what do you use to hold each kid's current curriculum/workbooks?

[caedmyn]

What sort of container do you use to hold each kid's current schoolwork?  I need something smallish and easy to put away (up out of the reach of small siblings).  We've used small book bins, magazine holders, and document boxes.  Magazine holders are too small for binders and break easily.  Document boxes are nice but too small for both folders and binders, and they don't really hold all that much.  Book bins hold everything but seem to tip over easily.  What other options are there?

[purpleowl]

I just use bookshelves. I know that's not ideal with a crawling baby on the loose (assuming your sig is accurate)...maybe with a gate around it that the bigger kids can manage?

[Sarah0000]

Bookshelf, mostly.

Supplies and messy stuff, games, manipulatives, etc. are stored in our hallway "linen" closet which we installed eye hook latches on to keep the little ones out of. The olders use a step stool to access.

[hollyhock2]

I have a cube shelf like happysmileylady and each kid has one cube. But that wouldn't work to put up out of reach. For awhile, I had big plastic tubs for each kid to store their drawings and things in, about the size of a kitchen sink (one sink, not a double sink). Would something like that work? Mine were just like these: https://www.amazon.com/STERILITE-06578012-Sterilite-White-Dishpan/dp/B0039V2G5E/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=plastic+tub&qid=1565124231&s=gateway&sr=8-4

[mmasc]

I use and like this. Maybe it would work for you if you have a place to roll it into when you’re finished for the day (like a closet) to keep away from the littles?

https://m2.ikea.com/us/en/p/raskog-utility-cart-dark-blue-30401789/

[astralweaver]

We use these, one for each kid, though I got ours a lot cheaper at Costco. They are taller than the ones at IKEA so I get to spread their stuff out better.

https://www.wayfair.com/commercial-business-furniture/pdx/ecr4kids-4-tier-utility-rolling-cart-ny3876.html

The tippy top has their supplies, the next level has stuff we are doing today, one shelf will have term books, and the other will have term notebooks. I do also have one of the IKEA ones, I like it too, and I use it for art supplies for activities just in this term, like our current handicraft, and the top of this one has whatever we need for science this week because we do labs as a family. 

I particularly like that I can let a child roll their cart to another room for independent work and then roll it back. I don’t have any littles anymore but my friends do, and when they come over I just roll them into a closet.

[lots of little ducklings]

7 hours ago, happysmileylady said:

I have one of those 9 cube shelf things, like this.  In *THEORY* each kid gets a column.  The top cube is for current work, the middle cube is for current supplies, and the bottom is for other school storage.  In practice.......it's kind of a mess.

 

 

I use the canvas cubes that go into those shelves (but on regular bookshelves).  Not the perfect dimensions for all books but they've helped contain things and keep them out of the sight of curious toddlers.

 

ETA: I don't store three-ring binders in them... they'd be too big.  Those go on the shelf above.  

Edited August 7, 2019 by lots of little ducklings

[SilverMoon]

Bookshelf. Each kid has their own shelf to maintain with all current books and supplies. Anything used rather infrequently lives in the school closet.

[Melissa in Australia]

desk with draws. Even when I was homeschooling my older kids and had 5 being homeschooled at the same time each child had their won small desk that had draws big enough to hold all their books

 

[El...]

We have a big school bookshelf near the table where we (mostly) work. Each kid now has her own shelf. I was just reshuffling them yesterday, in fact; last year they shared a shelf and literature was elsewhere. I reorganize things every year, I think.

[Slache]

Magazine racks on a rolling cart.

[purpleowl]

5 minutes ago, Plum said:

After trying a bunch of different things, it turns out my grandmother passed down a solution for me. They are like file sorters but have much bigger spaces that could hold a big book or up to a 2 inch binder without flopping. They do take up some space on a bookshelf but I can pull subjects out without disturbing any of the other books. The two I have are very old and it doesn’t look like they are available but I found a similar product on Amazon. 

Officemate Super 2-Way Sorter, Recycled, Black (26252) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040FKYZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_tChtDb1JST36R

Oh wow - I need this! One of our shelves has several binders and the kids are always knocking them over. Thank you SO MUCH!

[Targhee]

When I had them all at home we used milk crates.  You can even put a magazine box in the milk crate for loose paper and other floppy things.  Now with only one home full time we just use the book shelf.

[Mbelle]

Right now I"m using a basket on the floor beside the table for my youngest. 

I did the same for my older two in elementary as well.  When they got to middle school and we had more moving parts we did a shelf in the dining room closet with magazine files.  

Later on when they were in high school I had book shelves with doors (bottom of doors were solid) and they each had a cabinet to place their stuff in.  

 

[BooksandBoys]

I have a dresser in the dining room which is out school room. Each kid gets a drawer. School manipulative/games that are shared are in another drawer.  When I had little people, the drawers had toddler locks on them; I’ve since taken them off. When I had littles, pencils/markers/etc were also in a drawer. Now they are on top of the dresser.  

[KrissiK]

IKEA 8 hole cubby thing. And we have a nice, deep walk-in closet in our dining room, so that’s where it is, and when school is done,I just shut the door. Since I am only schooling two this year, the girls put their books & folders in their own cubby and then I use the rest for other school books we are using.

[Moonhawk]

Backpacks. We have a shelf for my books, and then accordion folders that they put completely done work in (like, if we are on unit 3, they put unit 1 away). But all of their current workbooks and papers go into a backpack. This makes running on errands, doctors appointments, trips to grandparents, etc., really simply because I just have to tell them to get their bags and go. Anything extra we need (like my books or reference books) we have another bag. Art supplies are in a small travel box as well. 

We have hooks on the wall to hang up the backpacks so the baby can't take open them. She will if they are left on the floor 🙂 

[alisoncooks]

I have a narrow shelf near our school area that I organize with vertically stacked paper trays. Keeps things tidy and nothing shifts/moves when stuff is removed. 

[wathe]

On 8/6/2019 at 8:27 PM, mmasc said:

I use and like this. Maybe it would work for you if you have a place to roll it into when you’re finished for the day (like a closet) to keep away from the littles?

https://m2.ikea.com/us/en/p/raskog-utility-cart-dark-blue-30401789/

We use IKEA raskogs too.  Each kid has their own cart.  They have been very robust.