Organized homeschool space!

I am currently in decluttering mode. We are buying a new house, and we have found one, our offer has been accepted, and we have been approved for the loan. Unless something goes terribly wrong over the next three weeks we are moving into our first house in June! Part of me is excited. And another part of me is DREADING moving. Remember, I just moved here in Dec. Two moves in just over 6 months? YUCK! So getting rid of things is my current obsession. Getting rid of, or getting them organized.

On Thursday I had my Homeschool Mom's Meeting. I gotta say, these ladies are a lifeline and a whole world of great ideas! I love having them as my sanity backup, cuz let me tell you, sometimes homeschooling certain little people can be the fast track to Mommy-Meltdown 2009.

One of our mamas (Sarah) is reading a book called The Workbox System. Honestly, I only know what she has told me about it.... but when I heard the basics of the system I was instantly on board and it fit right in with my current obsession. I quickly finished my current list and moved on to declutter my homeschool stuff. For a couple hours and $60 I had a brand new, organized and spotless, homeschooling space.

I also did something that I have wanted to do for the last 6 months in this house. I set up our Nature Table. I can't believe I waited so long to do it. The kids were THRILLED when I told them what I was doing and instantly ran outside to collect bouquets of flowers, rocks, acorns, and other nature things unique to Spring. The set up isn't perfect, but it works (it's two boards on top of the new homeschool drawers) and I am happy to say that even Logan was intrigued and excited to add the things he had found.

More about the boxes: Of course, the best part about the boxes is the way they organize the homeschool stuff. They are not for storing anything in this system, they are for setting out a schedule to our day. The first box (for the past two days anyway) has held the kids chore charts. They check off their chores as they go through their morning (which range from 'brush your teeth' to 'vacuum the living room') and after that they *get to* move on to their first homeschool assignment. Every assignment is broken down into it's smallest components, so for science yesterday we were working on botany, and we had a drawing, a dissection, and a reading section. Each were in their own boxes, complete with every material that they would need to complete it and instructions on a post it note letting them know how to do it, and when to get me for assistance. Very similar to how Alex's math was set up today:

The post it says "Watch chapter 14 on DVD. Do 14 B-C."

And then of course, I had to add in the fun stuff in between the heavy stuff.

It says "Get mom for lesson #2, activity 4. GAME!"

It says "Read to Dad."

These boxes were made for holding scrapbook papers, so they are slightly larger than 12X12X2. Each one locks closed and is it's own box. So, if we have to take a nature notebook somewhere, along with some pens, and a specimen jar, it can all be there, in this sturdy little lap desk sized tote! It already seems like a wonderful investment. The kids were excited to see me filling the boxes last night... and that is always a good sign. :)