger DD. I recommend starting with the easy stuff. Any papers that can be recycled? Any obvious old stuff that you can't use? I had dollar store type "educational " things that we will never use, sensory supplies when I was keeping DD occupied a couple years ago, posters made a long time ago. It may sound wasteful for someone looking to sell things, but that is not practical for me. I donate only. I don't have time or patience or inclination to eBay anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am heading into my room tomorrow to start clearing stuff out. Too many papers and leftover kid art. I have way too many manipulatives and need to offload them. When I pick up used curriculum from offer up or CL on a good sale it seems to be without fail that a Rightstart B manual is thrown in. I literally have 4 RS B manuals and a few Saxon ones piled in the corner. It looks like I hoard math :) I'm pretty sure I have a rightstart something we never used. Maybe I can get it to you? 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 I hate that we all need help but I must admit I'm glad I'm not alone. I hope we can all reach our goals. Mine have been downgraded from awesome to useable. Every day I just try to make some progress. I do want to paint the room so maybe that could happen too? Just not this week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 Start with one shelf. My schoolroom is only messy when we are working. BUT I am naturally like that-I don't like mess. Also, I had a great motivator- read on for the story--- Before we started homeschooling, I met this 'nice' family with 9 kids who homeschooled. "Great!", thought I, "She can give me tips!" Then I saw her house...food crumbs all over the floor, sticky syrup just left where it spilled, ANTS!, mold in the kitchen and bathroom, boxes everywhere- so much so that they weaved around like a maze, and no actual teaching! I was determined my house would NEVER look or be like that! Not that it would anyway, because as I said, I am a naturally minimalist, neat, organized person. BUT my fear it would spill out of control causes me to make sure the house is clutter free each night. I would love to come help any of ya'll close enough to me. My mantra is if you aren't using it, get rid of it. My problem with getting rid of things is younger DD. I have no idea what she'll need. We also curriculum try so I have a lot. We have learning disabilities so there's also things meant just for one concept that we need to cover, then I keep it because there's a high chance of needing it for review in the future. Or therapy things we use. But it doesn't excuse all the things I have that we're not using, or my habit of not putting things away as we go. I know I need to change too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Yes, I want enclosed Besta cabinets like I have in my laundry room, so I don't have to see any of it. At all!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 My ds is in college now so I was able to get rid of one complete bookcase. I happily donated most of the books and gave the bookcase to a book collecting friend. Now, our dining room feels huge! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 I unearthed our office desk today. An L shaped desk with a gazillion papers. Well, there are still a few more papers... 😠2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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