Organizing HOD Things

[my3sons]

Each son has his own work area, which works great! Emmett has a table, lamp, and chair to do his work in the living room. Riley does his work at the dining room table, about 5 feet away from Emmett. Wyatt does his work in his room and at the addition table. I have each of their HOD books labeled, and they each have a tool turnaround that works well for their school supplies.

But, here's the problem... at the end of the day, their HOD books are in piles on their tables. I have a big canvas cube for each of them, but really, their stuff doesn't fit in the cubes anymore - too many science kits, books, etc. This weekend, I am going to go through their things and reorganize. I can't really be upset they aren't putting their things away when there really isn't anywhere to easily put them, can I?!? Wish me luck (and patience)!

In Christ,
Julie

[StephanieU]

Good luck!

In our old house, the school books where in one of the two main rooms on the main floor of the house. I hated it because if company came over on the spur of the moment, it was always a mess! We now have a dedicated school room. My husband is still working on building bookshelves/cabinets for the room, but the three big kids each have a table and chair right now. And we have a small bookshelf that everything currently is on. When the storage system is finished, it will be so nice! The room also doubles as the guest room (murphy bed), so I would like to have the closet not stuff with craft supplies and books that we aren't using at this exact time (books for the current guides but not current units). Hopefully by this summer he will have it all done, and we can get it organized! The kids are loving having a table each, and they know that room is for quiet school work.

[Carrie]

Julie,

Great thoughts! I ended up having to get a narrow bookshelf to put right next to the table where my older boys were working. I really didn't want to to do it, as it made the room a bit more cluttered. However, it was the only way I could truly get their many books and science supplies, etc. put away. I did it several years ago, and it made a huge difference in the clutter!

My younger son keeps his books in a cabinet in a central location near our kitchen, but definitely not in the kitchen anymore. Too much clutter in my kitchen made me move the boys' books out of the kitchen, except we do keep a few answer keys needed daily on a shelf in our kitchen. Perhaps the cubes could be next to their beds in their rooms, so there is a place upstairs to harness school books as well? Then, the rest could go in a bookshelf nearby their work area. "Nearby" and "able to hold a lot of books without cramming" seems to be a huge thing in putting books away.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Good luck!

In our old house, the school books where in one of the two main rooms on the main floor of the house. I hated it because if company came over on the spur of the moment, it was always a mess! We now have a dedicated school room. My husband is still working on building bookshelves/cabinets for the room, but the three big kids each have a table and chair right now. And we have a small bookshelf that everything currently is on. When the storage system is finished, it will be so nice! The room also doubles as the guest room (murphy bed), so I would like to have the closet not stuff with craft supplies and books that we aren't using at this exact time (books for the current guides but not current units). Hopefully by this summer he will have it all done, and we can get it organized! The kids are loving having a table each, and they know that room is for quiet school work.

This is what we have! An old (as in 115 years' old) house with the school books in two main rooms on the main floor of the house - yes, please DO wish me good luck. Today, as I type this, Riley (11th grade) and Emmett (7th grade) are going through the dreaded armoire, as well as their canvas cubes and drawers. We are finished with many of the books for the year, so they are taking anything they are finished with and putting those books/resources in plastic tubs, one for each guide, and moving them to our homeschool shelves in the basement. Riley is actually very good at overseeing this kind of thing, and I should have had him do it long ago. I think this will put a bandaid on the problem for the end of the year. How wonderful your hubby is building shelving for your school room! That will be so helpful! I'm hoping to get more organized this summer too. I think I need to get a bookshelf. Sounds like a good summer project!!! Thanks for the ideas and happy organizing to you in your new school area, Stephanie!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Julie,

Great thoughts! I ended up having to get a narrow bookshelf to put right next to the table where my older boys were working. I really didn't want to to do it, as it made the room a bit more cluttered. However, it was the only way I could truly get their many books and science supplies, etc. put away. I did it several years ago, and it made a huge difference in the clutter!

My younger son keeps his books in a cabinet in a central location near our kitchen, but definitely not in the kitchen anymore. Too much clutter in my kitchen made me move the boys' books out of the kitchen, except we do keep a few answer keys needed daily on a shelf in our kitchen. Perhaps the cubes could be next to their beds in their rooms, so there is a place upstairs to harness school books as well? Then, the rest could go in a bookshelf nearby their work area. "Nearby" and "able to hold a lot of books without cramming" seems to be a huge thing in putting books away.

Blessings,
Carrie

A narrow bookshelf near the boys' work areas is a great idea! I do think it will be worth the clutter. It looks cluttered with books left out already anyway! At least a bookshelf will organize the clutter better. I need to remember to focus on "narrow," "nearby," and "able to hold a lot of books without cramming." Wyatt is the only one that works in his room much anymore, but he could definitely benefit from a cube next to his bed. Good idea! Thanks!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[Rice]

We have a farm office/homeschool room, but everyone works in the living room or their own bedroom. We use recycling buckets for the books they are currently using, to haul them around, and have Ikea shelves in the office that hold their buckets. Ideally they are to be put back in the office every day (or at LEAST on the weekends!), but even if they don't get that far, at least they are contained and easily transportable. My 3 in high school have "graduated" to 2 buckets each and the 2 who work in their rooms have one that stays by their desk and one that they carry around, as needed.

Even at that, I am running 5 in HOD, so only 10 units or so come upstairs at a time. The rest of their books are in our "library" - a 32' wall filled with closed cupboards for our books, games, puzzles, etc. I love having all my HOD books accessible, and I have them labelled with washi tape - a different color for each guide, as well as unique colors for DITHOR, ERs, and any Canadian books we add. (I also write which subject they are for and first and last units they are used, so it's super easy to grab the next 5 units to take upstairs!)

Blessings,

[Carrie]

Ooh! What great organizer ideas. I am going to have to take notes!

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

We have a farm office/homeschool room, but everyone works in the living room or their own bedroom. We use recycling buckets for the books they are currently using, to haul them around, and have Ikea shelves in the office that hold their buckets. Ideally they are to be put back in the office every day (or at LEAST on the weekends!), but even if they don't get that far, at least they are contained and easily transportable. My 3 in high school have "graduated" to 2 buckets each and the 2 who work in their rooms have one that stays by their desk and one that they carry around, as needed.

Even at that, I am running 5 in HOD, so only 10 units or so come upstairs at a time. The rest of their books are in our "library" - a 32' wall filled with closed cupboards for our books, games, puzzles, etc. I love having all my HOD books accessible, and I have them labelled with washi tape - a different color for each guide, as well as unique colors for DITHOR, ERs, and any Canadian books we add. (I also write which subject they are for and first and last units they are used, so it's super easy to grab the next 5 units to take upstairs!)

Blessings,

These are great ideas! I like the buckets idea, as the canvas cubes we use really can't handle the weight of the books/kits very well. Of course, maybe the cubes would work if I had enough of them. I do think our kiddos have also 'graduated' to 2 buckets each! Closed cupboards for the rest would be good too. We have a walk-in closet in our addition, but it has become kind of a catch-all that needs to be reorganized. I guess I'm also really having trouble deciding what to keep for grandchildren someday. I have bookshelves lining our basement with books too young for all of our sons now. I also have kept things like Lincoln logs, legos, Geotrax train sets and tracks, etc. I initially gave away my Lakeshore PreK type stuff, and now I've wished I had them back. Our homeschool gal that used to babysit our sons now has 2 daughters of her own that come to play at our house. I've wished I've had those PreK things back, so now I'm reluctant to give away or sell anything. This is truly the problem when I think about it, because a good portion of our basement and closets are full of things too young for our sons. And the board games, puzzles, Thames and Kosmos kits... yikes! I guess this is another question I have. Those of you with children who are older, what are you keeping (possibly for grandchildren, or for the homeschool gal that has kids of her own now that used to be your babysitter )?

In Christ,
Julie