Getting Organized

Our house could be a library, I kid you not, and that was even before we even entertained the notion of homeschooling. My husband an I both had a lot of books before we lived together, since we've combined them and added to the collection considerably, we are running out of room. In the past few weeks, I have amassed quite the collection of not only text books, but reference books, story books and other books specific to starting homeschool. Not to mention my extensive stash of knitting goods, from books to yarn.

I remember reading in one of the various books about homeschooling (probably The Well-Trained Mind) that you have to be ready to accept your house basically being a giant classroom. It's getting there. We don't entertain much, so I don't mind. Even if or when we do entertain, it's more than likely going to be family or friends with children of their own. You really just have to get past that pre-children state of mind anyway - what's more important? Having a decorated, magazine-esque house, or giving your kids the best possible education? [Oddly, I had to have this same conversation with myself before breast-feeding ;-)...]

Our house is clean and usually pretty neat, but it's filled with books. Plus, you need places to put books and school supplies and eventually, you have to deal with the fact that not every piece of furniture you own can match and/or be made of solid wood. That being said, choose your furniture quality wisely. Somethings save money in the long run if you make the initial investment and buy something sturdy (more on that soon).

I prefer the short, 3-shelf book cases that you can get at Wal-mart or Target. We've found that furniture from Target has less odor (sometimes the stuff from Wal-mart smells like you opened a can of paint thinner). We also have quite a few of the cube style shelving units. They're nice because you can get the 8-cube ones and lay them on their side, then they are only 2-cubes high and fit nicely under windows (windows, UGH! Everyone seems to want lots of windows, but I find myself wishing for more walls to put things against!). You can also buy fabric bins for these, which is a nice option.

One furniture piece I highly recommend, and I recommend buying a quality item, is some sort fo cabinet or pantry. I initially purchased a 4 door pantry cabinet from Wal-mart (2 doors on top and two doors on bottom). The style suited my needs perfectly. I could put all of our science kits, art supplies and anything else I didn't want the baby to get in it and lock it with childproof cabinet locks. The problem was that it smelled like a chemical factory, and was horribly made (not to mention, would need to be anchored to the wall to prevent tipping... Have I mentioned that I am a little short on walls??). Back to Hell-mart it went. (On a tangent, I really should learn my lesson and just stop buying cheap, mass produced garbage from Wal-mart, no good ever comes of it)

I've also started researching software for tracking hours, subjects, etc. I really could put something like this together pretty easily for Thing 2, but if Thing 1 decides to stay home next year, I realized I am going to have to keep actual transcripts. From what I am reading, this really is essential in the High School years if you even have the tiniest inkling that your child might go to college. I am fairly certain that Thing 1 will (and I very much hope Thing 2 will also), so I need to get one my game with that.

I haven't found anything as of yet, but I did start a free trial of one called Homeschool Day Book. It's advertised as relaxed record keeping and seems to be marketed towards those who have more of an "unschool" approach, but it looks like it might work out well, at least for the elementary years. I am going to give it a test drive and post a review next week.