Teacher Organization Tips

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Let’s talk storage.

We all know that before you can even think about organizing papers and books, you need to have your shelves and cubbies picked out. The best part is that you can have fun picking out different-colored baskets or inserts that your kids love!

The colored cubes are perfect for storing not only books but also manipulatives, alphabet tiles, color cubes, lacing buttons, blocks, and more — keeping the school workspace clutter-free.

If you would like to see some inspirational school workspaces that have shelving units set up in different ways, check out these fantastic REAL Homeschool Classroom Ideas.

Don’t forget about binders.

Just as there is a wide variety of storage units for all of your homeschooling needs, there is also an endless variety of binders and folders, all of which have the potential for being used in their neat little system.

Review this Teacher Binder Organization Step-By-Step for some great ways you can color code your binders, as well as a few helpful hints for how to go about the process of placing sheets in the correct folder by week or month.

You don’t have to be an artist to devise creative ways to organize schoolwork with binders.

Some homeschool moms and dads like to keep all their finished worksheets in annual binders; that makes creating the end-of-year portfolios much easier. Others use folders to organize each child’s work by the week or subject and use bins to organize.

Take a load off.

Now that you have decided on your shelves and binders, it’s time to create multi-functional items to use in your homeschooling space.

Try sitting down on a Storage Crate Seat to think of all the work your homeschooler is going to complete in the next week and how exciting it will be not to have loose-leaf papers scattered all around the house.

These crates can be used to hold books or binders for the week, and they are comfortable and cute to leave in your homeschool space.

Seat sacks are where it’s at.

• Ever wonder how the table can get so cluttered in a matter of minutes?

It seems like every project needs additional paper, colored pencils, scissors, pens, glitter, erasers, etc. By the time the project is completed, the workplace has spun out of control!

Possibly one of the cutest ideas for homeschoolers is a chair bag that allows your child to store all their work in a tidy little spot that fits neatly on the back of your kitchen chair.

How to Sew Chair Pockets for a Classroom! makes this an easy weekend project, and it can be a great opportunity for kids to help by choosing fabrics and colors they want!

When in doubt, color code.

Color coding simplifies life, especially in multi-child families. All you need to do is assign each child a color (or have them pick their color) and then organize storage cubes, binders, organizers, file folders, and crates based on their colors.

Many homeschool families use this system, which works wonders to keep schoolwork organized and neat. It also gives each child a sense of responsibility for the schoolwork assigned to them each week.

• Want to take color coding to the next level?

Use colored pens for adding entries or planning events in your weekly calendar. This will help you visualize the overlap of which child needs to be where and at what time.

In conclusion, do what works for your family.

When trying to create a better system of organization, remember that every family is a little different, and organizing tips that help one family might not work for your kids. Be willing to try some of these teacher organization tips with the understanding that you may need to tweak them for your family.

If you discover a tip, technique, or tool that works for you, you can share it with other homeschool families!