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Q: I homeschool two girls ages 8 and 10 and would like to have ideas to organize our home. I don't have a "school room" but I use our dining room and store things around the house. How could I organize our home in a way that our whole house doesn't feel like a school?

A: Your peaceful home doesn't have to turn into a primary colored classroom when you're homeschooling. Organizing your supplies is the key to keeping a balance between home and classroom.

Storage:

~ Use a storage cabinet in the garage for supplies. This keeps the bulk of your supplies out of the mainstream hub of the home. I recommend a cabinet with doors to keep the contents clean and dust free.

~ Plastic dishpans can be used for math manipulatives & workbooks, language arts flashcards & materials, art supplies, science experiments, and for standing up small groups of books on a particular topic. The dishpans (while not the most attractive containers) can be stored out of sight in the storage cabinet in the garage and brought to the dining room table as needed.

~ Clear, stackable plastic boxes with lids maximize a small storage space and allows you to see what's inside without taking the container out. Remember to label all containers so you can quickly scan for items.

Books:

~ A large bookshelf is a must to store school books and other reading materials. Use decorative magazine files to store workbooks and other soft-sided manuals on the bookshelves as well. Accent the space with models, projects, or artwork.

Papers:

~ Open top milk crates with hanging file folders are easy to use for filing work in progress, worksheets to be corrected, and daily work. A decorative option for storing papers is a wicker file basket with a lid.
~ Papers can also be placed in decorative three ring binders and stored on the bookshelf.

Remember to label everything! Labels take the guesswork out of "do we have any ____ ?"

I like the Dymo Personal Label Maker LetraTag Plus LT-100T. It's available at office supply stores and super stores for less than $30. "The DYMO LetraTag Plus LT-100T is compact, portable and easy-to-use with navigation buttons that allow for quick access to advanced features like multiple font styles, text sizing, date stamping and more." It even prints in English, Spanish, and French.

Let's face it: Home is where your stuff is! Get monthly home organizing tips and resources delivered to your Inbox (with no paper mess) by subscribing to Southern Home Organizers online magazine at http://www.southernhomeorganizers.com

Q: I homeschool two girls ages 8 and 10 and would like to have ideas to organize our home. I don't have a "school room" but I use our dining room and store things around the house. How could I organize our home in a way that our whole house doesn't feel like a school?

A: Your peaceful home doesn't have to turn into a primary colored classroom when you're homeschooling. Organizing your supplies is the key to keeping a balance between home and classroom.

Storage:

~ Use a storage cabinet in the garage for supplies. This keeps the bulk of your supplies out of the mainstream hub of the home. I recommend a cabinet with doors to keep the contents clean and dust free.

~ Plastic dishpans can be used for math manipulatives & workbooks, language arts flashcards & materials, art supplies, science experiments, and for standing up small groups of books on a particular topic. The dishpans (while not the most attractive containers) can be stored out of sight in the storage cabinet in the garage and brought to the dining room table as needed.

~ Clear, stackable plastic boxes with lids maximize a small storage space and allows you to see what's inside without taking the container out. Remember to label all containers so you can quickly scan for items.

Books:

~ A large bookshelf is a must to store school books and other reading materials. Use decorative magazine files to store workbooks and other soft-sided manuals on the bookshelves as well. Accent the space with models, projects, or artwork.

Papers:

~ Open top milk crates with hanging file folders are easy to use for filing work in progress, worksheets to be corrected, and daily work. A decorative option for storing papers is a wicker file basket with a lid.
~ Papers can also be placed in decorative three ring binders and stored on the bookshelf.

Remember to label everything! Labels take the guesswork out of "do we have any ____ ?"

I like the Dymo Personal Label Maker LetraTag Plus LT-100T. It's available at office supply stores and super stores for less than $30. "The DYMO LetraTag Plus LT-100T is compact, portable and easy-to-use with navigation buttons that allow for quick access to advanced features like multiple font styles, text sizing, date stamping and more." It even prints in English, Spanish, and French.

Let's face it: Home is where your stuff is! Get monthly home organizing tips and resources delivered to your Inbox (with no paper mess) by subscribing to Southern Home Organizers online magazine at http://www.southernhomeorganizers.com