Just as horses know when they’re close to their stables and pick up the pace, so we homeschoolers can smell the end of the school year. Spring is in the air (in the northern hemisphere, anyway) and kids aren’t the only ones getting antsy for pool days to replace school days. I don’t know what happens at your house, but at my house when spring fever strikes, it’s nearly fatal. The girls beg to do school outside, which means that academics really don’t get done, which might not be too bad if your kids aren’t in high school and middle school like mine are. They get lazy about filing their papers in their binders. I get lazy about finishing lesson plans. We all get lazy about portfolios and records. Yikes! How’s a homeschool mom to stay organized amidst this malady? We need to spring clean our homeschools! How do we spring clean our homeschools? We need to tame the paper monsters, take care of the filing, clean off the shelves, make room for the new stuff, and throw open the windows (unless you have pollen allergies). Let’s get out the trashcans and shredders and start sorting through all of our kids’ school papers. Even the most unschooling among us have a plethora of math worksheets, essay papers, and artistic masterpieces. Just keep a small sampling of each child’s work to save in a portfolio and throw out the rest. Realistically, we can only save so much. You may have to do this after their bedtime, but you’ll feel better with the paper piles eliminated.
How many magazine articles, recipes, and random notes do we have piled up on our desks, counters, or to-be-filed boxes? It’s time to deal with one pile or box at a time and put all those papers where they belong. We may find that we can trash a good many of them by now as well, such as old invitations and reminders. As our children finish up workbooks, textbooks, living books, and computer programs, it’s time to either sell them, or set them aside in a designated spot for the next child in line. If the youngest child has finished something, pass it along or sell it to someone who can use it. This frees up space in your own home for needed newer items. Nothing says spring cleaning like out with the old and in with the new. I also have one whole shelf that is specifically for in between curricula. When I’m making up my lists of materials needed for the following year, I only need to look at one shelf to see if I already have it. While we’re there, let’s make sure that all of the other living and reference books are neat and in the proper order. Now that all the academic papers are neatly put into portfolios, all of the mom papers are filed in binders or folders, and all of the bookshelves are cleared off and organized, we have room for all of that great, new curricula and all of those new books we’re buying at curriculum fairs, used book sales, and online.
The end of the school year is in sight; let’s be prepared for it. We’ve spring cleaned our homeschools; it’s time to throw open the windows, put the dandelions picked by the Next, we need to take care of our own filing. little ones in a vase, and celebrate spring!
Heart of the Matter
April 2011
P. 25