Resetting your homeschool space goes beyond cleaning and organizing! It’s an opportunity to reflect on the past school year and plan for the future. Your homeschool space should be reflective of the wonderful learning that’s happening in your home.
We don’t all have beautiful homeschool rooms with desks, chalk boards, and posters. However, I’m sure we all have overflowing folders and stuffed bookshelves! In our family, we primarily do our schoolwork at the dining room table. Without a designated space, homeschool supplies can take over our home! It’s a necessary and rewarding experience to organize and tidy our homeschool supplies a few times a year.
Here are a few things to do to as you reset your homeschool space for another school year of learning:
Before you start organizing, make sure you take care of the most important documents. Scan and electronically file all legally required homeschool documents from the past year and upcoming school year. Make sure to save any proof of delivery, too. Paperwork can easily be lost or misplaced. It’s your responsibility to ensure that all the necessary documents are turned in on time and that your records are well maintained.
In addition to your legal documents, put all completed assessments and portfolio work in a folder or storage bin. Check your state’s homeschool law to know what documents you’re required to keep and for how long. In our state, we are required to hold onto our assessments or portfolios for 2 years. However, I keep core subject workbooks, too.
Your children have grown so much over the past year! Celebrate their success by admiring their best work. If they wrote wonderful stories or made beautiful art, save it. One way to do this is to display them. We use the fridge and a simple gallery wall to show off our kid’s artwork. Our shelves are filled with handmade crafts! But we all only have so much room in our homes! If you’re out of space, you can save their work by taking photographs. This simple step will ensure you’ll have a digital copy that’ll last forever. In addition to that, we also keep a special storage bin with the kid’s sweetest artwork. Make sure to write your child’s name and the year on everything before stashing it away!
Journal or make notes about the past year. Include notes about what worked well and what didn’t. Write out the personal accomplishments and struggles of you and your children. Include things that were not included in their official homeschool portfolio. In addition, take note of what you’re grateful for from this year of homeschooling! With this in mind, you can determine what you need to prioritize, change, or keep doing in the coming year. In the future, you can look back on this time and see the growth of your family.
Okay, with those important steps out of the way, you can get into the nitty gritty of resetting your homeschool space!
Preparing your homeschool space makes your home more welcoming for learning! Resetting your homeschool space isn’t just another job that needs to be done. Enjoy going through the work of the past year and planning for the year to come.
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